Not My Shoes

Last week I was getting ready for a party and decided to wear tennis shoes because they were more comfortable. I had a great time at the cookie exchange. I met a lot of new people and came home with some yummy goodies and recipes. I was one of the first to leave and at the door there was probably ten pairs of shoes. While I gathered all my things, I put my shoes on and thanked the host, then went home. Upon arrival I noticed we had a message on our machine. It went something like this, " Hi Sarah this is Emily. We were wondering if you went home with the wrong pair of shoes. Someone is missing some brown shoes and there is a pair of white Adidas tennis shoes left. Let me know if they are yours, thanks." I looked down at my feet and I wore brown shoes home. I wore someone elses shoes home! I have a pair of brown shoes just like them and thought they were mine when I left the party. Needless to say, I drove back the next day to exchange the brown shoes for my white tennis shoes. Next I know I will be a little more conscious of what I put on my feet when I go places.

Car Games

I love going places in the car with Jon because once in a while he makes up these fun car games for us to play. On Sunday we were on our way to the ward Christmas party and he had me guess the Christmas song he was whistling. We went back and forth whistling songs for each other to guess. The car ride wasn't very long, but the game was fun. I'm not a very good whistler so when it was Jon's turn to guess he would take a long time to hear me whistle air or because I was laughing so much. Jon would sometimes throw in random songs outside of Christmas so I would rack my brain thinking of a song that I didn't know in the first place. Other games we play in the car are 'I Spy' and 'name a random object then tell an experience in your life that involved the object'.

St. Lucia Day

Today is St. Lucia Day. It is a holiday Jon's family always celebrates and a tradition we have continued with our family. St. Lucia Day is celebrated in many Scandanavian countries that marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Jon's dad served his mission in Norway and Jon's grandpa served in Sweden, so it has become a favorite in the Amundson household. Traditionally, the oldest daughter wears a white dress with a wreath of candles on her head. She wakes her family at dawn bringing saffron buns and singing the St. Lucia song. Lucia means light, and she symbolizes bringing new life in winter. As you can see, I don't get up early to bring my family breakfast in bed, but we celebrate in similar ways. In Jon's family, they get an ornament each year. Here's a picture of Natalie with her ornament. I think she liked the box more than the ornament itself. I didn't make saffron buns either this year. Instead, I made scrambled eggs and sausage. It's a much quicker breakfast before Jon goes to work. It is a fun tradition for our family and one I always look forward to celebrating each year.

Next Blog Please

Have you ever clicked on the tab at the top of someone's blog labeled 'next blog'? Sometimes there are some interesting blogs and some not so interesting. Once in a while when I am bored I will click on the next blog to see what I get. I found a really neat one about a wedding photographer from Park City, UT. She does some beautiful work. I've found others from Malaysia with too much anime, Turkey and their elementary school and Argentina with lots of soccer. It's interesting to see a glimpse into someone else's life around the world and what they let the entire world see and read.

Holiday Craving

After Thanksgiving, a craving comes that only comes during the holidays-hot chocolate. I love it! I drink at least a cup everyday. I love how it warms me all over, you can drink it with marshmallows and it tastes so good. It puts me in the Christmas mood. I know I'm crazy sometimes when it is 70 degrees during the day and I still drink hot chocolate, but it's just part of the season. Once Christmas is over, I put the boxes away and they wait until next year when the holidays roll around again. Mmm, I think I'll have a cup right now.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Texas with our friends the Bowmans. There was plenty of dinner and pies to go around. We had only one pie tragedy. As Jon was checking on the apple pie in the oven, it fell over top down onto the oven door. We decided it was apple dump pie instead. the rest of the day was spent watching movies, hanging out and making rockets with Alka-Seltzer and film canisters. It was a lot of fun. I'm already looking forward to next Thanksgiving.

The Left Handers Club

All the in-laws on the Toone side of the family are left handed. We joke that in order to join the family you have to be left handed. There's only two in-laws right now, Jon and James, but we are adding a third left hander in April. My sister Julia got engaged a few weeks ago to Burke. Lucky for Julia, he is left handed, so I think we will keep him around for a while. Congratulations Julia! We are excited for you.

Quote from Natalie

"I just needed a little tissue to blow my nose and somehow the whole roll fell on the floor."

New Eyes

Yesterday I went for an eye appointment since I haven't had one in four years. I have been wearing hard contacts ever since I was in 9th grade when I got contacts for the first time. Things have really changed since then and now they have soft contacts for my prescription. It is a little strange wearing soft contacts. They are a lot easier to clean and take care of, but they are much more flimsy to take in and out. I'm not quite sure if I like them yet, but I will certainly give it a try.

The Longest Days Ever

On Wednesday we decideded to take away Natalie's pacifier. We are on day 3 and it is going okay. She is in her bed anywhere from 15-45 minutes before she falls asleep. The hardest time is bedtime, but we are determined to conquer. I have noticed since we have taken the pacifier away, Natalie is much more talkative and playful. I am hoping the hardest days are behind us and it will only get better from here.

Go Emmitt!

My Life These Days

Click on the image and you can read the comic better.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We had a great day with a trip to Jon's work and the ward trunk or treat. Natalie was a lamb this year. It was my first costume and I am quite the proud mother of it. She looked so cute and was always excited to wear her costume. Hope everyone and a fun and safe Halloween!

Missing You

Our computer decided to get really sick on Sunday morning, so we have been without a computer all week. I have been going to the amenities center to use the computer. I only use it when absolutely necessary though because it's a little challenging to try to entertain a little one and get what you need done on the computer while there are people waiting and watching you work. Get well soon, computer!

Just Call Me Coupon Crazy!

I thought I would share something that has helped our family save money and has kind of become an obsession. In January, I joined a service called The Grocery Game and have loved it ever since. It works by combining the weekly grocery ads with coupons in the Sunday circular for even bigger savings. We save an average of 48 percent on our grocery bill and sometime more. I often get items for free or close to nothing. For example, this week we picked up cough drops and headache medicine for free and a bag of bagels for only 50 cents. For $5 dollars a month, we save an average of over $200 a month. Call me crazy, but I even have my coupons sorted in a special binder that I take grocery shopping every week. This is another reason why I love to grocery shop.

Look Carefully

Here's a picture of Natalie with her teeth. Look carefully and you'll see one pearly white and the other growing in. I'll try to get a better picture that is closer up to replace this one.

All I Want for Christmas...

That's right-my two front teeth. We are in the middle of teething with Natalie right now. Her bottom tow teeth are in the process of appearing and with it has come a runny/stuffy nose, fever and some late night feedings. I look forward to the sickies being over. It is fun though to watch her tongue figure out what has appeared in her mouth. I am trying to get a picture of her so I can post it on my blog. I think her teeth will be in by Christmas too.

Book Club

Last week we started book club again in our ward. We read Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. It was a wonderful book. It reminded me a lot of Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. The book is about a painting and how it affects the owner's life through time. There is also a little mystery to determine if it is a real Vermeer painting or not. Next month we are reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I love going to book club to hear other's point of view and ideas about the book. I can't wait for October to come!

Playgroup

In place of monthly enrichment, our ward has started interest groups. One group we started is playgroup. It met for the first time today and we were thinking of different ideas for outings and for the winter months. We are fortunate that it is warm here for a long time so we can go to the park several times, but are looking for other things to do. Any suggestions?

What's in your cart?

I have read some posts from others about how they read other's blogs they don't even know. I am guilty of the same, but it also got me thinking about observing others in another part of their lives. For example, I love grocery shopping and am curious about what other people have in their grocery carts. Sometimes as I pass, I sneak a peek to see what they are cooking and eating for the week. For example, you can tell when someone lives alone or their family is out of town because they have a lot of frozen pizza and very little perishable food in their carts. Or someone with school age children has chips, cookies and sandwich baggies in their cart. Tonight I was at the store picking up a few things for dinner tomorrow (peaches and whipping cream) and I saw one guy in line with bananas and sardines. Surely he didn't mean to eat them together or maybe it was a midnight snack and breakfast tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't think beyond what people have in their cart, but I always wonder why they choose what they do during one trip to the grocery store.