BOOK REVIEW: Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Alright everyone! I decided to finish Eclipse due to the fact that the next book in the Twilight series is coming out on Saturday morning and also the fact that I happen to be completely in love, unrealistically with Edward Cullen (I CAN do that, ya know!). This love story had my heart beating fast the whole time I read it. The beginning was a tad bit slow, however when it got moving, it didn't stop. I was literally at the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. I didn't want to stop. I think Eliza might feel a little bit neglected at this point. Poor little girl! She will understand one day! I could totally picture everything that was going on. Thanks to the cast of the new characters for the Twilight movie being revealed, I finally had a clear picture as to what they looked like. Before that, my ideas kept changing as I would watch a show or see a picture in a magazine. I would think to myself, "Oh that guy would make a GREAT Edward!" or "That girl would be perfect if she played Bella!" I know, its very sad, but these books have consumed me. I want a love story like that! Where is MY Edward?! HAHA! OK! That was a teensy bit cheesy, but I will have to admit, I thought that a couple of times as I was reading the books. Eclipse was truly excellent! I read it in about 5 days, it would have been shorter had I not had to sleep or be a mom, both things that are essential and I enjoy. Eating these days doesn't seem to be ESSENTIAL because of my diet (that is working, by the way), so I didn't really have to stop reading for that. I absolutely loved this book! I loved all three! I can't wait till Saturday to start reading Breaking Dawn! Until then, I will be reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer as well. I am officially back into reading! It's my escape from my crazy life. What kind of books do you guys enjoy? I thouroughly enjoy books like the Twilight series. Suspensful mysteries with a little bit of CLEAN romance. So much fun!

Cute Pictures of Eliza, SHE'S WALKING!! & My Testimony of Isagenix

Hello Everyone! Just thought I would post some really cute pictures of Eliza. She has turned into the funniest baby lately! I mean, she's always been funny, but now she KNOWS it and so she hams it up whenever she can. She cackles, squints her nose and eyes. It's really just hysterical! With Isagenix I have to have 2 shakes a day that I mix in the blender. She always acts so surprised even when she knows its coming. She opens here mouth really wide and sometimes lets out a little gasp or squeal. I have yet to get my camera to take a picture in time, but when I do I will be sure and post it. These are just some really cute, random that I've taken this week. She is so FUN!!

Eliza sitting in her little rocking chair, rocking her babies (that was supposed to be her "time-out" chair...so much for that!!

Eliza has learned to climb under this bar stool. Its so cute! To get out she tries to do limbo underneath the wrung in front of her. It's hilarious because she thinks she is so funny!!

This is her little sad lip, or...her kissing lip. If she's sad she pouts her little mouth and if she wants to give a kiss, she does pretty much the same thing. Unfortunatly, its usually only the dog and her stuffed animals that get the luxury of a smooch from Eliza.

Some FUN news! Eliza is officially a walker. I keep trying to get it on video but when I pull out the camera she throws herself on the ground and cracks up. Its become somewhat of a game for her. I am so proud of her though. When that girl decides she's going to do something, she does it! But, not until she is darn, good and ready. I wonder where she got that from ;)?

For my Isagenix update...like I said in the title, I truly have a testimony of this program. It has worked so well for me. Its been tough, I'm not gonna lie, but so worth it. I have 2 weeks left and I am so excited to see the final results. Honestly, anyone out there who is looking to lose some weight go to www.realityweightloss.tv. You will LOVE it!! My brother in law Carlos sells and consults for the product. He is a great coach! There were a couple of days where I just wanted to lay in my bed and cry because I was so hungry, but I knew it would get better. Well, Carlos told me it would, I was going purely on faith. But it has turned out great so far. I'm very impressed! I still have a little ways to go, but I'm sure that it will turn out great!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! TAKE CARE!!

P.S. Eliza is teething so she has drool on her shirt in the pictures under the stool. I don't usually allow my child to run around with dirty, foul clothes on :)!!

MOVIE REVIEWS: The Dark Night & Mamma Mia

I saw 2 movies this weekend. I know! Its been crazy, yet enjoyable. It keeps my mind off how I haven't eaten. Anyways...lets begin with the review. Last night (Friday), I went with some of my friends to see Batman: The Dark Night. I was a little bit worried to see it because so many people said it was so dark and kind of violent. I don't like having my eyes shut most of the movie, so I was a little bit concerned. I had also heard Oscar buzz about the late Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker. That made me very curious. Let me tell you guys, it was AWESOME! I have to admit, it was a little bit dark and quite violent, but it the movie was well made. Christian Bale just makes my heart happy though. I think I would watch anything he was in. Heath Ledger was so good! I knew he was a good actor, in fact one of my favorite movies is A Knight's Tale. He was pretty yummy in that movie. Anyways, Heath Ledger did so great, he deserves an Oscar whether he has passed away or not. His character was pretty scary and unpredictable yet somewhat charming. Does that make sense? I tend to be attracted to "bad boys," I need to work on that. All that being said, I would totally recommend this movie to anyone. Well, maybe not for young kids. I want to go see it again!

Today I saw Mamma Mia with my mom and dad and Eliza. Eliza LOVED it! She watched it, danced and absolutly cracked up. It was so funny! I was in tears laughing so hard at her. I thought it was an OK movie. The music was fun! I'm not a huge fan of ABBA, but if I didn't think about the fact that it was their music, I enjoyed it. The story was weird and I kind of felt like they could've maybe found better singers than Meryl Streep and Pierce Bronson. Yeah, they're great actors...legends, but not singers. It was awkward to watch them try and sing. So, I don't know whether I recommend it or not. I haven't seen the Broadway play so I have nothing to compare it to, so maybe I should go see that. If you do go see it, tell me if you think Pierce Bronson reminded you of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz when he sings. HAHA! Go see it for yourselves though, that's just my opinion. And, its almost not fair because I saw Batman last night. It's hard to compare the two.

So, there are my reviews of those two movies. I had a fun time seeing both. Good company, good times! Let me know how you all felt about these movies if and when you see them. Take care everyone! Have a good rest of your weekend!

Memories of Us...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next (if you choose to), re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

YAY! This will be way fun!

My new title quote

I came across this quote tonight and I absoultely LOVE it! It helps that it is a quote by Bill Cosby. I think he's hilarious and truthful at the same time. If you have a chance to watch "Bill Cosby Himself," I would recommend it. It will keeping you laughing all night. Plus! It CLEAN!! Go figure! I decided to put it on my title because it is very true.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -Bill Cosby

How true is that!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt33zqib2qk

Click there! Its so stinkin' funny!

P.S.

Eliza took her first steps today!!! She's taken one here and one there, but tonight...3 steps! The cool part is that when she did it, we were talking to her dad over webcam. I panned over to her right when she was taking the steps, so he got to see. He was so excited! My cute little girl! She's getting so big!!

One Cute Picture of Eliza

What a sweet picture of my big girl! This is just one of many that Mollie took for her one year old pictures. I will post more soon, but I absolutely LOVE this one! She loved the ocean. She went right for it when we put her little bikini on. I know, a bikini on a baby, judge me if you will, but it was too dang cute to pass up. Thank you Mollie for being my sweet sister and taking such beautiful pictures of my daughter!

Isagenix

OK Everyone! I officially started Isagenix today. It is a 30-day program. I get to have a shake for breakfast, a 400-600 calorie lunch and a shake for dinner. I think it is going to be a little bit rough to start, but it will get easier. I was going to post my weight and everything on here to keep me motivated, but after weighing myself this morinng and taking my measurements, I have decided to keep that information to myself. I'm just a tad embarrased by the results. Anyways, wish me luck!

St. George Historic Town Square & Brigham Young's Winter Home

We left California yesterday. I was so sad to say goodbye to my sisters and their families. We’ve had Amanda, Madison and Brandon with us for the last 3 weeks. It was so much fun! They were all such big helps. So, needless to say, I was pretty depressed to leave. It was a precious time. We stopped in St. George on our way home because, again, driving the whole 10 hours with Eliza would have been a nightmare. When we got there we could tell Eliza had cabin fever BAD! I took her to the little park they had by the hotel but that didn’t seem to tide her over. My mom and dad got back with Café Rio. I was starving! We decided to go over to the town square and eat outside. It was really great weather for St. George in July. When we got there I was so excited because they had this little water pool thing that some kids were playing in. There were also some little waterfalls. I knew Eliza would be in love. I quickly finished my burrito and took Eliza to play in the water. She was in HEAVEN! I had so much fun watching her splash around in the water. She even tried to drink out of one of the waterfalls. She was so cute! There was a water thing that sprayed from the ground. I figured Eliza would like that, but she wasn’t quite as impressed with that as she was with the waterfalls. It was so fun!!

This morning we went and ate at Bear Paw Café for breakfast. So YUMMY! We decided to drive by the Brigham Young house. I wanted to see what it looked like and lo and behold! It was opened for tours. We weren’t going to church today since we were traveling so we decided to go on the tour. Thanks to Ghost Hunters, I had the guts to actually go in this house. Before, I would’ve never done that. I didn’t like old things; that included houses. It was very informative. I learned why St. George was called St. George and why it was nicknamed “Dixie.” I’m glad we went. However, I am so very glad to be home. We had such a fun week but now its time to be home and get my little girl back into her normal routine.

The front of Brigham Young's house

Living Room

Kitchen Area

A very cool stove in the kitchen area

One of Brigham's wives room (NO! We don't still practice polygomy!)

Brigham's Room

Brigham's Room Again

How the house was ventilated - I can't remember how the sister missionary explained it, but it was very neat!

The room outside of Brigham's room

First Presidency & Twelve Apostales of the Church when Brigham Young was prophet. This picture was fun to look at!

All together, I think that we had a very successful and entertaining trip home. Eliza had a good time playing in the water and I really enjoyed learning more about the Church in the early years. The members went through a lot of yucky trials; trials that cannot even compare to what we face today. I'm grateful for their diligence and faith. Without that, I wouldn't be where I am today. Seeing this house and hearing the stories made my testimony of the gospel grow even more and I am grateful that I am able to raise my daughter knowing the principles that will help us to return to our Heavenly Father.

Rockin' Out

My brother-in-law Jay had a pair of Bose earphones. Those are seriously heavenly if you are trying to drown out kids screaming and your child crying. This whole week I was completely addicted to Ghost Hunters, so whenever I got a free minute I would turn on my laptop and watch my show. Eliza always wants to play with my laptop, so finally, after much begging, I gave in and let her come up on the couch and put the earphones on. What is sad, is when I handed the earphones to her, she knew exactly what to do with them. Oh dear! I turned on my music from iTunes and she just started rocking out. It was so cute! Her dad was there to see her be so silly. I yelled to Mollie to grab my camera and start snapping pictures. We got some pretty cute ones I think.

When in California...

While one is in California it would be an absolute shame to not go to the beach. So, on Tuesday we all headed down to Newport. Newport is our old stomping grounds. While I was growing up we spent many days lying on the beach, walking around Balboa Island, eating at Ruby’s Diner on the pier. So much fun! While we didn’t get the chance to lie on the beach, Eliza did get her chance to go into the Pacific Ocean for the very first time. She’s been in the Gulf of Mexico, but never the Pacific Ocean. Mollie took Eliza’s one-year-old pictures on the beach. Eliza headed immediately for the water when we got her in her bathing suit. I didn’t think she would be that excited, but she wanted nothing to do with just sitting on the beach. That made for some difficulty for Mollie, but she’s a professional so she worked with it. By the end we were all covered with sand and the bottoms of our jeans were wet. Eliza didn’t seem phased by it at all (one-year-old pictures still to come…). We met up with the rest of our family after we finished taking the pictures. We went over to Balboa Island to walk around. The homes are so beautiful there. I love to just look at them and daydream about someday being able to own one. DREAM is the key word here. I don’t think I could afford one on a Utah teacher’s salary. What a shame. We had such a good time at the beach! Being there is one of my favorite past times, so bringing my daughter there to experience it (even at such a young age) it very exciting for me!

Eliza and me on the pier next to Rubys

Eliza was enjoying some yummy food at one of my favorite places, Ruby's

Riding the ferry to Balboa Island

Grammy & Eliza on the ferry to Balboa Island

Sleepy Baby

On the ferry ride back

On Thursday night we had a BBQ at Carrie Beth’s pool. What a great time! My dad marinated some chicken and Carlos made some yummy carne asada. Mmmm! Before we ate, my niece Megan had Eliza in the pool. Eliza tends to be pretty wiggly and at the same time very independent, so when I heard this blood-curdling scream, I was ready to take action. I looked over and there was Eliza with her mouth and chin covered in blood. Megan told me that she smacked her mouth on the side of the pool. I wasn’t surprised at all. I got her all cleaned up and she was immediately ready to get back in the pool. Her lip was swollen for a couple of days, but it is healing nicely.

P.S. As long as I live, I will not put captions under my pictures on my blog. What a bloody nightmare!!

Moving Mollie & Carlos In

We moved Mollie and Carlos in on Monday afternoon. It was also a very hot day. We were all so very sweaty. I think the only thing that kept me going was knowing that we wouldn’t be lifting heavy things in all day long. Mollie, Carlos, my dad and I knocked it out in about an hour and a half. My mom generously volunteered to stay at my sister Carrie Beth’s house to put Eliza down for a nap. I know, what a challenge. Moving in wasn’t too bad though. We kept each other laughing. Well, I think the fact that my bum sweat all the way through my pants kept everyone in hysterics. I’m glad I could keep the mood light.

On the Way to California...

We left for California on Saturday morning. I could tell that Mollie and Carlos were really excited, but I was so not! I didn’t want them to move. But, I knew that that is what they wanted and needed to do. It was chaos in our house on Saturday morning but it slowed down once we got on the road. I drove Mollie’s car, my parents drove theirs and Mollie and Carlos rode in the moving truck along with Phoebe. We had quite the caravan. We stopped in St. George for In-n-Out. We love that place! I hear that they are going to put one in Orem. Very dangerous for me, but at the same time, super exciting! After In-n-out we drove to Mesquite, NV; its only about 30 minutes away from St. George. With Eliza and the other kids tagging along, driving the whole 10 hours to California in one day is not even close to possible. I think we all would have killed each other by the time that trip was over. It was so hot!! The air was not even refreshing when we got there. I was so glad to get in the hotel. On Sunday morning we left to finish the trip. It went quite smooth, thank goodness!!