Shades of Brown

Stay at Home

2012-10-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

New things since baby:
-newborn forehead wrinkles
-naps in the middle of the day
-cooking dinner
-taking walks
-trips to target once a week
-lunch dates
-watching Felicity
-forgetting to get dressed
-talking in high pitched voices
-taking so many pictures

It's so weird to be jobless. I feel like I have so much free time, and yet no time also. And fun, it's really fun to be this kid's mom.

Harrison in photos

2012-09-25T21:01:00.001-07:00

39 weeks pregnant, the last belly photo i got to take

taken while waiting in triage for an hour, from 9:30-10:30 am

once they finally let us into the labor and delivery room, we had about 20 minutes to get settled and then 20 minutes of pushing before baby boy was here.

Harrison was so alert and calm when he was born, we were in shock.

We are so happy to have him here, and so glad he decided to come 5 days early and in 4 1/2 hours of labor. Such an angel-child.

Park City trip

2012-07-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week of June in Park City at a really awesome cabin that I took zero pictures of but had this for a view

We spent a day at the alpine slides and it was seriously fun. Although I wish I could have gone on the zipline. I did go on the roller coaster which was awesome and you can control how fast you go.

My mom and I flew both ways because we are spoiled and/or pregnant. But these guys stopped at the grand canyon on the way home and sent me this so I could be jealous.

These guys are moving to Korea in a month, so this will be the last time we see them for a while. So sad.

And some new additions to the bathroom self portrait maternity series: 28 weeks

and 30 weeks (10 more!!!)

Stay tuned for photos of the nursery progress, it's actually coming along and i'm super excited.

Lately

2012-05-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

In March we bought this! 4 bedrooms (too big) with a pool (which is awesome since it's a million degrees and my legs are already starting to swell). It needs a lot of work, but we already love it

I came home to this the day after I had unpacked everything into the kitchen. I guess he just couldn't wait to demolish something, and the kitchen ceiling had it coming.

So this is how the last two months have been spent. Mitchell has worked daily on the house. Changing the corners from squared to rounded, putting up drywall, making a cubby for the fridge to slide into, mudding the walls, and texturing. We are ready to paint now, and then our cabinets can go back up, and then we have a functioning kitchen!

In baby news, I went from looking like this (and thinking I was showing)

To this. So, that's been fun. Morning sickness is totally gone, and my energy is up a little from first trimester. We also started our birthing classes, and they have been really interesting and fun. I only wish they were an hour shorter every week :)

Oh yeah, and it's a BOY! Hopefully as soon as the kitchen is done we can focus on getting the baby room ready. I know we still have 3 1/2 months, but it wasn't that long ago that we had 8 WHOLE MONTHS to prepare. Time flies.

UPDATE: December & January

2012-05-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

For those few people who actually read this, there's been a lot going on since the last post. We actually had time and a tiny bit of money this last Christmas, so it was fun to decorate our apartment. I made these burlap stockings and hung them in the kitchen since the fireplace was covered by multiple mountain bikes.

Seriously some of the best gifts I've ever gotten

And then January came, and there was this:

Two days later we flew to Milwaukee to see Kelly and Kim and these cuties, and also to go to Ivan and Maddie's wedding which I have no pictures of for some reason. It was such a fun/freezing trip and was also the beginning of never-ending morning (all day) sickness.

I turned 25 in Chicago, but since we were so busy we celebrated when we got home with a little party my mom threw me, which was so nice.

Everybody's doing it

2011-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Seeing as Thanksgiving just passed me by and the Christmas season will officially begin when we get our tree tonight, I figure I should take some time to think about what I'm thankful for.

Starting with iPhone pictures, I'm THANKFUL FOR:

A fun husband willing to play dress up almost every time I ask

Nieces and nephews coming to visit for weddings

Nieces and nephews that live close enough to play with all the time
&
Sleeping boys and cute puppies

Voting in elections and getting stickers

I'm also thankful for

a nice place to live, even if we don't own it

Days/weeks/months without anxiety

A job I don't hate

Two awesome families

Christmas decorations

Buffalo wings

Hot chocolate

Fall weather

There's lots more things I'm thankful for. It's been a rough year and it helps to think of all the blessings we do have. To be honest I'm thankful it's the end of 2011, because I think 2012 is definitely going to be my year :)

Living your Legend

2011-10-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I stopped posting for a while. Seriously though, it gets a little depressing to write about your life when it's not going the way you want.

At the Kimball Stake family vacation Mitchell and I went to Brother Gneiting's class called "Living your Legend." And it was way awesome. Part of it was to write down your most secret dream in life. Mine is to live in a foreign country, preferably in Europe, specifically France, obviously Paris. Which is funny, because I don't remember loving Paris when I went after high school. I probably needed more than a day to soak in the awesome.

Recently we watched Midnight in Paris, which only reaffirmed that A: We should move to Paris and 2: The 20's were awesome

In my dream I look like this girl, because Paris makes you glamorous.

We would both love to learn french, and I think it would be cool for our kids to live other places before they get too old for it. That is, when we have kids.

Cool right? This is me putting it out into the universe. Because my mom says that's the first step.

L

Things that are Awesome and also Embarrassing

2011-06-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Guys. Mmm Bop. Hanson is back, and I'm seriously lovin it.

Check out the new song:

It's to the point of ridiculousness how excited I am on Tuesdays to watch this dumb dumb dumb show on Hulu. Really, Bently?

Finding out how much we spend on froyo was the most embarrassing. Also the most awesome.

That is all,
L

Nothingness

2011-06-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Over memorial day weekend I convince my mom to take me to lunch at Liberty Market. Which was delicious. And a really cool atmosphere. If you're into that sort of thing. And I am. Obviously.

Also I convinced her to purchase a Zebra Brownie which was just as delicous as it sounds. (Does it sound delicious?) (It was DELICIOUS)
You should try it.

In other news, this is what I left at home:

Poor guy. He just cuddles with the dog on the couch all day. He's going in for his last post-op today and hopefully can start to feel better soon.

It hurts his nose to smile and/or laugh, so when he thinks something is funny he does this heavy breathing thing. Which I have to imitate. Which makes him laugh for real. Which makes him groan in pain, which makes me laugh, which makes him laugh more. Fun times.

You have no idea.

L

Great News

2011-05-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Mitchell survived surgery!

Bad news is, he currently looks like this:

Now that is the face of serious pain.

It is also the face that causes me to go into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Im not sure he knew what he was getting himself into when he signed up for this surgery. No difficult to chew foods, no swimming for a month, no shower for a few days, and an incredible pain.

Poor guy.

Feel free to bring him some (soft)meals :)

L

PS the thing about surviving surgery was a joke. Obviously it wasn't life threatening.

Crazy

2011-05-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

IM FREAKING OUT. Mitchell is going in for surgery right...now. Guess if im there with him or if i have to work?

I haven't heard ONE SINGLE THING. Most likely the worst will happen. (If I fear for it it can't come true, right?)

ughghh
L

Days like these

2011-05-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes days are just bummer days. You know the ones? Like nothing bad or even uncomfortable is happening yet you feel chocolate ice cream is necessary?

Days like these I wear my cowboy boots even thought it's too warm for them.

Days like these I make M drive out and have lunch with me.

Days like these I contemplate going back to school to counteract my boredom.

Days like these I decide to take art classes at the arts center instead.

Days like these I take time to count my blessings and snap out of it.

Tomorrow's friday! All's right in the world.

L

Ode to husband

2011-05-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

In honor of Mitchell's recent collarbone fracture, I would like to dedicate this post to him.

This picture is from a different injury. I think his foot? I told him the rule was if he couldn't walk through walmart he couldn't go biking the next day. I forgot that rules don't apply to him.

The oxycodone M's doc gave him way too much of has made him ambitious. He's promised to take me and Fender on a little hike(walk) around Papago Park this afternoon.

M joined in on a girl's day pool outing, but his fair skin required a towel tent and no actual contact with sunlight. This picture just makes me laugh.

SO! While i am doing my best to keep my fears for his safety bottled inside, he is continually getting injured, and we are dealing with it. He really is the best, broken bones and all. Fun times, yeah?

L

A conversation from last night

2011-04-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

L "aghhh my back hurtsssss" (feel sorry for me)

M "OK seriously, you need to start strengthening your core muscles"

L "stop it, i'm not old, and i've never had back pain before"

M "you've also never been 24 before"

L "(scoffs) maybe my purse is too heavy. i think i need a new purse"

M "you need to start doing sit ups every day. you can get a new purse if you do that for a week straight"

L "DONE!" (sucker)

Psh, girrrrl

2011-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I told Mitchell that I was sorry for being tired all the time. Cuz really, I'm tired all the time. In response he said, "I slept like ALL day today," and giggled. No longer do I feel bad.

L

The One in Which we Sort-of Try and Readily Fail

2011-04-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

You guys. Today we started an 11-day meal plan. It's time things get healthy over here. Here's the thing though, it lets you eat like 8 ingredients TOTAL! Total. Can someone please explain to me how cashews and deli sliced turkey counts as a meal?

Breakfast this morning was a hard boiled egg and strawberries. Doable. CHECK.

Here's when I decided that this was outrageous and I was going to starve and I hated this diet

Then, lunch: roast beef slices and cheese sticks. Uhhh, sure I guess that's real food.

Then I get an email from Mitchell saying, "hey you should wait and start the diet thing when you're not sick anymore". Of course I tell him absolutely not, I can do this!
M-"no really, you can cheat if you want"
L-"nope"
M-"...I might have had some pizza for lunch on accident"

And there was the first fail.

Later on in the day I got another message.

M-"so today I was telling my friends in class about the new diet i'm starting and totally grabbed a sucker and started eating it while i was telling them".

Dieting is hard you guys.

We are quitting.

But since we really do want to eat healthier and we just bought tons of healthy food at Sunflower Market, I think we'll chuck the strict daily plan and eat the healthy food however we want.

Because NOBODY TELLS US WHAT TO DO.

The end.

The Clueless Edition

2011-04-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

Listen up. I'm reading Emma. Emma is such a classic. And what better than a literary classic to inspire a 90's teen comedy? The problem here is, I obviously saw the movie Clueless before I read Emma. Duh.

So, like, I know what's gonna happen already in the book, right?

Not that Jane Austen is the most suspenseful writer or anything. I mean, she's no Maeve Binchy. (What, Maeve Binchy is too obscure for you?) (Plus Maeve Binchy is also not a suspense writer)

What was this post about?

Oh yeah, I already know how the book ends so it's taking me forever to read it is the point.

Usually my reading time is in my car at lunch. Lately I've been having nap for lunch though. In the backseat of my car.

There is no point to this post turns out.

Except that today I told Mitchell that my shoulder was out of place again and therefore hurting, and he said, "that's it, it's time for us to go to the gym, you're getting older and need to work out your back muscles"

Or something like that.

Guys, I'm TWENTY-FOUR. If I'm already in decline, heaven help us all.

L

Things my dog is afraid of

2011-04-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

This is my dog. His name is Fender. He is scared of a lot of things. Here's a list of some of them:

1) plastic bags
2) plastic water bottles
3) vacuums (how weird a word is vacuum? seriously though-vacuum vacuum vacuum)
4) mountain bikes
5) laundry baskets
6) backpacks (camelbacks in particular)
7) noisy clothing
8) bar stools
9) balloons
10)cell phones
11)any new toy
12)birthday hats
13)hot dog costumes
14)reindeer antlers

Okay those last few are sort of understandable because, how embarrassing for us to force those things upon him.

In summary this dog is scared of basically everything. Which is okay with us because it makes for a super well-behaved pet that will never run too far away or chew the tires of your bike.

Also it gives him this sweet personality, which is okay by us too.

Enough about your dog crazy lady.

L

Things I love today

2011-03-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

*Going to work in skirt i bought for $4.99 at Goodwill that feels like pajamas

*That it's becoming a ritual for M to tell me I look stylish on my way out the door (even when wearing said pajama skirt)

*Making this. It calls for cooking sherry and made me feel a little rebellious.

*Cooking with Mitchell

*Mexican Coke vs Mexican Pepsi competition

*The overnight hotel stay M planned for me and my two best friends. He forced me to take a vacation! Believe it guys.

*Coming home to a clean house and laundry put away...hopefully. (Mitchell?)

xxOoXoOx
L

Cookie Dough and other Life Lessons

2011-03-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I have anxiety. (Is it a secret?) I've been told recently by a close friend that I don't share my feelings. It was blamed on my sister-less upbringing(what a relief, I thought for a second I was gonna have to take the blame for something). Anyway I have anxiety. And my anxiety is made worse by the unknown and unsure. Read: the future.

Last night M and I figured some stuff out. You know, work stuff, school stuff, budget stuff. As much as I avoid this type of conversation for fear of an attack of the panic variety, maybe they aren't so bad. I feel much better after this planning session than I did before.

And the moral of the story is: make sure to have plenty of cookie dough on hand at all times in case you need to bribe yourself.

Here's some pre-packaged happiness for you to share. As a reward for my self(indulgent?)improvement.

A Birthday Party

2011-03-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

It turns out that we are the kind of people that throw parties for their dog. And hey, I understand that it's totally ridiculous. But seriously how cute is that dog in a party hat?

Sister-in-law-Stephanie helped me make these cupcakes for the party. I think some of them turned out a little scary but such is life.

Before you make fun of my lameness you should know that I'm a fan of the theme party, and Fender's first birthday was as good excuse as any to invite our friends over and have dinner and some tasty doggy treats.

I told one of the doctors at work about this party, and she told me I needed some kids.

She might be right.

L

Hello, Diana

2011-03-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

Guys, I've been having so much fun with my new Diana camera. Here are some pictures:

These are from the park across the street. Yes, those are my wedding converse.

This was an impromptu date to the carnival in the mall parking lot. We took long exposure photos and ate funnel cake. It was one of my favorite nights ever.

Please excuse my amateur-ness. But I love the effect of the old-school film cam and we have fun with it.

I would write more but my head is about to crack in two. Advil here I come.

G'night!

Commuter Chronicles

2011-02-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

I drive 14.2 miles to and from work . Yes, it takes 30 minutes. Yes, I am very tired of it, thank you.

Lately I've been taking side roads to avoid the nightmare that is the 101 in rush hour.

Here are some of my thoughts from today's drive home:

In the Scottsdale portion of the drive, there are lots of runners. And teenagers riding beach cruisers. And old people walking dogs. Somehow it always makes me feel like I'm missing out on this wondrous time, 6 o'clock. The time when people are home from work but its still light out (what's that like?) so they venture outside. I never cease to be jealous of these people.

At about this point in my journey I pass one of the dozen man-made lakes I see daily and think, just like I thought yesterday and every time before that, I should really bring my camera and take some photos of this lake. With the tall grass. And the pretty trees.

Then I pass one of those signs that tell you how fast you're driving and it flashes angrily 52 !!!

Whoa Leanne, slow down you're 7 miles over speed limit here.

There's a place called Eye Care Animal Hospital on the right. Really?

Oh hey Macayos billboard, you look just as delicious today as the first time I saw you. Yes, it is dinner time. Kinda rude.

Then there was a fantasy about smashing into a photo radar police van and I was home.

Very exciting times here. Very exciting.

P.S. Fender was sick but then M took him to the vet and paid $90 and now he's better. magic.

Husband

2011-02-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

This morning, as I was dragging myself out the door headed to work, M says to me, "hey you look really cute." Now normally I would make fun of him for using such a girly word. Today however, it made my day.

And that's all there was.

xoxo
L

A Collection of Miscellanity

2011-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

As I sit here sipping my delicioso QuikTrip hot chocolate, watching my #2 guilty pleasure show, some thoughts have flipped through my head.

It goes something like this:

QT is the best. Is there anyone who does not think so? M and I had a related conversation the other day that went like this:

"I wish there was a QT by our house. OR even better, by my work. Then I could eat there for breakfast AND lunch. Every day."

"You would get so fat."

"At least I would be happy."

Isn't he a dear?

I am grateful for spare keys. If you don't have a spare key to your car you should really get one. I've learned this from experience. This week we've had 2 opportunities to use our spares. Once when I locked my keys in my car and couldn't leave work (subconsciously it was on purpose because I love work so much?) and once today when M locked his in the car at the bottom of a mountain.

It's not that cool to be scared of your neighbors. I sincerely hope the large black man with the baseball bat's wife recovers quickly from the dog bite she sustained from our other neighbor's large pitbull. I also sincerely hope that he never yells at or around my husband with a baseball bat in his hand again.

Waiting is BORRRRING. I'm tired of waiting for stuff. I resolved today to stop waiting for things I can't speed up. Be happy now and all that jazz. How you ask? Beats me. Maybe my new hobby will help me forget about the things I'm waiting on. What hobby is that you ask? You'll see.

:) Happy weekend folks!