muncha bruncha

on our way to grandma's house!

every year on the saturday before easter my mother-in-law prepares a fabulous easter brunch. included this year was egg strata, various german meats and cheeses, this really great german ham salad which i'm not even going to try to spell, nice crusty bread, coffee cake, various pastries, easter eggs, juice, and hot drinks. as always, it was wonderfully delicious. yummm... thinking about it now is making my mouth water.

after brunch we had half our saturday left, and a beautiful sunny day. so, we did what every sane person in our area does when the sun is out, took off to a park.

it's always good to find a park with jetty safe toys to play on- we love this one in bellevue.

lucy told me recently that she doesn't like the sun, but likes the moon. and on a bright sunny day, in a very whiny kind of way said, "mom it's too sunny! my eyes hurt! i need my sunglasses". another time when she couldn't find her sunglasses, she opted for a stocking cap pulled all the way over her face. my poor raised in pacific northwest kids! despite all this, she is very excited to get at any park, and will spend the first little while literally just running in circles.

also at the park was a great looking walking trail. we decided to go and explore where this lead off to. we found our way to kelsey creek farm and park. not only do they have beautiful grounds with a great winding creek that john grew up sailing little homemade boats down, but they have a livestock area where you can get up close and personal with various farm animals.

technically it was already closed... but we were able to see a few animals. the kids were thrilled anyway. quack quack! oink! oink! squawk! we'll have to go back when the rest of the animals are out

as an added benefit- the kids were exhausted! they both passed out in the car. so, john and i sat in a taco bell parking lot, eating burritos, and watching a bunch of crazy, in a good way, people walking down the street dressed up for some sort of gaming/comic/sci-fi convention. we couldn't figure out exactly what the convention could have been for since we saw pirates, magicians (the prestige style), a french maid, and a whole assortment of cape wearing goth inspired what not. we should have gotten some pictures there!

hey! wait a minute, that's not one of ours!

it's all about me!

so, i've been 'tagged' by a couple friends to share a bit about myself. i've been thinking about what to write, but every time i've sat down recently my mind goes mushy. probably has something to do with lack of sleep (starting two weeks ago everyone in the family has been sick at least once; john and i twice!) and the lingering stomach yuckiness, before mentioned.
well, here goes.

10 years ago i was:
today, 10 years ago, i was flying back to provo from the washington d.c. area where i had been visiting a friend. we decided once again that our relationship would never work, and i was feeling pretty miserable. my sister got engaged the same weekend, i really was thrilled for her, but it took a bit of an effort to be positive for a little while. (i still had some dating pitfalls to go through, but i'd meet john in roughly 1 year, 5 months, and 2 days, and we'd start dating a week later- ahhh romance). i was finishing up details on my final show for my b.f.a. in ceramic sculpture and preparing to start teaching sculpture at pleasant grove high school in the fall. i had a heck of a good time in provo with awesome friends whom i still cherish very much.

5 things on my to do list today:
- this post
- wash all the wet towels piled in the bathtub from the toilet overflowing last night- lucy was experimenting with toilet paper use...
-get the last christmas box to the garage.
-aerobics- hey i already did that! yipee!
-take a decent picture of our family for my mom for my grandmother- i meant to do it yesterday while we were in our church clothes... but i forgot to tell john and he was in his "soft" pants after church quicker than i could get the key out of the door. here is a sample of why we need a new one... these are the best we have of the four of us from the last six months.

(this one is actually 2 photos photoshopped together)

5 things i would do if i were a billionaire:
-be debt free!!! (really that would be enough to make me happy)
-buy a very expensive designer purse. maybe this one by dolce & gabbana:

- build our dream home, which i have already designed. though if i was a billionaire we might add a little square footage... it would be quite modern and include a rooftop art studio for me, a play room with a built in two level playhouse which could also be used as tiered seating for watching movies, a detached rod shop for john to work on his cars, a giant 2nd level open living space with a beautiful kitchen (maybe lime green) and a library, and a big central staircase with a huge hanging art piece in the middle. like this one by noah li-leger:

-go on an extended art history tour of europe.
-invest, save, and do all the other practical stuff.

5 jobs i've had:
first of all, i was working a regular paying job from the time i was 13 1/2, folding newspapers for my brother's paper route, all through high school and college, until i went on maternity leave when i was pregnant with lucy. now i get to do the best job i've ever had, taking care of my kids. i love being a mom.

here are a few of the more random jobs i have had and what i learned:
-lifeguard at a water park; after 3 months in the sun i can get a slight tan line.
-1 hour photo developer; yes, they do look.
-mail sorter for bulk mail leaving byu; in my prime i could shoot a rubber band over 12 feet and make it hook onto a thumbtack on the wall, and there's nothing like country music when doing manual labor.
-d.i. evening assistant supervisor; never kiss a co-worker.
-carving a 40ft styrofoam mountain at thanksgiving point; you can get a job doing anything.

3 bad habits:
-addiction to spider solitaire
-finishing off my kids unfinished meals, eating too much.
-not sending out thank you cards in a timely fashion.
(whew! good thing i only had to list 3!)

5 things most people don't know about me:
-as a kid i didn't like chocolate cake, and up until a few years ago i would only eat it if i had to . i fully love and appreciate it now, especially costco's all-amercian chocolate cake. delicious.
-i have to bribe myself to get my house clean. and when that doesn't work i purposely invite people over to force myself to clean.
-i read over my past posts, too frequently, and cringe at my grammatical errors.
-recently i rented across the universe and watched it 5 times in 6 days.
-even though my house is small and crowded, i really like my stuff. in fact i really love stuff in general. i think it's partly why i enjoy shopping so much. even if i don't buy anything, it's like going to museums of stuff. i love chairs (john has made me promise to not bring anymore home);

(this is an old rocking chair that i recovered)

pretty books, check out this website, www.book-by-its-cover.com, the library has been a lifesaver for me;
fabric, yikes- just ask bethany;

(my friend onica gave me this awesome print, i can't decide what to do with it)

cool funky toys, i recently found this great wood puzzle at a thrift store for a buck, i love a good deal;
purses, i don't even know how many i own, and right now i really want an andy warhol printed tote bag i saw at marshalls;

and, i could go on and on.

well, there, that's a lot about me. i should have john do a post about him.. he doesn't like to talk about himself as much as i like to talk about myself though. cheri and kalie are the only ones i know who haven't been tagged... so, go at it girls, if you're up to it!