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...

season recap...

I'm so sad that the holiday season is over! We had such a fun time this year, but felt it went by way too fast! Here are a few of my favorite memories of this year:

*listening to Christmas music the Thanksgiving Day. Especially the Gipsy Kings Christmas album. Oh and having my ipod hookup in my car so I could listen to my own mix rather then the radios. (there are just too many songs I can't stand on the radio)

*John taking a day off work to put up Christmas lights. Years past its taken him

 weeks trying to do it after work and in the freezing cold.

*John's work Christmas party. Don't know why, but I actually enjoy a 

good work Christmas party.

*Eleanor's Christmas Dress. Loved it!

*Putting Eleanor in her snow suit and letting her play in the snow. She LOVES the cold weather.

*Having my parent's up for the first 

part of the season. 

*Getting a new Hall family photo.

*Going shopping for stocking stuffers wi

th my mom. She always does the BEST stockings. Thanks mom!

*Looking at lights every night. Hearing Eleanor say "Hi lights, Bye lights" and waiving to every house we passed. We did this nearly every night since Thanksgiving. Hearing Eleanor say the same thing to the lights she could see outside our windows.

*Putting Eleanor to bed each night and hearing her tell the Christmas tree, the lights and the little tree in her room "night night".

*Going to the temple lights with John, Eleanor, Sara, Dick, Abby and Rachel. Eleanor ONLY wanted Dick to hold her.

*Getting every one's Christmas cards. I LOVE seeing photos and reading up on everyone. I also enjoy sending out Christmas cards to all our friends and family.

*Christmas Eve at John's parents. Watching the grandkids exchange gifts. Watching Eleanor play with the big kids on the basket ball court. Making the traditional cranber

ry pudding (thanks Elizabeth). Having it snow 10 inches in less then 2 hours! Letting Eleanor open her pjs. Visiting grandma and grandpa Hatch. Looking at the lights at Salem pond.

*Christmas Eve at our house. Putting Eleanor to sleep then turning on a movie (deck the halls, about the lamest movie made) and putting together Eleanor's play kitchen. I think I was more excited for it then Eleanor was! Making sure the house was all clean for Christmas morning. Stuffing John and Eleanor's stockings. Not going to bed until 2am.

*Christmas Day!!!!!! I loved that Eleanor got up at 5am and was in such a happy mood! She played in her crib until John got the video camera ready. We had

 her open her stocking first, which she wasn't really into. She wanted to open all the doors and drawers of her kitchen and figured out how to pull out the sink and use it as a stool. At first she wouldn't open any presents, I think it was from weeks of us telling her NO, but by the end she had it down pretty good. So good, that she thought the box of her crayons was wrapping paper and ripped right through it. She LOVED coloring on her dog coloring book. Watching John open his gifts and being happy with them. Opening my gifts and LOVING them all. Making our traditional Christmas breakfast casserole. Listen to Christmas 

music and just hanging out with John and Eleanor. Talking to my p

arents on the phone. Grandpa and Grandma Martin stopping buy to see what Santa left. Going sledding with the Greenbergs and the Martins. Watching John take the first run and hitting a huge jump and hurting his tale bone. Trying to introduce Eleanor to sledding, she didn't quite like it. Having dinner with just our small family and starting a new Christmas dinner tradition of crab legs and homemade shrimp pesto. 

*Going with the Baldwins to a condo up Ogden canyon. Playing the Wii and eating good food!

*Going to the Apple store with John and buying my new imac!!! 

final assignment...

metaphoric self portrait

update...

for those of you who asked about the update on the car situation, we got a new car. it was not one bit of fun car shopping, in fact i hated it! lucky for us my mom was in town and was able to watch eleanor a few late nights while we shopped around. we decided to go with the '08 honda accord. this is a photo of the car. i'm loving it. it had 2 out of 3 of my "wants", an ipod hook up and tinted windows. today while driving with lori she said she feels like we are grown ups now and that she felt like she was in high school while in the old red car. ha ha...i agree.