Gettin' our Lego on

I'm sure you didn't know, but we like Lego's around here. So this is a typical kind of activity for us. :)

Currently we're working on the Krusty Krab and accompanying Krabby Kar. I know, it's not Harry Potter, but I'll allow it. ::wink::

Challenge #19 - A picture of me last year and how I've changed

This is me last year around this same time.

This is me right now.

How have I changed? Well, my hair is a little shorter and a lot less red. Which, by the way, was not what I wanted when I asked the stylist for a change. But that's another story...I have also gained and lost around 10 lbs. since then, and that's pretty much it. So I think I'm pretty similar to last year. Getting older, you just don't change as drastically between years as you do when you're younger. That's probably the same reason why I forget how old I am sometimes! I hate getting old. :)

Challenge #18 - A photo of somewhere I've visited

I've been seriously blessed to get to visit a few really amazing places. The best, by far, was Italy -- but all of my photos were still back in the film days and I don't have any scanned to show.

So, my second very favorite place I've visited is Australia. The hubby and I went there (sans the one kid we had at the time) for a week while he worked and I toured! Luckily we did get a lot of touring in together as well, and we got to see some awesome things. But here's my favorite:

Yep, that's the Sydney Opera House! We went inside and got to take a tour. It was so fun.

Australia had always been at the top of my very long list of places I wanted to travel and see. And I'm so thankful that I got to do that!

Now it's on to the others on that list....

Challenge #17 - A photo of something that means a lot to me

I love this photo. It's from the Scrap Girls convention in 2009.

Last week was a rough week for me at work. I won't go into details, but just suffice it to say that there has been a lot of change going on and while I don't love it, I know that good things are on the way. I've been blessed by change before and I know that Heavenly Father has something great not just for me, but for all of us around the corner.

This photo means a lot to me because it represents the joy and friendship that I share with those I work with, those who I have worked with in the past, and those whom I will yet work with in the future. I love connecting to others with similar interests and passions, and I love being able to do it with people all over the world.

In short, friendship means a lot to me. I may be horrible at showing it, and I'm only now realizing how much it means to me, but it really does.

Challenge #16 - What's in my purse?

I carry so much random stuff in my purse!

There's always a diaper and wipes, just in case. There's always my wallet with all sorts of change and ID cards and old gift cards we've never used. Usually there's at least five pens (unless I'm trying to find one, and then they disappear), and most times some sanitizing gel. More than likely there is a toy or small book of some sort. And then there's always the random fruit snack pack or bag of goldfish from church 2 weeks ago. Can you tell I have kids??

I need to do a better job of cleaning out my purse regularly. It's a simple thing, but it makes a big impact when I'm in line at the grocery store and go to pull out my wallet, and don't have a used tissue, half a pack of gum, and a Lego pop out.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever found in your purse? (Or man bag, if you must.)

Challenge #15 - Something I crave a lot

Yep, I crave bubble baths. I don't take them nearly as much as I'd like to, but they're so nice.

Also, these with milk. Yummmmm!

Challenge #14 - A photo of something that makes me happy

Challenge #13 - Something I don't leave the house without

Yep, I know it's been a little while. I can't believe how fast this week went by! Luckily, we're finally on the mend around here and are finishing up our antibiotics routines. W had a check-up at the doctor on Thursday, since he recently turned 2. Of course, he had to have shots and wasn't happy about it. Poor little guy -- that's the worst thing to have to sit through as a mom.

The little ones don't understand why they're being hurt and mom's not doing anything about it. In fact, she's helping to hold him down! I hate that. But at least I know he's being protected from scary illnesses, and that's worth it to me. We've just been snuggling a lot to make up for it. 

So now, on to the blog challenge! We're almost half-way there.

These are my keys. I don't ever leave the house without them (unless, of course, we're taking the hubby's car somewhere and I don't need to drive, but that's not often).

I love love love my Lego Hagrid. I bought him at Legoland a few years ago and it feels right at home on my key chain. He keeps watch over the other things on there and also used to serve as a chew toy for W, even though it's gross and I stopped him whenever I caught him doing it.

I the dangle instrument one at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. That was a fun trip -- it was my first time there and the hubby and I got to tour it all by ourselves! No kids! So yeah, it needed to be commemorated.

That's pretty much it for my key chain fun. I had to take a few things off because it was getting too heavy. It's probably still too heavy with both car clickers on there. Ah well.

Challenge #12 - A TV show I'm currently addicted to

Our family went on an adventure about 5 months ago -- we canceled our dish TV service and switched fully to Netflix on our Wii. We did this for a couple of reasons.

1 - We were paying too much money for television. I mean really, upwards of $60 a month so that my kid can watch the same shows over and over again? Not worth it.
2 - My kids were turning on the TV first thing in the morning and it wasn't turning off all day long. Not that they were necessarily watching it all day long, but it was just always on, in the background. And that made for a lot of extra 'noise' that we just don't need.
3 - Marketing to kids is out of control. Every commercial is just packed with sensory overload and E started asking for every. single. thing. that he saw on TV. I don't blame him, it's tough to resist! I knew we needed to step back from that for a while and just focus on being happy with what we have.
4 - I found myself watching TV just because I was bored and didn't really care what I watched, just as long as it was on. I wasn't getting anything done. And truth be told, marketing for adults is just as crazy! It is a lot easier to resist buying things when you're not being 'sold' every 10 minutes.

So the moral of the story is, we don't have TV right now (at least not live) and we're totally okay with it.

Which brings me to this question -- it's kind of tough to answer. But never fear, I still get lots of good shows on Netflix, it's just that now I am purposefully choosing to watch them, not just ingesting whatever is available. So, I'm still addicted to Lost. I've started watching the series from the beginning and it's so fun to review the things that I had forgotten about and to see the characters' evolve from beginning to end.


I mean, come on, can you blame me? :)

Challenge #11 -- A photograph of the town I live in

{Okay, I know this post has popped up in Google readers all over the place -- multiple times -- but this is the real one now. Geesh, I need to learn to not try and post things for February 29th because it defaults to the current day!! Sorry peeps!}

I admit, I had to go to Google Images for this one. I guess I'm not really on the town that much to have many photos of my city. Ah well, at least you get the general idea.

  

We like our little town well enough. We won't be here forever, but for now it's home.