the pact: a love story

i just finished the book, the pact: a love story by jodi picoult. if i had to title the book, i would not add the "love story" part. like i said, i just finished it and i'm still trying to decided how i felt about it. i know it made me really depressed...and typically i don't like books that leave me feeling depressed. also, i had no clue what the book was about before i started reading it, and it was TOTALLY different then what i had imagined. maybe thats why i kind of had a hard time thinking of it as a "love story". however, the book did have some good parts that made me think a lot about my relationship with john and how lucky i am to have him! i can't wait for book club to see what everyone else thought of the book. 

drinking my words...

so, i've been so strong about eleanor not drinking pop. to mu knowledge (she was in az for a week without me:)) she did not have her first swig until she was around 15 months. well...i'm afraid all my hard work has gone out the window! as you can see, eleanor loves pop. i still try my very hardest not to give it to her...but sometimes its just easier to give in. i do make sure its diet caffeine free pepsi. i'm starting to think its genetic...

*yes, i realize i've been a little post happy these few days. i'm guessing its due to being home bound with all the snow

stripes & glasses

grandpa hatch

we found out today that grandpa hatch has bone caner.  he has been in such awful pain the last few months and it breaks your heart. he is the sweetest grandpa on the earth. this photo was from a few weeks ago. as you can see, he's always so happy and loves playing with kids. i'm so glad i was able to get a few shots of him playing with eleanor. hopefully we can make it down this week to see him and grandma.

10 years ago: i had to think about this for a while. i believe i was freezing my hind-end off at ricks college, living in colonial 601, taking a 7 am swimming class (dumb, yes i know). fun times!!

5 things on my to-do list today: make a 20x20 poster of eleanor's first  year of life. update all family and friends birthdays on my ical so i don't forget any this year. finish my laundry (did it today!!) call angie. make 2006 and 2007 photobooks.

snacks i enjoy: diet pepsi, soft carmel popcorn, hersey's cookies and creams candy bars

things i would do if i suddenly made a billionaire: what would i not do?? i guess i would buy an apartment in nyc, give my siblings a nice chunk of cash, give my parents tickets around the world, hire the trainers on the biggest looser, give some to charity. i guess the list could go on and on....

3 of my bad habits: 1.leave loads of laundry in the washer for days 2.don't pay attention to the price of things i buy 3.not making my bed. 

5 places i've lived: 1. st. johns, AZ 2. santiago, Chile 3.Tempe, AZ 4. Rexburg, ID 5.Lehi, UT

jobs i've had: 1. dog sitting 2. feature films for families (remember that amy?) 3. art gallery (still my favorite) 4. gap 5. uop  (i know there are more, just can't think of them)

things people don't know about me: 1.i hate grocery shopping, unloading groceries from the car and putting away groceries. I hate everything about groceries!! 2. i love taking HOT baths. I like it when its soo hot it turns my skin bright red. 3. i love the smell of hotel rooms, even if there is a little smoke sent. 4.i HATE soggy bread. it makes me sick! 5. i don't sleep with pillows

horse horsy

if you've been around eleanor in the last week or so for more than 20 minutes, you've probably heard the combination of "horse horsey" at least 36 times. we found these toy horses from john's childhood and eleanor has fallen in love with them. she eats, sleeps, bathes and will not leave the house without them. and it has to be both. we've had quite a few melt downs because one has been m.i.a. i'm trying to convince john he just needs to break down and buy her a pony....i think he liked her fascination with puppies better...

jan.20.2008 snow storm

yesterday was the perfect winter day. we woke up to a good snowstorm. normally it wouldn't be that fun waking up to a storm, but john had the day off so he didn't have to drive up to work. during the storm we got a knock on the door from a few neighbor boys asking if they could shovel our driveway for $5. i always love when kids try to make a few bucks, and i knew neither john nor i would ever shovel, so we hired them. eleanor got a kick out of watching the boys work out the window and kept knocking on the window and waving. when they were finished john took them out some hot chocolate and a fat tip. i thought the boys were so cute! while the boys were out working tiffany and paul arrived to helped with our  basement. the storm was so bad it took them 45 mins to get to our house (normally it takes about 15 mins).  john and paul got a lot done on the basement while tiffany and i watched the girls, made lunch and a run down to maverick. it was really was a fun way to spend a stormy day. 

what i could have been...

for an assignment, i had to make a "process" art piece. this was a difficult assignment to think of and to execute. didn't quite turn out how i'd imagined... but i do think its pretty funny and a little unnerving.

 isn't my mom beautiful?

sunday naps

nothing beets a nice sunday afternoon nap. 

caught ya..

okay one last post for the day...jeez, i'm not sure what got into me today.

this photo was from yesterday. these two little kids are quite the buds and are ALWAYS getting into trouble. 

eleanor rigby

mr. snowman

This was our first attempt at making a snowman. I think John got a little carried away with his. It currently stands just a little under eight feet. It took some pretty ingenious methods involving a large piece of plywood to get the two higher "balls" on top. These last few weeks Eleanor has developed a fascination with balls, and kept wanting the snowman "balls". To make her happy I had to make her a few snowballs of her own. As you can see from the photos, the balls made her happy and she was enjoying the cold. After all our hard work, I bet John 10 bucks some punk kid comes and knocks down the snowman before morning. We'll see...

what a week...

Monday was my first day back to school after the Christmas break. I was a little torn about going back. I absolutely loved my break. It was nice being able to hang out without having that ever nagging feeling of an assignment over my head. And, it was also really nice being home every night. However, I always love the start of a new semester. Its always a little bit nerve racking, but full of excitement.

So far, I think this semester is going to be stellar. For starters, I'm only taking 2 classes unlike the 4 I took last semester. Both teachers are so talented and have a fun schedule. Also, I only have class Mon. & Wed. from 3-9. I've also have two of the greatest babysitters...thanks Lori and Crystal. 

Tuesday Eleanor had her fifteen month check up and shots. Her stats are:

length: 29.5 in

weight: 19.4 lbs

The Dr. asked if she was saying 4 words yet. After she asked, I started thinking how many words she does say and came up with this list:

1. daddy

2. mommy

3. puppy

4. dog

5. kitty

6. horse

7. bye bye

8. hi

9. night night

10. up

11. out

12. bath

13. dicky (her uncles name...and her FAVORITE person!)

14. lights

15. trick-or=treat

16. hot

17. no

18. jakey

19. duck

20. beep

21. ball

22. please

23. ut-oh

24. mine

25. lori

26. stinky

27. baby

28. shoes

29. fish

30. eyes

31. ta-da

32. no no no jakey

33. book

and there you have it. my little jabber mouth. 

lunch/nap

last friday eleanor was in the kitchen eating lunch while i was running around the house trying to get a few things done. i was in my bedroom and heard her winning for a few minutes. when i went back into the kitchen to get her out of her high chair, this is what i found. i felt so bad!! as most know, eleanor does not take many naps, so she must have been super tired to fall asleep in her chair. i love this girl!!

grandpa hatch

last night we visited grandma and grandpa hatch. i wanted to get a few photos of eleanor with grandpa, but he was in too much pain to hold her. it was really hard seeing him in such pain. he is such a sweet man and we hope he gets some relief from his pain soon!

air marty...

john was so anxious for me to post these photos from Christmas eve at his parent's house. as you can see, john has some serious ball skills...