Actor Recycle Bin

Kalianna and I have both been sick this week. The only good thing about being sick? It means I get to watch Gilmore girls! So I started season one again for the millionth time and realized something. I may have seen Gilmore girls too many times! After watching it again this week, I noticed they re-use actors to play different parts later in the show! For example:

* If you are a fan, you probably already knew that Carol King (who sings the theme song) also plays the owner of the music store later on.

* Also that Kirk, who ends up being a predominant character, starts out as Mick, the guy who is installing a DSL line at Lorelai and Rory's house.

* You probably even noticed that the long-haired troubadour from season one comes back to be the preacher when Liz and TJ get married.

* But did you know that on Jackson and Suki's first date, the waiter at the fancy french restaurant also comes back to play Suki's good friend, Joe, from cooking school?

* And when Rory goes golfing with her grandpa at the club and she is in the steam room, one of the ladies in the steam room talking gossip comes back to be in the booster club with Lorelai. She helps with the fashion show and has a crush on Luke.

* Jess' dad's girlfriend from California comes back with a completely different hair color as April's mom.

* And one of Rory's professors at Yale (the one who is teaching when Logan and Collin and Fin come in and interrupt with their performance) plays her professor on two different occasions and then when Luke and April's mom go to court, the same actor plays the police officer who is standing by the door.

I'm sure there are probably even more, but those are the ones I have noticed so far. Yeah...I think I've seen the show too many times!

Breeding License

You have to have a license to drive. You have to have a license to hunt. You have to have a license to own a business. You have to have a license to breed animals. Why then, do humans not need a license to procreate? Admit it. You've seen those people and wondered why on earth they are parents?? The mom who is carrying a baby on her hip in November in nothing but a diaper (no shirt, no socks, just diaper). And she bundles herself up when she steps outside saying, "Burr, its cold." The dad who leaves his baby in the car so he can see the midnight showing of Harry Potter. The girl who gets pregnant to force her boyfriend or husband to stick around. The dad who is pushing a stroller along a busy highway...I could go on.

My friend's little sister recently got married. She dated this guy for awhile. He was extremely abusive (emotionally). Dumped him. Then decided she wanted to get married, so got back together and got engaged very quickly. One week after the wedding, said she wanted it annulled. Week three: finds out she is pregnant. Super excited because having a baby is going to fix ALL of her problems! Had to quit her job because she is super sick with the pregnancy. Hubby works as a bus boy at Chilis. Often skips work when he's too busy playing Nintendo or doesn't "feel like" going in. Its okay though, because this baby is going to fix it. He'll realize he has to be responsible when the baby comes, so he will whip into shape and magically become a super hard worker and provider for the family. She has been struggling with depression for years. Its okay though, because this baby is going to fix it. Having a child to love will finally make her happy and make her bad feelings magically disappear. They fight constantly. Its okay though, because this baby is going to fix it. The baby will make them feel like a family so the fighting will magically stop. I don't know about you, but this seems like a lot of pressure to put on this poor, tiny little baby!

I was talking with a friend recently about having kids and she said something I really liked. She said having a kid makes the great things in your marriage 10 times better, and the struggles in your marriage 10 times worse. Brilliant! If this is the case, why don't people have to take a class before they can get pregnant? If they don't pass the class, they don't get their license. Simple as that! Okay, so I know these thoughts are not realistic and seem somewhat communistic. But what about these poor kids??

Cleaning Schedule

When Matt and I lived in the basement apartment, it took no time to clean at all! You can give 500 square feet a pretty good scrub-down once a week and it will only take a couple hours. But when we moved into our house, I knew I needed to find a different way to clean. Otherwise, I would be spending all day every Saturday cleaning. Not cool! So I devised a cleaning schedule for myself, and it works fantastically!

Monday - Laundry day

Tuesday - Dusting

Wednesday - Sweep and Mop

Thursday - Bathrooms

Friday - Vacuum

Saturday - Yard work

I have found that with this schedule my house stays clean, and I feel productive but not overwhelmed by doing one thing each day. If I ever miss something, I just add it on to the following day and quickly get caught back up. This schedule is also nice because it leaves our weekends open, since Saturday/Sunday is our only time to visit with family and friends. So yes, you are welcome to borrow my genius idea. =-)

Girl's Day

Saturday was Girl's Day with my family again. Unfortunately Matt has been sick so at the last minute, he stayed home to rest and Kalianna came with me. We met Kristine and Ricci at my parents house in the afternoon and my sweet brother, Bryan, watched Kalianna while the three of us went and got pedicures. So nice! It was needed! We then went back to my parents to pick up Kalianna (didn't want to scare the poor boy off from ever volunteering to watch her again). We did a little Christmas shopping before meeting up with all the rest of the ladies at 6:00pm. (It was the BYU football game, that's why we started so late). We went to dinner and discussed the book My Sister's Keeper, which we had all read over the last few months. Thankfully my dad was able to watch Kalianna while we ate. I really liked the book, but the language is pretty bad. So I would totally recommend it if language doesn't bother you! Its a tear-jerker though so read with a box of tissues. After dinner, we went back to my parents to watch the movie My Sister's Keeper that just came out this last year. It was completely different from the book! Not just slight changes because they didn't have time to fit everything in, I'm talking completely different story. The movie was pretty good. Not great, but good. I like the way the book was done better. Not sure why they would change the ending of the movie. I don't think the story worked as well with the changes. But that's just me. It was pretty late by the time the movie ended, but it was a super fun girl's day! Thanks ladies!

Drumroll Please...

As of yesterday, I am officially done breastfeeding! (If you are a man, and this first sentence made you uncomfortable, do not continue reading.) It was time. Both Kalianna and I were ready to be done. I know some people who hated breastfeeding. I rather enjoyed it, but like I said, it was just time. We started out just giving her a bottle before bedtime, to get her used to it. Then I gave her a bottle in the afternoon and at bedtime. Then I gave her a bottle for every feeding except first thing in the morning and dinner. Then I only breastfed her in the mornings. Yesterday, I went in to feed her like usual, and I had nothing left! So now we are completely done. If you decide to switch from breast to bottle, I highly recommend doing it gradually like I did! She switched over in less than 2 weeks and I had minimal pain!

Thanksgiving Ideas

Pertaining to my last post, here are a couple ideas I've been given to help celebrate Thanksgiving!

1.) Last Sunday I went to an Activity Day/Young Women fireside. The speaker (Jill Stevens Shepherd) was amazing! She served as a combat medic with the national guard in Afghanistan and then when she returned, she competed and was crowned Miss Utah in 2007. She had such great words of encouragement for the girls! Anyway, one of the things she did while she was serving in Afghanistan was try and bring holiday cheer to the other soldiers. In October she painted some rocks to look like jack-o-lanterns and in November she put up a huge empty tree. She said it was something her mom did with them every year growing up. You put up a big tree on your wall somewhere, and then every day each person writes something they are thankful for on a paper leaf and you stick the leaves on the tree. So by Thanksgiving, your tree is full! I loved this idea, and plan to start it as a tradition in our own family.

2.) Then my friend Stacy shared this other idea with me. You decorate a jar and fill it with slips of paper, one for each day of November leading up until Thanksgiving. Each paper has an activity of ways to show your gratitude for someone or something. So every day you draw a paper from the jar and do that activity with your family. The papers include things like:

"I am thankful for my family" - play a game together, or "I am thankful for pie" - make a pie and deliver it to someone, or "I am thankful for our car" - clean out the car and then go get ice cream cones in it. I love this idea too! Because its fun, you get to do things as a family, and it postpones thoughts of toys and Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over. If you want a copy of this tradition (all the ideas and pictures on little scrolls) just let me know, and I can e-mail it to you!

What happened to Thanksgiving??

Matt is one of those people who can not stand listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. He believes each Holiday deserves to be celebrated before moving on to the next one. Sometimes I get in a Christmas music mood a little early, but for the most part, I agree with him. Last week I wanted to buy some Thanksgiving decorations, specifically something to hang on my door. But when I entered the store, I was bombarded with Christmas decorations and Christmas music was blaring over the speakers. One tiny aisle end was devoted to Thanksgiving. It was pitiful! Then last night, we ran to the grocery store for a couple items and they had a huge Christmas sale going on. A lady was singing Christmas carols live by the front desk. They had Christmas free samples throughout the store. Each check stand was labeled with a different reindeer name. And all the employees were wearing red and green. Now I love Christmas, but last night was the last straw! Its getting ridiculous how each year Christmas comes earlier and earlier and Thanksgiving gets shoved into the background of November. Matt made a really good point as we were discussing this situation. Stores make more money on Christmas than any other time of year so, of course, they want to promote it as soon as possible. But in promoting Christmas and shoving poor Thanksgiving aside, they are teaching us to forget being Grateful for stuff and focus on Getting stuff! As Matt and I have taught primary over the last few years, every holiday season he made sure to ask the kids what they were giving for Christmas instead of asking them what they wanted. So even though Thanksgiving has not always been my favorite holiday, I am determined this year to focus on the many things I am grateful for and give Thanksgiving its due. I have all of December to focus on Christmas. It doesn't need anymore attention than that. After all, Christmas is spoiled enough as it is. Lets let shy Thanksgiving have a turn in the spotlight for once.