Man's Best Friend

It has been said that man's best friend is a dog. I'd like to differ. I think man's best friend is a really good lawn mower or any outdoor piece of equipment. Perhaps this only applies to my husband, but there is something about tractors or lawn mowers or anything that has a motor and does "manly" work outside that really makes him smile. Devin could spend hours just looking at that type of stuff. Now let's look at the flip side of things. Now if boys get such a kick out of outdoor machinery, shouldn't girls get an equal kick out of indoor machinery. Come on ladies. Don't we just drool over a really cool vacuum? Or that really cool washer? Or even better that really fancy dishwasher or facet with a spray thing? (yes, that is the scientific name for it) ... I don't know. I just don't think I get the same kick out of that indoor stuff that Devin gets with his outside toys. But perhaps when we walk into the realm of Papered Chef and cooking toys....or even really cool sewing toys. Perhaps then we would find an equal amount of happiness.

Simple Things

Yesterday my nephews had a great time playing with marbles. I love how little things make kids so happy. It made me want to appreciate more the little things. The world is full of little things to make us smile. Yesterday, that little thing happened to be a bunch of marbles.

Spring Break

Spring Break is well over, but I figured it was time to blog about our great Spring Break adventure. We were invited by some friend to go down to Goblin Valley. We were way excited to get out of the cold weather and go have some fun camping. Goblin Valley has so many cool things to do and plenty of things just to have fun climbing on. We went down Monday afternoon and the weather was absolutely perfect. Well...sometime during the night the wind decided to start blowing. And it blew, and Blew and BLEW! Tuesday morning we perfected the art of cooking in the great outdoors with sand adding that special crunch to all of our food. We actually ended up eating in the tent because the wind was so bad. Now a little wind was no excuse to not go hiking, so we packed all of our stuff up and head off for Little Wild Horse Canyon to go for a nice long hike. The weather was great. A little windy but nothing we couldn't handle. We had tons of fun hiking, but as the day progressed the wind blew a little more and a little more and then it started blowing a whole heck of a lot! I was sure glad it was warm outside because the wind didn't make it cold, it just made all the dust in the universe blow up into our faces. As miserable as a situation this may appear, it was so much fun! Chalk another one up in Julie's book of "What makes me tough." With dirt and sand being blasted and plastered to our bodies we finished the hike and then had lunch in the car. We drove back to camp during a huge wind storm, it was incredible. Upon arriving at camp, we made the decision that we would not be considered wooses to pack up camp and stay in a motel. Our choices were stay in a motel, or sleep in a bed of sand and possibly risk the chance of being buried alive in sand. (When we got back to camp ALL of our stuff even the inside of our tent was completely covered in a good solid layer of red sand.) I think we set a world record for packing up camp in 15 minutes or less. We basically threw everything into bags and into cars and took off for Green River to see if there were any openings in any of the motels there. We were lucky and we were able to get a room. Let me tell you, you don't appreciate the shower properly until you are plastered with sand and dirt for 10 hours or so. We cleaned up as much as possible and had a nice evening. We also hoped that Mr. Wind would go away so we could go enjoy Goblin Valley the next day. Well, he did, a little. Not really though. We went and played Kick the Can in the Goblins, which was tons of fun!!!! Then we went and hiked though Crack Canyon. Crack Canyon was amazing! It was such a cool canyon to hike though. What could be more fun that lots of cool canyon walls to climb on, small canyons to squeeze though, and even a few rope climbs. Yup, it is one that I definitely want to do again sometime. By the time we got done though, the wind was kicking up again. We had planned to leave Thursday morning, but we decided to head back Wednesday night. I didn't feel bad about leaving, we had SOOO much fun. So take that Mr. Wind! You didn't spoil our fun! Though I hope next time we go Mr. Wind doesn't come on our vacation with us.

It's Not A Bad Thing

I always wondered what I would be like pregnant. What kind of foods would I crave and stuff like that. You hear stories of girls who eat all sorts of stuff, and LOTS of it. I am finding that I am the complete opposite. If I can find something that sounds good it is almost a miracle. Last night we found yet another food that doesn't agree with pregnant Julie. I will spare you the nitty gritty details, but I am completely sad to report that I don't think I'll be having Purple Turtle ice cream for a while. I grew up in Utah County and I remember when the Purple Turtle was over by the University Mall. It has always been a favorite location for ice cream. Last night I thought, we haven't had ice cream forever. Well....BAD NEWS!!! And I didn't even eat it all. Needless to say, we have now added ice cream to the list of things that make me sick. Funny that I can't eat ice cream or basically anything with sugar. I guess it isn't a bad thing.
On a happier note, we did find something today that made my tummy really happy. Great Harvest Bread. I run enough races that I have a stack of coupons for free loaves of Great Harvest bread sitting on my counter. As I was sitting trying to think what on earth I could eat that sounded good, I was inspired. It was so yummy too!!! So I guess being able to eat only good things like bread, cheese, Cheerios, crackers, and pasta isn't bad. Who would have thought? I guess my baby is just a really healthy eater.

Still Perfect

Let me apologize up-front if this blog is a bit prideful. Sorry! You see, I went to the dentist on Monday. I go to the dentist every six months. I always have ever since I was little. The only time I broke with this trend was on my mission and all the rice in China couldn't have gotten me to go to a dentist in El Salvador. I am happy to report that my dentist experience was once again a complete success. At 29 1/2 I still have NO CAVITIES!!!!! Yes it can be done. Some say it is a miracle because I grew up in Utah and something about bad water and so every kid who grew up in Utah should have a mouth full of cavities. I don't think so!!! I was so happy to walk out of the dentist office with that fantastic clean smile on my face. Not only because my teeth were perfectly clean. But most importantly I'm going to make it to 30 without any cavities.

That's Variety!

This weekend Devin and I had a good time exploring our wide variety of interests. Devin and I both love a lot of things. This weekend we definitely explored the wider reaches of what is called "variety."

On Friday night we went with my brother David and his wife on a double date. It was really fun. We went to Red Robin for dinner. (If any of you are wondering, they still have the best fries and strawberry lemonade.) Then we went over to see U2 3D at the IMAX at Jordan Commons. My siblings and I (and my hot date Megan) went to the U2 concert a few years ago and it was about the best thing ever! This 3D show, was not a far shot away. It was fantastic! It made me want to go to another one of their concerts. We decided afterwards the real perk of watching it in 3D was that it was not nearly as loud and you didn't have to deal with people spilling beer all over the floor around you.

Saturday night we went for a little different entertainment. We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (In Russian you say it Peef Puf Oy Oy Oy) Going from a U2 concert to that, wow...variety! It is such a funny movie. I had forgotten so much about that movie. It is definitely one of Dick Van Dyke's best! We now have several songs stuck in our heads. It is funny. One moment we're singing, "It's a beautiful day.....!!!!" Then "Toot, Sweets, Toot Sweets!" Yes, we have quite the variety at our house.

This is an Announcement!

We are happy to announce that today, April 10th, 2008 we heard our baby's heartbeat. We are WAY excited. I was amazed at how happy hearing the little heartbeat made me. I could have listen to it all day. So yeah! We are having a baby! Which means Julie is going to quit teaching at the end of the year and just be a mommy. So mark your calendars October 22nd, baby Baldwin will be coming to stay. Feel free to cast your vote, will it be a boy or girl?

Just as a little disclaimer, yes all of you who thought we were pregnant back when we ran the race in March were right. But we didn't want to say anything until we heard a heartbeat. So THAT wasn't an announcement. This is!

**update** See how everyone is voting.