Lately

It's been too ling since I have written and so I thought I's play catch up!

My husband sent me roses "just because".  I love that!  I know they are just flowers, but they make me feel so loved.  I just like knowing that Tanner is thinking about me and wants me to know it <3

I got a new laptop!  You may remember that our house was broken into and my laptop and ipod were stolen.  I am happy to report that I got a new one of each.  My new laptop's name is Gigi (or G.G. for Gregron's Ghost)  I am really loving it except that it's made of metal and glass and gets quite cold.

Tanner got these wretched shoes on his mission and wore them WAY LONGER than he should have.  I hated those things and he finally let me buy him a new pair and throw these old ones away!!!  Horray!

We have a family tradition of making gingerbread houses (that's where my mom and dad's story begins!) each year.  Here is the one Tanner and I made this year.  One of my favorite parts is that I gave the gingerbread people frosting hair.

Our mortgage company (lender, actually, but it's all the same to me) rented a theatre and invites us to see the movie Tangled for free!  We even got to bring 8 other people as well.  Santa was there so we got a picture to be festive.  I loved the movie by the way.

My sister-in-law made me pajama pants out of this amazing red and white fabric.  I love them!  I also got some pretty sweet Christmas presents (I made a list of what I wanted and Tanner got me everything on the list!)  i got an ipod dock, beautiful red Crock pot, boots, 5 shirts, Anne of Green Gables (1 and 2) on DVD, a lace skirt,

I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 weeks off from work!  They were much needed and to be honest I didn't do a whole lot.  I slept in, kept the house nice and tidy, cooked more, read, relaxed, hung out with my family, helped my brother and sister-in-law move, worked one day at the fabric store, and enjoyed having no commitments.   But now it's back to work and parent teacher conferences next week.

Just before Christmas break I straightened my hair on day and when a student saw me in the morning he said "Mrs. Layton!!!?  Is that really you?"  haha.

We are also teaching sunday school at church.  We taught 15/16 year olds for 4 weeks, then they rearranged for the new year and we are teaching 12/13 year olds.  It's been fun having a church calling with Tanner; we have always had separate callings.

catch up

Yes.  I have been a lousy blogger.  No.  I don't promise to get better, because let's face it--that is nothing more than an empty promise at this point.

Thinks have been moving along ever here in my life.  Maybe not moving along exactly how I would choose... but they have been moving along.

Tanner and I had our 2 year anniversary.  We didn't do anything big, but it was nice.  We went to dinner, a movie, and out for frozen yougurt afterwards.  It's crazy how time flies!  We've been married for 2 years and together for 3.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  3 years seems like less time than it used to.  I could go on and on about how wonderful Tanner is and how much I love him, but I won't.  Just know that I am so happy to have him in my life and to be his wife <3

We are settling into our new house.  I have been painting and decorating and making it feel like mine.  I like owning a house.  It helps me feel accomplished and independent.  The bad news is that 4 weeks ago some b@*%(#7 broke into our house.  We didn't take a whole lot: Gregron (my laptop of 4 years) and ny brand new ipod touch.  I have been trying to be greatful that he didn't take more, yet I can't seem to get past the fact that someone felt like it was okay to walk into my house, and take my things.  He did, however, leave his ID card on our bed, spit in our garbage can, and leave a beer can.  I thought with all that evidence the cops could have caught him by now, but they haven't.

In my younger years I wrote this list of things I wanted to do with my life: 
                 
                 1) go to beauty school
                 2) graduate high school
                 3) spend a semester abroad
                 4) go to college
                 5) get married
                 6) start a family
                 7) own a car
                 8) teach for a year of two

The good news is it's 7/8 of the way done.  The bad news is that I feel like I don't have as much direction as I have in the past.  My mom told me that I just need to focus on the kids of mother and wife I want to be and set goals for those things.  But that's tricky for me.  Those kinds of goals don't seem as measurable to me and I like to see results that are solid, black and white, yes or no.    So here is to my next phase of life; one with different kinds of goals.

New addition

In my last post I said "There's a new addition to [my] family! Any guesses as to what it might be? I'll give you a hint: it's NOT a baby/child/fetus/anythinglikethat"

I got some pretty good guesses! My favorites:

* A robot named Monte for Gregron to have a friend
* Are you pregnant with a full-grown man?
* Jude Law

Gregron did not get a robot friend, sorry to say. He still has only human friends...

And thankfully I am not pregnant with a full grown man! I hear being pregnant with a small fetus is uncomfortable; I can only imagine how horrible it would be to be pregnant with a full grown man!

It's not Jude Law. Sadly I cannot afford celebrities...

* * *

In the end Camille won. She nailed it right on the nose. I got a Bosch mixer!!!

I love it! I LOVE love LOVE it!!!

There it is in it's new home. I'm quite pleased that it's been getting along with the other kitchen appliances/gear. I don't know why I was worried about that... The blender and toaster have always been more than kind.

I decided to break it in by making a pizza. The dough recipe I used this time used honey instead of sugar. It was a different texture than I am used to, but it turned out pretty good! And yes, I did put zucchini on my half. Yes, it was good.

If you know me at all then you know I have this inner need to name inanimate objects: my laptop, my car, things like that. Well, I want to name this new addition to my family. I haven't had any FABULOUS ideas. I haven't even decided if it should be male or female. I need help! And ideas for a good name for my mixer?

...Lately...

Just a little hodgepodge of what's been on my mind.

1) I passed the AEPA! That's the big, long, awful test you have to pass to teach in the state of Arizona. I found out last night that I passes both sections I took! Horray!

2) I found this incredible picture on my Gregron (my Computer)! Yes, these were to help show which bathroom was which.


3) I made this purse. I'm loving it!


And yes, I did donate blood. I save lives.

4) I have been sleeping alone at night. No, Tanner and I did not get in a fight. Tanner has been working nights (10 to 6) staying over at a friend's grandparent's house helping the grandpa who is up most of the night. I just try to get to bed before he leaves and I wake up just as he's getting home--that way it almost feels like he's never even gone. I don't like being all alone at night. Someone could break in and kill me (or worse) and I'd have no one to hear my screams...

5)Tanner and I went to dinner at Famous Daves. It's always like pulling teeth to get him to take a picture...

I REALLY wanted to get a picture of us with the Famous Daves pig, but Tanner put his foot down there. We volunteered to take the picture but for my life he wouldn't be IN the picture with me. Sad.

6) I cut my friend Rhonda's hair. Here's the before:


And after:

7) I'll be a college graduate in 2 1/2 weeks!

End

Gregron's Birthday

For those of you who don't know, this is Gregron:










Gregron and I are extremely close. I feel comfortable saying that the two of us could be called best friends... I have been known to say that I "love him more than any human child {Save Brig}". Some people don't think that is okay, but they just don't quite understand the intricasies of our relationship. Call me weird, think that's strange, but it is what it is...










Gregron recently had his first birthday, and like any good owner and best friend, I threw him a birthday party. We sarted out by all writing something that we loved about Gregron, and putting it in a bowl. We then passed then back out--making sure that no one had their own paper--and read them off in robot/computer voices. It was basically amazing!

After that it was cake time! We sang happy birthday and then Gregron blew out his OWN candle. How, praytell, did a computer blow out his own candles, you may be asking... Well, he's just that incredible! ...Okay, I shut him, and the air from that blew out the candle... but you have to admit, that's really RAD!










And here's a picture he took as he was blowing out the candles.










Happy first birthday Gregron! It has been an incredible year! I can't wait to see what the next has in store for the two of us!