Names

Everyone keeps asking me about names. Everyday we think a little bit about it and everyday we make a little bit of progress. We were looking at five different names, and now we are down to two. I think we like them pretty equally. So I have come to ask your help....although you may not sway our decision I think it would be nice to get some opinions.

I like the idea of naming her after one or two of the amazing women in my life.

Audrey Lyle (Lyle is my grandmothers name. We would like to use one of the grandmothers names but we haven't decided which one yet. Lyle, Nola, Eleanor, or Mary.)

Elizabeth Anne (Elizabeth, and Anne are our Mom's names.)

Please don't say you like both....that will not help in the decision making. I need honest answers here!

I love things that come in little packages

I love mail! I love taking a little stroll out to my mailbox to find something inside. Anything is welcome...although bills aren't the most exciting. At least I feel happy when I can send them back to where ever they came from and not have to worry about them for the rest of the month.
Yesterday I was particularly lucky when I received three envelopes, and all of them contained happiness inside. The first was a gift card from our electric company to Subway. No strings attached, free food...just how I like it! Then there was a graduation announcement from my cousin on Paul's side. Shannon is one of my best friends and I'm so excited for her and her upcoming college debut. Lastly I received the cutest birthday card from my Mother-in-law. I'm sure she is one of the most creative people I know. I think this plays a part in the fact that Paul is such and awesome engineer. Thank you for the card Anne! It made my day!

For all the rest of you...go check your mail. Who knows, you might find something there waiting for you.

Getting me some new skills

Have you ever met or known a women who is obsessed with crocheting or knitting? It seems like their hands are always crocheting and their mouth is always doing something else. I admire that these women seem to have something to do where ever they go. You can be sure that they are always prepared with a skein of yarn and some hooks or needles depending on what they are doing. Well I've never been interested in this skill before. I think the last time I tried was in our Young Women group at church when I was 12. I was really terrible at it because I was so impatient for it to become something. Hopefully I have grown a little more patient since then...because after seeing these beauties I'm looking into developing a new skill.

You Tube here I come!

I had to say goodbye again

Kimberly and Tamara,
You were a much needed visit from home. I know it was cramped because my apartment is hardly large enough for four people, and you had to be woken up by Paul every morning. Maybe next time someone decides to visits me I will have a home...or at least an extra bedroom. Thank you girls for making my mornings brighter, my days full of sun and laughs, and my evenings full of dessert and chick flicks.
I swear I am still recovering from eating so much ice cream. The amount you left is still in the fridge, and I have a filling it's going to be there for a while. Above all thanks for bringing a little bit of home with you! I'll see you again soon...

PS. Thanks for the note. I would never forget you two!

Exhibit A:
This is my calendar...I think the Kimberly and Tamara had claim to the lower portion.

Get Ready to PAR-TAY

In less than a weeks time I get to see these girls!!!!! For my birthday they spent their hard earned money to come see me (cute I know). Thank you girls...I've been missing my sisters! I'm so excited I can hardly sit still!!



We are going to explore the city and spend a lot of time in the water. And of course they can't leave without having some good old Texan BBQ. Bring on the ice cream and beach umbrellas!

Don't worry Mom...I'll try to keep the Texan boys from staring.

Pictures will follow...

Walmart.....a necessary evil

I've avoided this trip for two weeks. I'm now out of face soap, body wash, eye shadow, shavers, shaving cream, cleaning supplies, Q-tips and hair spray. Obviously you can see that I had no choice. I had to brave the crowds, and the crazy people hanging out in the parking lot trying to get me to donate, join their church group, or buy some tomales.
So I figured I would go right after dropping Paul off at work. It would be 8:00...no one would bother me and I could shop in peace. Walmart is the
NECESSARY EVIL in my life. Every time I go something bad happens and I regret going. So why do I keep feeling this gravitational pull toward the big blue sign. I don't know..maybe it's the marketing for cheap stuff.
So this morning I'm pretty excited to go to Walmart so that I can get home and shave my legs. My hair is getting out of control! My specific goal was to address the lack of shaving equipment.
Surprisingly I find everything I need, and I'm pretty proud of the cost. I go to the check out and I'm surprised again because I chose the right line to get into. I was impressed...no crazy coupon lady, no new checker, no product without a bar code, and alas no one with too many credit cards they can't decide which one to use. Paul would have been proud of my surveying skills! The person across from me wasn't so fortunate. As I exit a woman approaches me to discuss the next
religious meeting her church will be having for Easter...I should have given her a pass along card. I'm not too disturbed by this because my shopping experience went fairly well.
I get home and go about my daily routine. I get to the shaving part and there's NO shaving cream! I search the bags over several times hoping that I won't have to go out a get in my car with no gas and go to Walmart AGAIN! Twice in one day is too much for me to handle.
I come up with no shaving cream so I head back to Walmart. The parking lot is overflowing with anxious shoppers. I take a parking spot out back. I head to the customer service counter and the woman there tells me she has to check the register...she wants to make sure that I'm not trying to steal a 2$ bottle of shaving cream. Finally she comes back and tells me to go pick one off the shelves. At this point I'm starting to formulate in my brain how I can get Walmart to pay for this bottle after my inconvenience. I bring the bottle up front and get back in the line of 10 people for her to give me a receipt that means nothing.
As I'm in line I'm looking over my receipt and notice an item that says (disposable) and it costs 15$. I know for a fact I didn't but anything over seven dollars....and nothing that was called disposable!
I get to the front and she gives me the shaving cream. I point out the 15$ and she looks up the number. The shavers that I bought that were labeled 7$ are on my receipt as 15$. At this point I chose to walk away...I could have made my claim but I didn't. I'm not going back home to get the shavers to make a third trip! It was 11:30 I hadn't shaved my legs, I needed to get gas for the car, and I had a visiting teaching appointment at 12:00. My legs still aren't shaved.

Getting Older and Wiser

After blowing out the candles


Earlier this week I went to get my hair cut. Let's just say 80-90 degree weather + pregnancy + thick long hair = a very unhappy person. Afterward, I was headed home on the freeway minding my own business when the person in front of me moves out of my lane. I'm still driving thinking nothing of it, then I see something gleaming on the road in front of me...by that time it's too late. Before I know it I'm hitting a metal ladder going 70 mph. My heart was pounding! I wasn't sure if the car was okay...I didn't even know if I was okay. After calming down and calling Paul I was fine, and the car surprisingly "so far" has nothing wrong with it.
So if your headed out on the freeway make sure to remember to watch out for large random objects. I'm just grateful it wasn't a couch!

This baby is growing. I finally broke down a couple days ago and went pregnancy clothes shopping for my birthday. When I woke up for church last Sunday and tried everything on, and then had to piece something together...I knew it was time. Success, I feel normal again!

For my Birthday Paul and I made breakfast together. He doesn't usually have a lot of time in the mornings so it felt really good to sit down and have breakfast with him.
Breakfast always reminds me of oranges. Have you ever known anyone that doesn't like oranges? I don't know what is involved in the cultivation process to make this deliciousness happen, but I want to know the secret. So now that I have seriously heightened my craving for "Simply Orange" orange juice with extra pulp we will move on.

I had a great birthday yesterday. I spent a day next to the pool by myself, which surprisingly was very relaxing. Paul came home and took me to the greatest burrito place on earth for dinner. Then he made me a carrot cake as per my request...yes he did all of it by himself. I only had to monitor the frosting. Then we watched Tangled. I couldn't be happier, 26 doesn't feel so bad after all!



Very pleased with his cake baking skills



P.S. Thanks to Karl for these awesome candle holders. Our kids are going to love them!