for annie

 one style of chair... the others are by Haley.  she took pics of those ones.

 here are the tables.  kind of smallish.  maybe 6 folks?  or 7.......

 the serving tables?

 this is the front view looking to the entry doors where guests enter.  the wall does wave in and out......

 the serving area, it's biggish

 see.  big.  look how small brian is in this place!

 the fridge and freezer (Brian said they have an icemaker close by also?)

 this is the little hallway to the room... where the guests will enter

 hallway...

 this is the grand hallway to the room.  no lights are allowed in the plants... i thought that would be pretty but BYU is really strict i guess

 hallway again... there's the pudge.

serving area....

 so the door w/ pudge is the entry...  the serving area is directly to the left, then the wall curves, then curves to the front of the classroom w/ the white board....

 where Haley and Brian are standing, this can be an exit only door, or only the "servants from the kitchen" door.  I thought if that's the case, we could block it off w/ serving tables there.....

 the curtains do close to cover the white board, other fabric to hide them though?????

hi. it's Joanie.


i just finished my midterms
A's on both.
Yay!  or "phew!".  
I suppose my kids could tell I was quite overly stressed about these tests.
they kept me in our family prayers, "please help mom on her tests"  
while, I am certain, in their subtle pause afterwards, they were most certainly thinking
"she is going completely psycho and we are afraid she might to something harmful to herself, or to us, if she doesn't  have your help.  thank you."


I can now have a week of me.
for a short pondering pause.....


Nellie, this is becoming a me and you blog.
sisters... write a note or 2.  


I am pondering away at what to do w/ my life.
Mike says he thinks I would be great at HR.
annie... @ social work (I don't have time to do a masters)
education system would make sense....  until I go bald from stress.
(I have a mumbled up mixed up thought of something in my head to go w/ the bald thing, however I am much too tired to put it out in words, so laugh.... it was funny in my head.)


I need to decide.


Sydney Leigh keeps asking me if she can have a "boyfriend".
Mike and I had a "frank" chat w/ her tonight....  
really frank.
she's a cutie.  we trust her.  we don't trust boys.
(except dave and pudge.)


a lady I work w/ was explaining to me about a small guy getting into a small brawl w/ a very large boy who has anger management problems.
she was explaining to me that this little guy shoved the big guy, then the big guy fell down, got up and punched the little guy in the face.  I said, "was it Andrew".  she didn't respond, so I suggested that it couldn't have been, he would have for sure told me, and he didn't have a mark on his face.  She then proceeded to finish the story by saying:
"and then a throng of girls --- a small crowd --- came over explaining that the little guy was not at fault, they had his back and wanted to make sure that he DID NOT get into trouble for this.


yep.
it was my little guy, Andrew.  
as soon as she said "crowd of girls" I knew it.
dang.    
the boys are more drama than the girls at this age, so I guess I shouldn't be too concerned, right?


sigh.


I'm off to finish making my cookies, I may fall asleep walking to the kitchen.
love you guys.
don't punk out on us here.

What's goin on...

I really have no excuse for not writing... I'm online all the time really.

Bonnie got me hooked on Pinterest, so I've been obsessed with that for awhile. I've actually made quite a few things from there, like faux roman shades, hair bows, and some really good recipes. It has slightly sparked my creativity. I also discovered a fabric/trim store that makes Joanne's look like the corner gas station. This place seriously has a room the size of my entire living area dedicated to just "trim."

I've also slowly but surely been getting ready for little boy. I have anxiety that I won't love him  as much as Bridgette, but I see how you ladies love all your kids, so I'm fairly confident I'll make room for him. I've bought some material to make baby blankets (hopefully Anne's blanket lessons will come back to me.) I also am going to make some of those onesies that have like a vest/ tie combo sewn onto it. Hopefully it won't look too dorky. We still have no names (or maybe too many ideas.) For some reason I've been thinking I have 18 weeks, and then today I was like, NO! I have 16 weeks left! I already feel 40 weeks pregnant, so I can't imagine how 56 weeks pregnant feels! I should ask an elephant...

I've also decided to try and be a less crappy mom & enrolled Bridgette in a "mommy & me" preschool. It's twice a week, for just an hour. A girl in my ward teaches the class at the rec center, so at least I know someone there. Bridgette's slowly coming out of her shell, she's so freaking shy in public! She's also  so big now! She really enjoys playing dress up with her play jewelry & she likes cooking for me in her kitchen. She's obsessed with this British cartoon called "Peppa Pig" and started saying "mummy" in a British accent. I should just start calling her Madonna.

Dan's also doing pretty good. He joined a racquetball league, so he's getting to know some guys through that. His work's going good, it's a bit slow right now, so we see him a lot more. It's kind of the calm before the summer storm. I'm nervous about having a baby and he'll be working really long days. Oh well, you guys did it & survived, right?

Other than that stuff, not much new is going on. I've been meeting some people in my ward, I've been trying to put myself out there. They're definitely more friendly than my Eagle Mountain ward!
The weather here has been really warm, like 65-70 degrees & sunny. Today I was so hot, I wore shorts. I was not fit to been seen, my pale legs & un-pedicured feet, but it was too hot! I only wish I could go running! I went running about a month ago, and it felt great, but I had to pee after about 10 minutes. (I have stupid Strep B, and it won't go away which is probably the reason for constantly having to pee.)

Well, I'm done with my journal entry for now. This has been a boring post, but oh well. If any of you ever want to visit Dallas, please do! I'll kick Bridgy out of her room & you can have the toddler bed all to yourself!

Love ya! Write more (Bonnie & Anne!)

bons... look what I found while doing my Reagan report

haha... pretty funny.
(I never knew where mom & dad got this saying from..... tah dah!(or duh!)

this flower reminds me of mom.
I remember when we lived in Utah, mom had a bushel of these in her flower garden
I can recall her holding them in her palm and asking me:
"jo, what do these look like"
she then explained to me why they are called
"Bleeding Hearts".


Happy early Valentines Day, sisters!
I hope you are all doing well.
respond....  dorks.
;)

one down....

one week of school down.  
math hasn't been bad at all so far, though it's mostly reviewing.


but here's a david story for your enjoyment!

so.
about 3 weeks ago, David stepped on a stick.
a sliver of this stick went into his foot.  he informed me that he pulled some of it out, but some of it was still in his foot.  I told him it might not be, but he could go get my tweezers and try to get it out.  Nope.  not happening.  
so i informed him if it was in there, it would eventually make its way out.


the next day he said it bothered him a bit.
then.... nothing.


2 and a half to 3 weeks later:::::
Yesterday he starts texting me at 8 am.
"mom... my foot is killing me, 
I went to a reliable source.
she told me I needed to get it taken care of."


what?
huh?   who's this "reliable source?
and ... why is your foot killing you?


"yah.  she said that I would need to go to the ER and get it out and get stitches."


what?
who?
what are you talking about?


"the sliver.  remember?  It's still in my foot"
"the medical teacher."


buddy... that was a long time ago.
medical teacher?  you don't have a medical teacher!


--- so after an HOUR of this.  I asked him what it looked like.


"it's about as big as my big toenail.  
it's kind of reddish/brownish/purplish.  It has a zit on it.  a white zit."


I drop off Pudge, tell my boss I'll be back.
I call the high school and ask them to have Dave come to the office.
they don't.
they forget.


they tell me I can go grab him 
they send me to the classroom.  
I walk in the doorway - 30 kids are looking @ me, I can't see Dave nor the teacher.
he (the gray haired teacher) is trying to be "cool" in the back of the room.  
after what seemed like an eternity of being glared at by 30 seniors, most of them of the male brand.....
he finally asked if he could help me
"I'm just here to grab David White for a minute"


who?


"David White"


I don't have a David White..... I don't even have a David.  I do in another class on another day.  but it's not this hour nor a White.
(ugh!)


race back to the office, thinking that for sure there are red stripes making their way up his leg... because he needs to have his foot cut open and stitches given -------


The office gives me the right David.
explains to me that he was in great pain and couldn't walk very well
so they sent him to the ...
P.E.!!!! female coach (aka: medical teacher - because: "mom.  she knows stuff.")
and she offered the suggestion of crutches (or something like that... in the end.  he had crutches.)


20 minutes after pulling up to the school:  I make it to the right room.
I walk into a classroom of about 100 students.


I get stared at.
and wait.
wait. wait.
the teacher finally notices me:
"can I grab David White"
.... sure!  
and then 
the teacher announces:
"HE HAS CRUTCHES....."


sigh.  I know.  (seriously?  the school made him use crutches?!!!  SERIOUSLY????)


"No.  he doesn't need to bring those"
he limps down.  


I make him take off his sock and shoe.


the small puss is surrounded by.........


you ready for this.....


skin toned dry foot skin.


- Dave.  what happened to the big red pussy sore that was going to be needed to be operated on????


(I think I heard a cricket chirp.......)
"mom.  it's really swollen.  see?  It's hurting me really bad".


I check him out.
take him home
2 flips of a needle.
the sliver flies out.
I pore on alcohol.


all is well.


I AM a DOCTOR!


(I should charge the emergency room fee for that.)


I love my teenage son.
and this school that has some great things about it, but oh my....  
seriously?
the wrong room
crutches
stitches
.........................................
or --- no one looked at his foot.
asked him if that was what it looked like
he said yes'
and....
tah duh!
you have a Dave story.................


I would like to think ....
I don't want to think
I want to go to bed.
goodnight my darling sisters.


Nellie.... 
Annie, Bonnie.  where are you two?
Nell --- guess it's just the 2 of us.  You and I.
(we can make it if we try!  just the two of us... you and I!) 
haha.

This is How we Roll

We walk around/ color naked (not WE really, just Bridgette at this point)

Are lazy and eat breakfast in front of the TV

And about 98% of the pictures I have of Dan he's in his G top.

So don't be upset with me for not writing anything. I'm pretty lame lately.

My daily goals include:
-make my bed
-change Bridgette's diaper before she has an accident
-eat breakfast by 11
-try to make it to the gym 3 X a week.

I know, poor me. You probably all just shed a tear for me right : ) I'll shut up.


We really haven't been up to much. Bridgette basically had her baby period this week, meaning she was hyper-emotional and I now know how Dan feels when I'm PMSing.

Other than that, no news. You all know we're having a boy, due May 21st. His current hobbies include squirming around and jumping on the trampoline, aka my bladder. I have a list of 20 names that I like, Dan likes 2 of them. I hope we don't end up with some stupid name.

Joan-you talked about New Year's Goals. I usually don't make them, but I have some tasks that I'd like to complete. I really need to decorate our apartment. It has some cute features like built in bookshelves, a marble fireplace with a cute mantle and lots of windows. I just need to figure what to do with them. The one big downfall to Christmas is after Christmas, when all the sparkly decorations are put away (unless you live with Joan the glitter goddess) and the house looks bare. So that's my task for Jan/Feb.

I was also thinking of trying my hand at potty-training. I figured that I have to use the restroom every 20 minutes, so having Bridgette use the toilet every 20 minutes would be easy since I was already there. I've decided to put that on hold for now. Girlfriend has no desire for it.

Well, my princess just walked up and asked if I could please kiss her, so that's my queue to go.

ok.  since no one else is posting
and since I will be incognito here in a bit
I will post away!


I saw this.
just for the fact that her dress is simply perfect
and for the complete beauty of that brick road
this is almost too... idealistic - but I find it to be so incredibly ... perfect.


I adore the idea of a dad walking her daughter proudly through town
on their way to the chapel
with family and friends filling the sidewalks - 
edging a pathway for the lovely bride and honored father


this is a tradition that was performed in the days of Christ
I don't know if it's still around
however.... 
it's just --- almost --- enchanting in a way.
this is one of those traditions that should have stuck around.
*dreamy*


p.s.  Mike is going to wonder how I became such a romantic.  I don't know.  I do love this though.  How can you not?

I have the best sisters!
Love you girls.
Hope your new year is amazing!!!!!


What are your New Year Resolutions?
(Nell - you can't use "have a baby boy".)


mine:
1. get past college algebra (yikes!)
2. balance life in a manner that I can fit in both school work & spirituality....  that's hard for me.
3. be more consistent
4. make family home evening a priority
5. find out what I want to be when I grow up - special ed? Health Services Administration?
wish me luck.