Movie Monday September 9, 2013

Yay movies! I love them so much!

Before I tell you about some more good movies, I want to share an experience I had today.

I went to Target (and other stores today, big errand day), and guess who I saw! Julianne Hough! At least, I think it was her. I didn't talk to her or anything. I'm sure if I were famous, I'd want to be able to shop in peace. But it looked like her and sounded like her (she was talking to her nephew). She is just as adorable in real life as she is on screen! She was even in work-out clothes, and she was gorgeous! I secretly hate people like that, but not really. I'm just jealous. She was shopping with her sister (I think). Her sister was gorgeous too . . . AND also in work-out clothes. So, yeah, it was a pretty surreal experience.

Okay, so movies I like:

Safe Haven

 

In honor of seeing Julianne Hough, I will recommend Safe Haven. It is a movie of a Nicholas Sparks book. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Nicholas Sparks is sooooo depressing." Well, at least I think that. It's always a tragedy. Well, this one wasn't quite as much of a tragedy as the others I've seen. It had a little sadness, but more suspense. I really enjoyed this. And the ending had a fun little surprise. So, if you like chick flicks, this one is great!

 The Guilt Trip

We watched this one recently. I wasn't too excited about it, to be honest. It was just something that was available at Red Box that we hadn't already seen, or that wasn't rated R. We got it on a Saturday night, so the box had been picked through. Anyway, I really liked it. It wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be. It had a great story about a mother and son and their relationship after he's grown, but yes, there was some comedy involved. I thought it would be total disaster trip, like the previews made it seem, but it really wasn't. There were some disastrous parts, but not like you think. And the overbearing mother role wasn't overdone at all, in my opinion. Maybe that's my inner mother speaking out, but it didn't seem as bad as portrayed in the previews. Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen did great.

Roman Holiday

 

How can I review and not do a classic? This one stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Oh, how I love Audrey... She plays a princess who is in Rome on business/publicity. She hates being a princess and always doing what others want, so she runs away for a day. She meets a handsome stranger who happens to be a newspaper reporter. Well, like all classic movies, they obviously fall in love. The ending is a little disappointing, but in real life, that's how the ending would go, so it works. But I mainly watch it for the story, not the end.

Tipful Thursday September 5, 2013

It's my first Tipful Thursday! Yay! I made it to Thursday! This week's tip is brought to you by Michigan humidity.

This week's tip: Don't Overreact!!

 

I have a terrible habit of overreacting . . . especially now that I'm a mom. So, what have I overreacted about recently? Well, it doesn't involve Lydia. What? An over-reactive mother not overreacting about her child? Shocking!

So what DID I overreact from? Well, it's a long story...

While in Michigan, I noticed a few red bumps on my feet that looked like bug bites. At first, I thought, "oh great, a spider." And I assumed they would go away soon.

Well, as we got home, I realized they weren't going away. In fact, they were multiplying. I remembered a warning from Jessie, "Watch out in Detroit. There are a lot of bed bugs in Detroit." I knew Bryce and Jessie didn't have any bed bugs in their house. They're very much germ-o-phobes, and recently had their house sprayed for all kinds of bugs. 

But I couldn't get the thought of bed bugs out of my mind. I thought that maybe one had hitched a ride with me after somehow brushing against someone at one of the places we visited, or that our luggage was next to another person's luggage who had bed bugs on the plane, and one of the little creeps decided to pay our luggage a visit. Or maybe someone before me on the plane had bed bugs and left one behind.

 

Alas, I had to wait a while to see if it really was a bed bug infestation, because they obviously hadn't been established long enough yet to tell. They're sneaky little buggers.

Well, by Wednesday, I was frantic. I was absolutely convinced I had bed bugs, but not 100% sure. I had washed all of our clothes and stuff in hot water, some loads twice, and dried each load twice upon arrival home. I changed our sheets, twice in one week, vacuumed out ALL of our bags, vacuumed our carpet, vacuumed our mattress, and did everything else I could think of. But I still couldn't get the creepy-crawly feeling out of my skin. And the bites kept coming.

I literally made myself sick thinking about it. I wondered how on earth we could get rid of bed bugs. What if one sneaked onto something I had overlooked, and we would have to fumigate over and over again? I worried about how I would have to call everyone we had come in contact with that they may have to watch for bed bugs. I was especially worried because we had visited our newborn niece in the hospital on our way home from the airport. "Welcome to the world little one, how about you get eaten alive by bed bugs!" Yeah, I was sick over it. I felt like the plague.

 

So, Wednesday, I made an appointment to get my "bites" checked out. Guess what... NOT bed bugs! The doctor was sure about it. Ah! I was so relieved! I was a little slap-happy. I didn't even care that I had a rash. I figured that a rash was much, MUCH better than a bed bug infestation. I was so happy. I felt pure bliss.

So, now I have to put some ointment on the red bumps, which by now are pretty much gone. I also have to be confined to using boring, unscented products (body wash, lotion, etc. Although, I still use perfume, lightly.) So, we spent a little extra money buying some fancy products just for me, although they shouldn't be so expensive since they don't use fragrance... But I'm doing much better. What really triggered it was the humidity and the heat. I guess I'm stuck living in the dry desert of Utah my whole life...


Looking back, I realize I was really crazy. Like, REALLY crazy. I was not too far from going to the loony bin. But here are some reasons why I should have known it wasn't bed bugs: Lance didn't have any "bites." I never actually saw a bed bug. The "bites" didn't look as bad as a bed bug bite. The "bites" were on my feet and my lower legs, nowhere else. Bed bugs like to bite the back and neck.

 

What good came from this experience? Well, I learned a lot about bed bugs. I also cleaned some things that probably wouldn't have been cleaned quite so soon. And I learned to have faith. There was a point in time when my faith wavered. Well, actually, I just pretty much disregarded my faith, but then I was set straight. So, there was a little good from this experience.

So, yeah, tip for today, don't overreact! It's not worth it. How would it have helped me if it had been bed bugs? Not much, because I didn't have enough information yet. I made myself sick and lost a lot of sleep for nothing. Oh, Michelle...

Michigan August 2013

We recently visited Lance's twin brother and his wife, Bryce and Jessie, in Michigan. We had a blast! Lance and Bryce loved spending time together. It's tough on twins to be so far apart sometimes. For me, it was fun spending time with Jessie. She's like my best friend, and yet, we're sisters-in-law!

While we were there, we did tons of sight seeing. We also helped a little with Bryce and Jessie's house. Lance did some of the tough work (he installed a garbage disposer and built some shelves), while I helped with some decorating. They were going to move recently, but then they didn't because they bought the house they were renting, so their stuff had been put away.

Here is a list of the things we sight-saw:

Belle Isle: This is an island in the Detroit River. We went into a museum, an atrium, an aquarium, visited a lighthouse made of marble, walked on a dock, saw a beautiful fountain, saw a bell tower, and saw part of Canada. All on one island! Oh, and there were tons of BBQ's all over. It made me very hungry.

 

Bell tower at Belle Isle

"The Cruise:" Every year on a certain street, there's an even called The Cruise. People come from all over just to drive it. There are really nice cars, old cars, and just whatever cars. We drove in it for about an hour. The speed was about 5 mph max. It's great for car lovers.

Detroit Temple: We just saw the outside of the temple, but like all other temples, it was beautiful.

All of us at the Detroit Temple

Mexican Town: This is a little area of Detroit where there are a lot of Mexican restaurants and stores. We got dinner and just drove. It was a little bit of a sketchy area, so we didn't want to linger. But the food was delicious, and the Horchata was delightful.

Drove around Detroit: There are a lot of burned houses in Detroit. People just burn houses. It's weird. I am sad for the houses. Some were pretty amazing back in their day. But there was a tiny part of Detroit that was pretty fun. It was where the Lions and Tigers stadiums are. The buildings were huge around there! We also went inside the GM building. It has a glass elevator that overlooks the Detroit River. I'm bad with heights, but I was very brave.

 

At the top of the GM building

At the top of the GM building in a high class restaurant. This is their wine storage.

Greenfield Village: This is a village that Henry Ford put together. He got a bunch of famous houses from all over and put them in one spot. Thomas Edison's house and laboratory were included, as well as the Wright Brothers' house and cycle shop. We got to ride in a Model T. All of the workers were in period dress. It was so much fun! Bryce and Jessie were working that day, so we went with their good friends, the Crofts.

 

Cute little hat shop in Greenfield Village where we could try on hats

 

Riding in the Model T

Henry Ford and Edsel Ford houses: We saw these mansions from the Ford founder and his son. Wow! Amazing!

Henry Ford House . . . HUGE!

Edsel Ford House . . . Also Huge!

Port Huron: Who can go to Michigan and not see at least one great lake? We went to Huron and saw a lighthouse. It was awesome! I love lighthouses! It was sunset while we were there, and overlooking the lake was beautiful. We also got to see Canada from there.

 

All of us at the Port Huron Lighthouse

F-150 Factory Tour: We were able to take a tour of the F-150 factory. We saw the assembly line and everything! We couldn't take pictures inside, but here is a picture of us on the shuttle there.

Frankenmuth: This is a German inspired town. Lance was so excited! The shops and restaurants looked like you were in Germany, or another European town. The actual shops were American, though, so no authentic German garb. But we did have some weinerschnitzel, sauerbraten, and sauerkraut for dinner. Yum! They also had a HUGE Christmas store. My brother, Paul, and Lance's brother, Blake would have been in heaven. It was a little overpriced for us, though, so we didn't get a souvenir, plus, we wanted to see the rest of the town. There also was a Silent Night chapel. So fun!

 

Our Bavarian Cupcake

 

Cute town!

We had lots of fun and miss Bryce and Jessie already!

Tune-up Tuesday September 3, 2013

Well, I have been MIA the past little while. The excuse will be revealed in my next post. It's Tune-up Tuesday!

So, what do I need to work on? How about EVERYTHING! Ha! But really...

Wake up early. I know this was on my last goal list, but I am shamed to say I did not achieve my goal yet. (Key word, "yet") How am I ever going to do this? Well, I will take it one day at a time. And by waking up early, I will be showered before Lydia wakes up, and be ready for the day, and maybe even get something accomplished during her naps rather than getting ready for the day.

Organize. Oh, the eternal struggle to get organized... Good news, though. A friend of mine is having a yard sale to help pay for IVF, and I have already got two boxes full of clothes. I need to look through other items, but hey, it's a start! Other organizational goal actions include: finding places for things to go. If I don't have a place, make one!

Exercise. Yes, this one has not gone as planned either. I did, however, exercise once last week, having a mini dance party with Lydia. She loved it! So, my plan of action is to exercise somehow, at least once a week. I guess two to three times was too much to ask right now. Once I get a solid one time a week, I can maybe think about adding another day or two to the mix.

Well, that's enough goal setting for today. I don't want to overwhelm myself.