This one's for you, Ames!

Ames! Happy 27th Birthday! (That's right, right?) I hope you get lots of presents and attention. (As you know, I always wish you the things that I like...) I'm so glad we have continued to be such good friends over the years even though we don't get to see each other often. Here are some of the reasons that I love you:

You think I'm cool. You are adventurous and you inspire me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do. You have killer legs. You think I am wise. You love to eat with me. You laugh at me. You are comfortable with yourself. You are buff. You are beautiful. You are clueless about the same things as I am.. You are a loyal friend to me... Happy Birthday!

Another house update

Here's another house update. I will actually have something to say later on!

House # 2

So Brian is building his second house--ours was the first. I am so amazed at his abilities. This house is for sale and will be in our town's tour of homes in September. This is no Las Vegas Tour of Homes, mind you. The homes are on a much smaller, less elaborate scale--it's a Tour of Holmes little town style. The months leading up to the tour are super busy and stressful for Brian and for me, but it is totally worth it. Last year's tour was so dang fun. I've discovered as an adult that I love to throw parties--and to me, the Tour is just one long super fun party. I stay in the kitchen baking cookies and breads most of the time--to create a homey (sp?) comfortable ambiance, and I talk to people coming through. I even get to answer some of the design questions. It's the perfect party because we don't have to worry about any kind of entertainment, nobody stays too long, and there is still eating and socializing. The best part of the tour, though, is that the home is completely a product of Brian's abilities and talents and my interests (and maybe someday talents) totally working together. Brian loves to build houses and furniture, and I love to decorate. I spent months and months and hours and hours finding and modifying the floor plan and obtaining permits, and now I get to choose paint colors and floor and counter materials, and windows and all that, and then I get to decorate the inside for the tour--with the help of my aunt Deena and my friend Brooke. Those of you that know me well know that this is seriously like a dream for me. I absolutely love it, and I am learning all the time. Anyway, I thought you family members would like to see the house as it progresses. Windows, roofing and siding go up soon, so stay tuned!

Here is a sample of one of our nightly shows

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

This little video was supposed to come after the blurb I just posted, so read that first and then this video will make a little more sense.

Another random picture

Good news! I went fully dressed to church today! So, NOW what do I talk about? This week was a good week. On Saturday, Brian stayed home because it was raining and therefore impossilbe to be doing work on the trusses of the house he is building. He had to have some project going, though, so he decided to fix our bed. It is really tall, so it tends to squeak quite a bit--the more you move, the more it squeaks. You get the picture. So Brian went down to the hardware store and got some special bracket things and fixed the bed right up. He was very excited about the fix, needless to say. On Saturday night, Brian and I went and got some chowder and caesar salad down on bay street and then he went and saw the Harry Potter movie alone because I was too tired. How lame is that? I could have sworn I was twenty eight, but I must be seventy eight. It's amazing how the years fly by...

Also, reading about the vacations you have all been taking has made me want to tell you about the most amazing resort spot you could imagine. It is this quaint little town in the middle of the Oregon Coast, and it is gorgous. Less than a mile from the beach, there is this cute little all-inclusive bed and breakfast place --we're talking a super comfy futon mattress, an available crib, down pillows and comforter, eggs and toast for breakfast, steak for dinner, free toothbrushes, free live entertainment (fights, acrobadics, drama, love--all the good stuff)--where you can stay as long as you want and it is free! Can you believe it? The only cost involved in the whole trip is the cost of airfair, which is only around $150 per person round trip on Alegiant Air. I know, it all sounds too good to be true. But you just say the word and I will book the trip for you...What is the name of this amazing place. Oh yeah. I forgot that part. It's called Brian and Ann's Place. I know, the name speaks for itself.

Just trying to fill my quota

It's hard for me to be motivated to write anything when I have no pictures. Maybe I'll just start posting old pictures that have nothing to do with what I'm writing. That might work...

Anyway, I had a good day at church today. The Gospel Doctrine Lesson was on the atonement of the Savior. I really appreciated the lesson (although it wasn't as good as the one my mom gave nearly four years ago), because it allowed the Spirit to testify to me of Christ's atonement and of his being our Savior. I felt it very strongly. This experience closely echoes one that I had four years ago when I was in Vegas visiting my family. The circumstances were very similar to today's. I was about 7 months pregnant and I had been praying that Heavenly Father would bless me with a stronger testimony of and relationship with the Savior. I attended my mom's gospel doctrine class, during which she covered the last week of the Savior's life. That day, the Spirit witnessed to me of the truthfulness of the things my mom had taught in a very powerful and unforgettable way. As I have continued to pray for a stronger testimony of and relationship with the Savior, I have had the scripture in D&C come to my mind many times when the Lord (or Heavenly Father--I'm not sure who was talking) asks ...hmmm...who was it?...I think it was one of the three witnesses...something like "Do you not remember the time when I spoke peace to your soul?" (reminding him of revelation he had previously received)...Anyway... good day...

On a lighter note, I thought it was kinda fun that Nicole Cave and Tara Maxfield kinda put out requests for people to write something new. I think it would be kinda fun if at times we (meaning anyone reading this) all responded to some particular question or something... My question tonight is this: Does anyone have a good joke?

Here's one to start us out. (Thanks, Mom.) I hope it's not so old that all of you have already heard it.

What do you call it when a bomb goes off in a kitchen in France?

Linoleum Blownaparte.

Before and after pics

Yep. This is a bold change. But cheap, for such a bold change. I think I like it. I may or may not eventually paint the other walls of the room. For now, the red makes me happy.

I'm losing my mind!

I don't have anything specific to talk about today, so I'll just give you a little bit of everything. So I'm pregnant, right? Well, you know how your mind doesn't work as well when you're pregnant? You know--you put the garbage bags in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard, and you lose your keys or whatever. Well, all that is very true of me when I am pregnant, and it has been kinda scary in the past, but now my pregnant insanity has reached a new level. On Sunday (EVENING, mind you) Brian was getting kinda frisky and he made some kind of remark about my saggy boobs. Just as I was about to retaliate, I came to a very frightening reality. I WAS NOT WEARING A BRA! No, it wouldn't have been half bad if I had just been at home all day, but I had gone to church like that! Isn't that something we all just dream about? Oh, for the love. Come on, Ann. Pull it together. I asked Brian why he hadn't said anything earlier, and he said that he had noticed before church, but that he assumed I just hadn't finished getting ready. NO, I HADN'T FINISHED AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM! Anyway, as Brian and I were laughing about it, Brian compared my chest to eggplants. Isn't that a funny image? A perfect comparison! I couldn't even be mad because I was laughing so hard and I know Brian thinks I'm hot. (See, it's all about convincing him...) Anywho, eggplants actually paint a very flattering picture of me. Before I was pregnant, it would have been more like peanuts--with the shells still on...Anyway...sorry for the dirty talk.



What else....Oh ya. The other day, Brian gave Jane a dark chocolate hershey kiss, and while she was eating it, she coughed or something and the chocolate ended up going down her throat and up to her nose tubes (or however that works). So literally, for the rest of the day, Jane's nose was running chocolate boogers. Does this justify eating boogers? Eat your heart out Willy Wonka!



And maybe I'm nesting. I'm back to painting my house. It's pretty much a rainbow by now--which isn't necessarily very good decorating, considering the fact that I'm not sure my colors flow very harmoniously. But I love the colors. Especially red. I love red. I ended up painting the main wall of my front room a raspberry red type color, and my kitchen a green color (called winter silence--oh, brother). Anyway, what do you think?