Story of my life #1

Since coming back from Christmas at home I have been super sluggish. Like sleep in way late and then nap a few hours later. I haven't cleaned or cooked or slept normally for weeks. At first I thought I was sick but when my only symptom was my perma running nose I realized that wasn't it. Then I thought I was prego cause a lady at church mentioned that she only gets exhausted when she's expecting. Again that was a no go (as per doctor's orders... a whole other post all together) Then I remembered that I have crazy dreams and rarely sleep through the night and I was convinced that I was just over overly tired. My best hours of alertness are when I am wide awake at 2am after dreaming that someone broke into my house and stole my wedding ring. Or when I have a nightmare that Grayson has been replaced by He Who Should Not Be Named (sorry not talking about HP either) and I cry out loud for my dear hubby back. But that too is surprising normal. I just couldn't figure out what was making me so tired and unmotivated. Ok so I haven't been to the gym in a month and I might have bed snacks a little too late at night but this was something else all together.

AND THEN IT HIT ME...

I need a cat.

Wouldn't that solve all my problems?

I would just have to get up in the morning to feed the little gaffer and then we would bond over The View and make fun of Whoppi's shoes which always makes me open my eyes a bit wider.

I would also have to visit the gym more so me and kitty could go frolic in the grass and get the mail without gasping for breath half way there. (may or may not be true)

I would have to clean my house more because kitty does not enjoy messes and since I am doing the litter box I may as well scrub the toilet too.

And of course after a long day of cuddling and cooking we would fall asleep in each others arms (paws?) and be out cold for the night.

It seemed like the perfect idea until I mentioned it to Mr. Gray.

Diana: "Can I get a cat?"

Gray: "No!"

D: "Why not"

G: "Because I HATE cats and I will punch it in the face and you don't want me to do that!"

D: Gasp...Tear..."Hmphh"

End of discussion.

So I am back to sleeping in and feeding the hubby leftovers until I come up with a better idea to get back to only being semi tired and slightly lazy.

And I was so sure that I had the perfect solution!

Usually I hate hate hate having things on my counter but I will totally make an exception for this brand new baby...


Baa! I know!! It is a brand new Universal Plus Bosch Mixer. For those of you who don't know what that is just stare at the picture and fall in love. Thanks to Grandpa Ted (Gray's grandpa) for coming through with this amazing treasure. All I had to do was tell Grayson I wanted a Kitchen Aid and before I knew it, he had arranged a wonderful deal for me. The price for this usually $500 machine you ask....
a year's supply of Tillamook Cheese and See's Candies. A small price to pay for such beauty.
Already I am loving it...

Brown sugar on the floor and my toes= annoying
Egg innards on my shirt= frustration
First batch of cookies burned= maddening
Bonding with my new Bosch=PRICELESS!

Happy Time!

My favorite part of Christmas at my house:

The wonderful white beautiful snow! How I missed it!! Of course it was freezing cold but if you just bundle up and wait a few minutes it is perfect. I love snow!
I have also kinda sorta missed blogging. I have so much to share with the holidays and the final wedding at my house happening at the same time. I seriously love heart love home time and this trip was no exception. We left early and traveled for two days (uphill in a snowstorm...lol) to get to our beautiful Southern Alberta. We arrived to cheers and loud welcomes (not really) and settled right in. I am slapping myself now because I should have taken more pics of the wonderful, pretty pure white snow that covered everything. It has been a few years since we have had a real white Christmas and this one was perfect!
We spent Christmas Eve and morning at my house which was full of family traditions like Christmas Crackers at dinner and White Christmas before we go to sleep. The highlight of the morning was when my little cousin Jess came over from next door and announced, "I was so super bad this year and I still got presents! Not even a lump of coal!" I laughed myself silly while her older sister Lexi assured me that Jess really had been uber bad. We had a great morning of giggles and gifts and then everyone went on to the in-laws. We headed to Whitefish, Montana where Gray's family rented a condo and we spent the next few days shopping, eating, skiing, playing games, eating and sleeping.
When we got home it was wedding mode countdown so we all got busy baking and decorating. Sara is the last of the Smart kids to get married and I was super excited. The wedding was wonderful. During the ceremony in the temple, I had to cross my fingers and toes because sweet Sara looked like a deer in headlights but they got hitched and are now happily enjoying the poor student life in Hawaii while Ben finishes his degree. (On a side note, I am now looking for tickets to go visit those two and would love to take any of you girlies along for the trip...hint hint Jess P.)
Anyway the best way to show you all the fun and happy times I had is with pictures. I got a new shock/water/dust proof little camera for Christmas and spent the rest of the holiday clicking away! Here is the condensed version of my Christmas/Wedding Extravaganza!

Gray's sister Cassidy had a new little baby in November and we finally gotta see the little gaffer! I was totally in love at first sight. Archer Lawrence Burgess is so adorable and is getting me itching for my own little bundle SOON!! (As in I still need to get prego but SOON!) And I did take pics of our time with Gray's family too but none of the kidlets would smile so I will save those for another post...lol

Girls Night (10 years after HS!!)

Family Dinner Christmas Eve
Best Pic of the Holiday!
Katie and Nathan are the cutest little couple and they were so excited to have me take their photo!

Lover Birds (Wedding: T-6 days!)
Christmas!

The best present of the year! Bro in law Nate knows the perfect way to win my heart!

My sibs and I secretly saved up an undisclosed amount of money for the parents since they do so much for us and get little in return. I was expecting tears and hugs but as you can see from the pic...lol. They were greatful and a few days later on the wedding day my dad surprised the mother of the bride (my momma) with a new diamond ring with 10 diamonds in it for all the extra kids she has now (he used our little cash stash we gave them for Christmas... sigh... how romantic)

WEDDING!!

The happy kids
My lovelies

The Smart Clan
aka
The Morgans, Koegler's, Toone's, Michel's and Smart's

Mmm Cake

This is the best view of Sara's dress. It is awesome. She designed herself and used vintage crocheted lace around the middle. BEAUTIFUL!

It was such an awesome wedding and I am kinda sad that we are done marrying people off in my family. My parents' Christmas card this year was the best and summed it up perfectly. They are in the photo booth at Katie's wedding holding two chalkboards that read 'Flat Broke' and smiling huge from ear to ear! They seriously are the best....cheers to them for three weddings in four months. What troopers!

I am a little late in updating this week due to a nasty visit from the Puke Patrol. Gross I know but it hit this house hard! First I was up all Sunday night spewing up all the contents in my stomach but the most surprising thing was that I was also draining from the other end. Three times I barfed on the floor because I was sitting on the toilet. Whoa ok way too much info. But I am sharing this because I know KNOW other families have been going through the same thing and I wanna know what it is. My dad thinks it was the Norwalk Virus which is a food-borne illness but I just think it was the mother of all flu bugs. I have never NEVER thrown up so much (just imagine the 12 days of Christmas with each verse of the song representing a spewing) and for a brief moment I thought I was dying. No joke. On Monday my body was in so much pain and my lower back literally felt broken (thanks dry heave). According to Grayson I was kinda delirious and when I did sleep I had quite the conversation with myself about how no one had cried when I had been away for three weeks and the fact that my family was secretly planning to go away for Christmas without telling me! By that evening I had slept all day and had saltines and ginger ale and passed out at 9:00pm. I felt better yesterday and did everything a little slow. Gray is a good nurse and was a great help. I was a little miffed that he didn't sit with me each time I was puking but I discovered why last night. Gray was rubbing my back when he said he didn't feel so good and went to the bathroom and puked! I was trying to be helpful and supportive but I realized that watching someone throw up is down right nasty! So for the rest of the night he visited the bathroom alone...poor thing. I finally went and slept on the couch at 4 am because I was convinced he was going to barf on my face. So it was another restless awful night and now we are both in recovery. My family is super supportive though. All their posts on facebook went something like this...

Mom: Do not bring this home-haha
Katie: do not do not bring that home. I have been hacking up a lung and sneezing my brains out. but i am not going home till it passes.
Mom: love you...just don't love norwalk virus
Sara: PLEASE don't bring it home with you when you come on friday!!!!

The only one who seemed to be feeling my pain was my future bro in law...
Ben: must be going around....i hate this
Sara: ben, and i quote "just puked his guts out." WHAT IS HAPPENING?

As I am now in recovery mode I decided that Ben and I should play when I get home since I am pretty sure the rest of the gang will be having a barfski party!

Martha I am not...

Hello. My name is Diana. I am a good person but I have a problem. I'm a craftoholic. Blaah! I admitted it. That's like the first step, right?
Now you may think it's good that I get this out in the open and finally accept my addiction but really it just reminds me of the skills that I lack. I love reading the crafty blogs and dreaming of one day having the same talents. I try to reproduce projects (that eventually end up in the fail pile which is surprisingly huge) and I stalk my friends for help until they start screening my calls...I'm sorry, Jill! (I think)
It seems like I am trying to make up for something. I always liked to scrapbook and do the crafts at YW camp but it wasn't until we moved here to Portland that my obsession took over. It is probably because I am one of the few girls without children and a butt load of time on my hands. I have a serious fixation with my sewing machine and a desire to complete all things DIY (which is a phrase I learned off of all the real crafty peoples blogs...do it yourself) Unfortunately I just don't have the correct wiring for crafting. Seriously I can't read instructions and I have to see someone do what I am trying to do a few times before I can even begin to understand. My mother in law taught me a blanket stitch once when I was visiting back home and by the time I was back in Portland, I'd completely forgotten how to do one. I mean I can do some things that require very few steps and a lot of hot glue gun use but I may as well keep on dreaming because I am no Martha Stewart. Anyway with the Christmas Season fast approaching I have been busy working on gifts and crafts for my house. I seriously am not looking for praise or congrats with any of these projects. Some of them did turn out ok but compared to the originals that I have tried to copy...one word: LAME

A semi finished wreath that might remain...uh semi finished

Hoping the SIL doesn't read my blog...Merry Christmas

Magnet Board...2nd try

Magnet Board...1st try

Christmas Blocks

I guess the main thing I have to remember is that I like crafting and some things turn out ok. Just be thankful my fail pile didn't make this blog. Yet.

It's time for an update but it's late and I didn't sleep last night and I feel like I got hit with a bus. However I have realized a few things this week that I feel are worth sharing...

On a sad note:

1. Things are never what they seem...especially when you think you live in a relatively non-violent area only to discover a 19 year old boy from across town tried to set off a van full of explosives at the lighting of the Christmas tree downtown and was excited about all the blood and carnage it would cause
2. No matter how uncomfortable you are, someone else is colder
3. Though time has passed and you feel that you have gotten over things, being betrayed by someone still hurts deep inside

On a lighter note:

1. I don't speak a lick of Spanish...nada
2. Even after all these years you can still have a favorite stuffed animal
3. No matter how mature I try to act, a little kid farting still cracks me up
4. Saying 'bloody hell' to the YW president at church doesn't make you feel more 'Potter'ish (maybe if I had a wand...)
5. Hot chocolate can warm the soul too

I am also starting a countdown to the most important event of the 21st Century...only 151 days til April 29, 2011. Can you guess what is happening that day? (no I am not giving birth...)

Oi! Harry Potter

Harry Potter has been a part of my life for at least 12 years. We have laughed together and cried together and cursed You-Know-Who together. I even read the books before they were cool, thanks to a curious mom and an extreme obsession with reading. The first book arrived in my home with the cool title Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (later retitled Sorcerer's Stone...to sound even more scary? In some sorta unrelated news, that exact book was later Goodwilled although I am quite sure it became a collector's edition due to the title!) I read it so quick and spent the next few years eagerly awaiting the 2nd -7th books. I thought I lost Harry a few times there but he always persevered and my silent encouragement turned to audible cheers as I finished the last book. So it is with much anticipation that I prepare to see the movie. However since my hubby won't go with me and compared seeing the movie to cutting off his manhood, I am in for a bit of wait. But that's ok since my sister assured me she would go see it again with me when I come home for Christmas. I figure I have a few weeks (like 4) to ready myself. I am currently rereading the last book and will spend each week until the holidays honoring Harry! Here are my plans:

Week 1: Speak to everyone in a British accent and say things like 'bloody hell', 'shod off', and 'stupefy' to randoms around me
Week 2: Scar forehead with a lightning bolt and grab noggin every once and a while and shudder in pain. Pretend to see events happening somewhere else and then pass out screaming
Week 3: Dress entirely like a wizard/witch. Attire will consist of bathrobe (who wears dress robes these days), lightning scar, glasses, broomstick and wand. All the while still incorporate weeks 1 and 2 (note to self: visit wand store and have one choose me)
Week 4: Battle Dementors and Death Eaters with a vengeance (still incorporating weeks 1-3) and enter movie theater covered in blood and sweat but obviously victorious

Feel free to follow along with me as I laboriously wait to witness the beginning of the end! (Ok, at least Part 1 of the beginning of the end!!)


PS My dearest mother has now joined the blogging world and for those of you who know this sweet gal, you might just get a hoot out of her hollers. Check out her blog under My Best Bloggers. She is of course labeled as Mama Smart...what else!