Day 15 — Next 3 on “Bucket List”

1. Graduate college

and, these aren't necessarily "next" but...

2. Move somewhere completely new. Jonathan wants to go to the northeast. I'm leaning toward Colorado. Depends on where J gets into grad school.

3. See the northern lights

Day 14- My Dream House

Jonathan and I have been lusting after this house since we noticed it was for sale around the time we got married. Well, someone with a lot more money than us bought it. But, now they're selling it too! If only we had half a million dollars...

It's basically a little compound that sits on 3 acres. There's the main house, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. There's a "guest house" with full kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. There's also another random building that has an office and a living room, and another bedroom. Also a photostudio. And a 5 stall horse barn. And a grazing pasture. (Jonathan wants horses someday) Plus it's got a giant storage building and a workshop. And this AMAZING tree! You can see it in the background of this picture.


So, does anyone have any money I can borrow? :)

Here's a link if you want to further ooh and ahh. I'm seriously in love.

Day 13-- What did you do today?

Day 13. A Day in the Life of Chrystal

12:00- 1:30 am- Feed Cecily and rock her to sleep, then try to get myself to sleep.

4:15- 5:30- repeat, plus bidding on some cloth diapers on ebay on the iTouch, checking e-mail/facebook.

5:45- Jonathan comes home from work and we talk for a few minutes before falling back asleep.

8:00- 11:30- Feed Cily again, change diaper (pleasantly surprised that the cloth diapers I started using yesterday lasted the whole night!), eat some cheerios, check ebay auctions/e-mail/faceboook, get her dressed for the day, read her some books/try to entertain her and keep her from crying, and clean up her room a bit. Then feed and change diaper again.

11:30-12- Jonathan's mom takes her for a bit so I make her an adorable headband for her blessing at church this coming Sunday and check my auctions again. Cecily spews all over her grandma... again. Only once has she spit up more than a couple of drops on me, and I think that's awesome. :) She starts crying, so I get her back.

12-1- Watch an episode of House while calming Ceci down.

1:30- Jonathan wakes up! I finally change out of my pj's while he takes the baby. Then another diaper change and more food for the baby. At some point, I talked to Zafina on the phone for a bit. Chill around the house.

3- Schedule my 6-week postpartum check-up, and Cecily's 1-month check-up.

3:30- Realize I haven't eaten all day and put water on to boil for tortellini.

3:50- Write this, and more food for Cecily (she's been kind of a pig today...), check auctions again.

4:30-ish- Eat food and watch 10 Things I Hate About You with my darling Jonathan. :)

6:30-7- More food for the kid, and family snuggle time.

7-8- My parents come over to check on me, because I've been a little sick, and to spend time with their grandchild.

8-Make tuna sandwiches for me and Jonathan

8:15- Update this thing, check auctions/e-mail/facebook.

9- Give Cecily a bath, (she HATES it) followed by baby massage and lotion, jammies, feeding,and reading the next chapter of Matthew to her.

10- She's still not going to sleep, so I hold her and watch Criminal Minds. She finally falls asleep.

11-12- Make a spreadsheet of all of our spendings (Yeah, I'm a nerd. Whatever.), check the ebay auctions again and pay for the stuff I won . Then go to sleep! :)

Day 11 and 12

I took a break for Christmas.. but, we're back!

Day 11- A Favorite Book

When I was 10, my best friend, Katie Zinecker, tried to convince me to buy Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the Scholastic Book Fair at our school. I LOVED to read, so I finally gave in and got it. I think it took me about 3 days to read it, and I was instantly hooked. I borrowed the second one from her the next week and loved it as well. Over the course of the next 7 years I read all the books, went to the movies, went to the Wizard Wrock shows; the works. I'm a total nerd. I'd have to say my favorite one of the series is book 3 because I really liked learning about the background of Harry's parents and I think it's the first book in the series that can dive a little deeper into the real story and not just be an introduction.

Day 12- A Favorite Quote

"One word frees us of all the weight and pains of life. That word is love." --Sophocles.

Day 10 - A Favorite Food

Pretty much any sandwich from Which Wich. I worked there my senior year of high school and freshman year of college, tried every sandwich there, and became completely addicted. My favorites would have to be the black bean patty with hummus, the club sandwich, or the chicken pesto. Yum.

Now I want one. :)

Day 09 - A Favorite Movie

I like a lot of movies... but one of my absolute favorites is Moulin Rouge. I love the music, especially Ewan McGregor's beautiful voice! and it has such a lovely moral. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return." Jonathan and I danced to the song "Come What May" from the movie at our wedding. I love it! Baz Luhrmann is an incredible director, and all of his movies are fantastic. :)

Day 08- A Favorite Song

This isn't my absolute favorite song, but it's been popping up on my Regina Spektor station on Pandora, and I really like it. :)

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

Day 07 — Something I want to buy

My main man (besides Jonathan, of course) is my car, Oswald. I got him when I was 16 and we've been through a lot together. Stuffing 9 people in him to illegally go off campus and get slurpees during lunch at least once a week during my junior year of high school. Rolling the windows down with Kari during a traffic jam and asking people if they wanted pretzels. Jellybean fights. Hanging out with Tim the Raver while chalking people's driveways with Jessie, Katie and Delyn. Sitting on the trunk and eating cheeseburgers after school with Kyle, John and Brandon. Leaning against him and having long talks with Jonathan while we were dating and didn't want to say goodnight. Driving all over creation for Mad Science stuff.

Oswald's getting to be an old man, almost 13 years old. He's survived multiple surgeries and an accident. The doors, locks, and seat belts on his right side are very persnickety because they had to be replaced after this happened.



I love Oswald, but it's time for a new car. Unfortunately, we just had a baby and I've been too distracted to really look around. Luckily, though, I don't have many places to drive since I've stopped working, and he's held up this far. But, in the next year or so, me and Oswald will probably have to say our goodbyes. :(

In a perfect world, I'd love to buy this...

Day 06 — Something I bought recently

All of my shopping power has been channeled to Christmas presents and Cecily. And since I can't put a picture of anyone's Christmas presents on here, I'll have to share something I bought for Cily.

I was already ordering some stuff off threadless.com, but I had a coupon for $5 off a %25 purchase, and my purchase was only $24. So, if I bought something that was only $5, it was basically free! This is what I found. :) I hope she grows up liking books as much as I did when I was little.



And, here's a zoomed in look at the design. I love it!

Day 05 — Top 10 pet peeves

1. When people either don't use their blinkers, or leave them on forever.

2. When people say "I love you, but..." then they criticize you. Don't try to appease me by telling me you love me first.

3. Bad use of grammar and spelling. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to proper use of language. One of Jonathan's pet peeves is probably me correcting his spelling all the time. :/

4. I can't stand it when people make plans with you, then flake. Or, the non-committal "we should hang out sometime!" when you know they have no intention of actually doing it.

5. I hate hate hate cussing. Especially around children. And especially around MY child. I think it makes people sound so ignorant, and it's so rude and inconsiderate of others.

6. Baby talk. I can stand a little bit of it, but after awhile it really grates on my nerves.

7. People who have to one-up everyone. Or, even worse, people who always have to make it out like their life is worse than yours. You say, "My head kind of hurts". They say, "Yeah, well I've had the most excruciating migraine in the world for the last week!".

8. When people always point out the negative aspects of a situation. I tend to be a really positive person and it really bothers me when people are always complaining and especially when they look for things to complain about when things are going well. Is it really so hard to just be happy?

9. When people don't do anything to solve their problems, but then complain about them all the time anyway.

10. People who are rude to cashiers, waiters/waitresses, etc. Actually, just people who are rude in general.

Day 4

Something I crave.

Day 3: A favorite photo

I took this picture when I was 17 at "Outdoor youth adventures", a weeklong church camp. It was really an amazing experience; super fun, of course, but it was also a very spiritual experience being out in nature for the week and bonding with other members of the church. I woke up one morning, stepped out of my tent and snapped this picture with my cheap digital camera, no editing or anything. I love the sunspots and the beautiful mountains in the background. It was a wonderful week, and I think this picture really sums up the feelings of the week. :)

Day 2

Day 2: A picture of you last year and now and how you have changed since then




Last year's picture was taken on a trip we took over Christmas break to Kentucky where I met most of Jonathan's extended family for the first time. We spent a good majority of that trip traipsing around old cemeteries looking for Jonathan's ancestors. This particular cemetery was at the top of a hill, and it was quite the hike getting to it. I can't imagine carrying a casket up that hill... We were still fairly newly married, but had just started trying to have a baby.

This year's picture is of my very first day as a mother. That is obviously the biggest difference between this year and last. I definitely feel like I've grown a lot as a person this year. I've been in school ALL year (spring semester, maymester, summer, and fall semesters). As of now, I have one class left to take in the spring, and I'll graduate next May! I'm so glad that I don't have to worry that much about school anymore, and I can focus most of my energy into being a great mom to Cecily! I've never been one to fall in love with newborns, I tend to prefer toddlers. But, since I got pregnant, I was so anxious to meet this little kid, and I am completely smitten by her! I'm constantly amazed that I have a daughter, especially because it's been a little up in the air since I was like 14 whether or not I'd be able to have children, and I've spent most of the time since then trying to feel ok with the fact that I'd probably have to adopt kids, and not have my own. I am SO happy that I have her! She is the sweetest thing I've ever seen... and she has dimples, which I love! :)

Thirty days

My Aunt Missy is doing a post a day for 30 days and said people should do it with her, so here goes!! :)

Here's the list of what we're supposed to do everyday...
Day 01 — 5 things about you that no one really knows
Day 02— A picture of you last year and now and how you have changed since then
Day 03 — A favorite photo
Day 04 — Something I crave
Day 05 — Top 10 pet peeves
Day 06 — Something I bought recently
Day 07 — Something I want to buy
Day 08 — A favorite song
Day 09 — A favorite movie
Day 10 — A favorite food
Day 11 — A favorite book
Day 12 — A favorite quote
Day 13 — What did you do today??
Day 14 — Your dream house...
Day 15 — Next 3 on “Bucket List”
Day 16 — A photo of my family
Day 17 — A habit you wish you didn't have
Day 18 — Put your iPod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up
Day 19 — A hobby of mine
Day 20 — A favorite recipe
Day 21 — Nicknames I have, and why I have them...
Day 22 — A favorite Youtube video
Day 23 — A travel story
Day 24 — Something that makes you feel better...
Day 25 — A funny (true) story
Day 26 — A child I love
Day 27 — A place I love
Day 28 — A person I love
Day 29 — Testimony
Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Day 1: 5 things about me that no one really knows..
1. When I was little, I tested positive for tuberculosis and for 9 months I had to take 3 tbsp. of the medicine everyday. I don't know what they flavor they tried to make it, but I had a lollipop once when I was like 15 that tasted just like it and almost threw up.

2. My feet are so ticklish that I can't scratch them without tickling myself. It's absolutely pathetic.

3. I'm kind of scared to graduate college, because I have no idea what to do next.

4. Going into the hospital to have my labor induced was quite possibly the most scared I have ever been, and it made me feel like a total wimp.

5. I'm good at doing a lot of different things, but I'm not really great at anything.

Julie's home!!

My dear sister came home from her mission this past weekend. She's been serving a mission for our church for a year and a half in Fukuoka, Japan. While I've been really proud of her for doing this, I've also missed her SO much! This whole weekend was fantastic! My brother and his family and also my sister came up for Julie coming home/Easter/conference, and it was so much fun! I missed my darling sister a LOT and I'm so happy she's home! ...even if she does say random Japanese words that nobody understands...



As far as conference goes, there was a lot of emphasis put on teaching the rising generation. This has increasingly been on my mind lately, and it was so nice to gain so much instruction and strength from our leaders on the topic. I hope to be able to incorporate some of those things into the primary class that Jonathan and I teach, and most definitely with our future children. :)

St. Patrick's Day

I have always loved this holiday. It's just silly that everyone wears green, and I really like clothes, so, a whole holiday based solely on your outfit? It's fantastic! Jonathan knew about my love of March 17th, and decided to make it even more special for me. So, March 17, 2009, this happened.





I doubt I will ever have a better St. Patty's Day, but that's ok.

Yesterday was also fantastic! We went to Fort Worth and enjoyed the beautiful weather! We saw the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Modern, and went across the street to see the first painting that Michelangelo ever did. I love having a husband that enjoys going to things like that as much as I do. :)

I was, however, a little sad at the lack of green that I saw. I should've pinched someone...

So, we have jumped on the bandwagon. I realized this week that no one knows what's going on in our lives, because we've become hermits. Sorry.

This semester has been an interesting one for us. I got a little too excited about finishing school and signed up for 6 classes this semester. Then I got the brilliant idea to sign up to be a research assistant. Luckily, the lab I signed up with is REALLY unorganized, and so far, we have done nothing, and I'm still getting 2 credit hours for it. Cool. But, also not cool because I was looking forward to learning more about all that. Oh well. The good part about all this is that when this semester is over, I will only have 20 hours left! Therefore, I will graduate in DECEMBER! Holy cow! I'm dang excited!

Jonathan had a mid-college crisis, and changed his major from social work to kinesiology. The plan is to become a physical therapist. He's very very excited!

Recently, in my cognitive processes class, we've been learning about memory. There have been a lot of studies done about memory, and it's made me question all the memories that I have.

One study brought a college freshman and their parents in for a series of interviews, about 6 months apart. At the first interview, the parents brought up a story about a time when the kid was kidnapped. The kid (who has never been kidnapped) denies it and is really confused. 6 months later, the same thing happens, and the kid denies it a little bit. In most of the cases, by the third interview, when the incident is brought up again, the kid will start adding details about their supposed kidnapping that they really "remember".

So, I ask you, if the person that we are today is made up from our past experiences and memories, but we don't remember things correctly, then who are we?