My life has been pretty boring lately. Today, it consisted of paying bills, trying to cancel our internet service in Australia (*&^%$#) that we are still paying for, for some strange reason, doing laundry, etc. This was the table today, covered with bills, mail to be opened, my laptop, etc.

Last night I went to our ward's Enrichment meeting. It was about First Aid and Food Storage. I had to chuckle when my friend told me it sounded boring and she didn't want to go, because it reminded me of when I had to organize an activity with the same theme just 6 months ago, in our ward in Australia. Unfortunately, we didn't have such a great turnout at ours... but I was happy to see a great group (about 40) there last night. First, we had a lesson about planning meals for food storage. The idea is to plan 19 meals that you know your family likes. Break them down into ingredients then calculate how much you need of each item in order to make 19 of that meal. Do this for each of the 19 meals. This will give you 361 meals, or about a year's food supply. I think it's brilliant. Yes, you have to plan well, and maybe buy a little of each item each month. She said it costs her family about $2000 per year, but they eat the items throughout the year and replace them as they go.



The other thing they did that I loved was offered a Trauma Kit. Emily's brother is a medic in the Nat'l Guard. He decided what went into the kits. All of the items were there and we just put them together last night. I like feeling like we have a good first aid kit in the home. I want to add more gauze, bandages, etc. but it's a good start. I love the heavy duty tool box it comes in. Her brother also taught us some basic first aid skills. They did such a good job and it was so well organized.



Another thing I did this week was clean out the fridge. I know, thrilling. I hate doing it but when it gets to the point that things are falling out when you open the door, it must be done. I rearranged some things, moved some to the fridge in the garage, and tossed some expired items. Can anyone guess how old the OLDEST item was? I gasped out loud.



Little Ashley is keeping me entertained lately. It's been nice to have Olivia at preschool 3 mornings a week so now Ashley and I get a little one on one time. She is a crack up. She's obsessed with the Fairies video right now and asks for it the moment she wakes up. She loves to sing and if Sing Star (for the PS2) is out, she must have the microphone and will not let anyone else touch it. As you can see from the photo above, she also loves Guitar Hero. She is very musical b/c tap is her other hobby these days. She goes into the exercise/dance room and asks me to put on the "song" and taps around, twirls, and claps her hands. Hmm, you never know, maybe she's my child prodigy. She is talking so much and understands so much it amazes me. This was our conversation today:

Ashley (just woke up from a nap) "Mom?"
Me "Yes?"
Ashley "Where YaYa go? (YaYa is Olivia)
Me "She went to a friend's house to play"
Ashley "Belle?"
Me (pausing for a moment b/c I couldn't figure out what she said, then realizing I said, "Oh, Belle?"
Ashley "Yeah"
Me "No, she went to Ally's"
Ashley "Oh"

I know, I am one of those doting parents that thinks my kid is brilliant... but isn't that pretty good for an almost 2 year old? Ok, enough of that one. Suffice to say, she amazes me every day from requesting the "purple" sweater and "jeans", refusing to wear the little knit pants I had planned, or insisting on the "pink juice" meaning the one with the pink label instead of the blue. I am glad I can find these little moments endearing at this point b/c in a few more months when we're knee-deep in the Terrible Twos, I probably won't find it so cute.



Lori is in the middle of moving preparations. Here she is, with Mom, in the storage room painting her entertainment center. She emptied bags of clothes out of her closet the other day and we dropped like 5 garbage bags full of stuff at DI, including a box of dishes. We then had lunch at Taco Amigo. I was very doubtful as to the caliber of the food there but Lori has me convinced that the cheese burrito and Mexi salad is a pretty good deal. Tasty too. Next time I must get the 99 cent cone with the toy stuck inside. We then went to see her apartment and talk about paint colors. After we blazed a trail through the foot of snow outside, we were able to have a look and make some decisions. She picked some cute colors- Lori is never boring.



I must get to bed b/c my alarm is set at 5:45 am. I can't believe that I am actually getting up that early to run in the dark (note my reflective gear) and freezing cold. This self portrait was taken this morning when I got back at 6:30 am. Two girls in my neighborhood go every morning and they asked if I wanted to run with them. I said yes, mainly due to my boredom. I am so sick of the treadmill. I just have to get out. It's been enjoyable running with them, but the past few mornings as I get up to bundle in 3 layers, a hat, gloves, etc, I think to myself, "This is madness". I am a little worried about tomorrow morning b/c tonight's low is supposed to be 5 degrees F. When we go running it's pitch dark outside, so I wouldn't imagine it's much warmer than that. I don't know about this. Maybe I will have to add a 4th layer! We go about 3 miles every day, so it's not long distance, but I plan to do a long run on Saturday. Jared says he will actually run slower with me, so maybe we can run together. We haven't done that for a long time. Since I got him the Garmin Forerunner for Christmas he is newly inspired to run. I have to admit just knowing that the little gadget is tracking my run and calculating my pace makes me excited too. It's pretty cool.