The rest (I think- I'm not making any promises) of Florida.

I thought if I squeezed four in a collage and took away your option to pop-out maybe it wouldn't be so bad. (We forgot to try for one more the last morning Lace--- oh well!)

Below we tried out there new tart yogurt joint. There's is serve your own--- and those places are making a killing in this market because of people like me. Me--- the girl with the 13 oz yogurt (a serving is 4.) I have a problem with portion control. How dare they take advantage of my weaknesses for profit.

Oh but I must say, I love u-serve because you can get the kids like an ounce if you want. Everyone gets there own. Everyone's happy. My handsome nephew- a pro on this bike.
Ok and it just so happens that my friend Michelle from Freshman year at BYU Hawaii lives in Gainsville... so we got to play! I'm hoping it was fun for you Michelle, even though we teased you with fresh cookies but forgot to give you any, and my little bully, Mila attacked Annie, unprovoked... more than once. Hopefully the Popsicle (above) will sugar coat the memory for her. Miss you. Sorry I didn't have a better photo of us since you think you're posing funny and I have uhh... who knows what- all over my shirt. We're even.

Oh and um-- are you kidding with that girl's lips? I never realized how luscious they were 'till I saw her this time in person. Wow.

This was our trip to Lacy's natural history museum--- Sophia was too scared to go through most of it (I don't know what the deal is, but she's terrified of fake outside inside things (like fake thunder and skies and loud noises INdoors. I don't know. Fearless of REAL things mostly, but Snow White's Scary Adventures and the American Indian Exhibit... no way.

But the butterfly exhibit-- AMAZING. They land on your shoulder and flutter by your face with their BEAUTIFUL turquoise wings and you try to remember how beautiful they are when they get too close and you still instinctively swat and squeal like they're big ugly grasshoppers. Really though- lovely.

Miss miss miss missing my sweet sister, her funny husband, and smart-darling kids.

As if traveling cross-country with my girls in tight quarters isn't reason enough to cry all the way home...

I have to leave my sister too. :( Tomorrow.

Here's just a few photos of our days... hmm... I'll have to get one of the two of us tomorrow morning before I leave- we haven't been very good at that.

It's a good thing we've got Ross waiting on the other end or tomorrow would be a dark, sad tunnel. We're gonna miss them- tons.

Blogging from Florida

I Survived the flights! Yes I may have spent 130 bucks at Target the night before (to Ross' dismay... and disgust) on junk food and new trinkets to pull out of my bag of tricks. I didn't even waste room on healthy foods or expired toys... only the best for this adventure. I wasn't going to risk any MAJOR melt downs in Continental's tight quarters if I might possibly be able to bribe them away with a little high fructose corn syrup.

And guess what? It worked. For the most part, worth every penny. (Well Ross might disagree on the inside but since his outsides didn't have to endure 6 hours of airplane travel with two small children, he keeps that nice and quiet.)

And I didn't even dive into a few things... so MAYBE (we'll see after the flights home) I'll get to save a few things for the two birthdays in our house coming up. So what if a little milk spilled and then ripened in Barbie's hair before I noticed?

Now? Enjoying the balmy Florida weather and my poor nauseous sister and her LOVELY kids. We're swimming and eating and being awfully lazy. And I already got to see my friend Michelle that just so HAPPENED to move to the same town as my sis. It's wonderful.

On a different note, check out my new post on the photo-blog here. And then come to Palm Springs and stay in this hotel because it's .... SO. cool.

Have you discoved these yet?

Mini Slow Melt Popsicles? They can eat them in the shopping cart, in their car seat, on the way to church-- anywhere, honestly, and there's no mess. They have a touch of gelatin I guess, to make them melt slower... and it helps that they're like 2 inches tall... so when the girls are begging for a treat, I can pull one out and figure they're getting as much sugar as like a swig of juice, and not worry about dripping... they're amazing. A life-saver in this 115 degree paradise I live in right now.

Just a little proof.... don't they look happy? And un-messy. I know. Revolutionary right?

Can you tell that Sophia is very much about smiling for the camera right now. She NEVER has been. And all of a sudden when she puts on a hat or finds something to wear as a scarf... "get your camera mom, don't you wanna take a pitcher of me? Don't you?"

Here she's saying to Mila, "no Mila, you have to smile like this (and then she squishes her chin into her shoulder as follows with that darling dimply grin.) Already teaching her little sister how to look pretty--- so role appropriate.

Leaving for San Diego tonight--- flying out to Florida to see my LOVELY pregnant sister, Lacy on Wednesday with the girls. Thanks for all your chair opinions! I wish I could have gotten it done before the travel-whirl wind begins. I have no idea which fabric I'll do. Couldn't everyone have picked the same one to make it easier. just kidding.

Wish me luck on the flights! yikes.

HELP!

I need opinions. Have your voice heard. Get out and vote.... or just do it right here in the comment section. pretty please?


Which combination do you like?



1.





2.
3. 4.

5.6.

7. oops... forgot this one in my original post. I know you've had enough of the fabric... but simple solid.. with dark wood... ? I thought making them all visual like this would help me... I think I'm more lost than ever!

Phew. That's all for now. Any sure winners??

A Girl'sTrip... but mostly rambling

I've figured out that I sort of allot myself a certain amount of computer time a day. Too much I'm sure. But sometimes it's spent blogging. Sometimes editing photos. Sometimes looking at photo blogs and photo streams, lately? Design blogs. I think I have a disease. I get on a new one, and the time passes... and passes.... If Ross is out of town, I'm up 'till 1 looking and looking and looking....

I guess it's really because of my chairs right now. I'm really going to do it. It looks like it'll be pretty easy... but now, finding the fabric is eating me alive!!! (consuming me--- if that was too weird and literal). It just seems like one of those things where the right fabric could make a killer chair, and the wrong fabric .... well could just make an ugly thrift-store chair a little less ugly. I don't really want to waste my time for the latter.

Of course I've searched through Amy Butler and every other good fabric line I've been told about--- my problem is finding one that I love in an upholstery weight. Well that's one of my problems. My other problem is that I've looked at so MANY design blogs now and seen SO many upholstered chairs, I can't, for the life of me, pick a direction. Do I want a natural wood frame with a bold patterned fabric, or a bold colored frame with a more muted fabric? Do I want hot pink as my accent in there? Or yellow? or orange? And once I commit.... does that have to be my living room accent color? How long before I can change my mind and reupholster it again without everyone I know rolling their eyes at me? And how is poor Ross, who takes a while to adjust to change, supposed to feel settled with his crazy wife searching for change.

I just need to get pregnant. Then I'll be so exhausted being a mommy, growing a baby all day every day, and cleaning my house.... I certainly won't have time to search for new projects to decorate my house. Hmm. Something to think about.

Speaking of getting pregnant (which by the way, don't go suspecting if I look chubbier in a photo or something... I'm definitely NOT there yet) has anyone heard of this maternity insurance where you can make like 8 grand after you have your baby if you sign up for it at least a month or so before you conceive? A friend of mine is doing it. I think her brother in law sells it. And I'm pretty sure it's the real deal. Just figured I should share the info. Pretty sure we can all use 8 grand. (maybe when I tell you I bought some new insurance... THEN you can get suspicious of any new chub.)

So my life's updates? What the heck--


- went on girl's trip last weekend for Rachelle's birthday. With Lizzie and Rachelle. Both of them are pregnant, so it was the first time I've hung out with them and felt like they wanted to eat as often as I did. Decided I was meant to ALWAYS be friends with pregnant girls.

- Oh and on girl's trip? We ate, and shopped, and pedicured, and slept in, and layed out. All at the Hyatt downtown in San Diego where Lizzie got an $89 rate on priceline! SO fun.

- Thank you sweet husband for not only watching the girls so I could go, but taking them to Seaport Village, and the Wild Animal Park, and then dealing with them all day on Sunday like it wasn't no thang while you had meetings before and after church, and gave a TALK in Sacrament meeting. And then when I get home surprisingly early, I don't find you watching a movie with them like I would have been, but doing puzzles at the kitchen table while you made them waffles from scratch. true story folks.

-I'm obsessed with fabric for my first real fabricy project ever. Did I mention?

- Also obsessed with big random frame walls. Working on one over my couch where my mirror used to go. Thinking that might take a while. But maybe it's about time I get a photo I'm proud of up on my walls.

- Bought tickets for Florida. Going with my girls to see Lacy next week! No Ross. Let's hope I survive the 12+ hours of traveling. Yikes.

- Wondering every time I wash my hair and dry it, and end up with a huge blonde afro, if shortish hair was a mistake on me. THICK hair+ lots of bleach+ SHORT+ not enough layers - (that's a minus) a flat-iron on girls trip = dis-ISISIS- aster. Maybe that's why we only took three photos.

- Taking photos tonight and it's 100-and-some-teen degrees outside and HUMID. Yuck. I hope they don't sweat as much as I do.

- I make myself sound so lovely with all the afro and the appetite and the sweat don't I? That Ross, he's a lucky guy.

Here's the three photos from the girl's trip.

uh huh--- Lizzie packs her tanning goggles as to avoid the sun-glass-tan. I died. Hilarious.

San Diego

This summer has been ON the move. I love it because it makes it feel like the end to this broiling heat might sneak up sooner than later. I can't remember if I've blogged about this. But Ross and his partners at Morgan Stanley have gotten the green-light to market in San Diego this summer. It almost makes it feel like my dream to move there is within reeeeaaaaach.... almost.

It's been so fun, since it doesn't take much to convince us to leave the triple digits and go hang at my mom's house. So here are the photos of last weekend at her house.... I figured I'd better squeeze in the post before we leave to head back later today!

So this post was written last Thursday morning, before we left for SD and BEFORE blogger locked me out of my blog under suspicion of SPAM! whuuuuuut???? I know. So I couldn't actually post. And now since then I got to spend a girl's weekend in downtown San Diego where I'm pretty sure I took all of.... one picture--- and I'm pretty sure that ONE picture was after we'd been laying by the pool which would mean we're all red and sweaty. Why is it so hard sometimes to take pictures on your OWN vacations?

The one-photo-vacation-post to come later.

I've got the bug

I go through waves of being content with my home and wanting to rip it all out and start fresh. Lately the latter. Not ALL of it. Just a few rooms, particularly the living room. It's always felt a little bit thrown together since we've never really BOUGHT living room furniture but have so fortunately inherited most of it. Um all of it huh Mel? And I still love everything, but just don't think I've succeeded in pulling it all together. But then I move a few pillows and get over it... then I let myself do searches that lead me to homes like this and it all comes back. The need for new colors, new patterns, something NEW. Why did I think that wall looked good? why did I think I needed three identical pillows? Why did I think I could do silk flowers that many times in one room?

So no. I certainly won't be buying any major pieces any time soon. HOWEVER. I bought these two hideous chairs from Angel View thrift store the other day, (I checked on them for a month until they marked them half off), and I seem to think I'm going to refinish and reupholster them into something amazing. Me. Reupholster. I've never sewed, or knitted, or crocheted, or.... taken apart a big chair.... nothing of the sort. I'm not really sure how I think I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll end up waiting until I can afford to pay someone to do it and it will be one of those things where you look back and realize you could have just bought the anthro chairs.. But who doesn't need a challenge?.... or just an I'm-an-idiot learning experience.

Meet Baby Ivan

Ian and Tere's THIRD little boy. He's three weeks old. Their oldest is not even three. Is he Ian? And they tote these three little boys around like it aint no thang. Seriously. I'm always inspired to sit back and enjoy the whole parenting thing a little more whenever I'm around them. Two of the most easy-going people that I know.