A Coupl'a Old Pics

For those of you who also check my Aunt Mar's blog, you may have seen a few swine flu-wedding pictures hearkening back from 2009.

I had a request to post a couple of pics from our Open House photographer. (I don't know if you have these, though, Aunt Mar. You probably do. Or better versions of them.)

This one was my favorite:

Or maybe this one. Smash looked good with that bouquet. (Not all men can pull of what he's doing there.)

And even with a swine flu scare, we all still love each other.

And some people start having too much fun when you give them props.

And some people, even when wearing masks, try to make faces. (Tyler, Nathan, and I obviously were trying out our acting chops. I think Nathan's swine-flu enactment is the best.)

Anyway. We did have a lot of fun with those masks. And swine flu did affect us in a couple of different ways during the first few months of our marriage (though, nothing ever too serious). 

So, we kept the masks: 

And we proudly display them in our home. (Picture stolen from Aunt Mar because it was convenient.)

Freshly Painted Toenails

Yes. This is actually a post about my toenails.

You can stop reading now if you're already grossed out just thinking about toes or toenails or feet (as some people, like my older sister, are) and I will never know.

But I just wanted to share how pleased I am with myself for managing to both trim and paint my toenails today. For 34 1/2 weeks pregnant, that's not too shabby.

I put it on my to-do list on Sunday, but kept waiting to take care of it. Mostly because I remembered being so uncomfortable 3 weeks ago when I last had to paint my toenails. But the truth is, it needed to be done. My toenails were getting too long. And the nail polish was chipping.

It had to be done.

And I did it.

And I didn't do a half-bad job either. (But then again, I can't get close enough to really scrutinize the details of my feet.)

But still. I feel like I can wear flip-flops without embarrassing myself. So that, my friends, counts as success. And it makes me feel about 20% better about my pregnant self. So, I win.

(Until three weeks from now, when I have to attempt this process again.)

Grilling Day 2

It's important when your wife wants hot dogs to make her hot dogs. That way your unborn child will grow healthy and strong. 

Or as wiser folk might say, "Happy wife, happy life."

(See the happy wives? One of whom was exhausted by the grilling party the night before. I think it shows in this picture, just a tad.)

(Sometimes I forget how big I've gotten, until I see a picture of myself. AND I WILL STILL GET BIGGER!)

And just look at the incredibly beautiful meat. (Note: I'm actually quite meated-out, at the moment. So, we've actually frozen all the extra hot dogs, to last me for the next, oh, couple weeks.)

(The hamburgers are already gone, actually. McKay and Jake came over to help Tyler eat them on Saturday morning/afternoon.)

Doesn't our grill make beautiful food?

Love it.

Tyler and the New Grill (Day One)

While getting a new grill is fun, learning how to use it is funner. (Believe you me, I know "funner" is not a word. Or at least, it used to not be a word. But I believe I heard that is changing.)

And the best way to learn how to use a grill is to throw a party! So all the Heasleys and Kenningtons got together to chow down on some seriously delicious food.

Although I wish I could say the food was made by yours truly, I had almost nothing to do with preparing it (except for the cookies).

We had a TON of food:

And Jay and Tyler had fun preparing it all:

And just look at all this meat:

And Mom put together a beautiful fruit salad:

And just look at those gorgeous vegetables:

My cookies didn't turn out too bad either:

And just look at how happy Tyler looks with his new grill!

Along with the new grill, of course, comes instruction.

Tyler, the student chef (soon to be master-chef):

Cooking all the chicken:

As the other men arrived, they came out to get lessons from the grill-meister himself:

And the food looked and smelled so good, we had to do a little sampling:

Tyler really was so excited about his new skills:

I was excited about the shish-kabobs. I mean, just look at the colors:

Just beautiful:

This, of course, is my "feet picture" to prove that I was outside with all the grilling action. (Obviously I'm having a little trouble seeing my feet these days.)

But look at how it all turned out:

McKenna brought a delicious chocolate cream pie:

Then we all sat around the living room to enjoy our bounteous meal and swap stories:

All in all, it was an incredible evening. So much learning and so much delicious food. And what a fun new adventure for us to have a grill!

Check back later for our Friday lunch grilling (with delicious hot dogs--my biggest and most frequent pregnancy craving)!

Our Newest Family Member

is a brand new grill! (Kind of like a baby shower gift for Tyler. You know, so he can cook for the baby.)

Here he is in the car taking it home.

(We had to put both seats down in my mom's Santa Fe to fit the grill into her car. Tyler did his best to sit safely with the grill in the back seat--sans seat belt--as we drove through treacherous Provo traffic to get home to Spanish Fork.) 

And already we've had Grilling adventures! More on that later when I get the camera back from Tyler so I can upload the pictures from our super-fun and delicious dinner.

Consider this a teaser.

My Dryer Works!

So when we moved into our apartment back in April, we purchased a washer and dryer from a somewhat questionable source. (What I mean by that is this: the experience of buying this used washer and dryer was one of the creepiest sales experiences I've ever had. But that's all in the past.)

And our dryer has worked since we had it installed, but not very well. It took about three hours to dry one load of clothes. So laundry day was more like laundry day and night and day.

Well, my mom has been staying with us the past week or so, and her husband Jay just flew out here today so he could make the drive from Utah to Texas home with her tomorrow.

Within five minutes of his arrival, he was checking out the dryer and discovered that the problem was the vent behind the dryer. So he got after fixing it. (With Tyler's help.)

See?

We have Jay checking out the problem:

 (Notice how he cut the hose--you can see half of it now resting on top of the dryer.)

Tyler, connecting the hose to the vent in the wall:

Fancy maneuvering had to be done:

And Tyler became very familiar with the back of our dryer:

Look at him go!

And with that (maybe 20 minutes later) the problem was fixed! I can now do a load of laundry in 40 minutes. Which is AWESOME.

Thanks a BUNCH to Jay for helping us out. This just made my life so much easier.

(Oh yeah. We got a new camera. Expect to see lots more pictures from here on out.)

Computer Update Update

It's back!

The trackpad had to be replaced, but now it works even better than it ever has before! (At least, it feels like it.)

Thanks to the warranty I purchased when I bought my computer, the labor and part were free. (That being said, I don't know how much it would have cost had I not had the warranty. BUT, if anything else does happen to go wrong, or I need any other support, I'm still covered for another year.)

Anyway, I'm so glad to have my computer back in action. I've really missed it these past few weeks.

Computer Update

So I FINALLY took my computer into the Mac store, and they are fixing the problem. Whatever it was.

Then, all my normal activities can resume. And also I can start some new activities. (Like Skype. Marilyn. You need to Skype me.)

Should hear back tomorrow (hopefully!) or sometime this week!

In the meantime, I want to officially declare that we are a Mac Family. And we will never go back to PCs. Sorry world. (If I had it my way, PCs would go the way of the dodo bird, and Macs would become more accessible to the general public . . . aka, not as expensive.)

Mom's in Town/I'm Learning to Use My Sewing Machine!

Pretty much the title explains all the latest haps in my world.

Also, I fell asleep before 3 AM last night, so today has been a great day (and I've had a lot more energy).

It's very fun to have my mom in town! She's one of the easiest people to play host for. And it's also fun that she is helping me learn how to use the sewing machine that I got at Christmas time. (I had intended to learn how to use it sooner, but then I was throwing up all the time, and then I was finishing my last days at Novell, and finally, FINALLY, I am learning how to sew.

Now, I'm definitely a very beginner. (All I've accomplished today has been straight stitches. But we're going to see if we can find a simple pattern I can use to actually make something. And also make a new baby quilt from one of my mom's old baby blankets.)

I'll make Tyler take pictures of us. But until my computer is fixed, I probably won't be able to post them on here. But we'll get that done soon.

Karen Out.

The Sunday that Never Happened

Or maybe I should say, the Sunday school lesson that never happened.

Today, I was scheduled to teach the 12-13 year old class at church. And I was really looking forward to teaching them. I finished preparing my lesson last night, and was feeling really good about it. (Which was nice, because I had a hard time initially figuring out where the lesson was supposed to go.)

However, last night, I could not turn my brain off. I was physically exhausted, and I knew I just needed to sleep. Long story short, I didn't fall asleep until sometime between 3:30 AM and 4:00 AM. (I was really trying not to watch the clock last night so I wouldn't stress myself out about not being able to fall asleep.)

And when my alarm went off at 7:30 for church (which starts at 8:30), I knew I was in trouble. I pulled myself out of bed, and hoped that if I just started getting ready for church, my head would clear up, and I would wake up enough to function so I could follow the outline I prepared for my lesson.

But by 8:00, I knew I was a lost cause. Despite taking my anti-nausea medicine, I still felt sick to my stomach. I tried in vain to get ready, but even blowdrying my (very short) hair was taking all of my energy.

Tyler began trying to help me figure out my options. He suggested that I stay home for the first hour of church, show up for the second and teach my lesson. Initially I resisted, thinking that if I could just get myself into a presentable state, I could fight my way through the first hour of church and use the adrenaline that would start flowing (from nerves, I admit) to get me through the second hour of church.

But that's when the breakfast I tried to eat resurfaced. (Frosted mini-wheats, in case anyone was curious.) And by 8:10, I was done. Done with everything. I just sat on the couch and cried. I was frustrated that I haven't felt sleepy in days. I was frustrated that I prepared a lesson that I could not physically teach. I was frustrated that I didn't have a team teacher I could turn my lesson over to. I felt like a complete disappointment to everyone. My class, the Sunday school president, the bishop, the ward, and worst of all, I felt like a big disappointment to the Lord.

Surely, I felt, I would not have been called to this calling if I weren't capable of doing it. The Lord knows that mornings are hard for me. He knows that my sleeping schedule is wonky. And He knows that I have been trying to do my best for this small group of youth in the ward. But even though I was trying my hardest, I just wasn't good enough. Or tough enough. Or just plain enough.

I wish I could say that at this point, I felt a resurgence of strength, power from on high helping me to go magnify my calling/fulfill my church duty. But I didn't.

Instead, I had a sweet husband to sit by me and let me cry out my frustrations, while he just listened and rubbed my back, letting me get my frustrations and feelings of disappointment out, so he could fill me with comforting words.

Tyler said a couple of things this morning that really meant a lot to me. First, he reminded me that I am creating life, and that's hard (and important) work. And secondly, the church would not fail if I didn't show up to teach today. We could easily combine my class with another, and the youth and the church would go on.

And as I listened to Tyler, I realized he was right. Yes, I had a good lesson prepared, but if I didn't give it to the class today, it wouldn't be the end of the world. And it didn't have to be the end of my lesson. When it's my turn to teach again in two weeks, I can pull out any important principles I want to make sure the youth in my class don't miss out on, and incorporate them into my lesson then.

And so instead of going to church, I slept. Beautiful, deep, relaxed sleep. And for the first time in a long time (ever?), I didn't feel guilty about skipping church. It was practically a miracle.

So I confess: church did not happen for me today. Nor did my lesson. And you know what? It turns out that it's all okay.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

For you Chocoholics out there.

Last week, I wanted chocolate chip cookies SO bad. But we were out of brown sugar (and still are) so I tried out one of the recipes my old roommate Michelle gave me.

And they turned out SO well. I even gave some to our neighbors as a thank you for the help they've given us (like getting our mail when we went to California).

Check out this recipe. So easy.

2 c flour
2/3 c cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c butter
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy.
Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Word to the wise: if you aren't a chocolate fan, these aren't for you. But if you are like my husband, and you love yourself some chocolate, then give these puppies a try. You won't be disappointed.

(Confession: they are a little too chocolatey for me. So it's good in one respect because after a couple of cookies, I'm done eating them. But at the same time, they don't quite settle a chocolate chip cookie craving.)

In other cooking news, I also tried making old fashioned, homemade mac 'n cheese this week. Tyler liked it. I thought it was gross. Well, not gross, but not delicious. Point being: I need a new recipe for mac 'n cheese, because I never want to make mac 'n cheese using the recipe I tried this last week.

And in non-cooking news, my mom is coming to visit us this week! She'll get here (hopefully) Wednesday and be with us for a little over a week. So, hopefully, we'll have some fun adventures together (or at least do a little shopping) while she's here.

Pregnancy Insomnia

Have I mentioned yet that I'm troubled with pregnancy insomnia? Maybe I'm not keeping myself busy enough during the day, or maybe I'm just thinking about too many things to sleep . . . I just don't know.

But as I am writing this, it is 4:47 AM and I have not yet gone to bed. Or rather, I have not yet gone to sleep. (I did lay in bed briefly, but realized I was much too awake to actually go to sleep.)

And I'm debating. Have I just thrown off my schedule so badly that my days and nights are reversed? Right now, the signals that my body are sending me tell me that it is probably around midnight. However, the clocks (and the rest of the population going by MST) tell me that it is almost 5 in the morning, and I should have been in bed hours ago.

Or really, is this just pregnancy-related? My doctor says so. He even said that if I wanted to, I could try taking sleeping pills (over the counter ones). And I've tried that route. It just doesn't work.

So question. Should I just stay awake all through tonight and tomorrow in hopes of tiring myself out enough to get some sleep tomorrow night? Or will this not-being-able-to-sleep cycle just continue?

I know that when I don't get enough rest, I'm pretty sickly all day long. Even with medicine, my stomach is still tender, and I'm basically worthless as a homemaker.

I also know that if I go to bed now, I probably won't fall asleep for a while. (I might even be awake when the sun starts to peek over the mountaintops.) And I know that once I do fall asleep, it will be almost impossible to get me out of bed and awake before noon. After all, my body still acts like it needs 8+ hours of sleep--it just has forgotten when the appropriate time is to get sleep.

And I know, I know, when Baby H comes along, I'll never sleep again. But at least then I'll have a reason for not sleeping. (Right?)

Until then, however, I do miss keeping normal hours.

(Confession: I even starting singing myself a lullaby the other night. Except, I couldn't remember all the words. So I got out the computer and googled them. Only to find out it wasn't a real lullaby. Just a pretend lullaby from one of my very favorite movies when I was a little girl. Check it out below.)