Matthew and Marilyn

Finally Finalization

2011-09-23T19:05:00.005-04:00

Matt and I got the long awaited news this month that finally Zoe is legally ours. It has been a long and rocky 15 months, but the pay-off is finally here. We get to finally bless her in church, though I don't know how anyone blesses a squirmy toddler. We get to finally have her sealed to us, an event that Matt and I have long waited for and have often felt would never happen. And having this hurdle now behind us, the wisdom from the challenge now earned, it makes us wonder about doing it all again. Fifteen months is a long time to get over a lot of things, and the smile of a young child makes you feel that even walking through fire is a just another walk in the park. We are most sure that we will adopt again. There is that nervous uncertainty of what challenges that new child will bring, what heartache will have to be endured to finally know what it means to be family, but we only value that which we have earned through much difficulty. To my little Zoe: Baby you were worth it. And I'd do it all again. I know you were meant to be my child, and being your mother has given me a joy and a satisfaction unlike any I have ever known. Thanks Baby for choosing us.

Easter

2011-04-27T10:52:00.003-04:00

This year was an exciting Easter for us because it was Zoe's first Easter. Maybe she wasn't quite old enough, but we still took her to church for the Easter egg hunt. Zoe got five eggs and couldn't eat any of the candy yet. We were hoping for some chocolate that she might be able to enjoy, but no luck. We think she was kinda bummed about not eating the candy. But she greatly enjoyed shaking all the eggs that had jelly beans in them like little maracas. On Easter Sunday my dad came to church with us and helped us take some family pictures. I was able to make my baby's first Easter dress this year with the help of a great sister in our ward who taught me how to smock dresses. I enjoyed it so much that I am smocking a dress almost weekly. But overall, we had a great first Easter.

The Big Makana

2011-03-11T16:58:00.015-05:00

It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks Zoe will be 9 months old. Here's the things our happy girl has been up to lately:

Playing out on the back deck.

Zoe loves bath time.

Zoe with her trusty jumpy swing and her bib flipped backwards like a superhero cape.

Zoe with her pants on her head.

Our pretty girl with her ultra cute new hat.

Daddy swinging Zoe at the park.

Mommy and Zoe at the park.

Zoe enjoying a "Zoe-sized" pear. Yum.

Halloween

2011-01-03T11:26:00.006-05:00

In our new ward dressing up for Halloween is a cut-throat competition. We were able to keep our costumes a secret up until a week before Halloween. A couple who tends to think themselves experts at Halloween costumes was so sure that they were going to win this year that the husband sneakily asked Matt what we were dressing up as. Of course Matt told him we were going as Toy Story. When Matt asked him what his family was going as he quickly said it was a secret. Yeah. That's how cut-throat it is. People are actually sizing-up the competition a week before. Dirty.

But we smoked them. Smoked the whole family. Check out my hand-made yarn wig for Jessie's hair. We come to win. Here we are winning Bishop's choice for best costume.

Matt as Woody, Marilyn as Jessie, and Zoe as Bullseye (Woody's Horse)

Our Cruise

2010-11-01T14:12:00.028-04:00

Matt and I went on our very first cruise the week before Halloween. This is the first vacation we have taken since our honeymoon, so it was long overdue. It was a good cruise, but it got off to a bumpy start. First, we had to wait three hours in line at the port because the boat was having "propulsion problems" and they wouldn't let anyone aboard until it was fixed. Well, they didn't get it fixed until about midnight that night, so we spent our first night aboard the ship just partying in the Miami harbor. Originally we were supposed to go to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Islands. But because of the delay getting started, we ended up going to Key West and Jamaica. There were a lot of people from Florida who were really upset about going to Key West because most of them had already been there.

This is us in Key West:

There was this funny little toy shop in Key West that we ran across while shopping. As you can tell from the following, even we are kids at heart:

After that we got chocolate dipped Key Lime pie...Mmm.

Then we went to Jamaica, which we were both so excited about. In preparation our landing, I practiced my Jamaican accent all morning. For example, "Stop de boat mon, we goin to Jamaica, Mon." Suprisingly enough, all of the cliches about Jamaicans are true. They all say "Mon," "No worries, Mon," and "Yeah, Mon." In their local tongue, Pattwa, Jamaicans abbrviate all words and sound like they are speaking gibberish. But they all worked really hard to speak slowly and annunciate for us Americans. Immediately, as soon as we walked off of the boat and onto the dock, we spotted the Cool Runnings boat. "Cool Runnings," the movie, is said to have put Jamaica on the map for tourists, so the locals embraced the stardom and made the Jamaican bobsled ride for any tourists who feel daring enough to take a 3,000 ft. ride in a bobsled through the Jamaican rainforest.

After that we took a death-defying ride on a shuttle bus through the local traffic and toured a 17th century plantation. The plantation is still in operation today and is owned by an English family who periodically visits. In Jamaica there is no free public education, and because most families live in poverty, most children struggle to finish high school but hardly any ever go to college. Because of this the plantation's owner opened the only free public school on the island, which is still in use today.

The plantation exports many things: molasses, coffee, various fruits, and spices. While there I got to try to climb a coconut tree. As you can tell I was minimally successful.

Then a little leather-faced Jamaican shimmied up the tree like a monkey. Just put me to shame.

This is the great house, where you can get the only breeze on the island. This is the view of the island from the back porch of the house.

This is me carrying the mahoghany bowl that native women used to fill with fish and then carry five miles up the mountain to give the lady of the house first pick of the day's catch. If you are wondering if it us heavy, notice I am not smiling.

Overall it was a great cruise. More than anything, we just wanted to spend a little time relaxing. We may have been the only ones on the boat who didn't come off with a sunburn, but we were not the only ones who had fun.

Bread Anyone?

2010-10-14T11:40:00.011-04:00

Apricot Almond Bread

Many of you know that I have sold homemade breads for several years now. It is something that I enjoy doing and it gets me into the holiday spirit. My customers always start asking around October if I am planning on selling my breads again that year and the answer is always a resounding, "Yes!" As long as there are loyal customers, I will always be selling my breads.

So if you would like to order any of my delicious breads for your Christmas dinner or as a gift for a friend, here are the details:

Cranberry Bread—our #1 seller—a tangy bread that mixes the bold flavors of fresh cranberries with orange zest and the nutty flavor of pecans.

Pumpkin Bread—a traditional spiced bread using real pumpkin and the holiday flavors of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon.

Orange Raisin Bread—a tangy bread that mixes real navel oranges with the sweetness of golden raisins and the mildness of walnuts.

Apricot Almond Bread—a sweet and comforting bread that infuses the subtle flavor of fresh almonds with the sweetness of apricots.

Cherry Pistachio Bread—a sweet cake-like bread with a bold pistachio flavor and the sweetness of ruby red maraschino cherries.

All breads come in a large family-size loaf and are $13.00 each. All breads come topped with a holiday bow for easy gift-giving. All orders must be made by November 22nd. Money for all orders must be received by Nov. 30th. Please no post-dated checks. Breads will be delivered on December 17th at 6pm at the Cary Church Building. If you would like to order, please shoot me an email at marilynrood@hotmail.com with the type of bread that you would like. I accept cash or check. Make all checks out to Marilyn Tom.

Enjoy!

Our Daughter the Dolphin

2010-09-17T12:33:00.003-04:00

Zoe is just days away from being three months old now. We sort of skipped month two. During all of this time Zoe has learned about several new things, which seem to be more fun to her than us.

1) Zoe has discovered her hands. She spends entire days just staring at them the way most of us girls would look at a very large diamond. And true to all children, what looks good must taste good. So the hands go into the mouth and come out a drool drenched, clammy mess. I catch Matt holding her at arms length sometimes as he takes her to dry off her sticky hands. It doesn't bother me so much because my mother used to babysit a sticky boy once. No one can or ever will be more sticky or drooly than that child. He was sticky on parts that never even got into his mouth. How is that possible?

2) Zoe has discovered that she can talk. And boy, does she ever test it out. Most children will squeal with delight when they are tickled or while playing with a toy. Not Zoe though. She does it all day. Every five seconds. Even when she is doing nothing. Even when she wakes up--morning, noon, and night. She even does it instead of crying. She has this cry/squeal. I told Matt that I think we have a dolphin for a daughter because she sounds just like a squealing dolphin. It's like Sea World in our house. Last night she woke up at 1 a.m. and unlike most children decided to make her dolphin sound to let us know that she was hungry. I told Matt to just throw some fish at her and come back to bed. He thought I had lost my mind at 1 a.m. He says, "Why fish?" I said, "Dolphins like fish."

Zoe One Month Old

2010-08-18T15:16:00.010-04:00

We're a little behind because in two days, Zoe will actually be two months old. But many of you have had babies, and as you all know, life temporarily stops for a second until you get the hang of caring for the baby and getting everything else accomplished. So I guess it's official: We've gotten the knack of having a baby around.

Four generation photo with Marilyn's family. Grandma Cooper, we want one with you too!

Welcome to Zoe's gun show.

Zoe one month old exaclty.

Zoe's flower headband that she hated.

Overall, I feel pretty good about how smoothly our transition has been since we went from "no kids" to "a kid." Adopting a baby can be somewhat crazy. There really is no adjustment period. One day you have no kids (or if you are like all of our friends, ten years without kids) and then WHAM! You have a baby the next day. Surprise. So you go from a restful night's sleep one day to being up every three hours the next day. It can be a little rough on you. But I’ve only cried once. I think it was while changing a diaper. Don’t be fooled folks—changing a poopie diaper after you have had zero sleep all night is definitely worth crying about. It’s a feeling akin to coming home from vacation and realizing your house has been robbed bare. All you mommies know what I’m talking about. It’s that diaper that finally breaks you.

Matt and I have been formulating several theories about things since having little Zoe.

1) Baby brain is real, even if you adopted a baby. Twice a week I drive the wrong way to a destination that I have been to a thousand times. Several weeks ago I got in the car to meet Matt at work and suddenly found myself at Target. How did I not realize where I was going? I have two words for that: Auto Pilot.

2) Men cannot put a baby asleep on their chests without a pillow. I know it’s discriminatory, but that’s nature. Men just don’t have the pillows. Every baby likes a pillow.

And to prove my case I have Exhibit A: Nana.

Exhibit B: Mommy.

I rest my case.

3) Every child, I don’t care how sweet, has a little devilish side. Check out the freak natural occurrence.

It's a Girl!

2010-06-23T20:22:00.002-04:00

On Sunday June 20th (Father's Day) at 3:23pm our little girl was born. Zoe Makana (which means "gift of life") was 7lbs. 11 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long. She was born, as you can see, with a head full of hair and the most peaceful demeanor. We just love our little meatball!

Waiting

2010-06-16T14:50:00.002-04:00

Waiting sucks...Our baby is due this friday (June 18th) and it seems like the day will never come. Chances are the birth mom will probably go over and then the doctors are planning on inducing her on the 22nd, which is Tuesday. Even that seems so far away. We've been so prepared for this baby to come that now there is nothing to do. No packing of bags, no organizing of the room, no folding of little clothes. Just waiting. I'm sure all of you who have had children feel this way. I can't imagine being big and pregnant and still having to wait. That would seem unbearable to me. Honestly, it's sort of like waiting for Christmas but each day is a year.

2010 Preakness Stakes - Pimlico - Lookin At Lucky

2010-05-17T14:53:00.001-04:00

Calvin Borel lost! He lost on Super Saver! After he won this year's Kentucky Derby on Super Saver, he said that he was going to try to win the The Preakness also on Super Saver. It was part of a hope to be the first Triple Crown winner in thirty-some years. But, remember that little chap at the Kentucky Derby who placed a $100,000 bet on Super Saver to win and made $900,000? Well, he didn't bet on Super Saver. When everyone else was putting their money on Calvin Borel--the golden jockey with the eighth-grade education--he put his money on Lookin' at Lucky. I don't know who that little chap has advising him about the races, but he was right. Borel started out at first for most of the race, but then three other horses edged him out. And while Borel was trying to find his hole to advance again, little Martin Garcia (a Mexican who came to America just five years prior)on Lookin' at Lucky snuck up and stole first place from all of them. It is said that Garcia is so new to racing and America that he had no idea how big winning The Preakness was for him, his career, or for his horse or their owners. He was just glad to win.

Kentucky Derby 2010

2010-05-06T14:25:00.003-04:00

We love the Kentucky Derby! It is perhaps as big, if not bigger than the Super Bowl in our house. If we could watch the derby on a big screen...we would. But why is there no party for the Kentucky Derby? It is said, and we believe it, that the Derby is the "most exciting 2 mins. in sports." You can't get that with the Super Bowl. No there's the Pre-Pre Game Show, the Pre-Game Show, The Game (which takes forever with all of the playbacks), and the Post Game Show, and 11 o'clock highlights on the news. No, with the Derby you get quick results, and you don't need an announcer to tell you what you just saw. There's no flags on the field, no refs with microphones to call penalties, no "unneccessary roughness." In the Derby you run or go home. That's the rule.

This year's Derby was especially exciting. Every year the Derby draws a name of an ordinary person and sends them tickets to the Derby and $100,000 to place on the horse of their choice. This year's winner of the drawing stood to make $5 million if he placed his bet right. He placed it on Super Saver to win. A smart bet considering Super Saver was 7-1 and his jockey was Calvin Borel, winner of 2 previous derbies in four years. It is said that the horse liked a wet track, which was a positive considering that the Derby track was pooling with the earlier downpour.

As it turned out Calvin Borel, riding Super Saver, did just as he did in last year's Kentucky Derby. He rode the inside rail, where most horses wouldn't dare go because of wetness, and eventually found his hole where he would take first place. The lucky man who placed his $100,000 bet on Super Saver to win made $900,000 off of this year's race. Not a bad profit for not having used any of your own money.

For those of you who would like to get the Derby experience here are some stats:

The Millionaire's Row experience: approx. $6,000 person (includes mint juleps, dinner, prime seating, and hob-nobbing with other millionaires)

The Broke-Man's experience: $40 (includes standing at the rail and no seats)

Matt & Marilyn's Kentucky Derby experience: FREE (includes 2011 Kentucky Derby Pre-Race Party with knock-off Mint Juleps, Hats, prime seating in front of the TV, free food, and fake bets)

Baby's Nursery

2010-04-13T10:50:00.006-04:00

My mom and I sewed up the baby's bedding one weekend because I could never seem to decide on any of the bedding sets in the store. Not only that, but all of the good-looking bedding sets were like $150-$200. Like who has the money to buy that when you are expecting a baby? Matt's mom is currently sewing a diaper organizer out of the same fabrics.

Our House

2010-04-13T10:39:00.002-04:00

This is our new house. It looks pretty good when all the trees are in bloom. The petals tend to fall all day long, which looks a lot like snow or confetti.

New Rocking Chair

2010-04-10T11:39:00.003-04:00

The baby's room is like nicotine to me. I used to think that I would be a rational person about decorating it. Just a few odds and ends--nothing too fancy. Let's be practical. But it seems like I find myself adding to it and adding to it, and I'm always saying to Matt,"I'm just going to get this and then I'm done decorating the nursery. I promise." And I do mean it, but the stores....the stores are the ones to blame. They entice you. And not only do they entice but they also seduce. Yes, you need that little teddy bear. Yes, you need those wall decals of flowers. Yes, you need that paint and stenciling around the top of the room. And by the end of the day, you have no other recourse of action than to submit to the will of the shop. Punks.

I have recently been shoping for a rocking chair for the nursery. Nothing fancy, but something economical. Is it just me or is everything inflated in price in baby stores? A glider rocker in a furniture store is $150, but in a baby store it is $300-$400. But I do have to say that those $400 gliders are the Rolls Royce of gliders. It's like a cloud for the bootie. Anyway, I couldn't spend that. So I went on craigslist and looked for rocking chairs. You know, the old ones that your mother rocked you in--the ones with the nice butt-groove that hugs you? And I found a bunch, but then I found an almost brand new one for $30 bucks. $30 bucks! Can you believe that? So Matt and I snaked it before anyone else could. It looks so good. But I feel bad because I feel like getting a deal on Craigslist is like taking advantage of people's ignorance about prices. The mass market has made me feel that if I am not ripped off, then I should feel guilty about what I paid. How messed up is that? Of course my brother--who is the self-proclaimed king of free stuff on Craigslist--would probably say that if we didn't get it free then we didn't take that lady, she took us. Well there you go.

We're Getting a Baby!

2010-04-07T14:11:00.002-04:00

So it's official. The cat's out of the bag now. We are getting a baby. We're getting a newborn baby girl in June. We have known for some time that we were "expecting" (what a funny term for people in our position) and have had to sit on this little nugget of information until the time was right. For the privacy of the birth-parents, that's all we can divulge at the time. But we are super excited and would like to thank all of the wonderful friends and family who helped us to be able to adopt this baby. It has not been an easy journey, but it is still worth it.

New House

2010-03-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

We closed on our new house on Feb. 18th and moved into it just this weekend. It took about a week to fix everything. Matt and I were pleasantly surprised that all of the things that the inspector told us was wrong with the house actually turned out to be little things. An inspector tends to scare you for no reason because he doesn't tell you why something doesn't work or how much it is going to cost you to make it work (i.e. an arm and a leg versus a few bucks), but only that the item is broken. It is really ridiculous that we pay $400 for a man to tell us that something is broken, when previously when renting an apartment we did the inspecting ourselves for free. Amuse me for a second...when one rents an apartment one is always given a sheet on the day of move-in to mark on if anything is broken. You aren't asked why it doesn't work, you don't even know (or care) how much the apartment managers will have to pay to fix it, you just know it is broken. So, in theory if I have been previously inspecting places efficiently up to this point, shouldn't I...A) get a better job than being a teacher and work instead as an inspector and B) call all of the previous apartments I lived in and demand $400 from each one of them for my services? Man, we could make out with $1600 at that rate.

But enough of that daydream...Our house, as you could have guessed, is not a hobbit hole. We don't yet have a picture of it, so we substituted for the time. Matt and I were previously under the delusion...from yon inspector...that our house would take WAY too long to fix and therefore the expected "house party" would certainly be out of the question. But as it turned out a little elbow grease, a couple of handy dads, and a few bucks goes a long way. So it looks like we might throw that house party some time after all. Besides, what girl doesn't want to have a house party when she gets her first house? It's one of the few socially acceptable times to brag, right?

House Hunting

2010-02-06T09:41:00.003-05:00

In November, Matt and I started looking to buy a new house. At first it was really exciting. We would go out every Saturday with a fervor and look at scads of houses. After about the third week, though, it started to get a little old. Here's why:

1) We had really odd realtors.

Our first realtor looked no older than us and came to meet us wearing khakis and some Sperry's. Come on! I am not buying a house from someone my age who still dresses like they just rolled out of class at the local college. Realtor #2 actually met us at the house wearing gym clothes. She also told us that we didn't want to live in that neighborhood because of the fact that it was inhabited by a racial group that was not the same as our race. She thought that I wouldn't "feel safe at night." Discriminating against an area because of race can actually cause you to lose your realtor's license. Realtor #3 looked like a goth chick and actually was complaining on the phone, about her other clients, the whole time we were at the house. It lasted about fifteen minutes and Matt and I actually showed ourselves the house. And when I asked her how much the utilities in the house were, she proceeded to tell me about how much her heating and AC bills were. I was like, What? I asked you what the bills were HERE, Dummy. Realtor #4 also complained on the phone the whole time and ignored us. So finally we got a realtor who was a church member, and that made all the difference.

2) Lots of foreclosures that are junk

There are a lot of foreclosed and "as-is" houses on the market right now. People can't afford their house, much less afford to make repairs on the house that might make it sell better. So you can expect to get a fixer-upper (and there are degrees of fixing-up that you have to do: major vs. minor.) I cannot count how many houses we went into that just needed to be torn down and built again--that's how little there was good about them. We even went in one house that had crime tape in the window. I was like, We're not going to find a chalk outline on the floor are we? There very well could have been an outline on the floor, I don't know, we only got as far as the front entry. As soon as we opened the front door there was a huge stench that hit you in the face and a roach that just walked past us. Walked! Not scurried. You know the place is over-run with roaches when a roach no longer fears the sight of light or humans.

3) Bad timing

There are so many people looking for homes right now that if you see anything good, you need to put in an offer THAT DAY or consider it gone by the next day. We lost two to three houses in bidding wars and one went under contract as soon as we walked out the front door of the place. It sold while we were in it! The market is cut-throat right now.

So finally we were in the right place at the right time with the right realtor and we were able to put an offer on a really awesome house with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It's 1450 sq. feet and has a garage. It's two stories. It's yellow with white shutters. It has a great deck on the back with a built-in gas grill and gas fireplace inside. It also has plantation blinds on most of the windows. We close on Feb. 18th and move-in on Feb. 27th. We're so excited!

Thanksgiving & Christmas

2010-02-06T09:20:00.005-05:00

This year for Thanksgiving we were supposed to go to Matt's grandparents' house in Colorado. I have never met Grandma and Grandpa Cooper before and Matt and I have been married almost four years. But Matt's grandma called off Thanksgiving a month before because she was really sick. So we had Thanksgiving at Matt's parents' house. It's always a toss-up on what kind of turkey we will have at Matt's parents' house. Matt's mom likes a traditional oven-baked turkey, but Matt's brother, Randy, likes a good 'ole Southern fried turkey. Now, many people make the mistake of thinking that just because I have lived in the South the whole of my life, and talk somewhat southern, that my family must make fried turkey and chitlings for every holiday. That's so narrow-minded. But I had not actually ever had a fried turkey until I met Matt's family. So Thanksgiving was good. We played Settler's of Catan with Matt's sister Amy and her two kids Keegan and Easton.

Christmas was also good. We were supposed to go to my mom's house for Christmas this year. But I got sick at the last second. That so sucks. Matt and I were sick together last Christmas and it was possibly the worst Christmas of my life. We actually drove an hour on Christmas Day, last year, just to find an urgent care that would give us some medicine. So my mother decided to bring Christmas to us this year because I was sick. To start a new tradition, she bought all of her kids festive holiday pjs and we all wore our pjs all Christmas Day. We ate lots of food and made Christmas crafts and even watched all the great Christmas classics: Mickey's Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, and National Lampoon's Christmas. Matt would have liked to have added Mr. Kruegger's Christmas to that list, because that is one of his favorites, but he was out-voted by majority rule. We also went to a friend's White Elephant Christmas party and made really awesome gifts to give away. We made labels for our own pancake syrup and barbecue sauce. Check it out:

The first one is of me pretending to be Aunt Jemima and advertising my syrup. The second one is Matt, with BBQ sauce all over his face, advertising his yummy sauce. Just imagine recieving, as a gift, a bottle that had these pictures on it as a label. How funny is that?

Halloween 2009

2010-02-06T08:38:00.007-05:00

Halloween is my most favorite holiday of the year! I think it might even be more fun than Christmas. And I love handing out candy at church to all of the little kids. This year, though, Matt and I didn't really have costumes planned out. But not to fear--my brother, Josh, and his wife, Molly, (who live across the street from us) decided that we should all dress up together. He and I come from a long tradition of dressing up for Halloween. I remember the year that Josh came back from his mission and we were broke and couldn't buy costumes. So he--since he was in a Spanish-speaking mission--went as "Mexican Josh" and I went as the Bride of Frankenstein. So a little face paint and hair color goes a long way for just a few bucks. But this year he wanted to go as the Mystery Gang from Scooby-Doo. So we scrambled to the local thrift shops to scrounge together an outfit, because I don't believe in spending more than $10 an outfit. So we did OK for not having a lot of time to plan, but I think we can do better in 2010.

Fun in the Sun Fundraiser

2009-06-17T14:25:00.010-04:00

On the 13th of June we had our 3rd fundraiser for our adoption through LDS Family Services. Because of the summer weather we decided to have a cookout and a volleyball game. We served hot dogs with the works, baked beans, chips, and cupcakes. The guys seemed to be sold on the event at the mere mention of hot dogs. I had no idea that so many guys loved hot dogs. But the fundraiser went really well. We had a good turn-out of friends, a good volleyball game, and really great weather. Thanks again to all of our generous friends!

Mom, Mollie, and Josh (the numbskull).

One of the children figured out how to make her baby-doll a little safer during the rowdy volleyball game.

And then both mommies decided to rock the baby to sleep.

Then when it was all over with, Peanut drove us home.

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

2009-06-17T14:10:00.007-04:00

Matt and I usually go walking on Sunday afternoons, just to curb the cabin fever. About two Sundays ago we decided to go to Pullen Park and feed the ducks some old french bread that we had in the freezer. It turned out that we were not the only ones who had that same idea--everyone was feeding the ducks! Then some little children came over and asked if they could feed the ducks too, so Matt and I split our bread with them. A couple of the smaller children just decided to eat the bread. Man, I hope they're still living. Then we saw a bride taking her bridal portraits on the kiddie train that runs around the park. It was pretty funny. This is a cool Blue Heron that kept circling the pond. I think all the geese kept scaring him away.

Look at all the cute little babies!

Making Cakes

2009-06-17T14:02:00.003-04:00

In May I went down to my mom's house for a week. She wanted me to learn how to make cakes--a skill that I am still uncertain that I can master. I am blessed with shaky hands. But I decided to give it a try. We never actually got to the cake decorating, but rather stuck with learning to make sugar flowers to put on the cakes. First we made daisies and then we made tulips with leaves. They are really hard to make without breaking them!

3rd Anniversary

2009-06-17T13:54:00.003-04:00

So it's a little late, but Matt and I celebrated our 3rd Anniverary May 20th. Matt surprised me by sending me to get a massage at a local spa in town. Then that evening we went out to our traditional anniversary restaurant--Red Lobster. Matt thinks it's cool to keep up the tradition, and I dig seafood--so it works. Overall it's been a great three years. We're still madly in love. We still find each other really, really hot. And we still laugh together.

Josh & Mollie's Wedding

2009-05-06T11:10:00.002-04:00

In February, my brother Josh married Mollie, whom we all adore. She seems to fit in the family just great. Their wedding day, however, turned out to me a messy one. It rained all day, and got worse as the evening went on. But rain or shine, the bride and groom looked wonderful and it turned out to be a great event.

Dad as the flower girl--Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.

Josh & Mollie had two receptions; by the end of each reception everyone was wearing their slippers for comfort. This is mom doing the happy-feet dance because her feet feel so good, finally.

Myranda, minus her shoes, seemed to be ok with the fact that not one, not two, but three of her toes were peeking through a huge hole in her stockings. You just can't take her anywhere.

Josh and Mollie decided to join the other misfits in our family by performing a "train wreck in the tunnel." Very classy.

Mom and I are modeling table-top decorations. I feel like one of those Las Vegas showgirls with huge plumage on their heads. A possible career change? Not likely.

Then Josh and his friend Mike decided they wanted to be Las Vegas showgirls, too. Don't quit your day-jobs, guys.

Snow

2009-03-02T14:52:00.004-05:00

In January it snowed 6 inches at our apartment. That's probably the most that it has snowed here in a very long time. We usually get a couple of good dustings, but nothing like this. Matt was able to get off of work early, so we decided to go out and try to build a snow man. For some reason the snow, although it stuck to everything else, would not accumulate and stick into a ball. So our snowman is very small and sad-looking. With his sweet-gum balls for eyes, off-set, he looks a tad deranged, but still cute.

New Year's Eve

2009-03-02T14:20:00.006-05:00

This year we spent New Year's Eve at the home of our friends Ben & Liisi. It consisted of the normal activities: playing games, gorging on junk food, and laughing it up. Then some more of our friends brought a pinata. Evidently they bust a pinata every New Year's Eve, so we commenced to figuring out how to put up this pinata inside the house without busting Ben and Liisi's new big screen TV. The boys tied it to a broom, and one person held the broom while someone whacked the pinata. The fun part was that the boys would move the broom while you were blind-folded, so you spent half of the time whacking air. But it was pretty fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

Originally I was given a golf club to hit the pinata. But I think everyone changed their minds when I almost took Matt out while he was holding the pinata.

Christmas at Matt's Parent's House

2009-02-20T11:45:00.011-05:00

Every year Matt and I trade off having Christmas with my folks or with his folks. 2008 was the year at Matt's parent's house and boy was he excited! All of his sibilings were coming home for Christmas.

This year Matt and I were sick for most Christmas. We even drove an hour to find an open Urgent Care on Christmas Day so that we could get some medicine for our really, really bad colds. Matt had to get up really early the day after Christmas to build his new lego. I usually give him a new lego every year. This year he got a huge truck with a crane on it. So, regardless of how sick he was, he got up and put it together early so that we could use the table for a very large family dinner that evening.

Matt helping his nephew Easton put together his new Star Wars legos.

During the holiday week, Matt's parents invited the Vances and their children to a big dinner. Afterwards, we had a Wii Tournament upstairs. This is Matt's brothers Jeff and Randy playing the Star Wars Light-Saber game.

Jeff's wife Libby kicking Brandon Vance's butt on the Wii.

Me and Sister Vance playing the Wii. I don't think either one of us has ever played the Wii, and I am definitely not used to having to move around so much. At first I was winning, but then I got Wii-arm, and then Sister Vance kicked my bum in the last round. Sure, kick'em when their down.

Christmas 2008

2009-02-20T11:34:00.007-05:00

Christmas 2008 started out with Matt and I agreeing to be Mary and Joseph in the Stake's annual Nativity display. This is an even that our church hosts for the community in which people can come and view nativity displays that have been collected from around the world. I believe we had very close to 400 displays this year.

So I know that we look all cute and everything, but those outfits were so hot! Notice how rosy my cheeks are! My outfit was made out of flannel and Matt's was made out some non-breatheable polyester. The poor wise men, who had been posing for nearly two hours, were sweating beads underneath their turbans. But overall, it was a fun thing. I told Matt that I wanted to sign up for the live nativity because it reminded me of the live nativities that I used to have to be a part of when I was a young child. They always made me be Mary, though I don't believe Mary ever had red hair, and I always thought it added something to the holiday season. It seemed to always make me take a closer look at Mary's character and what she might have been thinking at the time of the Savior's birth.

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-02-20T11:29:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving at my house with (left to right) Matt, Mom, Mollie (Josh's fiancee'), Dallen, Josh, and Victoria. Notice that already we are baking bread for the fundraiser.

Fundraisers

2009-02-19T19:50:00.010-05:00

In November, Matt and I started the first of two fundraisers for our adoption. Our first fundraiser was a Movie Night at our house and we showed the movie "Martian Child,"which is about adoption, and served root beer floats. It was very successful. Eighteen people showed up. It was standing room only before the end of the night.

Matt and I also took advantage of the holiday season and decided to make Cranberry Nut bread to sell for the Christmas season. We spent the Thanksgiving weekend at my mother's house making loaves to sell to her co-workers. Lucky for us, the Cranberry Bread recipe has never failed and we sold all of the loaves we made.

Halloween 2008

2009-02-19T19:36:00.004-05:00

Every year Matt and I go through the diliberation of what to wear for Halloween. Mostly I worry about it, since Halloween is probably more fun than Christmas to me. But this year we decided to go as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story II, since one of my former students said I sort of looked like Jessie.

My mother has made all of my costumes since I was in high school, so she and I rounded up the necessary fabrics, hit the local thrift shops, and threw together two very cost effective costumes. I think we spent $20 on both costumes together.

But the really cool thing is that we moved into a new apartment on Oct. 25th and the apartment complex had a Halloween party. The prize for best costume was $100 off next month's rent. So I mulled it over in my mind for a bit. I thought hanging out with my neighbors at an apartment complex party was lame, but $100 is nothing to joke about. So I talked Matt into going for an hour just to win the contest. No adults today spend money on costumes, and probably not many people would show up, so I guessed that we would win by default. As it turned out, it wasn't a totally bad plan. We did win; our competition was the Ninja Boys, the Pink Lady, and Camouflage Kid. So we got $100 off of our rent and we just moved in.

Our Adoption is Approved!

2008-11-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

On Monday Nov. 17th Matt & I finally got approved for our adoption. So we could get a child at any day! We're so excited!

We are also having our first fundraiser on Nov. 22nd. We're having a movie night and showing a movie about adoption. We invited a lot of people because we thought that perhaps half of those invited would actually show up. As it turns out about 2/3rds of our invited list is going to be showing up to our apartment. It's going to be a totally packed party! We have such generous friends.

NC State Fair

2008-11-09T17:58:00.002-05:00

Because Matt works with the DOT, and the DOT helps out the State Fair every year, the DOT gave us free tickets to the Fair. So we decided to do a Date Night to the State Fair and not ride rides, but instead check out the local agricultural venues. We saw cows, goats, chickens, roosters, geese, and ducks. I touched a cow, and even held a baby duck!

Then we went to see who won the awards for "The Largest Produce." I personally love the 300 lb. pumpkin, and the huge watermelon that Matt found. I bet it wasn't seedless.

Then we found a pineapple bush! That proves the common misconception that pineapples grow on trees. So when someone says, "I thought pineapples grew on trees," please slap them and show them this picture. Yes sir, we are educating America one fruit at a time.

Wii

2008-11-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

Our good friends, Matt & Teri, bought this house and this is me playing on the Wii. I am down-hill skiing. I am just about to make the big jump at the end. The sad thing is that the little boy standing beside me in the picture did better on his jump than I did.

4 Things About Me

2008-08-22T16:44:00.000-04:00

4 random things I love about my husband:

He's very gentle and genuine.
He's wicked hot.
He washes the dishes if I cook dinner.
He would rather spend time with me than hangout with the boys after work.

4 jobs I've had:

Sales person at a Christian bookstore
Customer Service Rep at a under-staffed department store
Babysitter
High School English teacher

4 movies I have watched more than ten times:

The Princess Bride
Donovan's Reef
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Aladdin

4 TV shows I watch:

Andy Griffith Show
The Price is Right
Law & Order SVU
Simpsons

4 places I have been:

Maui, HI
Salt Lake, UT
Minneapolis, MN
Wilmington, NC

4 people who email me regularly:

Joe Daines (our adoption case worker)
Nobody. I tend to call people more now.

4 of my favorite foods:

Sushi
Barbecue Ribs
Shrimp
Lasagna

4 places I would like to visit:

Venice or Florence, Italy
Ireland
Paris
Japan

4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year:

Finally getting our adoption papers approved!Woo-hoo!
Adopting our first baby
Celebrating our next anniversary
Moving into a new apartment

Jeff's & Libby's Wedding

2008-08-20T15:16:00.000-04:00

Matthew and I were glad to have an excuse to use his vacation days for something other than sitting around the house and staring at each other. This time we were able to use his vacation time to go to Utah to see his older brother Jeff get married to Libby Pennington. On the first day we got into Salt Lake we were treated to lunch at Bandit's restaurant--a old west, cowboy joint--that serves the very finest Tri-tip steak sandwhiches. I personally have never even heard about Tri-tip steak, but it gets two thumbs up from this food nut. I'll try anything once.
Next we chose to shoot some pictures around Park City, home of the Olympic Games of 2002.

The family dinner on Thursday evening was a lot of fun. There are still a few of the Matt's relatives that I have not met. So I was able to meet Cherise & Jimmy (and their children Pomai, Halei, & Jimmy, Jr.), Matt's cousins who once helped run the famous Bamboo Hut family restaurant. Since the closing of the Bamboo Hut, Cherise now caters using the old Polynesian recipies. She catered the family dinner at a nearby park. We had seafood wantons, chicken long rice, poki (raw cubed tuna marinated in soy sauce and onions) ribs and rice. This will have been my 4th or 5th event where polynesian food has been served, and I never can seem to get enough. It always seems to surprise me how similar Polynesians are to Southerners. Like Southerners, Polynesians are great judges of taste. They enjoy sitting down to a great meal of soul food and laughing with family. Afterward, Libby's family and our family played horse shoes & volleyball. To finish the night, we all headed to the Luge in Park City for a wild and wicked mile-long ride down the luge tube.
On the day of the wedding, Matt & I, Linda, and Randy had to wait while Jeff & Libby were inside the temple. We took the time to tour the grounds a bit and take some family photos. When Libby & Jeff came out we proceeded to make our way around the temple grounds for pictures. Matt & I got married in a very small temple, so we didn't have to enter a "rotation line" of brides just to get pictures. It was just us. But on the day that Jeff and Libby got married there were 53 weddings.

This is our new sister-in-law Libby with Linda, Randy, Sr., and Jeff. Overall, it was a very pretty and touching wedding and we are very excited to have Libby in our family.

4th of July

2008-07-17T18:38:00.001-04:00

Matt and I have a standing tradition of spending the 4th of July with his parents. His father was a major in the marine corp, so his family is very patriotic. Every year we drive onto the local marine base for the huge fireworks display that the base puts on. Usually it consists of the Marine Corps Band playing the 1812 Overture and shooting off huge cannons in the middle of it. This year the USO brought LeeAnn Womack and she performed for the soldiers and their families. It was pretty cool, but I don't care so much for country music. Mostly Matt and I enjoyed being with his sister Sarah, brother Randy, niece Keegan, and nephew Easton.

Sidewalk chalk

2008-07-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

The problem with competing with children is that sooner or later you have to perform much less than your abilities--i.e. "dumb-down" your abilities--in order to make the child feel successful and give them a stronger sense of self. Well, so much for self. My mother--called "Grammy" by the grandchildren--watched as my niece and nephew drew their own versions of ice cream cones and what-nots on the sidewalk outside my house, gently encouraging them. She said very little about my feverish investments in my chalk drawings, but I was not offended.

For the record, I love chalk drawing. In high school and college I really loved art--not because I felt I had any true Picassoesque talent or anything, but because it was fun. So I totally dig some bonding with the kids when it is chalk time.

But one by one, I started noticing the kids getting bored with the sidewalk chalk. Dallen made an awesome race car--very realistic with its sleek design and auto-detailing. And Victoria made an ice cream cone that ...well, my mother and I say that the side-by-side scoops of ice cream look somewhat more like an anatomy drawing. Overall, they made impressive drawings but they kept saying, "Mine is not as good." Well, little did I know that in my feverish love for chalk-drawing, I had deflated their little egos with MY ice cream cone, MY pumpkin, MY watermelon. "But yours is so good. You're such great artists," my mother would say. But the kids weren't buying it. One by one they went inside. Outside, and still drawing, I told my mother, "I didn't mean for them to go inside. Why doesn't anyone like drawing with me? I'm always by myself by the end." My mother, so wise in her ways, leaned down to me and looks me in the eye and says, "Well, you are the true artist in the bunch." It was meant as a compliment, but I knew that Dallen and Victoria thought there was no point in playing if the outcome was already rigged. I had screwed up. I had not let them win. I had not drawn the stick man riding the stick bicycle, just to make them feel better. No, I had gone full talent, whipped out the monochromatic color wheel on them and left their race car and ice cream cone in the chalk dust. Way to go, winner.

Audra

2008-05-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

On Friday April 18th, 2008 Audra Thompson, my sister, died in Minneapolis, MN. She died most unexpectedly. Her service was held on April 26th at 2pm at Pinelawn Cemetery in Kinston, NC.

She leaves behind one son, Dillan Thompson, 8, of New Richmond, WI. She leaves also behind her mother Deborah, father Bruce, sisters Myranda and Marilyn, and brother Josh.

She will be forever loved.

Myrtle Beach

2008-05-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

The week of May 14th, my mother-in-law and I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a "Girl's Week." My in-laws have time-shares with Marriott hotels around the world.

In Myrtle Beach we stayed at the Marriott Ocean Watch Resort located next to the exclusive Ocean Club. The Marriott was so luxurious with six pools and two hot tubs. Unfortunately it was 60 degrees for most of the week, so everyone crowded in the hot tubs because it was too cold to go swimming.

While in Myrtle Beach Linda and I visited the famous Ripley's Aquarium, which featured saw-nosed sharks, paranas, iguanas, rays, and other ocean life.

2008-04-08T19:50:00.000-04:00

This is me on the George Washington Bridge approxiamately 400 feet above the roadway and 600 feet above the water. The George Washington Bridge or GWB spans over the Hudson River and joins New York and New Jersey. I went there with 15 other students from NC State University on a special trip to tour of the bridge. The GWB is the worlds only 14 lane suspension bridge carrying 8 lanes on the top deck and 6 more on the bottom. It's one of the worlds most busiest bridges and it proudly flies the largest American Flag with stripes approximately 5 feet wide and stars measuring about 4 feet in diameter.

New Digital Camera

2008-04-08T14:43:00.000-04:00

Check out our new digital camera! Bam! This is us trying to try out all of the new features one night. Technology--its so tricky. I just figured out five minutes ago how to upload the pictures onto our computer. Whatever happened to film?

Easter

2008-03-28T18:37:00.001-04:00

Matthew and I spent Easter weekend in Jacksonville, NC with his parents, Linda and Randy and oldest brother, Randy, Jr. On Good Friday Linda and I went to the movies to watch Horton Hears A Who with some of her special education colleagues from the base-school at Camp Lejeune. All of the teachers decided that it would be fun to take some of the special ed kids to the movies. They seemed to really enjoy the night out and all of the popcorn and candy they could eat!

Meanwhile, Matt and Randy, Sr. went to Virginia to a business meeting together and didn't get back until 4 am.

On Saturday, Matt, Randy, Sr., and I went to the commissary on base to pick up all of the food for the Easter Sunday meal. We also picked up steaks to grill that night--mmm! I think Matt and I only eat steak at his parents house, and I've been begging for a grill so we can grill steaks, too. Imagine that--a girl wanting a grill. But man, they were so juicy.

Linda and I went later and got manicures and pedicures. Linda is a very classy woman who always has perfectly manicured nails. I would love for her class to rub off on me, but alas I am a hopeless cause--I merely get the occasional pedicure, and only when I am with her. But it was great fun.

Sunday dinner was great. We all sat down together after church for the traditional Easter dinner of ham, potatoes, fruit salad, crescent rolls, and salad. We had the missionaries from church eating with us, so that added a nice religious tone to the meal. Overall it was a great day to be with family and remember the great sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us.