It's still Christmas at our house!

Emerald has learned how to work the cd player and now she plays Jingle Bells during the day. She is just in love with Santa and cannot wait till he comes again. She catches Charlie when he is in trouble and tells him, "Santa won't be very nice for you Charlay!" (We like to call him "char-lay") :)
Here are some pictures from Christmas time. We stayed home in SUNNY, WARM California (yes, I enjoy rubbing it in because I really enjoy it here). Whenever we would ask Emerald what she wanted for Christmas, she would simply reply, "A unicorn." I thought she was just being silly and so we went gift shopping and got her some preschool games, play-doh and some dress up clothes. And a few days before Christmas, she kept asking if Santa would bring her a unicorn.....So Jake and I headed back to Toys R Us and got her a big unicorn. And what do ya know, that is the only present she really cared for on Christmas morning. Charlie got a big dinosaur to go along with Emerald's unicorn. :)


Charlie's favorite part of the holidays was eating all the fudge. Thanks Mama for sending us some! Charlie ate it all!! :)

These are basically the only two pictures I have of Christmas...I mean, there is more...but they are still on my phone and I'm too lazy to upload them at the moment. So more pictures will be posted in the near future of Christmas from 2010. :)

Catching Up

Back in September or October or maybe it was in August....? Anyway, we went up north to San Fran with Jacob as he attended meetings at the NASA facilities there. It was cold and green and gorgeous! It was nice to get a break from all this desert we live in and be around trees and plant life! We strolled around the Piers and went to the aquarium there.

It was a blast and Emerald and Charlie loved the cool fish life.

Give 'Em the Bird!

Here we have Jacob giving the bird. We cooked our first turkey for Thanksgiving (yes, this post is a tad late....). We stayed home in California for the holidays. It wasn't nearly as fun not having lots of family around, but I refuse to go back to the dreadful cold and snow in Utah. So I suggest that family members that would like to see us for Turkey day or Christmas come to California for a visit! ;) It took FOREVER to cook that dang bird and then by the time it was ready to eat, we weren't hungry for turkey! So we had a few bites of the bird and then the usual food items (stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, pies). Next year we decided to have a catered Turkey day meal from Claim Jumper (really yummy restaurant). :)

Also around Thanksgiving time, we got a brand new fridge!! The kids were so excited when the Lowe's guys came and delivered it. Charlie turned 2 in November and although I can't find any pictures of his birthday party, we had a great time and he was excited to get new cars and space rocket sheets to go on his big boy bed.

I'm Legit

That's right. I am legit. A couple months ago, I got a calling. A REAL calling this time. Any guesses? I thought for sure it would be Nursery or Primary...I am the in the Young Women Presidency; 2nd counselor. SO FUN! I thought it was a joke when the Bish asked me, considering that I was just in YW about 5 years ago. Crazy. Once I realized he wasn't kidding, I said ITS ABOUT FREAKIN TIME BISH. Hahaha....I think he knew I was half sarcastic. :) I feel like I am now a legitimate member of the church. WOO HOO!

So now my life revolves around these young women. They are seriously the best. And not to mention that I get sweet babysitters like 6 days a week....haha. You think I'm joking....I'M NOT. ;) Our activities have been so awesome. Last night we had a Spa night; did nails, facials and got haircuts. We stayed there from 6-10pm. Major girl talk was happenin'.... it's so great being their leader and telling them to do everything opposite from what I did when I was their age. Bahahaha...I wasn't that bad....mostly just bad in college. ;) So now you all know....Lena B. is LEGIT!!! :)

I'm ALIVE

I changed the blog back to "open" for all readers to see...The past couple of months we have been fixing up the house and homework. Very exciting. It seems that there is something exciting or dramatic happening with all our friends or family members...as for us, we are keeping it cool. Just school for me. And work for Jacob. And play time for the kidlets. Past few months have been so fun and so relaxing to me. I haven't been social as usual (because of homework) and it doesn't bother me! Our lives are so uncomplicated right now...all I do is take care of my family and work on school. And that's all I worry about. It is WONDERFUL! I've stopped worrying about other people (sounds bad, but it's nice =) ) and I'm just doing what I want to do. Hmmm...what else can I update you fellow readers on??

School is awesome. I am getting A's...duh.... =) hahaha. Actually, one B+ and A- so far. Jacob got an AMAZING award last week for Team Performance with the last NASA rocket launch. He also got a very nice bonus with the award....he is really good at what he does!! He is also in the process of applying for a civil servant position that they "opened" up for him...WAHOO!! Which means, better benefits (more days off), better access to the base, and better pay! And he has only worked there for a little over a year. His boss told him that he is on the same level as someone who has been there for 5-7 years. I'd say he is doing pretty darn good! I am so proud of him and can't believe how intelligent he is.

The adoption process is a no go right now...after much prayer and consideration, we decided to put that on hold. We noticed the risks that it would be on our little family now and we don't want to introduce anything harmful for our children. So we will just be having a third child on our own. In the future. FAR, FAR FUTURE. Just to make that clear. And if you are wondering WHY WAIT? since I did not wait much to have Charlie....well, that is WHY I am waiting....hahaha....it sucks having them so close together. THEY FIGHT LIKE NO OTHER. And I need to get back to my "college" weight and finish my degree. Then we will pop out another. I would LOVE to have one now, if there was some kind of guarantee that I wouldn't get sick during pregnancy, that I would live during labor and delivery and that I could bounce back quickly to finish school. But....the chances are pretty slim. So we are waiting.....

Alrighty, I think that is all the drama I can dish out for you right now. Until next time...

Oh and those pics of Emerald and Charlie are from the Intel museum in Silicon Valley. :)

House

I forget that I post tons of pics and things on Facebook...but not on the dang blog.
The house is good. We like it. It has lots of space to grow and we are really enjoying "fixing" it up. Jacob moved the washer and dryer into one of the spare bedrooms so I could have an INDOOR laundry room. (In California, they put the W/D in the garage...it's really quite disgusting to me) So...my knowledgeable, talented husband cut open the wall, moved the pipes and hooked that baby up! The rest of that laundry room will have some counter space put in and shelving for food storage. Gotta love that food storage crap.

We have yet to get a regular sized fridge...our mini fridge and chest freezer are actually doing the job quite well! The truth is, fridges are expensive. And I would rather spend money on getting blinds and home decor than buying a fridge. Yes, yes I know that sounds funny. "You don't have a fridge yet?!" people will say to me. But my priorities are just a little different than everyone else. :)

Other things that we are working on with the house:

-the yard full of weeds...we mowed them...just waiting for it to cool down and then we will landscaped and plant a little patch of grass.

-still working on putting blinds/curtains in all the rooms (we just have our bedroom, the dining room and the office left)

-replacing all the smoke detectors

-replacing light bulbs in like every room...they are all burning out now :)

-fixing the leak in the sprinkler system

-fixing a few of the windows (they don't seal completely) and putting screens on all the windows

-replacing door knobs (they are just old school and ugly)

-replacing bathroom and kitchen faucet (just to upgrade and add value to the house)

The list continues...this is just a few of the changes that are happening now and within the next few weeks. It would be nice to blow a few thousand and just do it ALL AT ONCE. But unfortunately, this house didn't come with the money tree in the back. :( But it does have a lovely palm tree.

School is Cool!

Yup, that's right. School is way cool. And I just so happen to STILL be in school! My education plan really got screwed over once I had kids...but at least I will be an empty nester by the time I am 39! I CANNOT wait for that day.

I finished high school early and jumped right into college. I was hoping to finish with my Bachelors by 2007...it is now 2010 and I still have about 2 years. It's a bummer. I tried to go to school while pregnant with Emerald... I failed like ALL my classes. I was in and out of the hospital and just way too sick for school. When I was pregnant with Charlie, I started school through University of Phoenix Online. I did that for a year while living in Utah. It worked out great. I was going into the Elementary Education Program...like all the other billion girls that lived in Logan were doing. I wanted to teach Kindergarten or Preschool. Then when we found out we were moving to Cali...I found out that my program was not offered through University of Phoenix in the state of California. Something about different credentials or crap like that. I didn't really pay attention to what my academic counselor was saying. I was just pissed that I would have to change my program and it would take me even LONGER to graduate.

Once we moved here, I looked into the schools nearby...which there is only ONE school in the lovely Antelope Valley. (Which is another great topic for blogging...the fabulous Antelope Valley! Can you sense the excitement?!?) Anyway... it is a piece of crap school. They have no funding and I couldn't get into any classes. Plus, they don't offer Bachelor's degrees in my program. The only college that had what I wanted was an extension college in Bakersfield, CA. Which is a little over an hour drive. No way was I going to drive that far to go to class. And what would I do with my kids? Bring them to class? (I was not willing to put them in daycare...at least NOT here...eww)

So I found that my only realistic option was to continue with University of Phoenix online, but changing programs. So I got put back in the system and am currently working towards my degree in Psychology. Funny thing, my first original plan (when I was like 16) was to get a degree in Psychology. So it all worked out fine!

Right now I am finishing up my last week in a basic math class. Well, technically I am not finishing the class...Jacob is. hehe. He has done all my homework for this whole class! It's been fan-freaking-tastic!

I've been thinking about what I want to do with my degree...and I just can't really think about what to do with it. :) You see, my next door neighbor has a bachelors in psychology. She has one little girl (one of Emerald's BFF's) and she doesn't use her degree. She actually went back to school and got her Nursing Degree. And now is looking for a job as a nurse. I don't understand people who get degrees and then just like DON'T USE THEM. I ain't goin through all this trouble to just NOT USE MY DEGREE. So...the dilemma...what can I do with a degree in Psychology? What would I WANT to do with a degree in Psychology?