Life just keeps going...

Sorry I haven't written in a really long time. I guess I haven't had much to say. Actually I feel like not a lot of interesting stuff has been happening. Of course how boring and mundane you think your life is at times it still keeps going. Here are a few highlights from my life as of late.

• I quite my job at Call Assist! Yippee!! Actually that deserves a double YIPPEE! I quit Call Assist on Nov. 24th. Don't worry I have another job at Qwest. I start on Monday. I'm way excited. It's going to be a challenge cause it's very sales oriented & sales is not a strong skill of mine but I'm ready to make it a strong skill. The beauty part is that I only have to deal with one call at a time rather then 3! Brilliant!
• In my week & half vacation I've mostly been chillaxin. I've watched many many Red Box movies & have been reading a lot. I discovered the beauty of ordering books on amazon.com. They have a great Jewish selection, much larger then you can find here in Mormonville. I ordered 4 Jewish fiction books from amazon. ALL 4 books only cost $1.07! Of course you have to pay shipping and handling which brought my grand total to $17.03! Funny huh? Ok, let's review: 4 books = $1.07 S&H = $15.96. Still a very good deal so I'm happy & a bit amused.
  
• I spent Thanksgiving with family. The night before Thanksgiving I stayed at Deb & Jesse's house. It was so fun to play and bond with Mo. He might be the cutest baby ever. I bonded with him by reading to him and he bonded with my by expelling much bodily fluids onto my shirt. For sure I'm his favorite Auntie now, no question!
• I ended up having 2 Thanksgiving dinners this year. I must mention that this year was my first Thanksgiving without actually eating turkey. I've recently converted to vegetarianism. I didn't miss the turkey but I did miss the nostalgia of it. Ok, I'll admit I did miss the turkey with ranch & the week of turkey sandwiches that follows Thanksgiving day.
  
• The first dinner was with Jesse's family. They're fabulous! They're very loud, talkative, & there is many of them. The minute I walked in the door Jesse's grandpa said "make yourself at home." No prob, I was completely in my element with a bunch of almost crazy people laughing and talking all round me. There was a lot of teasing, laughing & a general feeling of welcomeness which is so much like my family. They were even ok with me spilling a large glass of water all over the beautifully decorated table before the dinner even started. Opps!
  
• The second dinner I went to was at my Aunt Marda's house. The house was bulging with people. I would guess that about 30 people were there. Of course it was noted that the crowd was a bit "small" this year! The best part was when my cousin Jana not so nicely kicked me out of my seat at the table cause she wanted to sit across from her daughter! I thought she was joking at first when she told me to move, but oh no, she was serious. It was quite funny. I'm hoping to bring it up in following years to make her feel "guilty" about being rude. :)
• I do have exciting news. Deb & Jesse are moving to Logan in 2 weeks! They have already found a cute house. It is even cheap and close to campus. The best part for me is that it has a stoop & a small porch! Can't you just picture me sitting on the stoop holding a glass of wine, laughing and carrying on in all my glory! I can't wait. I'm so excited to have them close. I can't wait until they actually get here.
  
• I'm finally getting over my cold but my ears hurt like mad! It's mostly my right ear but my left does hurt sometimes too. I've tried to see the doctor a couple of times but they can't fit me in. They keep telling me to go to insti-care but I can't afford that. Grrr! I'm a bit worried that my ear drum will rupture or something horrendous like that will happen. Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
  
• One last thing. Poor Canon & Daphney have been trapped in the house for about a month. This isn't from the cold weather but from the 2 huge black dogs that my upstairs neighbors have. Poor little shuges. My apartment is just way to small to be stuck here all the time.
  

Waiting for Mo.....

Waiting for Moses Clloyd LaGrande Stevens:

He is due October 11th so all that we know is that he certainly WON'T be coming on that day! As the day approaches I've had to do a few things to prepare.

• Deb & I have agreed that she will ring me to let me know that I must start driving south when her contractions have become a bit regular but are still far apart. This is a good plan cause I anticipate it will take me about 3 hours to get to Deb & Jesse's house considering all the variables of packing, traffic & who knows what.
• I've made sure that Deb has multiple #'s to reach me at.
  
• I have a list of things I have to do once I get the call: Pack, get gas, & remember to drive safely!
  
• I put in my time off request from work months ago.
  
• I found someone to feed Canon & Daphney while I'm away. Thanks Sammie.
  
• I've tried to prepare by reading many books about how to be the best birth partner that I can be.
  
• Try to keep up on my wash & house cleaning for the next two weeks so I have enough clean cloths & Sammie can find her way into my apartment without inflicting too much physical or psychological pain on her. Side note on this one: I still have to do my wash & clean my apartment. :) I'm banking on the hope that Mo won't come today.
  
• I still don't have a camera but I don't think I'll be able to get one before Mo comes so I guess I can cross this one off. :( Plus I still don't know if I can upload pic onto my computer. I keep forgetting to ask the Geeks I know (Andy, Matthew, & Tommy). If any of the wifes of these geeks read this tell your husband to ring me please.
  
• And now we wait................
  

Life right now....

First of all thank you Jenny, Melissa, Abbie, & Deb for commenting on my last post. It really means a lot that people care. I think it's important to not just care but find ways to show that you care too. Even a silly little comment on a blog can do that. Thank you!

I haven't been writing lately cause I've been in this weird funk. My job is entirely to stressful & I've grown to desperately hate it. Unfortunately this negativity is seeping into other areas of my life. I've been wavering between complete apathy & being depressed most of the time. Truth is I probably need my meds adjusted. Don't worry I have an appointment with my doctor on the 15th of this month. Let's hope he & I can figure something out. Since I've been having a ruff go of it lately I just haven't had the desire to write. I don't like being negative & hating everything. I certainly don't think I need to share this attitude with the world so I've started writing in my journal a bit. I've also tried to make a conscious effort to focus on the good things in my life which there are many. I've actually made a list of these good things. Here's a bit of what I've come up with and am calling my "positive thinking" list:

• I have survived the half dozen lay offs my job has done this year & I still have a job.
• Any job is better then no job in this economy.
• I have a place to live.
• I have electricity & water in my place to live.
  
• I can pay my bills and still have a bit left over to buy a thing or two that I want.
• My car is the SHIT! Rust and all. Gotta love the Geo! It looks like hell, but I own it out right and it just keeps going and going.
• Canon & Daphney make me happy.
• I found a wine that I like. That's actually not entirely true cause Jesse found it for me. I've always wanted to like wine & now I have a favorite, "Wild Vines" strawberry.
  
• I have one person in my life that I know for certain loves me unconditionally & I never thought that that was possible.
• I'm going to be an Auntie very shortly.
• I finished reading the Torah (only the Five Books of Moses) 2 days ago & I completely understand it.
  
• Everything I've learned about Judaism I love. It speaks to my soul somehow & I yearn to learn more.
• I am still having new experiences and leaning new things daily. For example I had Indian food for the first time recently & am now a devoted fan. I believe new experiences are an essential part of life.
  

As you can read I have an abundance of positive things going on in my life & I am very thankful for each of them. I truly believe that whatever energy you put into the universe will come back to you, so I'm trying to focus on the positive and send that good energy out. Trouble is even with all my effort I've still been a bit depressed and stuck on the negative things lately. I'm trying very hard to fight this, but as everyone knows life is HARD & sometimes it just weighs you down. So far the best I can do is just be apathetic about most things & take one day at a time.

My Auntie Shower...

My Auntie shower is almost here! Ok, really it's Deb & Mo's baby shower but since I'm in charge I fully plan on being the star of the party! I mean really who else would be center of attention if not ME! I've been handwriting the invitations for the last few hours. They're taking a bit longer to complete then I anticipated. It's on August 22nd at 2p.m. in Salt Lake City. We're inviting friends to this shower cause Deb's family is having a separate family shower on the August 15th. Trouble is Deb is a bit of a hermit so she doesn't have a village of friends to invite, so the guest list is mostly MY family. :) It really is an "Auntie Shower!" Of course my family is fabulous so it will for sure be a good time even if it's just Deb, Megan, & me.

My summer vacation 2009!

Here it is! The post you've all been waiting for! Real non-camera phone pics of my fabulous weekend summer vacation. Don't get so excited that you're hyperventilating. Just channel all of that energy into fabulous comments. Enjoy!

I went to SLC Friday night, July 10th, so I could go to the yearly Hartvigsen Family Reunion early Saturday morning.

This is Deb & I before I heading to the reunion. I like to call this pic "bosom buddies" for obvious reasons. If it's not obvious to you then....mmm not sure what to tell ya about that one. :)

HARTVIGSEN FAMILY REUNION 2009

(Lion's pavilion)
My grandma Margaret Mina Hartvigsen Toman was 1 of 15 children. The decedents of those 15 children have a reunion every year in Utah up Springville Canyon at Kelly's Grove. This year it was at the Lion's pavilion. I've gone to this family reunion nearly every year of my life. Growing up we never had funds to go on extravagant family vacations so the reunion was our summer vacation every year. It was a huge deal to me. Something I looked forward to every summer. I recall making my list each year of things I needed to take in June! The reunion is usually held the second weekend of July each year! I still look forward to it just as much now, although I don't make a packing list a month in advance any longer! Over the years I became close to a few cousin in particular & look forward to seeing each of them every year. I tried to get pics of most of the folks on the favorite cousin list. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it I missed a lot of people but the memory card was full.

On Saturday we have a pot-luck lunch. Mmm my favorite!! This year I brought a yummy desert salad! It was a big hit with us Tolman's but not a lot of the other folks were brave enough to try it. Oh, well at least I like it. Delish!

This is my 1st cousin Tommy (Tom-Tom) & his way-to-cute son Carter.

My 1st cousin Emily but I've called you Em as long as I can remember & her darling daughter Maleah. Maleah was a huge fan of the salad I brought! At least I have one fan that appreciated my silly attempt at cooking!

This is my mom's 1st cousin Kristy, my Great Aunt Marda's daughter. I've always thought that Marda's daughters were the epitome of "beautiful." Isn't Kristy just gorgous? Exactly! Plus she has the funnest personality & the most amazing memory! Hmm, I'm just a bit jealous.

My Grandma's sister, my Great Aunt Shirley! This year she ended up finding out that I'm no longer a member of the Mormon church & she was totally fine with it. Gotta love people who love you no matter what! I wish everyone could be more like Aunt Shirly.

I asked Em to take this pic of me and my 2nd cousin Jason. In preparation of this pic Jason told Em to count to 3 and then take the pic. This is the moment that I realized Jason's big plan....

of getting rid of the pie in his hand by depositing it on my FACE! Yeah, I don't think so Jason!

This is after he promised to be nice.

My 2nd cousin Abbie & me. We're the same age and we've always been pretty close. Her and her husband Jeff are some of the funniest people I know! She used to blame me for her kids cause I would tell her that she was going to get pregnant & then she would! After this amazing psychic ability of mine worked with her 1st 2 children she told me I had to keep my pregnancy predictions to myself. Interestingly enough she still ended up with 2 more kids with NO help from me.

My 1st cousin Megan and her nephew Carter. Megan & I are super close so there are just way to many stories to tell you about her. To many to choose from. She is a pharmacist so she is my go-to person for anything medical. Thanks Megan!

Jenny, my 1st cousin Tommy's wife & Carter's mom. I've gotten to know Jenny quite a bit over the last year. I just love her. I'm so glad she is my cousin. She is a genius on holistic & alternative health care. It's so fun to talk to her about Deb's pregnancy since Deb really wants a no drug birth.

Tommy, Jenny, & Carter. Aren't we Tolman's just cute!

Sandi (left), Lindsy (right)

After pot-luck there is usually some sort of craft for the children to make if they're interested. Of course being the crafty person that I am I usually end up at the craft table for a bit. This year everyone was making bead necklaces and bracelets. As I was making mine I was visiting with my 2nd cousin Lindsy & getting to know her new sister-in-law Sandi. At one point Sandi set her beverage down on the table and immediately proceeded to dump the entire contents of her cup on both she and I. Funny! Even funnier was when she said there was a little "sommin sommin" in her drink. Of course I said "where is the bottle of this "sommin sommin", hook me up!" Lindsy, Sandi, & I then went and had our own version of a family reunion in Aunt Shirley's camper. Good times! Course it was amazingly hard for me to try to "act" sober after that as I'm such a light weight when it comes to alcohol. This whole situation created some great laughs and now is one of my fondest family reunion memories: "Remember that time Sandi and I got completely smashed and tried to pretend we weren't! Fun times!!" I guess I did a pretty ok job at acting sober, cause even Megan who knows me the best and has seen me drunk had no idea that I had 3 shots of vodka on board until I told her later. :)
Thanks Deb for letting me borrow your camera!

This post has inspired me to start a charity. I'm calling it:

"HELP HETH GET A REAL CAMERA FUND"

All donations can be sent directly to me. Hey, it's such a worthy cause. :)

Feeling a little crafty

I got this crazy idea yesterday that I wanted to MAKE things for Mo. First of all you must know that I don't make anything! I like crafts & usually catch on pretty fast, but I just don't have that drive like some right brained people do to create all the time. I don't consider myself crafty or creative, but I can pretend right?
I decided I wanted to make burp rags for Mo. I looked online for an easy stitch that I could sew by hand as I don't have a sewing machine. I discovered the "blanket stitch." I watched a You Tube video, found a snazzy tutorial on a craft blog, bought the needed items, & am now on my way to sewing cute things for Mo to expel bodily fluids onto!

eBay opps!

So as you know if you follow my blog I'm going to be an auntie to Deb & Jesse's baby Mo. Because of this I've turned into this crazy baby obsessed person. Don't worry I still don't want children myself....I'm not THAT crazy!
I've been scoping out baby stuff online, & yesterday morning I decided to scope out eBay. I've never really looked on eBay before. I found some way cute stuff so I decided to set up an account and bid on a few things. What's the harm...for sure I'll get out bid right?
WRONG! I bid $76.00 on the 4 in 1 crib in the pic & won! Trouble is I didn't really want to win it! If you know anything about cribs you know that $76.00 is a steal of a deal for a brand new 4 in 1 crib. They normally run from $250.00 to $450.00. Trouble is, & I didn't know this before bidding, the shipping and handling is $99.00! OPPS! BIG OPPS! I get paid on the 5th and would have had the $ then but not now. Hopefully my landlord won't cash my rent check straight away. Opps!! Well, the crib should be in my storage unit within 2 weeks just waiting for Mo to get here...in OCTOBER!

Ya ready for it?

I have the most fantastic news that I have just been itchin to announce:

Deb & Jesse are pregnant!

Yes, I'm going to be an Auntie. Finally! The baby's due date is October 11th. Seems like forever away.
I hope to be the most fantastic Auntie EVER! The baby is only 11 weeks and I've already bought 2 of my favorite children books for it, "The Berenstain Bears" & "Curious George." I've decided to be in charge of teaching it the love of reading.
I'm just so excited!!!