[ Happy Birthday to Me ]

Just in case you were wondering, this is what 30 looks like.
A fire hazard :) They actually put 30 candles on the cake. So thoughtful.

Some of my birthday loot.

Beautiful and delicious breakfast by doug. yum. jealous, aren't you?
And thanks for my sun dress grama (as modeled in the picture)

I think i got them all... i wonder if i'll get my birthday wish...

[ happy birthday alli! ]

and hope you liked your's your present... might be the best one yet :)

[ old to you... new to me! ]

I finally got a new car! I've been searching and searching and I have been wasting soo much time (and doug's too and he's about had it) and looked at about 40 cars and i finally found one i felt ready to buy. here she is. a 1999 honda accord. she's practically brand new inside, even with the new car smell :) it's automatic, so that's a bit strange, but i'm sure i'll get used to it. And there are some scratches on the outside, but that's ok with me. Only 63K, one owner and it has a sunroof! Yeah! Can you tell i'm a little excited? Mahalo James in Hawaii Kai for wanting a brand new one :)

[ five of us ]

my new desktop image. it makes me smile every time i see it. because i remember that cassie and alli were fighting over whose arm goes where. and even jake is smiling.

[ butter ]

this is part of doug's magic diet plan. it must be magic because i don't know anyone else who can do this on a regular basis and still get skinnier. he goes very heavy on the butter on everything. like it has to seep through his toast. he's started dipping his chocolate chips into it. what? who does that? he also drink a lot of salad dressing from the bottle. a lot of it. like it's juice. and he's so slim and trim. i think maybe he should market this new found magic diet.

[ erin & greg got married ]

Ok, so on a more upbeat note than last time....I'm so glad I went. It was so very much fun. Hanging out with the Allreds to all hours of the night, hanging out with them anytime is a treat. Pedicures with the ladies. Finding a random last minute hair salon to do erins hair for her wedding pictures. you know, no biggie (luckily it turned out beautiful, but seriously, is that something you leave to chance?) And it was so fun to see Cassie and Alli. And UT is really beautiful in the spring :) Congratulations erin and greg! i love you guys.

[ stressed out ]

looking for a new car is seriously stressing me out. it's time consuming, annoying and so far very disappointing. and i'm also losing faith in craigslist. doug and i had to spend the whole beautiful day yesterday in the car looking at loser cars posted on craigslist. they were all disgusting/nasty inside. and not too great on the inside. and it's so stressful wondering if you're going to get something that's just going to fall apart right after you get it. so the search will continue tomorrow.

and...

i have to go to the chiropractor/massage guy 3 times a week for my neck/back and that takes a bunch of time. and i'm falling behind at work and i have a billion things to do before the summers over and i have to publish an article and get ready to go up for continuing faculty status in the fall and make sure they'll keep me :)

and...

i'm still kinda sore from the stupid accident. and i'm exhausted.

and...

no, i'm still not engaged in case you were about to ask.

OK, rant over. for now :)

Update: Still no car, but I'm not so stressed out anymore :)  thanks for your calls to check up on me :)

[ totaled ]

How sad, my car is totaled. I really loved my car. The 97 Honda Accord has really treated me so well. But someone tried to kill me last week. It was kinda raining/sprinkling and i was just leaving for Costco and didn't even get a mile or two on the way when some kid coming the other direction in a big full size truck lost control and started fishtailing and going crazy. i was stuck on a little bridge behind and car when he smacked the back of his car on his guard rail, missed the lucky car in front of me, and then smashed into my door and squished me into the guardrail. It was a very loud crash. but i was pretty much ok, a little shaken with a bit of glass in my arm and some bruises to come for sure, but very lucky considering. luckily there were a bunch of witnesses to say it was in no way my fault. and luckily it was just close to home so a bunch of friends were close by to stop and help me. a few cop cars and and ambulance later doug took me to the emergency room where they cleaned the glass out and took some xrays. the worst part was the glass cleaning. it made me oh so close to passing out. i'm kind of a wuss apparently. but i'm alive and well, just kinda sore and i move my neck a bit funny still. they just towed away my car 5 minutes ago to the salvage yard. how sad. they are going to let me know how much i get for it soon. the 17 year old kid that hit me was petrified. i'm glad his dad's new truck had insurance :) anyway. some pictures for your viewing pleasure....





























before the night was over i has doug as my slave (he's seriously amazing at taking care of me when i'm sick... i love it), my home teacher call me and check up and friends from the ward, rs pres visit at the hospital and call from the bishop that night. home cooked meal when i got home and then some dessert. doug's like, "you really have a lot of people that care about you" and i guess he's right.

[ craft time ]

This was my mom's birthday present this year. I decided to be cheap and make my family aprons for their birthdays this year (thanks to Cassie for the idea). This was my 3rd attempt and I'm getting pretty good at it :) It was a success and she loved it. I'm really giving little blue a workout these days. I made matching dishtowels to match.