Solemn

Emily would have joined us here in the world today or hereabouts.

It's kind of a sad day.

We love you, Emily Elizabeth.

And we're thinking about you a lot today.

More Love

Love me some Z-Gallerie. Yep. Mentioned that before a few billion times. But OH, how I wish I could decorate my house sooner than later.

(Not in love with the three smaller pillows on this this... but I'd take them off and use the pillows below)

(Not the couch here... the lamp, friends, the LAMP)

I could go on and on and on... but I think I should go to bed...

Its Been ONE YEAR!

One year ago tonight... where were we?!?!

* THE WEDDING DINNER *

MANY more of our favorite people were there that night. But I am unwilling to go digging around for the other pictures on my external hard drive.

Happiness.

Broadway in Utah

The 2010-2011 season was just announced. Pretty happy about it. :-)

"The Color Purple," Nov. 16-21, 2010.

"Spring Awakening," Jan. 14-15, 2011.

"Monty Python's Spamalot," Feb. 11-13, 2011.

"Young Frankenstein," April 26-May 1, 2011.

"Les Miserables," May 25-June 5, 2011.

"Mamma Mia!" June 17-19, 2011.

"Mary Poppins," September 2011.

Anniversary Happies - Sunday Sunshine

#1: ONE YEAR! Thursday marks ONE YEAR for me and Chuck. Time flies.

(And I am onto y'all again... Comments: "Ah! Congrats! A year! Time to start procreating."

#2: Being an Adult: I've spent the week home/auto insurance shopping. Therefore, my head has been full of inspiring jingles... "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." "Bear River Mutual, where values count." "American Family Insurance" Get. Them. Out.

For all of you: Who do you find has the best rates for home/auto insurance? It definitely pays to use the same company for both, I'm just curious of the experiences y'all have had with various companies.

#3: LDS Journal: I think this has been on my list for the last two weeks. Here it is again. I love it. I am so happy that I'm writing again!

#4: Lucky Charms: So good, but so bad.

#5: Golfing: No. I don't golf. But I bought a little kiddo golf set at Wal-Mart for $5 and used it for Singing Time in Primary today. Great fun.

#6: Green: My grass is starting to turn. Spring is coming.

#7: Quote of the Week: "Riding bikes makes our love grow stronger." My husband cracks me up. Oh, you make me laugh, my dear.

#8: Organized: My office has become my dumping ground. Anything that doesn't have a "place" gets dumped on the desk, on the floor, on a bookshelf- you know, wherever. Yesterday I organized. I through out old coupons. I REALLY enjoyed the shredder. Productive. Loved it.

#9: Friends: I love our friends. I LOVE Office Night and date nights and just sitting around chatting with our people. It makes me feel happy. Very happy.

#10: Personal Heat: Ha. I love my little space heater. Our main level tends to be a little chilly, so I've taken to putting this heater near me wherever I am. I am always warm. I like that.

The end. Life is good.

Favorite.

As a three-year-old I was brought to full on tears during this song. Ah the sentiment.

Just B'Cuz

It's Official.

I am buying myself a cat. Spring is almost here and I am tired of waiting around for my husband to turn nice and give in. I am buying a little house for it, a dish, some food, and I am giving myself a kitty.

So Charles, this is your last chance to look like a really awesome husband who gives your wife the one thing she wants in life.

... I don't care if I look rebellious.

Sunshine.

1. Rexburg: Reminisced with Licia tonight about being 20 years old and living in Rexburg, Idaho. It filled me with fuzzies and happy memories of the time we once lived off Shells and White Cheddar. (I have to say, though, that the box of the late 90s was way super cooler...)

2. Work: Added another day to my work schedule. It's nice to have a job that will keep me busy, but not make me feel like I am not getting anything else in life done.

3. Goals: I will have our truck paid off by October. I will. Before would be awesome.

4. Pesto: Made a fantastic dish last weekend that I was proud of. Pesto, chicken, and whole wheat pasta topped with fresh tomatoes and grated parmesan. Incredibly yummy. And I made it. Pride.

5. Spring: Tomorrow we'll begin seeing temperatures of Spring. I need it in my life right now. I am over Winter. I'm over Winter 2010. It needs to be in THE PAST.

6. LDS Journal: I became a journal writer again this week. I am happy to be writing again. My soul needs it.

7. Fancy Scoopin': Got a fantastic ice cream scooper from my MIL today. Thanks, Lisa! And thanks Spoons N Spice!

8. Basil: I made pesto earlier this week. I need my own supply I basil. I may attempt to grow some. I have no idea what that entails but I shall attempt it...

9. Vacuum: I love to vacuum. I get great joy from dumping out the little container and seeing what I've sucked up from the floor. No really. It makes me giddily happy.

10. Cheesecake Factory: Buffalo Blasts. Divinity.

Happy Sunday to you all.

Sunshine for a Sunday Night

1. See today's previous post. Definitely the #1 Happy of the week. I love that "little girl."

2. TWO AND A HALF WEEKS TILL THE ONE YEAR MARK! Hard to believe, eh?


3. Work: I enjoy my new job. It's enough to help me feel busy, but not SO much that I don't feel I can keep a balance in my life. My house is still clean and I still have time to blog. And I still see my cute husband. Good. It's good.

4. Skye's Blessing: What a happy day we had today. Chuck's dad's side of the family all got together at the ward and blessed this little angel baby. Love her. Felt the spirit, survived having Kensie at church with us, ate good food... great morning.



5. Kensie Sleeps: She's sleeping upstairs as I type. Phew! What a weekend. I think that we, as parents, are saved by the fact that we are not given children born at two years of age. Tough as it was, Chuck and I survived. And we enjoyed it.

6. Biff is 25! It's Biff's birthday week. Dinner out and such. That always makes my HAPPY list!



7. Bye Bye Dying Doggy: Chuck worked on our washing machine this weekend and IT DOESN'T SQUEAK AS MUCH AS IT USED TO! Yippee! It sounded like a dying dog. The dog now lives.

8. My Snuggle Bear: Fabric Softener. Snuggle. Heavenly. Happy.

9. ABC 4 10:00 Anchors: HUH? Why are you wearing formal wear for your Sabbath evening newscast? Yes, it was Oscar night. But why do you feel as if this gives you a reason to play dress up? Thanks for making me giggle tonight.

10. LDSJournal.com: Great site. Soon I will get myself busy on there... Journal writing- it makes me happy.

Make yourself a happy week!

* Story of the Week *

I've spent a lot of time in furniture stores lately- A LOT. Do I buy anything? Of course not. BUT my sister, Kensie, and I have a lovely time brainstorming. She'll move into a new townhouse in a little over a month, and she's ready for a fresh start and an awesome home!

The following conversation occurred on Thursday, when Kensie was banished to the kid pen at Knight Furniture:

Kensie (Who, may I remind you, is TWO): "What's your name?"

Older Girl (Who is squashed in the corner on a banana chair looking as if her worst-nightmare-of-a-child has come true) : ...

Kensie: "What's your name?"

Older Girl: ...

Kensie: "What's you naaaaaaaaaaaame????"

Older Girl: ...

Kensie to Me: "Amy! She is being weally shy!"

Determined to get said Older Girl to be her friend

Kensie: "I'm Keddie." (What she calls herself.)

Pause, and changing tactics.

Kensie Again: "What's MY name?"

Older Girl: ...

Kensie (In older girl's face): "I'm a little girl like you!!!!"

The Older Girl still didn't respond.

At least she tried.

Mayday!

As we all know, The Bachelor finale-d tonight.

My dear husband dramatically flung himself from the couch and declared,

"I just threw myself off The Wings of Love."

Guess we know how Chuckie feels about Jacob's winning choice...

Sunday Sunshine!

#1: March= Almost Springtime! AND: ANNIVERSARY MONTH!

#2: The Bachelor Finale: Yes, I know what the spoilers say, so Chuck says, "Why do you even watch???" I watch because it is FUN. Because it makes me laugh, and because I just enjoy it, OK?!?! And truth be told, he LOVES it too. And I love reading people's reviews. Yup. FUN.

#3: This Website: http://www.colourlovers.com/ Again, I'm dreaming of the day our home will be decorated and fantastic.

#4: Costa Vida Salad:

I really could eat one every day. EVERY day I say. I am still living under the illusion that it's healthy for me... Don't burst my bubble.

#5: Big Week at Work: Chuck's been at his job for over a year now! Review time! My husband is ridiculously talented and GREAT at what he does. This week will confirm that fact to him, I am sure. It's nice to have such a fantastically talented and hard working boy.

#6: Sunday Dinners with the Robinsons: I have great in-laws. Every other Sunday Chuck's entire maternal side gathers at his grandparent's house for dinner. Food is great, the people are awesome, we play fun games and just hang out. It's FUN. Fun fun fun.

#7: Massage Day: Yippee. Teach a kid voice, get free massages. I again, profess the amazing-ness of this business deal.

The End.

Happies to you all.

And... Finished.

Twilight series: DONE.

Read it. Squirmed a few billion times. Memorized the phrase, "smiled his/her ___ smile...", rolled my eyes- a lot, but yeah- I enjoyed it. And it was all worth reading.

I celebrated my accomplishment by spending a good half-hour playing vampire for my husband. He officially thinks I am crazy.

At least I am fun.

Thoughts for a Saturday

Vote For Tara (#5)

Helping out my cute friend Tara who I love lots. Vote!


http://studio5.ksl.com/?sid=9616340&nid=23

To Be "Really Good"

Lately, as I have learned what life is without rehearsals and scripts, false eyelashes and glue, and without an audible applause, I have found myself pondering the concept of BEING GOOD at something. I should, rather, say being REALLY good at something. I crave that. Though this post may seem absurd to some of you, it's something that is very real and tangible to me.

I don't feel that I'm REALLY GOOD at anything right now.

(Quick disclaimer: I am happy. My life is great- I don't post this to express problems or depressions or blah blah... I'm simply just writing my honest-to-gosh human emotions of the day.)

I've been stripped down to just me. For the past year there's been no "princess," no "Millie," no "insert-name-of-whatever-musical-character-here." I'm just Amy. And sometimes, being just Amy makes me feel a bit lost. OK. A LOT lost.

For the first time in my adult life, I am trying to figure out who and what I am without being a serious musical theatre diva chick. And honestly, I'm not very good at figuring that out.

I want to be good at something. REALLY good at something.The further away I get from my life as a performer, I feel that the one thing that I AM really good at is drifting out of my grasp. I haven't auditioned now in a few YEARS. I hardly ever get myself up on a stage anymore. (This is a self-inflicted curse because I can't part with my beloved Equity card...) I don't really DO what I am best at much anymore.

So the challenge? Become really good at something else. I wish it was the piano. I wish it was cooking. I wish it was decorating. I wish it was SOMETHING. But I don't even know where to start.

Work.

Yeah. But sometimes all the work+wishing in the world still doesn't make you good at something... I guess that's what I am afraid of. I come from the world of, "You either got it, or you ain't..." (Thank you, Mama Rose). Sometimes I think I "ain't got it" in any other aspects of life.

I don't like being mediocre. It bugs me.

Its never been enough for me.

The end.

Another note: I realize how much I am setting myself up here... go ahead, say, "Be a REALLY GOOD MOMMY." I'm onto you people...

Love and happies to you all.

The Always-Posted-on- Monday SUNDAY Sunshine

Long week. I have lots of time and no time all at the same time. Perhaps this will be the story of my 2010. Or my life.

Things that made me happy this week:

1. Remember my post about Uncle Sam? Well, Mr. Adam, our tax friend, and I have been finding things that will lighten our Uncle Sam obligations a bit. (I found that a 1098 Mortgage interest form had been missing!) This makes me happy. Very happy. No word on the final damages yet, but it will surely not be as painful as previously thought. I'd still rather get a REFUND- we could buy the furniture below a lot sooner in said case, but whatever. I''ll take what I can get right now.

2. Vacation plans are up our sleeves again. I love vacays. Probably won't happen till November, but I have something to look forward to.

3. One month till ONE YEAR! Happy almost anniversary to us!

4. Special K Fruit and Yogurt Cereal: Loved this stuff in Orlando and revisited it this week. Yum.

5. My house will be clean today!

6. The new job: I'm working the desk at this cute little preschool/performing arts academy a couple nights a week. I'm still learning and everything, but so far it's been fun. I'm glad to have something to keep me busy a few times a week.

7. Getting through Twilight: I'm close to finishing the series. I'll admit, pregnant chicks drinking human blood ain't quite up my alley. But it's entertaining and I'll finish. Then I can officially stop getting looks of disgust when I chat with the ladies about having not read the series. I'll no longer be an outsider. Lucky me.

8. Some of my favorite people are having a baby. It's been a long haul for them and I am GIDDY with excitement for them!

9. Last week for FHE Chuck and I talked about this little clip from KSL's Studio 5. All week we've been doing a "T chart." It's on our bathroom mirror and it's been a great and fun thing for us. Love makes me happy.

10. I am bound and determined to make myself into a journal writer again. I was once so diligent and good about it, but since I came home from Hong Kong in 2007 I just kind of stopped. This is the week to get back into it!

Be happy this week, peeps.

"Such an Amazing Journey... It's Been Such a Blast"

Yeah. I started this draft last week and never posted. But since tonight is the WOMEN TELL ALL episode, I thought I'd get this humdinger on the bloggy.


Jake-

HAS it been amazing? Have you made a lot of money keeping Vienna around so that ABC's show ratings stay high?!?! Hmph.

Gia + Jake = AWKWARD. At least you think she's pretty, right Jake? That's about the only compliment you can come up with for her. Oh yeah, and "she's so deep." All we've seen of that depth is the $700 shoes you keep referring to.

Tenley + Jake = SAPPY. Were you really a sucker for her dance at her hometown studio, Jake? Cuz the rest of us just thought it was weird. I still want Tenley to be the one for you. I LIKE her. Winner question of the evening (Totally being serious here too): "How will you pursue me out in 'the real world?' " Thanks, Tenley, for having somewhat of a head on your shoulders. You're sappy and have RS voice, but I still like you best.

Jake: The beach scenes of Gia and Tenley were awfully similar... there hasn't been much hot tub action this season- maybe you should have taken one of them to the hot tub. OH WAIT! You had a bath with Gia. Nevermind.

Vienna + Jake = BLAH. "Hi Sweetheart!" Thanks, Vienna, for making me throw up in my mouth a little bit. I still don't like her, Jake. She is young and giddy and caught up in the fantasy world of all this Bachelor junk. Sigh.

Favorite Jake quote of the evening: "Ali, you drove away with a part of my heart." Really Jake? Was that on your motorcycle??

Nice, creative editing, Bachelor editing team. We all totally fell for your, "Get on a plane RIGHT NOW," edit for Ali. But those of us who read the spoilers were totally on to your mind games.

Ali: If you went home, WHY were you living in a hotel, wearing their bathrobe, and drooling over the photos of Jake on the nightstand next to your Marriott telephone? The staging of this show kills me sometimes! :-)

PS: How many of these woman do you ACTUALLY sleep with, Mr. J? We know that ABC wants us to think that you sleep with them all, but really? Am I just a naive little Mormon girl that thinks you couldn't possibly be ok doing that?? Probably.

The end.

I'm Dreaming of a White...

So now that my sister's borrowed furniture has been sold, I am dreaming of the day that I can decorate my house. Yes, all friends with children, I know that you laugh inside as I drool over these white living room pieces, but I want them. So I'll put up a baby gate someday to avoid all things sticky, slimy, poopy, and grimy.

I am an optimist.