I'm back!

Wow, has it been 3 months??? A friend of mine mentioned the other day that she checks my blog but there hasn't been any recent updates to which I said "Oh yeah, I have a blog! Oops!" Our beloved MAC crashed a few months ago and now we have the dreaded PC. So I'm not online much anymore becasue I'm not too fond of this new laptop. Plus life has been a bit busier as Alana and I have met some friends so we are spending much more time with people..WHOO HOO! So if you want updates on us, I guess you'll have to come visit! Just kidding..sort of! To be honest I wasn't really sure if anyone read this but here's for those of ya who do. We are planning a trip to go see Justin's mom and step dad who moved to Raleigh, NC in January. We will be there at the end of May and are pretty excited for this little getaway. We will be leaving Alana with his mom for our first overnighter with out her and I am thrilled! Justin is really liking his new job and company and better yet...they LOVE him! It's an hour commute which is the bad part but he's never complained! We plan on doing a little camping this summer as we just found a beautiful highway that cuts right through the San Gabriels Mountains of which we live in the foothills. Alana is getting big and talking a lot! Life is pretty normal right now which we are grateful for...for a change. I have a friend of mine watching Alana for hours on Monday mornings so I get a little chunk of "me time". This has been the most wonderful gift! Hopefully I try to update a little more often, we'll see! I will post a few family pics soon. This one is us at Disneyland...we got to go for free the weekend after my bday. The whole day we only paid bucks for some popcorn!

For those of you who aren't on Facebook, there is a "chain letter" going around where you write random things about yourself and then pass it on to those who you want to do the same.  I posted one a while ago and thought I'd copy it here too.

1. I love NFL football.  Professional sports are my favorite form of mindless entertainment.  The Dallas Cowboys are my first fav but Justin HATES them so "our" team is the Indianapolis Colts.  I watch college football too, go USC Trojans!

2.  I am competitive by nature.  But I don't like playing poker because I don't understand it enough to be good at and I can't bluff for anything!

3.  I have an insane sense of smell...like a hound dog.  For me, as far as smell is concerned too much of a good thing is bad.  And the worst is when somebody wearing stinky perfume works the nursery at church and Alana comes home smelling nasty.   I think heaven will smell like fresh plumeria or orange blossom.  

4. I'm a fan of Jeopardy.  I think Alex Trebec is a genius!  I feel so smart if I can answer 5!  

5. Jentezen Franklin is my favorite preacher.  Thank God for him!

6. These are a few of my favorite things: When the sky is full of stars that feel like you could pull them out of the sky.  The ocean, especially in Hawaii.  The changing colors of the leaves in autumn. 

7.  I have a list of of books that I want to read that is probably 30 titles long. I feel like I add 7 for every one I read. 

8. One of my pet peeves is when "they're" is spelled at "their" or "there" and "you're" is spelled "your".  Didn't anybody pay attention to School House Rock..."Conjunction, junction what's your function?"  Oh, and I can't stand it when I can hear people chew.

9. I like to do yard work, when its by choice.  I get such a sense of accomplishment.  

10. I am very clumsy and have a terrible memory.  I try to compensate by being organized!

11.  I want to learn how to play tennis.

12. I have a dream to go to Israel, the sooner the better.

13. If I could choose I would sleep between the hours of 2 AM and 8 AM.  It doesn't matter if I get 8 hours of sleep, if I get up before 7 I am groggy.  I could be a zombie all day and 9 PM rolls around, I am ready to go.  I might have insomnia because no matter how tired I am it can take me hours to fall asleep.  

14.  I get energized by being alone.  But I do love people!  I am learning how to show it more!

15. I do not like taking showers or shaving my legs.  It feels like such a waste of time.  However, I can't stand my teeth feel like they are wearing sweaters!

16. I love to learn about cultures and people groups and mostly (and most importantly) about people individually.  I love to hear the stories of the roads people have traveled. I love to have intimate conversations with people, even though I don't always know how to get there!

17.  Someday I want to be a preacher and teacher of God's Word.

18. I always feel more at home oversees than in America.  No country in particular, just not this one!

19. I am passionate about learning.  I love to read, research, study and grow.  I do not like unanswered questions or gray areas. 

20. I wish I liked being a mom more than I do.  I have the hope that I will someday!

21. I think rain makes life enchanting.  The smell of rain is intoxicating.  On a rainy day, I like to bundle up, eat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and read on the patio with the pitter pat of rain in the background.  

22. My favorite production is Riverdance.  Not that I have been to a lot, I think I would enjoy them all.  I want to see Cirque di sole (or however you spell it).

23. I love rap music, clean rap music!

24. I journal a lot.  I kinda have to, it's the only way I can turn my mind off.  Mostly I do it at night when everyone else has gone to sleep. (see #13)

Rookie Mistake

Alana started having the big D on Tuesday night.  Yesterday I thought may be that she was eating too much fruit so I decided to just have her eat stuff that was more wholesome.  I was familiar with the BRAT diet and that cheese will stop you up.  So I gave her a mixture of refried beans, brown rice and cheese.  I didn't want to give her the bananas and applesauce part because I thought it was sugar that caused it in the first place. It got pretty bad yesterday and then last night she woke up at 1:40 AM with it everywhere.  I called the nurse hotline this morning and she said it was probably a virus after a little discussion about the BRAT diet I learned that the BROWN rice (and beans) I had given her made it worse.  DUH that stuff is rich in fiber which makes you go!  I knew all this stuff but didn't connect the dots.  I feel so stupid!  Poor baby!  Even though it goes against everything I believe in she's lived on totally fiberless food today and is doing a bit better.  : )

A breath of fresh air!

Good news!  We have only had one car since right before we moved to CA.  The first 6 months we were here it worked out fine b/c Justin only worked 9 miles away so I could take him to work and use the car for the day.  However, at the beginning of December he started working too far away to do that.  For about 6 weeks Alana and I didn't leave the house too much except for walks and going to parks.  Last week I discovered that there are 2 transit systems run by our city and the city we live one block away from that I can use!  They will take me anywhere within the city limits and it only costs a buck each way!  This opens up a whole lot of places for us to go!  I am very excited and went to a MOPS group this week for the first time.  This is such a blessing for me and I have a renewed energy to tackle mommyhood every day!

Winter Wonderland

We went up to Justin's dad's house in Crestline (about an hour from her in the San Bernardino Mountains) the week before Christmas to play in the snow.  I love the snow!

We went up to the apple orchards in Oak Glenn this weekend.  It was soooo cold and autumnish, I loved it!  Alana really enjoyed it despite her look in this picture.  We had a great time and it's our new fall tradition!  Any of you are welcome to join us next October!