I looked out the window...

The Utah mountains received their first dusting of snow last night.

Inside

Living room (we have no furniture for this room).



Laundry room.



Kitchen (before being unpacked).



Family room.


And you haven't seen the bedrooms or the basement yet.

I feel younger

I turned 29 today.

Already Seen Casino Royale?

Nothing on the New Releases racks interesting you? Try these instead:


North and South
Kind of Pride & Prejudice-y. Two fantastic leading male characters and a superb heroine.

Lorna Doone - very Robin Hood Prince of Theives.

The House of Elliot (British tv series) - set in England in the 1920s, two very deprived and sheltered sisters loose their domineering father and set out to become fashion designers.

Holiday- a fantastic Cary Grant/ Katherine Hepburn romantic comedy. Great dialogue. I'd never heard of this one.

Alice Adams- my favorite Katherine Hepburn show.

Arrested Development (American tv series) - only lasted three seasons, but every episode had me laughing outloud. All about an extremely disfunctional family.

The Dutchess of Duke Street (British tv series) - follows a woman from scullery maid to chef to king's consort to hotel owner to caterer.

They Call Me Trinity - slapstick Western.

Strangers on a Train- an Alfred Hitchcock gem.
The Lady Vanishes - older Hitchcock gem. Don't let the terrible model set at the beginning keep you from continuing on.

Daniel Deronda - a love triangle and a secret past. Brought to you by Masterpiece Theatre.

House on Haunted Hill - perfect for Halloween. A Vincent Price original. You'll laugh at the cheesy effects.

Born Yesterday (1950) - Gotta love William Holden. He's hired to educate and polish a ditzy blonde who proves her metal.

Miss Marple Mysteries: A Murder is Announced - possibly my favorite film of the series. You will suspect every character!

Lady Jane - see Wesley from Princess Bride in another great princely role.

Possibly my favorite room in the house

I say, "Hey! What's goin' on?"

I woke up with that song in my head this morning.
Well, I haven't blogged in nearly a week. A lot has been happening since then. Let's see if I can remember what. Jonah is (army) crawling like a champ now. He likes to go towards anything new. His toys are no longer of interest to him. He likes cords (yipes!), shoes (yuck!), cats (they are too fast for him still), pens, markers, paper, cassettes, dvd cases, oh pretty much anything. Sometimes he will find on teeny tiny something (like a piece of rice) on the floor and put his whole attention into it. He can go from sitting to crawling on his own, but not vice versa yet.
Jonah has not slept thru the night in over a week now. Last night he woke up fussing at 10, 11, and 1. I didn't go into him and it only lasted a couple minutes. However at 3:50 he woke up again. I let him cry for 30 minutes then gave in and went in, changed him, and fed him. It actually was better than the night before.
Thursday we went in to have Jonah's head casted in plaster strips so they can make his helmet. He did awesome at the appointment and I have high hopes that he'll adjust to the helmet quickly when he gets it in two weeks.
This week my 19 yr. old brother, Mark, agreed to go to San Francisco with us as my companion. This way I'll have someone fun to hang out with while Brandon is in classes all day. Hooray!
Friday morning Jonah's first tooth came thru! You can't even see it yet, but you can't believe how excited I got after feeling those cute, little, hard bumps.
Friday evening we got a babysitter for the first time in forever and went to watch my bro-in-law coach one of his high school football games. It rained hard!! He beat the opposition but it was a close, exciting game; good date.
Saturday we left Jonah with Grammy Linda for a couple hours while we went to the Ron Paul Constitutional Rally at the historic Union Station at the Gateway in Salt Lake City.

He is a good speaker with a lot of substance. I really hope people will start paying more attention to his ideas of going back to the original framework of the constitution, listening to the advice of the founding fathers, and shrinking the federal government.
Saturday evening Linda cooked me dinner for my birthday (they are leaving for Spain on my actual b-day). The roasted tomatoes fresh from a garden were delish. She got me a delectible rasperry cake from a bakery in Midway. We had a good time hanging out. They also gave me a puzzle of Heber, a Willow Tree figurine, and money to put towards furniture for our new place.
Sunday I got to go to all three hours of church. I like my ward; very friendly. Then my next door neighbor, whose husband we met yesterday, came by to invite us to dinner on Saturday (which we can't go to). She stayed and chatted for a bit and I'm so glad to have a sweet neighbor to be friends with. I made dhal bhat (my favorite food) for dinner. It was a great day yesterday!

Jonah This Week

Jonah tries getting into his toybox


He just keeps getting cuter and cuter everyday and there seems to be no stopping it.


Look at that concentration


Helping unpack

Questions for Experienced Mothers

Jonah is about to grow out of his infant car carrier seat. Anybody have a recomendation for the next one?

I'm traveling to San Francisco with Jonah in less than three weeks and traveling to Mexico with him in November. Any travel tips on vacationing with a 8 mos. old and a 10 mos. old? How do I keep him entertained and safe in Cabo San Lucas? Any tips for public transportation in SF? Please leave your comments!

I've got to post video of him army crawling. He is great!

Our house

...is a very, very, very fine house.
I seriously can't tell you how in love I am with our new house. Spent yesterday moving in and doing some unpacking. The kitchen is almost settled. I LOVE having a pantry and plenty of space. I also love the spice rack Brandon's mom gave me awhile back but I never used until now, very cool.
Who designs doorways n' stuff that can't fit furniture thru?!! Only our loveseat fits in the basement and only barely. We will never get our couch in there! Who wants to have a tiny sofa in a huge, party-like basement. What should we do?
We have four sitting areas in this house and only one set of sofas. It's going to be pretty naked in here for awhile. We have no dresser (but thankfully a huge walk-in closet with shelving), no kitchen table or chairs, etc. Currently we have our card table and folding chairs set up. I know what kitchen set I want, it's just a matter of affording it...
Linda gave us a mirror, some end tables, a couple lamps, etc. Thank you Alan and Linda!
Jonah loves his room, the ceiling fans, the newness of it all. The cats love it. Brandon is going to love using the jetted tub in our bathroom.
Lauren, I may need your help with decorating. Anyone else want to come up and consult? I want this book and this book to help me decorate our kitchen and dining room area. I love the color of teal blue paint in the downstairs bathroom. I love the minty green beadboard in Jonah's room. I love the gas fireplace in the front room. I love having a laundry room. I like the stamped cement wetbar in the basement and all the good lighting.
I am stealing internet from a neighbor (hehehe), ours won't be up until next week.
Come and visit!

Ron Paul for President

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.


Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008
www.RonPaul2008.com
Restore the Republic

Important Pictures

As of Sunday, Jonah is officially crawling! He is so intent on getting the toys he wants and so serious while he examines them before biting them.


Jonah now smiles whenever he sees me looking at the camera. What a cheese! He also likes to dump all the toys out of his toy box and play in them.



Jonah and I in matching red at the craniofacial doctor's office yesterday (it was a LONG wait). He is getting a plastic helmet in a couple weeks :( to remold his head into a nice round shape like his dad.



Our new house!!

Celebrity Crushes

These guys make my heart go pitty-pat but my husband, Brandon, still tops them all.


Scott Cohen

Sendhil Ramamurthy

Ioan Gruffudd

Michael Rosenbaum

Wentworth Miller

Paul Newman

Nudity

Made you look!
Just thought I'd make a quick comment to those comments about the skinny dipping (since I don't reply to comments in my own comments). Skinny dipping with the girls at Lake Powell has been a tradition since 1996, the first year I went (and maybe a couple years before?). It is girls-only and we go in the dark, far from anyone else. I love it. But I also like being nude, alone. In fact, I'm naked right now. Just kidding.

More important news:

Today is Brandon's first day on the job with Dr. F. I believe Dr. F said he interviewed six other dentists for the position. Way to go B!! He will be working this job in Heber three days a week and still working two half-days a week in SLC.

We found a house! We are just renting, but the place is huge and beautiful and inexpensive. We move in on Saturday.

Lake Powell

After a four year hiatus, Brandon and I returned to Alan's annual Lake Powell vacation. We spent three glorious days here and had a great time.


Babies like bubbles and dogs.



Our view



Some of the gang: Kathy, Alex, Bryson, Arty, Vanessa, and Sam. Only two of these people didn't used to live in a Polygamist colony (and one is the baby).



Jonah and "cousin" Bryson.



Jonah with his J. Grandparents.



After knocking Brandon off the float:)



Post skinny dipping. Linda, Me, Vanessa, Katie.