The One with A Week in Instagrams

Since I always have my phone with me, it has become my main source of photo-taking. What have we been up to lately? My phone can tell you! Or rather, show you.

There are two houses in the streets behind our apartment that constantly have commercials filmed in their front yard or innards. On this particular day at "the house with the red door" they were filming a Toyota commercial. You can see the bright red car parked on the front lawn. So keep a weather eye out for that commercial!

Just a few days later there was ANOTHER commercial filmed at the same "house with the red door". I once met a film location scout on an airplane and she said that the house owners are usually compensated with one month's mortgage. So in just a matter of a week these people got two months of their mortgage taken care of. Must be nice! Anyway, on this day the were filming a Wendy's commercial. There was a fake yard sale set up all over the front lawn. I'm not sure what a yard sale has to do with fast food... only time will tell! They even brought in bird-noise specialists to control the "Parrots of Pasadena" because the birds like to flock in the palm trees on the grassy center knoll in the middle of this neighborhood. What do bird-noise specialists do exactly? They had two hawks in really small enclosed and dark boxes (super sad) that they'd fly around to scare away the parrots if they made noise. It was indeed pin-needle quiet all day. I was afraid the parrots wouldn't come back cuz they'd be too scared, but sure enough, they were back the next morning ready to squawk the day away!



At the other house that always gets filmed at (which also just so happens to be my favorite house in all of South Pasadena), their front lawn had been "pink flamingoed." I don't know what it means or the point of it, but Fox thought they were pretty cool. Or did he?...

Jane's room is coming along! I placed all the frames and mirrors and canvases in the order I wanted them, snapped this pic, and then I had fun decorating/spray painting/artifying them all. The wall is now complete so the full reveal will be soon.

Every late May/early June the jacaranda trees sprout beautiful purple flowers. Marengo Street in South Pasadena is particularly stunning with both sides lined with these trees. So pretty!

Fox drinking from the sprinkler. That, or he's copying what I look like during my first trimester hunched over the toilet...

Fox and Daddy riding Dumbo when we went to Disneyland an hour early last week.

Best buds! I love that Fox gets to have a doggy to grow up and play with. 

This morning Fox was running around being silly and he slammed his bedroom door. The mirror on the other side came crashing down and shattered into a million pieces. Does this mean we have seven years of bad luck coming our way? I sure hope not!

That's it in a nutshell!

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The One with Heaven is Here

Do you read Nie Nie?

I was living in Utah and had just started up my own blog when I came across a few other blogs with posts about a woman who had just barely survived a plane crash - one of my biggest fears. Turns out I'm actually named after one of her sisters - Page - since my mom was her Beehive advisor or something along those lines (still waiting to hear back from you Malm to confirm or deny this :) - updated: confirmed! )

I read on my cousin Sara Jayne's blog her smashing review of Nie Nie's book and so I got it for my mom for Mother's Day.

She whizzed right through it. My dad even read it, but thought it was a little sappy :) I told my mom I wanted to read it after they were finished.

 I got it in the mail yesterday.
I finished it today.
It's that good.


Sara Jayne wrote better than I can how I feel about the book, so I'm copying and pasting:

Stephanie Nielson describes in detail her life before, during, and after a devastating plane crash that left her body 80% burned. 

Her descriptions of the accident and recovery are heavy...hard to read but I could not stop.

My favorite thing about the book is that it is a real life love story.

Stephanie and Mr. Nielson (as she calls him) met, fell in love, and were married by the time she was like 19 years old.
All she wanted her entire life was to have a family of her own.

Stephanie and Mr. Nielson went through an unimaginable nightmare together.
Can you imagine literally being burned alive?
One of my biggest fears.

Instead of harvesting blame and anger their love and respect for each other grew and they came out of their trial even more in love than before, despite their majorly changed and disfigured physical appearances.

Being LDS I also enjoyed reading her words about the Church. 

She didn't come off preachy at all, she simply stated what she believed in a 'take it or leave it' kind of way.

I was constantly wondering what people who aren't LDS thought of it all.

The only thing that I didn't like about the book is that I was sad when it was over.
Make sure you have a tissue handy with this one.

For realsies.

Thanks for the book recommendation SJ - and if anyone wants to borrow "my" copy - please do because I want to discuss it ad nauseum!

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The One with Early Entry to Disneyland

Along the lines of yesterday's post - another thing I'm SO grateful for is our proximity to Disneyland! Fox loves it, I love it, Chris loves it - win win win all around! I realize that some people don't even get to go once in an entire lifetime, so I am very very very thankful for the opportunity to live so close by. A few weeks ago I got an email from Disneyland with a special offer for annual passholders to enter the park an hour early, all we had to do was pick a date. That date was today! We set our alarms for 5am... when I know that I have to wake up early to an alarm, I don't sleep well. Thanks for that one Dald :) We were out the door before even the crows were up. 

After a quick dash down the 5 we made it to Disneyland and ran, or rather, walked briskly to avoid being yelled at, to the tram. 

We got to the park and were ushered to the cast members handing out special wristbands.

It was so empty!

Now, had I taken a picture of the entrance to California Adventure, that'd be a different story. People are going nuts over the new Cars Land! The lines to get into the park at 6:30am, even when it didn't open until 8am, were outrageous. 

Once we got in we dashed down Main Street. It was so awesome to see it so bare. 

Hello Walt and Mickey!

Bye Walt and Mickey!

What's this? Did they get married at Disneyland?!?!

I wonder how much that costs and how it's done? Pretty cool!

Our plan of action: Hit up all the rides in Fantasyland cuz goodness knows those lines get long fast once the park opens. 

We got RIGHT ON Peter Pan! That's a first! And it was awesome!

We bopped around from kiddie-ride to kiddie-ride and Chris took Fox on a couple rides that I would never go on in this state of pregnancy; like Dumbo and the Mad Tea Party.

All I could see was the top of Fox's head. It was so cute. Plus they were the ONLY ones on the ride - rad!

One more spinny ride - King Arthur's Carousel:

It's that time of year - watch for crossing ducks and ducklings!

While Chris went on the newly re-opened Matterhorn, I took Fox on Nemo. 

We had the entire submarine to ourselves! Seriously!

Once we got off Nemo the park had officially opened and the crowds were pouring in. We ran back to Fantasyland to go on the couple of rides that didn't open until 8 like Storybook Land Canal Boats. It took every ounce of Chris's being to not yell "Go Cougs!" to the family we shared the boat with... 

After finishing up with Fantasyland we headed over to Adventureland. Do you remember my friend Katie and the YouTube video of her daughter Lily when she found out they were going to Disneyland?

The video went viral and now has over 9 million views! TODAY they arrived at Disneyland and get to stay in the Dream Suite:

I am soooo jealous :)

Cool light.

One of my favorite parts of Disneyland is all the pretty flowers. Take time to stop and smell the roses!

Singing and livin' it up in New Orleans Square!

The Haunted Mansion doesn't look so scary with the big beautiful blue skies and sun shining on it!

There were posters and what not everywhere advertising the new Disney/Pixar movie Brave. Princess Merida was in the house taking pictures and signing autograph books.

Mountain climbers climbing on the Matterhorn. Now that'd be a fun job!

The best family pic I got:

All-in-all, we went on 20 rides in 4 hours. That's pretty amazing! 

We have tickets for early entry to California Adventure in a few weeks, we can't wait!

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The One with Turn that Frown Up-Side-Down

I find myself complaining a lot lately. It's hot. I'm tired. I'm constantly in pain from this that or the other, especially ever since Sunday when Jane decided to rest on my sciatic nerve. I'm sick of living on ramen noodles and mac and cheese because we've had some major unexpected expenses come up (think stupid car repairs, increasing health insurance, increasing gas prices, increasing food prices, and yet, our income doesn't increase to compensate). I feel fat and ugly; even my maternity clothes aren't fitting right anymore. And on and on.

Enough is enough. 

It's time to start thinking about all the GOOD things!

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be a stay-at-home-working-mom. Even though I work about 50 hours a week between two jobs, I somehow still manage to be a mommy to Fox and take care of all his needs whilst earning a living. I love technology and computers and the internet and my flexible co-workers that allow me to be able to work from home.

I'm grateful for on-site laundry and that this stacking unit came with our apartment. For two years we had to take our laundry to a facility (and when I say we, I mean Chris... he's the best!). Being able to do a load of laundry almost daily, from home, is an answered prayer.

I'm so thankful for my loving and ever-growing family, both immediate and extended.
Missing from this photo is Eric and Tanya, Maren's hubby Logan, Fox and the baby in my belly, the baby in Sara Jayne's belly, and Ashley and John's newest baby Carter.

Missing Eric and Tanya, Fox, and the baby in my belly.

Missing the baby in my belly, Andy and Cami's newest baby Hunter, Peter, and the brand new baby in Bethany's belly! Hooray!

I love my family and how supportive and amazing they all are. Cuz when it comes down to it, life really is about family.

I'm thankful for the art known as scrapbooking. It's been a major part of my existence since I was 16. My jobs revolve around it, I've met thousands of amazing women (and a few men, mostly co-workers) because of it, and I have stacks of albums full of precious memories that will be passed down for generations from it. I haven't been scrapping as much lately because I got burnt out a few months ago, but I'm really hoping to delve right back into it soon!

I'm thankful that my body is able to create life. There are so many couples out there that I know that struggle with this issue and I hope and pray that one way or another they will get the blessing of having children. Being pregnant is no cake walk. With about 5 weeks to go I've reached my breaking point, but hopefully this post will help me pause and remind myself that this is a blessing and a miracle.

I'm thankful for the bounteous friends I've made living here in South Pasadena. There are literally dozens of other young married families going through dental school and all living within a 5-mile radius. We get together often and I so appreciate and need those few hours of girl-talk!

I'm thankful that Fox has the opportunity to play and interact with all of these children that we make constantly :)

I love my pets, even if sometimes it seems Joey's cons outweigh his pros :) Rachel is the sweetest, fattest, laziest, nicest cat I've ever met.

I'm thankful for my religion and the knowledge it gives me. Every Sunday at church is such a boost for my morale. 

And most of all, I'm thankful for my husband and my son and soon-to-be-daughter. 

I'm smiling now :)

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The One with Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day 2012!

I saw this card on etsy and decided to use it for my inspiration for Chris' card:

Inside I painted Fox's and my hands and stamped them and then wrote a little love note.

Here are a couple picture collages of my favorite photos of Chris'n'Son.



And a happy Father's Day to my own Dad - Dald!

I'm so much like him it's scary!

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