daniel + julie + leila

january goals

2012-01-06T13:34:00.003-07:00

In an effort to actually accomplish some of my goals for 2012, I feel like I need to break them down into monthly chunks. Here are my January goals:

1. Spiritual.
- Read the Book of Mormon each day to keep up with Sunday School lessons. Stretch goal: Read through 2nd Nephi.
- Put making appointments for Visiting Teaching on my calendar, sometime before the 10th. Try to complete visits before the 25th.
- Find my journal.

2. Mental.
- Find a reading list that interests me and check out one of the books.
- Try to blog each day, but at least a few times per week.
- Blog about past events through June 2011.

3. Physical.
- Get ready for bed by 10pm. Relax until going to sleep. Lights out by 11pm.
- Try exercising with Leila.
- Take time for myself by choosing something I have been wanting to do for myself and start the project.

4. Parenting/Family
- Plan "craft" projects with Leila at least a couple of times per week. Coloring books, gluing, pipe cleaners, play doh, cut out cookies, etc.
- Plan at least 3 meals per week (leftovers not included).
- Spend 5 minutes maintaining kitchen each evening.

taken over by toys

2012-01-04T13:14:00.001-07:00

Something that's been stressing me out a lot over the last 6 months (at least) is constant frustration with Leila's toys being out all the time. We had a couple of cube ottomans that open up, and they worked great for toy storage up until Leila turned 2. Unfortunately, though, they don't stay open on their own and now that she can open them without our help I didn't really want her sticking her head in there and them shutting on her. She's had a few pinched fingers from them slamming shut (miraculously it didn't seem to bother her!) and that was about the time when I stopped putting her toys away. My reasoning was, if the toys she wanted to play with were already out, she wouldn't need to go back into the storage ottomans! So we just had a giant pile of toys in the corner of our living room and the perpetual problem was keeping them from spreading all over the house.

Enter Christmas.

Leila got more toys, and I wasn't sure what to do. We shopped around for bookshelves that we could put baskets on for organizing toys, but they were either too expensive, too bulky (we do have another move coming up in 6 months...) or too cheap looking. But then we remembered we have wire shelves that have not been set up here yet - certainly adequate for our needs right now and then we don't have to buy more stuff to move. Hooray! I'm pretty pleased with the result:

We still need to figure out how to keep the small things together, but it's about a million times better than it was before. Maybe in our next home we will be able to do something a little nicer. But it's at least a good solution for now.

brownies

2012-01-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

new years

2012-01-02T10:25:00.002-07:00

New Years was not very exciting for us. Daniel had to work the next day (had to get up around 6:30 or 7) so we swore we wouldn't stay up until midnight. But then we watched Secretariat (awesome movie!) and we were only about 45 minutes away from midnight, so we just stayed up. We really regretted that decision when Daniel's alarm went off the next morning!

Leila is so cute when she is sleeping these days. I'm sure she has been cute while she's sleeping her whole life, but we've been too scared to check on her until recently. Now she doesn't even stir when we go in her room and it's one of my favorite things about going to bed.

My mom made her a Dora the Explorer pillowcase for Christmas and she really loves it! Dora is probably her favorite show (Mickey Mouse anything, and most Disney princesses come second) so she loves this pillowcase!

2012 goals

2012-01-01T14:44:00.002-07:00

In 2010 I wrote out goals for myself but I really haven't done it since then. I've found life to be lacking in a lot of ways (despite many blessings and reasons why I should feel a sense of fulfillment) and I think one of the biggest reasons is that there hasn't been a measurable degree of success in any areas in my life! Sure, I've had successes and triumphs and moments when I have felt proud. But there really hasn't been any way to quantify them and I think that's what I have been lacking.

So, in order to achieve a sense of pride in my accomplishments, I have some goals for 2012 that I'd like to outline here. Because I like to make work for myself (and establish a sense of accountability), I plan to write a bit about each of these at the beginning of each month.

1. Spiritual.
- Complete reading the Book of Mormon at least once this year.
- Write in my personal journal at least once per week.
- Become proficient in Visiting Teaching each month this year.

2. Mental.
- Read at least one book per month.
- Catch up and keep up with blog posts.
- Regain proficiency at Adobe software (specifically Photoshop and Illustrator).

3. Physical.
- Take care of myself by eating better and maintaining a more healthy sleep schedule.
- Exercise more regularly - at least 30 minutes, 3 times per week.
- Take more balanced/effective time for myself - to do things for myself.

4. Parenting/Family.
- Play with Leila more and continue to teach her new things.
- Exercise more patience.
- Get my act together in terms of meal planning, calendaring, and maintaining a peaceful home.

graduation, part I

2011-05-28T15:41:00.001-06:00

We were so lucky to be able to have both of our parents there for Daniel's graduation. My parents came in to town on Thursday (5/26). We went out to lunch with them, and then they took naps before watching Leila for us during a special awards ceremony and dinner for the graduates from Daniel's medical school class.

Leila was of course very excited to see them.

The awards ceremony and dinner were both held at Invesco Field at Mile High (where the Broncos play). Forgive the horrible picture below... I was in the back of the room and our camera's zoom wasn't quite up to the challenge.

Daniel received a research award along with one of his classmates. The awards ceremony was actually quite long (lots of awards given) but I was grateful that this was done the night before graduation (when we didn't have Leila with us) instead of during graduation.

Between the ceremony and dinner we took a tour of the stadium.

View of the field from one of the boxes

Inside one of the boxes. I forget how much they rent these for, but Daniel was excited to see it since this is probably the only time we'll be inside one of these!

Visiting team locker room.

Us, standing on the field.

The Denver skyline from the stadium. I think we're going to miss this city.

the scariest day of my life

2011-05-25T14:08:00.007-06:00

The day we left Oklahoma, it was because there was a big storm coming that way and we wanted to get out before it hit. When we were on the road, Nick called us to tell us there was a big storm headed our way in Kansas, as well. So we tuned our radio to the weather station and I called my mom to look at a weather map to keep us updated on where the storm was and how severe.

We could tell we were headed into a pretty bad storm because we could see the huge dark clouds in front of us. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anywhere to go because we were out in the middle of nowhere in Kansas! We monitored the situation with the help of my mom and the radio and just kept driving into the storm.

During all this time, we were also getting updates from Daniel's mom saying that Nick's dental school classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day because of the huge storm that was going to hit the city. They were planning to ride out the storm at their home but then decided to head to the dental school, where they have underground tornado tunnels. We anxiously waited to hear if they made it, and thankfully they did before anything happened.

As we were driving, the clouds kept getting darker and more ominous. At one point we stopped to use the bathroom and the winds were extremely strong. It was really scary. We continued listening to the radio. Hail started coming down and it was raining so hard it was difficult to see.

At one point, when we were almost to Goodland, KS we were debating pulling off the highway - the rain was so heavy that it was starting to get dangerous - when the man on the radio said, "If you are on I-70 near Goodland, take shelter immediately. Don't be stupid. There is a tornado coming. TAKE SHELTER." And then the station went dead.

The only shelter that was readily available at that point was under an overpass. We huddled there in our car with a bunch of other vehicles. I cried and prayed and we let our families know what was going on. Finally we found a radio station from the eastern part of the state that could give us weather information, and they said that the station near Goodland that we had previously listened to had lost power. It felt like an eternity that we were sitting there, waiting out the storm. We sang Primary songs to Leila to help keep her happy (she was miraculously patient during that time, stuck in her car seat without the car moving!) and it helped keep me calm too. After a while, the person on the radio announced that the Tornado Warning had expired. Many of the vehicles around us left at that point but we stayed a little longer, breathing sighs of relief.

When we headed back onto the highway, the sight was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen so much hail! They had snow plows out to remove it from the highway. Here are some pictures:

Believe it or not, it was easy to see in this rain compared with right before we took shelter.

The white on the side of the road is hail.

More hail.

I'm certain Leila could feel the stress of the situation.
As soon as we were back on the highway she fell asleep.

The pictures really don't do it justice. The ground looked like it had been covered in snow.

I was (and still am) so grateful that we were safe. I don't know if there was actually a tornado that ripped through Goodland that day, but I feel like Heavenly Father protected us.

Nick, Dana, and Katelyn were safe as well. Thankfully their home was safe too. What a day! This experience was scary but it really put things in perspective for us, about what is important and what isn't.

Oh, and now I know I can definitely cross Kansas off my list of potential future places to live. It seems like a nice place but no thanks!

oklahoma city!

2011-05-25T11:25:00.003-06:00

Amid all the packing and preparation for moving, we decided to take a break and go visit Nick and Dana and sweet little Katelyn in Oklahoma City. Neither of us had been there before, so it was a really fun adventure! We got to stay at their lovely home for about a week and we played hard.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

The memorial was incredibly quiet and peaceful and I thought it was really well done. I think I was too young when the bombing happened to fully understand, and I thought this was a learning experience. Unfortunately, the museum on the property costs money to go in, so we didn't do that.

each of these chairs represents an individual killed in the bombing. the smaller ones represent children and the larger ones represent adults.

I loved this: "Our deeply rooted faith sustains us."

(unhappy about being held)

Playing at the Park

at the park, we found this baby turtle. that's Nick's ring to show how tiny it was!

best buddies!

Visiting the Dental School

we each got to take turns drilling teeth on a fake patient. it was pretty cool.

the girls loved playing with these blowers
(they blow air to help remove dust from the "mouths" of the fake patients)

Camping

Leila loved running around outside and exploring.

we may look perfectly happy here, but I was not. it was a fun time, but I was really freaked out because I could literally see ticks dropping from the trees. in the end, only 2 out of the 6 of us got ticks, and I (thankfully) was not one of them.

the tents

inside the tent we slept in (we borrowed it from Nick and Dana's friends)

eating breakfast

there were buffalo grazing on the property where we were camping!

The Zoo

excited about something!

The day we were originally planning to go camping, the weather forecast looked like there would be some severe thunderstorms that night, so we decided to postpone our plans. There really was severe weather and it turned out that it was centered around the area where we would have been camping. We were glad we waited!

Unfortunately, there was another big storm coming in at the end of our trip so we decided to head home before it got there. It was such a fun trip and we wished we could have stayed longer. Nick and Dana were great hosts!

moving on

2011-05-11T15:41:00.000-06:00

The day that Daniel and I met up in Phoenix, he also posted an ad to help his parents find a new tenant for our home. Within a couple of hours he had received a ton of responses asking for pictures. When we got home from Phoenix, it was time to send out pictures. Which meant we had to actually take pictures. Below are a few of them.

I'm really glad we get to move on to a new stage of life and live in a real house and experience new things, but this is the only home we've had since we got married. It's a little surreal to think that we're leaving this place! We're really going to miss it.

our front walkway

the front of the house

our kitchen

living room

living room, from the other side

Leila's room

Sadly, the house never felt fully decorated because I had a list about a mile long of things I wanted to do and never got around to many of them. It was pretty good, though. I hope the next person who lives there loves it as much as we did!

smart girl

2011-05-10T15:37:00.001-06:00

I found Leila lining up her farmer and all of his animals, all in a row.

She looks pretty proud of herself!

This is her latest "smile face." Glamorous, no?

phoenix trip

2011-05-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

Straight from Salt Lake City, where I was for my grandpa's funeral, I flew to Phoenix to meet Daniel there. He had been invited to present some research at a dermatology conference (Society for Investigative Dermatology) and we decided I'd go along since all we'd have to pay for was my plane tickets and food.

The conference was to be held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. Let me tell you, the place was amazing. We got an upgraded room (for free!) and it had beautiful views. There were beautiful pools, golf course, etc. Ironically (since it was a dermatology conference and dermatologists are notoriously afraid of the sun), I spent most of my time hanging out by the pool reading. I did wear sunscreen and sunglasses though, and I tried to sit in the shade for at least some of the time.

My one wish for the place was that it was all-inclusive so that I could have ordered drinks or food from the servers who took care of the people lounging by the pool. It would have been quite luxurious to be waited on while I reclined on a chaise.

the view from our balcony

our room, from the door

the left side of the room

the right side of the room

Evidence that I did in fact see my husband despite him having to attend the conference while we were there.

I loved Phoenix. Seriously. The weather was amazing, and I loved the dry heat.

It was nice to leave Leila (and my other responsibilities) behind for a couple of days, but I was so glad to be back, too. I had never left her overnight before and that was a lot harder than I thought it would be!

She had a blast with Daniel's family, though! I think she hardly realized we were gone!

Grandpa's Funeral

2011-05-08T21:27:00.003-06:00

I was so blessed to be able to go to my Grandpa's funeral. It took some juggling, but we were able to get me there.

It was such a peaceful celebration of his life. My grandpa is truly one of my greatest heroes. I hope that someday I can be as kind, generous, and accepting as him, and I hope that I might have the same kind of resolve to always do the right thing, no matter the consequence.

I flew into Salt Lake on Wednesday evening, May 4. It was wonderful to see my family again so soon. The viewing and funeral took place on Thursday, May 5. There was a beautiful video montage of pictures of my grandpa and it was fun to review all of the fond memories I have of him. The viewing was hard. He didn't look like himself. There were many family members there, including several of my grandpa's relatives that I had never met. It was the most amazing thing, seeing all of these Merrell men together. Some of them had such a strong family resemblance to my grandpa.

The funeral was beautiful. It was a wonderful, healing time to again reflect on our memories of him. There were many stories that I had not heard before and they only solidified my conviction that he was a good man and that I am proud to be his granddaughter. I hope to live up to his example. My grandpa had requested that "O Divine Redeemer" be sung at the funeral and a woman from the ward sang it. It was beautiful.

After the funeral we went to the cemetery. There was a short graveside service and then we went back to the chapel for a luncheon provided by the ward. My grandpa had requested that we eat ham, funeral potatoes, and jello at this luncheon so that was what we had. It was delicious and the ward members were so generous.

It was a really short trip (I had to leave that evening after the funeral) but I was so grateful to be able to be there.

my dad, Aunt Kathy, Grandma, Aunt Judy, and Uncle Kent

David, Angela, me, my mom, my dad, Spencer, and Johnson

Ashley, Shelby, Travis, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Dave, Cait, Justin, Laura, and Melissa

Charlotte, Windy, Jason, Aunt Judy, Hal, Jessie, and Ryan

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my uncle Kent's family because I couldn't catch all of them together at one time.

Grandpa's Obituary

2011-05-03T13:42:00.001-06:00

1934-2011

Charles Ammon Merrell (Chuck) left this world April 29, 2011 after an astounding three year battle with Pancreatic Cancer. Throughout this experience, he exhibited great courage and a never-failing sense of humor. He has been the rock and foundation of his family for decades. Using his keen vision for the truly important matters of life as well as the knack for humor that characterized his life, he displayed a remarkable ability to calm a crisis with his sunny attitude. Living with Chuck and associating with him was a joy to all who knew him.

Chuck was born Jan. 18, 1934, the eighth child and fifth son of Ernest Leroy Merrell and Verna May Moffett, in Virden, New Mexico. They moved across the Gila River to Duncan, Arizona when he was only a few months old, and he was raised there. He joined the Navy in 1952 and served a four year term of enlistment, serving on the aircraft carrier, USS Midway, as a radioman when she took her world cruise in 1954 and in 1955 when she was part of the 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific. He met Patricia Lee Porter in San Diego, California, and they were married in the Arizona, Mesa Temple, June 4, 1957. They raised their four children, Kathleen Louise (Dave) Boyer, Judith Lynne (Hal) Fitzgerald, Steven Charles (Jeanne) Merrell, and Kent David (Elizabeth) Merrell in Oceanside, California.

Chuck was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He honorably fulfilled many callings in the church, including temple worker in the Bountiful and San Diego Temples, and as Bishop of the Cave Junction, Oregon Ward. He loved to help others. You could always count on him to be there whenever and wherever there was a need. He was released from his last calling only a few days ago when it became apparent that he could no longer serve.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia, his four children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and two brothers, Evan (June) and David, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He will be sorely missed here, but we know he gave a great report on his life and family when he arrived on the other side of the veil. Undoubtedly there was a wonderful family reunion as he re-joined his parents and other family members. We are comforted to know that we will all be re-united at a later date.

We appreciate all those who have been involved with caring for our husband and Dad. We wish to thank Dr. David Horsley, Dr. Jonathan Whisenant and Dr. Jane MacPherson for the loving care they have given Chuck during his illness. We also want to thank Debbie and the other aides of the Utah Hospice Specialists for their concern and the great service they gave.

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, May 5, 2011 in the Bountiful 16th Ward Chapel, 720 E. 550 N. Friends may visit Wed. from 6-8 p.m. at Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N. 400 E. and Thurs. from 9:45-10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment Lakeview Memorial Park, Bountiful.

Condolences may be shared at www.lindquistmortuary.com

another utah trip

2011-05-01T11:23:00.000-06:00

Leila and I made another trip to Utah at the end of April. My family was going to be there, so it was a good opportunity to see my grandparents again.

my mom brought Leila some rain boots, a purse, necklace, and sunglasses.
Leila thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

my cousin is an Apache pilot, and he took us (and my grandpa) go to see the Apaches.

we all took turns climbing in

unhappy about being held (please tell me this is just a phase!)

after seeing the Apaches, it was time to get some ice cream!
Leila enjoyed her first ice cream cone.

striking a pose

with Grandma and Grandpa

This was a really difficult trip. I would say that it was even more difficult than the one we took to Utah at the beginning of April. It became very clear that this would probably be the last time I would see my grandpa in this life. It was, in fact. The trip to see the Apaches was one of his last ventures out of the house. I am so grateful that we took the time to do that.

During this trip we also went for a drive with my grandpa to see what he called "his mountain property" - or in other words, the cemetery where he had a burial plot. It's a beautiful little cemetery on the side of the mountain near the Bountiful Temple.

One of the sweetest moments was the night before we left Utah and my dad asked my grandpa to share his testimony with us. My grandpa talked to us about how Jesus Christ loves us and we need to love each other.

There were many times during this trip that I had to fight back tears, and I wasn't successful most of the time. I love my grandpa so much, and I know I'm going to miss him for a long time.

other april happenings

2011-04-17T22:48:00.001-06:00

Before I get into some other things that happened in April, I want to write down a few things I didn't write in my last post about our trip to Utah. I want to remember them.

We went down to Provo to pick up David and Leila was so excited to see him. We drove up to the Hill's house, where Angela was staying with her friends for the weekend, so we could all hang out for a little bit. When we got there, Leila wanted David to carry her. So we got her out of her carseat and handed her to him. He stood there, holding her under her arms (about half an arm's length away from himself, too), and asked if there was an easier way to hold her. It never occurred to me that he didn't know how to hold a little kid! We showed him a better way and made sure to tease him about it.

This trip was really hard. My grandpa has had pancreatic cancer since August of 2008 and has truly beaten the odds. He had chosen to stop treatments in the winter, and went on hospice shortly before we went to visit. It's was really hard, because we didn't know when it was going to be the last time we see him. I love my grandpa so much. He is a wonderful man and I am so proud to be his granddaughter.

When we drove home, we made it on only one tank of gas! I don't know how we did it. And we had a discussion as we were nearing home, about how Daniel would have to give me a lot of money if we ran out of gas because I had to go to the bathroom so badly I'd have to go on the side of the highway or wet my pants. The money would be what would make up for the humiliation! But we made it, with gas to spare. It was quite the adventure.

When we got home, we continued on in our normal day-to-day life. My mom suggested that we start packing early so we don't have to do a big rush right before moving day. It was a good suggestion, but I lacked motivation to actually follow through.

Here are some things we did do:

sold one of our three strollers. I was sad to see it go!

watched some movies

made some funny faces:

Leila has started doing this thing where she will gasp and say "Lion!" and then make these faces.
Over and over. It's pretty cute.

made some of the best cookies ever (someday maybe I'll share the recipe)

(Leila loves them, too!)

and made a gift for one of my friends new babies
(front of shirt and back of pants shown)

utah trip

2011-04-07T21:41:00.002-06:00

The first weekend in April, we took a trip to Salt Lake City, UT.

Leila did great on the way there! Much of the drive was spent playing peek-a-boo with her.

{"Whe Leila?!?" - "Where's Leila?!?"}

{"Deh see is!!" - "There she is!!"}

She loved having her sunglasses on this trip.

While we were in Utah, we got to see Hayley & Alex (and celebrate her birthday with them!) and Sydney, hang out with my brother, David, visit with my sister, Angela, who flew out there to go to General Conference with her friends, see the Hill family, and attend a Semester at Nauvoo reunion. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of those parts.

My favorite part of the trip was spending time with my grandparents.
In fact, that was the main reason we went.
We watched General Conference with them, made dinner for them, and most importantly, spent time with them.

Me, Leila, Grandpa (who Leila calls Papa Charlie)

Grandma and Grandpa and Leila

Loves for Papa Charlie

being silly

Loves for Grandma

She was so good on the way home, too. Little sweetie!

This was such a wonderful trip. I'm so glad we were able to go and see so many family members and friends, and especially my grandparents!

fox run park

2011-03-29T21:16:00.001-06:00

One of Leila's favorite things to do is go to the park.
{Actually, if I say "park" she says "Swing and slide!!!" every time, without fail.}

While Nick, Dana, and Katelyn were visiting, we all went over to Fox Run Park in Monument, CO.

We did a tour around the playground to check everything out, but it was back to the swings again for Leila. They are definitely her favorite.

Sweet Katelyn. She's so cute.

The park also has a pond with fish and a gazebo, so we went to check it out.

Leila watching the water with Papa.

Look at her posture! I thought it was hilarious!

The girls looking at the water with Papa.

She really loves walking along retaining walls, so this one was a must.

We were so sad when Nick, Dana, and Katelyn had to leave!
It was so fun to spend time with them.

horse encounter

2011-03-24T18:06:00.005-06:00

After checking out the tractor we decided to visit the horses.

Leila likes the toy horses she has, and her stuffed animal that she sleeps with is a pink horse...
and in Daniel's family, you are never too young to get on a horse.

Actually, I made that part up. I haven't ridden one of their horses yet.
(Full disclosure: It hasn't come up. I also haven't asked.
I don't think I'd mind, but I can't tell if the horses are too wild to ride.)

Me, Leila, Katelyn, Dana
Note: Notice Leila's not happy about being held. Look familiar?
(Still - I think we are in a phase, which I hope will end soon.)
But around horses, it's best for her not to be running free.

She didn't love the wind.

Katelyn sat on the horse first. She wasn't too happy about it.

Next was Leila's turn. (Not sure why the picture came out so dark...)

She wasn't so sure about it either.

Eyeing the horse.

Taking her to pet the horse. She declined.

So apparently, she likes them better from a distance.
Maybe next summer she'll be more interested!

tractor time

2011-03-23T17:58:00.000-06:00

One of the many fun things about spending time at Nana and Papa's
house is checking out the tractor!

Leila was a little nervous about it at first, but when Daniel held her she got more comfortable.

Too busy "driving" to look at me.

Watching her cousin, Katelyn, take a turn.

When Katelyn was done, she wanted another turn.

This time she knew what it was all about. Levers! Buttons! Steering wheel!

Both of the girls with Papa.

Standing on a stack of hay bales.

match day 2011

2011-03-22T15:32:00.001-06:00

How do I explain Match Day?

Match Day is when you find out where you're going for residency.
In the same room as everyone else in your class.
At the same time as every other medical student in the United States.
It's the day we waited for through almost 4 school years.
I'd almost say it's a bigger day than graduation.
{But Daniel may have a different opinion about that.}

Monday, March 14 was a big day, too. We found out IF Daniel would match. Some people don't, and they are given the opportunity to "scramble" into another program that didn't fill all of their resident spots. Thankfully for us, Monday brought an email that essentially said
"Congratulations! You have matched!"

The three days after that were difficult.
All I could think about was where we might be going.

We had a lot of possibilities (in no particular order):
Denver, Colorado (University of Colorado)
Birmingham, Alabama (UAB)
Providence, Rhode Island (Brown)
Atlanta, Georgia (Emory)
Portland, Oregon (OHSU)
Salt Lake City, Utah (University of Utah)
Austin, Texas (UT Southwestern-Austin)
Chicago, Illinois (a couple of programs)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Not to mention the preliminary year programs (residency in Dermatology - Daniel's chosen field - is comprised of one year of general medicine and three years of Dermatology and these are separate programs so potentially you could be doing them in two separate places).

Thursday, March 17, was interesting. I felt sick in the morning because of the anxiety of the occasion. We were pretty certain we would be staying in Denver (we had been looking at houses and felt very confident that we would end up there for residency since Daniel had made strong connections in the department), but there was still a nagging feeling of what if?

I could see positives in any of our possible outcomes.

So, Thursday we headed to Invesco Field at Mile High for the big Match Day 2011 luncheon.

We brought Daniel's parents along, and we sat by our friends (who happen to be LDS) and both sets of their parents.

We "made friends" with our servers by asking them to take away our iced tea since we wouldn't be drinking it...

...and then asking if there was a non-alcoholic alternative for the champagne toast...

...and then later, if there was an alternative for the coffee-containing tiramisu.

Seriously, we were probably their "favorite" table of the day.

And by "favorite" I mean that I think they probably complained about us in the back room. But it was all worth it because for dessert we each got a bowl of fresh berries that I'm certain tasted better than that tiramisu. Everyone around us looked jealous.

With our friends, Dave & Cara.

Right before opening their Match envelopes. Daniel looks anxious. Dave, not so much.

{drumroll please}

The room filled with excited shrieks as everyone opened their letters.

As for us, we're going to Spokane, Washington for Daniel's first year, and Birmingham, Alabama for dermatology!

The truth is, Spokane was our top choice for the first year programs so we are very excited (had we matched in Denver for dermatology, we would have stayed in Denver for the first year - you can link your choices so you have a higher chance of staying in one place if you'd like).

Alabama was our second choice, behind Denver. We really struggled with the decision of which to rank first, between Colorado and Alabama. Each program had such great positives to it! So we're really happy with the outcome for our match.

I have to say, though, I am in shock. I can't believe we're moving away. I'm sad to leave Denver, but excited for the big adventure ahead of us. I'm disappointed that we won't be living in one of the cute places we found, but it's a great opportunity to see different parts of the country before we choose our long-term home.

Leila, on the other hand, wasn't so excited about the whole thing.
By the time we got back to the car she was grumpy.

Coming up for us: graduation in May and moving in June!

cheyenne mountain zoo

2011-03-21T16:51:00.003-06:00

Nick and Dana came to Colorado to visit!
We all went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.

Our first stop was to visit the giraffes:

You can pet them, and they also have bags of feed that you can buy to feed them.

Leila wasn't so keen on them. They kind of freaked her out a bit.

Daniel pet them, but I didn't. I kind of wish I had.

Waving goodbye.

Visiting the meerkats.

With the meerkat.

Looking at the monkeys.

with Nana

pointing at the zebras (she pronounces it "see-bah")

not happy about being held.

This girl loves her sunglasses!

On the zoo's property they have a building called the Will Rogers Shrine. I wasn't really sure what the significance of it is, but apparently it houses the ashes of Spencer Penrose, a philanthropist who was responsible for many landmarks in Colorado Springs. It's not named after him; when the building was completed he chose to name it after Will Rogers, who was a friend of his.

I thought the doors were pretty cool - apparently the girls thought so too.

The Shrine is an 80-foot observation tower. You can see essentially all of Colorado Springs from it - in the center of this picture is the Broadmoor Hotel.

not happy about being held (#2)

Leila with her cousin Katelyn.

not happy about being held (#3)

these girls love each other!

the hippo looked so sad!

This is the glass of the gorilla enclosure. I thought that was a little scary.
The gorillas had been moved to a different enclosure.

And some naked mole rats. There was a ton of marketing hype about them all over in the zoo, but I didn't find them all that exciting.

I hope we can go back again sometime!

march miscellany

2011-03-15T16:40:00.001-06:00

Here are a few miscellaneous things we have been up to:

Potty training. Well, not really. I'd like to but we aren't sure what our timing will be - it will all depend on if we are matched in Denver or not. If we are, it will be soon. If we aren't, it will be after we move.

My last day of work. We realized that if we were to stay in Denver, we'd still want to move to a bigger home (hopefully one we can buy). When we realized we'd need to keep our home in a condition conducive to showing it (not to mention packing, etc.) - and I'd have two kids under 2 to take care of at the same time - we decided it made the most sense for me to stop working.

Looking at homes. We are pretty sure we're going to be staying in Denver (though there's still a chance we won't match here). We found two places we like that are actually the same floor plan. It's pretty exciting. 3 bed (plus a loft), 2.5 bath. One has a pretty decent kitchen and everything but isn't in a great location; the other is in a great location but would need some work because it's a little older. Both are really good options for us. The only thing we have left is to find out if we are actually staying!

3/14 - Pi Day. Our friends invited us to a Pi Day party (everyone was going to bring a pie to share), but my attempt at making a pie didn't exactly work out. So I tried again the next day. It wasn't pretty, but it tasted delicious!

And a little grumpiness, but she's still cute.

unwind

2011-03-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

After a long day of work, there's nothing better than going to the park and running around and taking some time to unwind.

The playground is nice, but sometimes it's best to run up and down the hills and all over the fields around it.

She's not so crazy about stopping the action to take a picture.

A little drama.

happy girl

2011-02-26T21:06:00.002-07:00

This (early) spring so far has been rough.

Not in terms of weather, but just life in general.
Interviews, my job, the waiting game (to find out about residency), etc. Just tough.

I'm so glad Leila is here. She is such a sweetheart.

Note: These pictures were taken on two different days (her hair is how you can tell them apart).

What does that say about me?

Sorry, Leila. I'll try to get you dressed more often!

animals

2011-02-20T21:12:00.002-07:00

These are gifts I made for Mr. A (Christmas on the left; birthday on the right). I can't decide which I like better!

I'm told I should sell them...
What do you think?

fresh air

2011-02-18T21:12:00.005-07:00

Daniel is done with interviews. He's around a lot more now than he has been in a long time! Which means {lucky for me} that he can help me out with the kiddos a little bit.

Leila's a good sport about having to share her mommy, but sometimes I feel like she gets neglected. Mr. A is a younger baby, and he can be demanding. And since she is much more independent than he, she's often forced to be more independent than I'd like. I feel bad for her.

On days like these

{when Daniel can take her outside for some fresh air & one-on-one attention}
I don't feel as bad.

Except that I wish I could go with them {but Mr. A is sleeping}.

Maybe tomorrow.

valentines day

2011-02-14T18:14:00.004-07:00

This is the first time Leila has requested that we take a picture of her.

As a camera-waving mom (at least at times), this was very sweet for me because most often she resists having pictures taken. Here's to many more requests that I take her picture!

Happy Valentine's Day!

the phone

2011-02-13T21:03:00.003-07:00

And so it begins...

"Please Mom, I'm trying to have a conversation here..."

Yep, she's already sassy.

Note: The cell phone she is holding does not contain a battery. Also, she only plays with medicine bottles that she is physically unable to open herself... and when she is being heavily supervised.
Thank you.

be beans & bacets

2011-02-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

Leila loves "be beans" (green beans). She even requests them for lunch sometimes.

She also loves "bacets" (bracelets - see her left wrist? She has decided that she likes wearing her link toys everywhere these days - including church).

Apparently she's her mother's daughter.

games with mr. a

2011-02-09T21:04:00.011-07:00

One of Leila's favorite games to play with Mr. A

happens to involve crawling around under the table. And then he chases (crawls) after her.

She figured out (a long time ago) not to stand up underneath, but I fear (honestly) the day that he learns to stand up and still doesn't know not to stand.

The sunglasses remain an integral part of each and every day. It's a bad day when we can't find them. I think they might distort her vision because she seems to fall down a lot while wearing them. Or maybe that's because she prefers to RUN everywhere and sometimes her feet just can't seem to catch up.

In any case, Mr. A loves to watch her run back and forth. And I love that because I'm happy when he's happy.

stripes

2011-02-08T21:52:00.004-07:00

This is the outfit that Daniel chose for Leila yesterday:

A sweater over her pajamas.
At least it {sort of} matches, right?

can you spot her?

2011-02-05T21:48:00.001-07:00

On any given day this is what our house looks like. Can you spot Leila?

For some reason she loves hiding in that little corner and reading. Not happy about the mess, but I'm exhausted. I just can't keep up! (I think maybe it's time to put some toys away.)

pajama day

2011-02-04T21:40:00.003-07:00

As much as I hate to admit it, most days around here are pajama days. Leila usually wakes up right around the time that Mr. A arrives (either just before or just after), and I'm so busy taking care of him that she ends up staying in her pajamas until after nap time.

not a good picture of Leila, but you can see the doll quilt I made her for Christmas. It was a good practice run for me with machine quilting.

this face is hilarious to me (she looks like she's up to no good!)

I love her messy hair these days

and I love that sassy smile.

look at those eyes!

peas, please

2011-02-02T21:21:00.004-07:00

Leila really likes peas. I don't know where that came from but I'll encourage it as much as I can - there are definitely worse things she could be wanting!

sunglasses

2011-01-30T19:13:00.003-07:00

After Christmas, I started up work again, Daniel started up interviews again, and things were just generally really stressful and difficult.

Luckily we have such a sweet little girl to brighten our days. Leila re-discovered her sunglasses and realized how great they are.

Especially when you're sitting in the shower.

{2nd} christmas in Colorado

2011-01-10T18:56:00.004-07:00

Opening presents: Leila didn't quite get it at first, but then she realized how great it is!

Playing in the snow was one of the highlights.

Leila wasn't so sure about walking on the snow.

Unfortunately, she also refused to wear anything on her hands, tried to get out of her snowsuit, and didn't like how bright it was.

She seemed okay with sledding down the hill.

Unfortunately, like when we were in Utah, we hardly remembered to bring the camera out! I'm so disappointed! But we had a lot of fun with Nick, Dana, and Katelyn; Hayley and Alex; and Steve, Lilian, and Sydney.

christmas in utah

2011-01-09T16:02:00.002-07:00

We had such a great time visiting family and friends while we were in Utah for Christmas. Unfortunately, I only took 4 pictures that entire time. Fortunately, my sister had a few as well.

12/22/10: Visiting my uncle in the hospital in Orem. We spent a lot of time there. I wish I had taken a picture with him while we were there.

12/22/10: In-N-Out on the way back to Bountiful. Leila LOVES my brothers and sister. And she was elated to have a fresh audience.

12/23/10: Hanging out at my grandparents' house...

(she is such a ham)

eating cheese at the table with my mom

(look at those curls!)

(hammin' it up again)

Leila kept looking over at my mom to see if she noticed what she was doing

I don't know why she was doing this, but it was hilarious!

watching a movie with my dad and grandparents

with my grandpa

with my grandpa and grandma

Poor Johnson. It seems like he always has some kind of broken bone. This time it was his humerus (though we were not lacking in jokes by any means...).

12/24/10: Went to Provo again. We went to the Museum of Art at BYU to see the Karl Bloch exhibit. It was amazing. We also visited my uncle again .

Leila loves to play this game where we count to three and then swing her. Because she loves to play the game so much, she's learned to count to three!

12/25/10: Spent the day with my grandparents.

Leila was so exhausted from all the exciting activities we were doing. She fell asleep in the 5 minutes it took to get to my grandparents' house, and didn't wake up when we moved her into the house.

Some other details about our time in Utah (or, Things I Want To Remember):
- Daniel had an interview at the University of Utah for their Intern Year program. We were very excited about it, and it went pretty well. He also talked his way into getting an interview at the U of U for dermatology (he had previously been rejected - they don't often extend interviews to people who went to BYU.)
- When we go to Utah, we stay at a condo that my parents own. It's a two bedroom, two bathroom place so needless to say it's a little cramped with all of us! (There are 9 including Leila.) In keeping with tradition, all kids slept in the second bedroom on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure how we all squeezed in there (Leila's "room" was a walk-in closet upstairs, and we keep the door partly open when she's in there) but somehow we did it!
- When we stay at the condo, we have to schedule shower times. It's a little crazy.
- Spencer had gotten home from his mission (Pennsylvania) in August and David got home from his mission (Australia) about a week prior. It was so good to see them again!
- There aren't too many toys for Leila to play with when we are in Utah, but Leila found these juggling balls to play with at the condo. She thought they were pretty cool!

pizza night

2010-12-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Man, I love that smile.

first day of nursery

2010-12-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was a little bit nervous taking her to nursery for the first time since I had seen other kids have trouble going into nursery. No problems here! Leila loved it! In fact, I went in once to check on her and she got very upset because she wasn't ready to leave. And then, when it came time to pick her up at the end of church she was mad at us because she didn't want to stop playing with toys. Our only problem was once we got home, when she was really exhausted from playing so hard and she wouldn't take a nap.

Note: It appears we've entered the era of goofy looking pictures. Hopefully we'll exit soon.

ward christmas party

2010-12-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

Santa came to the ward Christmas party again. Last year she was only 6 months and we didn't even take her to see him since she was so little.

This year, we had high hopes of her liking Santa. So did she like him?

Not so much.

Even after we took her away from him to try to get a picture of her and Daniel, she "had" to watch Santa to make sure he wasn't coming after her. Oh man.

We skipped out early to try to do some Christmas shopping. Leila fell asleep in the car on the way home. I agree with her - Christmas time is exhausting!

silly

2010-11-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

Leila loves wearing her footie pajamas like a jacket, arms in but legs dangling behind her. Running around the house like this is especially hilarious.

interview season

2010-11-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Interview season is upon us! Daniel will be interviewing (hopefully a lot) during the months of December and January, and will potentially start at the end of the month. Needless to say we've been busy getting him some appropriate interview wear. Suit, shirts, ties, shoes... you name it, we've had to get it.

Just a couple of the favorite combinations. I think he'll be looking pretty sharp!

tired

2010-11-06T10:51:00.000-06:00

Leila fell asleep in her highchair for the first time last night. She was so tired! She hardly even woke up long enough to drink her bottle.

Halloween, part II

2010-11-02T10:44:00.002-06:00

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year (and Leila raked in quite a haul at the Trunk or Treat) AND since Daniel's birthday was a couple of days later (today)... We decided to head to his parents' house for dinner on Halloween. But not before eating chocolate chip cookies.

poor tired girl

with Papa

Halloween

2010-11-01T10:32:00.000-06:00

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year, the trunk or treat was the day before. Unfortunately it was really hot and we were dressed a little bit too warm. Leila loved dressing up like a kitty, and Daniel of course dressed up like a pumpkin. I just wore orange and black.

Leila loved holding out her treat bag for people to put treats in. At first she didn't get it but then we let her try a piece and she was motivated!

halloween costume

2010-10-29T11:50:00.002-06:00

Leila loves her Halloween costume so much, and I got a coupon in the mail for a free 8x10 from a local store photographer, so I decided to take Leila in to have her picture taken. Worth a shot, right?

Well, the photographer didn't do a great job, but the picture turned out cute (if only because I'm a proud mama and Leila is adorable).

The jury is still out as to whether we'll go back for another freebie, but I'm glad we tried it out.

picking pumpkins

2010-10-28T21:09:00.001-06:00

warts

This year we went to a pumpkin patch at a local church. They had regular orange pumpkins as well as ones in a variety of colors and textures. It was really neat! We ended up with several that had various dermatologic problems... warts, deep wrinkles, and dry skin, to name a few... (Can you tell Daniel wants to be a dermatologist?) Leila loved running around and touching all of them. And of course she picked out a little round orange one, which she thought was a ball and HAD to take home with her.

bottle

2010-10-13T20:40:00.002-06:00

At almost 17 months, I know Leila is getting too old for her bottle. But she loves it, and I almost think I'm going to be the one who has the hardest time with her giving it up, because that means that she's growing up. Really - can't she be my baby forever?

animal crackers

2010-10-12T21:39:00.001-06:00

Animal crackers are probably Leila's favorite food... she would eat them every meal if we let her!

sweet leila

2010-10-10T21:24:00.002-06:00

While I was out of town on a Relief Society retreat, Daniel took Leila to the park for a little "photo shoot." He got some really cute pictures!

mid-sneeze

blurry, but cute!

zucchini

2010-10-05T18:34:00.000-06:00

We also ended up with more than 15 lbs of zucchini, given to us by friends and neighbors. Some of these were huge! The largest was 6 inches in diameter.

We ate a lot of zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, and many other things with zucchini in them, froze bags and bags of grated zucchini, and still ended up having to throw some of it away.

canning

2010-10-01T10:22:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately most of my pictures from canning are missing. I don't know what happened!

It all started when someone from our neighborhood offered us 10 lbs of crabapples. This was while Daniel was out of town and I was quite bored in the evenings, so I thought I would try my hand at making some jelly. It really wasn't very difficult and it turned out this beautiful bright pinkish red color... and tasted delicious.

So then a neighbor offered to let us pick plums from their (very full) plum tree. I picked about 15 lbs without intending to. I ended up waiting to "process" them until Daniel was home, mostly because I was exhausted. He helped me wash, pit, and run them through the food processor. The jam turned out dark purple and tasted really good!

Canning is a lot of work, but the fruit was free. We did have to buy jars and lids, but if I do this again (which I probably will), it will be a little bit more cost-effective! And I really like having home-made jams since I grew up with them. I've missed it.

Unfortunately since my pictures are missing, I'm also missing a picture of the 27-plus jars I filled with crabapple jelly, crabapple butter, plum jam, and plum-strawberry jam (the plum-strawberry was my favorite, but the others were really good too). We ended up giving a lot of it away since there's no way we could have finished it all on our own.

Pitted plums. There were so many! This was just part of them.

My handsome assistant.

september 2010

2010-09-30T21:53:00.000-06:00

At the very end of August, Daniel left to spend a month at OHSU in Portland, Oregon for a dermatology rotation. Leila and I stayed home. It was a tough month but we made it through with the help of some friends and lots of phone conversations. We tried to figure out how Leila and I could go visit him there, but it didn't end up working out.

In September:

- Continued nannying
- Watched a lot of TV in the evenings
- Went shopping with Daniel's mom
- Took lots of walks and played at the park
- Did some canning
- Made cookies-in-a-jar mixes with the Young Women (to give away)
- Leila and I went to an Air Force football game with Daniel's parents and grandparents (could have been BYU playing but I can't remember)
- Leila and I went to Breckenridge with Daniel's parents and grandparents

Falling asleep drinking her bottle.

Look at this dress! Found it at Nordstrom Rack with Daniel's mom (but didn't buy it). I've got to try copying it! I love the ruffly flower details.

The one on the right is more like what they're supposed to look like...
We got some of the ingredients switched around in the two on the left!

Loving that chocolate chip cookie!

Some of the plums I made into jam. I also did some crabapples.

august 2010

2010-08-31T13:58:00.000-06:00

I may have had reasonable success in taking pictures during the month of July, but August... not so much.

In August:

- We prepared for Daniel's next rotation
- Daniel worked on research
- I started a new job (nannying 3x per week at our home)
- Went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
- Visited several homes in the Parade of Homes
- Bought a double stroller (to assist in nannying)

I'm sure we did many other things, but I really didn't take too many pictures and I can't really remember anything that doesn't have a picture associated with it.

Taking Mr. A. on a walk

At one of the parade homes... look at that iron work! It's crazy!

And a vessel sink carved out of a rock. Very interesting.

This is the stroller I ended up getting... I found one on Craigslist for $75!
It was filthy so I tried to clean it but then bought new fabric parts and still came out way better (less expensive) than new. I love a good deal!

At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science... sitting on an "alpaca"

fun in the sun

2010-07-31T09:55:00.000-06:00

This summer I was determined to get a pass to our local, neighborhood pools. I'm so glad I did! Leila loves swimming. She gets so excited when we get there and is so sad when it's time to leave. She's such a funny little girl.

moody

2010-07-30T15:55:00.000-06:00

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Leila's moods change. For example:

All within just 4 minutes.

sassy

2010-07-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

Leila has developed a love for anything girly. During the course of completing several projects in May, we discovered her love for ribbons! She loves to wear them like "necklaces," hanging them over the back of her neck.

P.S. Don't judge me because there are plastic bags near her! I removed them as soon as I was done taking the picture.

Leila also perfected her sassy face while we were in California in May. Here she is showing it off! She cracks me up.

a reading spot

2010-07-28T19:40:00.000-06:00

Lately Leila's been really into "reading" books while sitting here:

She also loves sitting in cardboard boxes. I can't wait to see how long this phase lasts.

the park

2010-07-26T13:20:00.000-06:00

Leila loves going for walks at the park. The park across the street from us is amazing. It's huge - and has a splash pad type fountain, a playground, soccer fields, and lots of walking trails. It's awesome.

now that she's walking, forget about the stroller... she wants to walk!

can she just be a baby forever?

she always gets a little upset when we leave...
but I guess that means she'll be happy about going back?

concert in the park

2010-07-25T19:29:00.000-06:00

The day after we got back from Florida, the Colorado Symphony gave a free concert in the park across the street from our house. We packed a picnic dinner and went with some friends.

The weather could not have been better... especially after a week in Florida.

Leila spent some time sitting on the blanket reading books...

...and then on my lap...

...looking around...

...and trying to avoid eye contact with the guy sitting behind us.
He was making faces at her, and she was getting a little embarrassed.

And she definitely enjoyed climbing from my lap to her stroller and back again...

...and sucking her toes. Gross, but funny!

The sky was gorgeous as we packed up and walked home.

The music was beautiful (I can't remember what they played). I think outdoors is my favorite concert venue. It was perfect!

summer vacation, part 3... florida {5}

2010-07-24T11:19:00.000-06:00

{Day 5: Animal Kingdom}

Remember how I said it was hot that week? It really was.

We went on a safari and saw lots of cool things:

I love this picture of Leila, even though her eyes look funny

Man it was hot. Leila's face says it all.

And some of my favorites...

giraffes...

and elephants!

The Tree of Life

Silly me. I forgot to take off my sunglasses for the picture.

It was such a fun vacation! I loved all the parks. I can't wait to go back someday when Leila will enjoy it more!

summer vacation, part 3... florida {4}

2010-07-23T10:58:00.000-06:00

{Day 4: Epcot}

When we went to Epcot, we first went on all the rides and then we headed
to the World Showcase area to check it out.

I think all of these are Germany, except the upper right (Norway).
Snow White was probably the only character we saw all week.

Leila was not such a fan of Epcot.

Morocco (upper two) and France (lower two)

China, I think. Maybe not. I can't remember.

Japan

In the gift shop in the Japan area there were these tiny kimono that Leila
was really into... She loved the bright colors and the soft fabric. It was so
funny how attached she got...she cried so hard when we left without one.
I wish I had taken a picture of her with it!

Italy, maybe?

and a cool picture right as it was getting too dark to take pictures without flash...
I think this might have been China.

Finally we found something that caught Leila's attention...

The fireworks show was pretty cool!

She didn't like the loud ones, though.

See? A little annoyed.

But overall, I think the fireworks were a big hit.

summer vacation, part 3... florida {3}

2010-07-22T10:53:00.000-06:00

{Day 3: Magic Kingdom}

all the kids: Sydney, me, Daniel, Nick, Dana, Hayley, Alex, and of course the babies

the whole family (minus Daniel's dad, who ran off to get fast passes)

and another family photo

Leila had a hard time choosing her favorite

watching the parade

Cinderella - one of my favorites!
note: I don't know who the little girl is on the right.

and one last look at the castle

summer vacation, part 3... florida {2}

2010-07-21T10:49:00.000-06:00

{Day 2: Magic Kingdom}

we took the ferry to Magic Kingdom... and Leila was not a happy kid.
teething + too hot = unhappy baby.

our first look at the park!

Leila pretty much just wanted to push the stroller, not ride in it.

I took a picture of the picture they were selling because I thought it was hilarious.
This was on the Buzz Lightyear ride (kind of an arcade game-type-thing) and we were just so intent on winning! Leila loved it and I wanted to go on it again, but it was just too popular so the line was really long.

of course, in front of the castle (Leila could care less though)

me, Leila, Leila's cousin Katelyn, and Daniel's brother Nick -
the girls were so cute and funny together.

on the carousel... we got a lot of faces like these this week

and a family photo in front of the castle!

summer vacation, part 3... florida {1}

2010-07-20T10:45:00.000-06:00

In July we went to Orlando with Daniel's family. I had never been to Florida before. I couldn't believe how hot & humid it was! We had a lot of fun visiting the Disney theme parks with Daniel's family while we were there... and hanging out at the pool when we weren't at Disney!

{Day 1: Disney Hollywood Studios}

being cute in her stroller

watching the "Lights, Motors, Action" stunt show

she really wanted to wear the 3D glasses for the Toy Story ride

of course, we adults all got to ride the rides... they had some fun ones!

summer vacation, part two... california

2010-07-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

After spending time in Utah, Leila and I made the drive (along with my mom, sister, and brother) home to California. She did a pretty good job - for her first road trip! The last couple of hours were touch-and-go. She was not happy to be in her car seat for that long. I can't say I blame her one bit!

Daniel met us in California a day or two later (he had been taking boards). We did some fun things while we were there:

One day we went to the beach with some friends:

I love this one - her teeth are so funny!

It was a beautiful day!

Another day we visited the mission at Carmel. It was beautiful! I had never been inside - they have pretty limited hours so every time I've tried to visit it's been closed. I was glad I finally made it in there.

Leila with Aunt La

and with Uncle Johnson

I think my favorite part of the missions is their gardens -
Carmel is definitely one of the best.

Cruising

Beautiful fountains

more cruising...

This door was pretty cool, too.

And more cruising! What you can't see is the tantrum that ensued as soon as we stopped moving. This was the trip where she really got comfortable with walking!

After the mission we went over to the wharf in Monterey. There are tons of little shops that are fun to look in, but the highlight this time was the man who had birds (parrots, etc) he was letting people hold! Leila wasn't too sure about it.

It was so fun to visit my family in California - we can't wait to go back again!

summer vacation, part one... utah

2010-07-18T21:42:00.000-06:00

At the end of June Leila and I headed to Utah to be with my family. Daniel was studying for his board exams (the last ones during medical school! - he'll have more in a couple of years), and my cousin was getting married. It was a really fun little trip!

after the ceremony... Leila wasn't too happy - she needed a nap!

My cousin's wedding was beautiful. She was married in the Salt Lake Temple and her reception was at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. She looked absolutely stunning. The venue was gorgeous but I know the whole experience was really stressful for her: She had planned to have her reception at the Garden Park Ward in SLC, which has a beautiful garden with a stream running through it, etc. A couple of WEEKS before her wedding, Chevron had an oil spill that tainted the stream and she was forced to find another location. Thankfully, they paid for the relocation and a wedding planner and there was an opening at the Grand America so it all worked out in the end.

Last, her wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty so check it out! I love the ideas she incorporated! (which, I should mention, were pretty much all hers... isn't she amazing?) It almost makes me wish I could re-plan our wedding and do things a little bit differently. But only almost.

much happier in the car with her binky

at the reception with her little cousin (my cousin's daughter), M
they are just 3 weeks apart!

with my little brother

reading "Good Night Moon" at the reception

happy - she loved the fountains!

with my cousin

checking out another fountain

she loved the water!

may vacay, part dos

2010-06-18T09:15:00.000-06:00

Some other highlights of our (Leila's and mine) trip to California include:

Playing the piano....

(She REALLY enjoyed it.)

...and spinning Elvis around on the swivel chair.

And then, on our last night, pictures with everyone:

may vacay, part uno

2010-06-17T15:46:00.009-06:00

That makes me sound like quite the traveler, doesn't it?

Leila and I took off in the middle of May to visit my family in California for a few days.

Bonus:: my grandparents and one of my aunts were also going to be there.

Double Bonus:: my sister and brother didn't know we were coming.

One of the days we were there, we visited Monterey and the beach at Carmel.

My family at Asilomar (I think), minus Angela (who was at ballet).

There are amazing tidepools there. Unfortunately the tide was in so it wasn't as cool, but it was still pretty. It's one of my favorite places in the Monterey area.

My dad, grandparents, and Aunt Judy.

Then we visited the beach at Carmel... another of my favorite places!

It was cold but the sand was warm and Leila loved it.

Walking with Grandpa

Touching the sand with Grandpa

She didn't try to eat it, though... I was surprised!

This is the face she made every time I tried to get her to look up...
Even though it was cloudy, it was still bright!

She was so sad when we left!

oops.... and sewing like crazy!

2010-06-15T10:53:00.000-06:00

I looked outside at our deck at the beginning of May and noticed some green growing in one of our flower pots.... this was strange because we hadn't planted anything!

Turns out it was a good thing I didn't pull up all of the dead plants last fall! They're asiatic lilies (which we had planted last summer). I'm looking forward to their blooms again!

- - - - -

Do you remember the dress from this post back in March? Well, in May I made 10 more of them. I wish I had taken pictures of all the mess but I didn't. It was such a huge project and I don't know that I will take on that much sewing at once for a long time.

Above is one picture I do have... we decided to add fabric rosettes to the dress and this was one of my experimentations. Again, I don't have a picture of the finished product (we ended up doing them slightly differently) but maybe I'll take a picture of the dresses some other time if the lady I sewed them for will let me :)

- - - - -

Finally, I took on another sewing project and made a blackout curtain for the daughter of another lady in my neighborhood. Overall I was pretty pleased with the result, though I can tell exactly where all the imperfections are. I never want to work with blackout lining again! It's so heavy and it was really frustrating.

mother's day

2010-06-14T10:45:00.005-06:00

Has it really been a month?

I feel so lucky to be a mom! Leila is such a little sweetie pie and she is so fun to have around! This was a great Mother's Day! Daniel brought home flowers and surprised me with them on Sunday morning (he had gone to get gas the night before and picked them up while he was out and I hadn't seen them yet). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them but they were beautiful.

(not the greatest picture...
but one of the first we could get where you can actually see Leila's tooth!)

sugar plum portraits

2010-06-13T08:44:00.000-06:00

While we were visiting my family in May, Leila and I cooked up a little surprise for Daniel! We had Denise of Sugar Plum Portraits take some photos of Leila. She is my friend's mom and is just starting out in her photography business. She does an excellent job!

Here are some of my favorites from the photo session:

(this was my dress when I was a baby)

a self-weaning baby....

2010-06-11T10:50:00.001-06:00

...is like a self-cleaning oven, because it kind of does all the work for you!

At least, according to Daniel. A few days after the May 4th Incident of 2010, Leila started acting grumpy again. And why not, since she really wouldn't eat or drink anything? Finally she started being more interested in food so we would just give her things that had more fluid in them and that seemed to help - for a little while.

But then it became apparent that Leila was starting to get dehydrated. So we tried pedialyte and she just wasn't interested (can you blame her, though? it's totally gross). She still wouldn't nurse, and she wouldn't take formula. And then she started acting like she might have an ear infection. Daniel, med student that he is, whipped out his otoscope and checked her ears. Sure enough, they were a little bit red so the next morning I took her to the doctor. No ear infection. While I was there, though, I asked what I should do about getting her to drink fluids. They suggested Gatorade and said she's close enough to a year old to drink whole milk if we want to try her on it.

Bingo! She loves milk. All of this didn't come about the way I had imagined it or hoped it to be, but it's nice to not be nursing anymore, and I'm so glad we avoided having to worry about buying formula. It was really hard at first, knowing that she didn't need me the way she did before but it's been really liberating.

As for the picture at the top, she likes having her blanket on her head and kind of around her shoulders. She puts it there herself! It was so funny when she first started doing it that we had to take a picture. And of course she got mad about having the camera in her face. What a drama queen!

teething

2010-06-10T13:37:00.003-06:00

finally napping after 8 hours of crying

The month of May started out really big for Leila! She spent several days fussing and being generally grumpy, which finally culminated in an 8-hour cry-fest on May 4th (I remember the date because it was her 11-month birthday). She was absolutely distraught! And so was I, so much so that Daniel came home from classes to help me care for her. Thankfully he had the flexibility to be able to do that because I needed all the back-up support that I could get.

It was horrible. She wouldn't eat solids, she wouldn't drink from a bottle, she wouldn't nurse, she wouldn't take a nap, Tylenol didn't help, and neither did our "magic" Hyland's Teething Tablets. Nothing. Holding her didn't make her happy, nor did setting her down. Honestly, nothing helped. Finally (after 8 hours of screaming - and us taking turns taking care of her so one of us could recharge while the other one took care of her) she sacked out while Daniel was holding her. She didn't sleep long but she was a whole different baby when she woke up. Well, sort of. Still grumpy, still not interested in food or liquid... but at least she wasn't screaming.

The next day I discovered bite marks running the entire length of her crib rail (which hadn't been there before), which led me to discover a tooth on the top that had cut through. Seriously? I thought it should have been a whole mouthful of teeth, given what we had all just been through!

one year!

2010-06-07T10:59:00.002-06:00

I know I'm way behind on posting, but before I miss this one...

Leila's birthday was last week, and she is an absolute joy! She seems to be through the difficult time period that she was in for a little while and I'm happy to be able to say that she is back to her normal, easygoing self.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her from her first year of life....

And here's what we have now!

Here are some things she does right now:
- She crawls SO FAST.
- She cruises along the furniture and walks with her walker. I think she's going to be walking before we know it. And once she starts walking, she's going to take off RUNNING. She is definitely a busy little body.
- She's getting so much better at playing all by herself. She loves to "read" books to herself and if I leave a stack of her books out, it will keep her busy for half an hour.
- She loves to "help" me... whether it's emptying/loading the dishwasher, or emptying/loading the dryer, or taking all my clothes off the shelves in my closet. She is often under foot - she even stops what she's doing to come help when she hears the dishwasher open!
- She is definitely little miss personality, and quite a little drama queen. It's so funny!
- She loves necklaces. Anything that can be draped over her neck (ribbons, pants, blankets, etc.) becomes a necklace.
- She LOVES technology, though this has been a long-standing love. She's into anything that has buttons and lights, and she knows the difference between toys and the real deal.
- She's been drinking cow's milk for about 3 weeks now (the doctor's solution to the problem from my last post) and she loves it.
- She still eats pretty much anything that we put in front of her. She loves to try any food that we're eating, spicy or not.
- She says (and seems to know what they mean): "dada," "o" (no), "oh-oh" (uh-oh), "eeee" (kitty), and can identify "light," "kitty," and a few others that I can't think of right now.
- She loves to dance to any kind of music - classical, pop, mariachi, anything.
- She laughs whenever anyone around her is laughing.
- She has started picking her nose (any ideas how to teach her not to do that? she's pretty stubborn on this one...)

We feel so lucky to be her parents!

one year

2010-06-05T17:34:00.000-06:00

For Leila's first birthday we had a little party - not many people and nothing very elaborate. It was perfect! We had tissue paper pom poms, chips & salsa/guacamole, hummus and veggies, and cupcakes. It was delish and low-key. Next year maybe we'll do something a little bigger, but this year I couldn't have handled anything more!

And of course, the obligatory cake pictures... She loved it!

Unfortunately I didn't end up with any others pictures! But these are cute and such a great memory of her special day.

Happy birthday to my little girl!

11 months

2010-05-12T14:12:00.001-06:00

Leila turned 11 months last Tuesday.... which means that in less than three weeks she'll be a year old! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by.

We've spent a lot of time lately frowning, crying, and snuggling... and chasing her around, too. She's crawling and gets into any cupboard in the house if we let her. She's getting close to walking (but we'll see when she finally decides to do it).

She has the sweetest smile (when she uses it), and a cute little voice (when she's not screaming or crying...). She jabbers all. the. time.

She's eating just about everything now, including chili... burritos... and food from Rodizio Grill. Basically, if I'm eating something, she wants it too.

She's decided she doesn't like nursing anymore, nor does she like to drink from a sippy cup or bottle. She also doesn't like to drink anything we've given her so far. Not formula, not Pedialyte, not water.

We've discovered that it's not a good idea to take her out in public... which is *great* news [insert sarcasm here], since I'll be flying solo with her later this week.

Wish me luck!

grumpy

2010-04-22T12:39:00.002-06:00

Leila's been sleeping through the night since she was about 3 months old, and I've certainly enjoyed/gotten used to it! Unfortunately for a couple of nights this week she decided to be up several times in the night. Not only did this make for a tired mom and dad, it also made for a grumpy little Leila!

The other morning on Daniel's way out the door, he snapped a couple of pictures of me and the little one. Despite his efforts to make her smile, she was not interested in being happy!

hobbies

2010-04-18T21:41:00.003-06:00

Tonight Daniel and I had a Family Home Evening lesson on hobbies. I have them practically coming out my ears (which leaves me with very little time to do anything with any of them). Daniel currently has none.

"So what is something that might appeal to you?" I asked.

"Pogs," he responded while checking out our milk cap to see if it could function as one. "I want to collect Pogs."

- - - - -

Daniel would like me to add that the reason why he has no hobbies right now is because it has been so long since he had time for hobbies, that he can't remember what he likes to do.

poor baby

2010-04-17T10:50:00.004-06:00

Poor little Leila hasn't been feeling very well for the past little while. One day she had a high fever, but the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with her.

She's had a runny nose, some congestion, and over all has just been a little more fussy and unhappy than usual.

Turns out... it was a tooth! It finally popped on Tuesday. It's poking out now, but it's still kind of hard to see. No pictures yet, but we'll post one as soon as we can get one.

The best part? We have a happy baby again!

the day I did something really stupid

2010-04-16T10:57:00.014-06:00

I've done a lot of stupid things in my life.

This one (I think) takes the cake.

We were having some people over a few weeks ago and in my rush to get ready I decided to put a couple of things (muffin pans and a large plastic food container) in the oven so I didn't have to look at them. Lo and behold, a few hours later, Daniel (who didn't know about any of this) turned on the oven so we could make dinner. Did I mention we were making dinner for our guests?

I didn't immediately remember that there was anything in there; the tell-tale smell and smoke coming out of the oven were a strong reminder! Flames inside the oven. Stringy melted plastic all over one of our oven racks (thankfully not both). A puddle of melted plastic on the bottom of the oven.

We are grateful that the mess was contained and relatively benign.

The oven cleaned up just fine but I think we might be looking at replacing one of our oven racks, since it looks like this:

Unfortunately that plastic is wrapped all the way around the metal, making it extremely difficult to peel off. (Trust me, I've tried...)

The best line of the whole experience?

Daniel, upon finding out that our plastic container was on melted/on fire, could only muster up the words to say... "So it's gone?"

Yes, dear. It's gone.

(Unless you count this sheet of plastic we pulled off of the bottom of the oven.)

2010-04-13T13:31:00.002-06:00

Life continues to be insanely busy. Here's a little rundown of what we've been up to, and then I'll start back in on normal posting.

Daniel:
- Has been working a complicated schedule. Regular hours (it has been so nice!), but I can never keep track of where he is working!
- Only the rest of this week and next week, and then he'll be a fourth year!
- Signed up today to take his USMLE Step 2 (clinical skills, one part of the two-part exam). He'll be flying to Houston to take it because apparently it's only available in 4-5 locations in the US.
- Continues to be the 11-year-old scout leader at church.
- Has many publications in the works. I can't keep those straight, either.
- Has been working for his dad a little bit lately.

Leila:
- Is into everything.
- Climbs stairs.
- Turned 10 months on Easter.
- Loves to watch dance and figure skating.
- Has the most infectious giggle I think I have ever heard. Too bad we haven't heard much of it lately! She hasn't been feeling well lately.
- Is turning into a one-nap girl.

I:
- Am still sitting for that same family every afternoon. I'm grateful to be doing it, but wish I was at home in the afternoons.
- Continue to be the Personal Progress advisor at church.
- Am still sewing for someone in the community, but I'm hoping to be able to start sewing for myself and our family soon.
- Have many projects "in the works" that I have been wanting to tell all of you about... but unfortunately I haven't been able to make any progress on them recently!
- Just signed up to be a Lia Sophia jewelry advisor. Hopefully I will be able to make a little money doing it, but I'm still loving the jewelry!

the month of march

2010-04-01T10:18:00.001-06:00

Daniel's most recent rotation assignment was to spend four weeks (his rural rotation) working in a family medicine clinic in Johnstown, CO, a small town about an hour and a half away from home. He was also able to spend some time working in a hospital in another town near Johnstown.

In case you're not sure where it is, some places near there are Windsor or Greeley. Basically, it's closer to the Wyoming border than it is to our house. Daniel stayed in an apartment (provided by the school) up in Greeley.

I have to say, it was really tough. I have a lot of respect for single moms! Thankfully, he was able to come home on weekends and usually one evening during the week. Many of the other locations he could have been assigned were several hours away, so we were certainly fortunate!

Most of the thoughts I had during that time revolved around his being gone, and for obvious reasons I didn't really want it to be known that he was out of town on a long-term basis! So for that reason I haven't really wanted to write on the blog.

But he's back now, at least for several months, and we're doing great! We've been enjoying the nice weather (70-80 degrees the past few days!) while we can, and we're settling back into our new routine.

And we'll have more posts up soon.

little cousins

2010-03-18T12:00:00.003-06:00

Last weekend everyone was in town for Leila's little cousin Katelyn's baby blessing.

She's such a little cutie! Leila seemed to like her pretty well.

... She did NOT want Katelyn sitting on her lap, though.

All was right in the world when she went back to sitting next to Leila.

And here are the dads, wearing their matchy-matchy suits.

just hoping

2010-03-17T12:36:00.000-06:00

I feel a small sense of panic as I watch Leila grow up and realize I'm not documenting every moment of her life. I don't want all these sweet little moments to fall away, I don't want to forget anything, and I certainly am not ready for her to be growing the way she is.

In short, I want time to stand still.

I want to catch up.

I want to remember everything.

I think that feeling must be a huge part of motherhood. I'm not sure it's ever going to change.

And it just makes me want to cry. I love where Leila is today.

I'm just hoping, but I think tomorrow will be just as good.

9 months

2010-03-04T20:12:00.003-07:00

exploring at work (she takes her job seriously)

Since Leila already had her 9-month appointment, I won't put all those details here.

Instead, I'd like to take a moment to write about Leila, as she is right now.

I knew before she was born that she was sassy. Turns out, she is both sassy and stubborn! She was close to rolling for months before she made it a habit (which I was thankful for...) and she was on the edge of crawling for weeks before she finally took the leap.

She thoroughly enjoys her new-found freedom, which she loudly expresses each time her freedom is restricted... whether that be in my arms, in her bed, in her car seat, or in a shopping cart. She professed her distaste for sitting in a shopping cart this morning at a fabric store, when she threw a fit until I picked her up and carried her around.

But that was not all. Not only did she want out of the cart, she wanted to push the cart. She grabbed the handle with both hands and strained very hard to make that darn thing move.

Alas, it was too heavy.

I desperately wished that I had my camera, and simultaneously wanted to laugh at how comical the whole thing was.

She is one smart little girl.

projects

2010-03-02T15:08:00.003-07:00

I've been doing a lot of stuff lately.

Some projects of my own, which I'll be able to post about soon (when they are finished)...

and a little (a lot) of sewing for a lady in my neighborhood.

It all started out with 100 head scarves (made with all different super-cute fabrics, I might add - it's been so fun to work with them)...

and then it morphed into making a dress.

And of course I've been playing a lot with this little girl. We play hard and have lots of fun, and then she sleeps hard and I have free time (or time to sew).

I sure love her.

yuck

2010-02-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

there's nothing like finding a dead bug in the lint trap to make me want to re-wash all the laundry I just did (and give me the creepy-crawlies)...

...and there's nothing like having my little "helper" around to make it so much more enjoyable!

9 month appointment

2010-02-26T09:40:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was Leila's 9-month appointment.

(We went in for her appointment a week early. Daniel has been on his pediatrics rotation for the past 8 weeks, and has spent the last half of it working with Leila's pediatrician. We decided to take her in early so he could be there and help with the exam.)

She is 27" long, and weighs in at 18 lbs and 1/2 ounce... which puts her in the 40-ish percentile for everything.

She had a couple of shots (we decided to spread out her immunizations a little bit) and she did great! I'm getting a little bit more used to the idea and the nurse who administers them is wonderful, gentle, and fast (she did my flu vaccine a while back). Luckily, though, Daniel was there to hold Leila so I didn't even have to look.

speedy

2010-02-24T09:43:00.003-07:00

Hey! I have something to tell you.

I can CRAWL!

My mama says it's hard to take pictures of me now, since I move so much...

...but I just think it's fun.

the beginning

2010-02-19T10:19:00.003-07:00

I'd like to point out that today is the three-year anniversary of the day Daniel and I met. It was President's Day. Neither of us had school. And we went out for lunch at California Pizza Chicken.

He ordered Thai Chicken Pizza, I ordered BBQ Chicken Pizza. Though neither of us knew at the time, it was the pattern of our future lives.

And now I make that pizza for dinner almost every weekend.

In honor of the special anniversary, I thought I'd share some retro-fied photos of us, from the first month we dated.

The first-ever photo of us. At a gymnastics meet,
which was right after I got out of a ballroom competition.

Hence the hair net.

At another gymnastics meet. We had matching blemishes.
Mine was from a zit. His was a scar from a dermatology procedure.

He said he always knew I liked him because I still wanted to
date him even when he had a mole on his face removed right
after we met... so he had to wear a bandaid on his face for a week.

(I think) the first picture I sent to my parents.

Happy Anniversary my love!

2010-02-17T14:54:00.002-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy. I've had a bunch of different projects I've been working on. It's been a lot of fun, but blogging has taken a little bit of a fall on the priority list!

One of the boys I babysit wanted help making a quilt for a school project. It turned out great! I wouldn't necessarily have chosen the color combination, but hey - he's 10. He did a great job on the cutting out, sewing, and tying. I taught him how to use my sewing machine and I think he was pretty proud of himself. I got to try out binding a quilt a new way and I think I learned a few things that will help me in the near future, when I finally bind a quilt that should have been complete months ago... but that's another story for another time.

As Daniel mentioned, I made a yummy breakfast on Saturday morning for Valentine's Day. It looks a little bland, mostly because of the color palette, but it sure tasted great!

And I'll just round out the post with a picture of my Valentine and our little Valentina.

I've got more to share, but first I need to take pictures!

My Awesome Wife

2010-02-13T10:26:00.004-07:00

This morning Julie woke me up after a nice restful night of sleep and told me that breakfast was ready. Not really knowing what to expect, I got up and went downstairs to see this:

What a nice pre-Valentine's surprise! Thank you Sweetheart! I love you!

teething troubles

2010-02-09T14:42:00.002-07:00

Leila is teething... and it's making her so sad!

Yesterday she wouldn't take a nap. Finally (after being grumpy for a couple of hours) she sacked out and slept for a long, long time. She had finally talked and cried herself to sleep - I think she had some extra energy she needed to lose before she could relax!

I had been checking on her periodically, and after I noticed that she had been quiet for a little while, I peeked in and that is what I found. She is so cute. I hope she gets past this teething stage quickly, because it makes me so sad to see her so upset!

8 months

2010-02-05T09:45:00.003-07:00

Leila turned 8 months yesterday.

She won't have another doctor's appointment until she's (almost) 9 months, but we estimate that she weighs in at 18 lbs and is 26" long.

She's gotten so big!

She's so close to crawling, but right now she gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, as well as scoots herself backward. Her preferred mode of movement (aside from being carried) is rolling.

She is so funny!

We hear a lot of "dadadadadadadadada" these days, and she loves to buzz her lips.

Food is one of her favorite things, and she's doing well with all the fruits, vegetables, and cereal we've given her. She's also experimenting with self-feeding these days (she loves the cereal-like puffs), but she's still trying to figure out how to get the food from her tightly clenched fist into her mouth. It's a bit of a challenge! We frequently find 2 1/2 or 3 sticky puffs stuck in her hands.

Her prized possessions include her books, Santa bear, toy phone, and finger puppets. If she could get hold of any item that's off-limits, there would be a three way tie for favorite between my cell phone, iPod, and the computer keyboard/mouse.

glazed poundcake, my way

2010-02-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last week (no, a week and a half ago... wow!) we had our annual Young Women in Excellence/New Beginnings program.

In our ward, we find that we have a better turnout and experience if we combine them. For now, it works. Probably when we have more kids in the 12-18 age group we'll transition to a more traditional way of doing things.

Anyway.

Each member of the presidency (and me, Personal Progress leader) contributed in various different ways, but I wanted to share something I learned while doing my part.

It's about poundcake.

Tasty, delicious, wonderful poundcake.

Yum!

I used the same recipe as last year, and made chocolate/chocolate and white/vanilla (or something like that - check out the recipe if you don't know what I'm talking about). Except this year, I made it in mini-loaf pans that I got for Christmas.

They turned out fabulously!

I decided to try Martha Stewart's method for glazing cakes (at least, one that I saw on TV a while back). She places the cake on a cooling rack and spoons the glaze over it so that it covers the entire thing. It was gorgeous, and I had to try it!

But I don't own a cooling rack. So I "made it work" with kabob skewers.

And you know what? I liked the aesthetic, but when I went to cut it, the glaze cracked and crumbled. It drove me crazy!

So instead, I spooned the glaze over the top and let it drip off.

It was much faster, and certainly easy. And I liked it. Just enough imperfection to keep me from breaking out in hives when the I cut it and the glaze cracked.

All in all, I thought that having the cake raised so the excess glaze could drip off was a great idea! I dislike when my cakes go mushy because the excess glaze soaks in. I'll definitely be doing this again with bundt cakes.

I also thought that trying to coat the entire cake with glaze was overkill... though I suppose there are some practical applications for it.

Happy baking!

And I'll leave you with another picture of some of my new favorite treats... pretzels, kisses/hugs, and M&Ms. Also excellent with Rolos and pecans on top, but we have a girl with nut allergies and I didn't want it to be an issue. You should make these! You'll be addicted.

back again

2010-01-28T11:20:00.003-07:00

I'm back. This time for real.

I hadn't had enough of a break.

It's been a hard couple of weeks.

I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed by some things.

Leila hasn't been sleeping well...
...and since I'm the mom, I haven't been sleeping well either.

{at least I still think she's cute. It's not so bad when you feel that way.}

Something about rolling over in her sleep and then waking up
Or teething
Or being hungry.

I don't quite know.

All I know is, I'm tired.

And I need some motivation.

Stay tuned - I've got some fun stuff in the works.

I'm hoping to be able to share soon.

I'm back.

2010-01-20T12:04:00.002-07:00

I've been taking a break.

Partially because I haven't had anything to write about.

Partially because I haven't really had much time to write.

And partially because I haven't really felt like writing.

But...

I'm back now.

In the past week,

I've cleaned.
I've baked.
I've worked.
I've run.
I've relaxed.

And now I'm feeling just a little bit more recharged.

2010 goals

2010-01-13T12:54:00.004-07:00

This is Leila's camera face these days... She is such a ham!

Ahh, the obligatory resolutions post.

While in the past I've never really subscribed to the idea that goals like "eat better" or "exercise more" (or have New Years' resolutions at all!) are very effective, I find myself believing that maybe there really is something to it!

However, my upbringing (complete with lessons about goal-setting from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) and my fear of failure cause me to think that I need to make more specific goals for myself.

It's a little bit of a quandary.

Which is why I have decided to try making some goals for the year. And now I'm writing them out.

1. Run a 10K this year. This is probably my most ambitious goal of the year! I've never really enjoyed running, but I've decided that now is the time! I want to be able to do this, not only because it will definitely be a challenge for me (I haven't run a mile at a time in probably 8 years), but also because I'd like to be able to say I've done it, and to know that I've defeated the odds.

2. Feed my spiritual self. I find that I'm not very good about taking care of my physical needs (like eating right or drinking enough water) because I get so caught up in what I am doing, or Leila needs help, and I forget. But even more than that, I'm really terrible at taking care of my spiritual needs. Last September I had made the goal to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2009 but I fell short. This year I want to do better.

3. Take more pictures of Leila, more often. I'd like to have at least one from each day this year! And then do something with them, like sending them to grandparents, posting them on the blog, or scrapbooking them.

4. Create a peaceful home. Though I feel like I am finally getting it, I still have a long way to go. We need to simplify, for sure.

5. Make monthly goals according to the needs I feel we have at that particular time. I was doing this toward the end of last year and I felt like it was great to be able to focus on something each month. I'd like to continue doing that.

And I would like to have a word of the year again, though this time I'm going to make something with it so I can see it everyday. Last year I was able to keep my word in mind for a few weeks and then only thought about it every so often for the rest of the year! This year I'd like to be better. More on that later.

2010

2010-01-12T09:43:00.002-07:00

I'm a little behind on the blog posts - the last few weeks have been just a little crazy!

Since I didn't get around to sending Christmas cards this year and I'm embarrassed to be sending Christmas cards in January....

Here is the Christmas letter that we intended to send, along with the above picture.

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope that the holiday season finds you happy and well. This year has been quite an adventure for our little family. Daniel completed his second year of medical school, ending it in April with the first of several qualifying exams. His third year began shortly thereafter. He has enjoyed clinical rotations in Psychiatry, OBGYN, Internal Medicine, and Surgery. Also in April, Julie graduated from Brigham Young University, completing her degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. Our biggest adventure began June 4th, when our beautiful baby daughter arrived! Leila Marie was born at 5:01pm and has been a joy ever since. We've enjoyed the adjustment to parenthood and we're happy to say that we're even getting full nights of sleep! We have truly been blessed this year, and we are thankful for the birth and life of our Savior that we celebrate during this season.

Love,
Daniel, Julie & Leila

Maybe I'll get around to mailing cards next year.