Girl's Day

On Saturday for girl's day, we met at my mom's house in the morning to make freezer dinners. Have any of you ever done freezer dinners before? I hadn't, but we had lots of fun! The only way to really do freezer dinners is in a big group, so you can split the cost of food. We made five meals for $18 total (each)! I was very impressed! I'm excited to try out my dinners now and see how yummy they are, they looked really good as we were making them. It was a pretty casual day, but fun to talk and laugh as we went shopping for all the ingredients and made all the meals together. It only took a little over an hour to actual put the five meals together. We went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch that afternoon and had the oldest server I have ever seen. It's sad she was still having to work at her age! I kept thinking, "You should be on the beach somewhere in Florida or traveling the country in a huge RV!" It's a good thing we weren't in a big hurry because after taking our order, it literally took an hour to get our food. We just laughed about it. We had all ordered a salad or a sandwich, so its not like we had to wait for something to cook. And the restaurant wasn't even very busy! She was such a cute old lady, but she got several things wrong, our food took forever to come, and then when it did come, our fries weren't even hot anymore. Funny adventures! So afterwards, we went to the DI to buy some picture frames for making earring holders. I have one already, but my earrings have outgrown it, so time to make a bigger one! All you do is take the picture frame of your choice, paint or decorate it however you want, then tack some screen to the back. Then voila! You have a beautiful earring holder! I'll post a picture when my new one is done. After making food and working on our frames, we turned on Mama Mia and pianted toenails. Such a fun, relaxing day with the girls!

Card Group

Isn't this super cute? I made this lovely Father's Day card for my card group this week. And I'm quite proud of how they turned out! I love card group! I haven't had to buy a card for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, etc. in a very long time! Plus homemade cards are so much nicer anyway! Card group is where 12 ladies (myself included) get together every other month and exchange cards. We each make 12 identical cards, and then we swap so everyone goes home with 12 different cards! Plus we get to sit and visit when we get together too. I'm one of the newer members of the group, so I'm still learning. But I feel like my cards are getting better each time. Its lots of fun, I really enjoy it! Plus I don't have to spend $3 on a boring store-bought card anymore! If you want a fun group to start in your ward/neighborhood, I highly recommend it!

The Zoo

Matt took his last final for the semester this morning, so Kalianna and I picked him up afterwards and we went to the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo in years! It was really fun to take Kalianna! She seemed to really enjoy seeing all the different animals. She was especially amazed at the giraffes. I think their size really surprised her. She also really loved watching the monkeys, but she got a little nervous when a few of them came right up to the glass. I don't think she understands the concept of glass yet, so she didn't realize they couldn't actually get to her. But she did reach for several of the animals. The cutest was when we were looking at the foxes. She was eating a string cheese, and she kept holding it up to the glass for them. After all, they do have big ears like Sobaka and Kutse! It was adorable! Such a fun afternoon with the family! Sorry we didn't take a ton of pictures.

Revised

Okay, I just updated my query letter and prologue and hopefully made it lots better! Thanks everyone who gave input!! Will you please read over it again (this is the last one, I promise) and give any additional suggestions?

Click Me!

Query letters are hard!

I'm trying to get my book ready to submit to some agencies. But first, my query letter needs to be perfect! Please HELP!

Kalianna's Blankie

At WesTech (where I used to work, and Matt still does) whenever someone has a new baby, they announce it over the intercom. The receptionist will announce the baby's name and stats so co-workers can congratulate the new parents. Well it just so happens that the morning after Kalianna was born, there were several businessmen from our China office in town. After hearing the announcement, they went out and bought a baby blanket and gave it to my dad to give to us. These are men whom I have never even met! They have worked with Matt in the past, and work with my dad a lot as well, but not me. Needless to say, we were very surprised when my dad showed up at the hospital that afternoon with the gift. It was such a sweet gesture! Well, despite all the beautiful, homemade blankets from good friends and family members, its this blanket from the Chinese that Kalianna has formed an attachment to. Whenever she is sad or tired, Kalianna grabs her "China blanket" and hugs it. When she is really tired, she will put her blankie on the floor and lay down on top of it, then wiggle with excitement. It remains a super soft blanket, no matter how many times I've washed it! Its the perfect size and thickness too. Now Kalianna gets really excited at bedtime because it means snuggling with her blankie!

New Toys

Kalianna has found some new "toys" lately that she loves to play with. Daddy's wallet. She loves to pull out every single card and scatter them around.

The computer mouse. She kept trying to take mine (while I was using it) so Daddy brought her an old one from work. She carries it all over the house with her. When she crawls, she puts the cord in her mouth so she can still use her hands. It looks hilarious! But unfortunately we haven't been able to capture a picture of it yet.

Me. We don't call her our little monkey for nothing. I have become Kalianna's tree and she will climb up me any chance she gets.

Swings. Now that the weather is finally warm enough, we've gone to the park. Kalianna really loves the swings! She doesn't want to get out once we start pushing her.

Her blankie. She has become more and more attached to her blankie lately (post to come). She likes to carry it with her and loves playing peek-a-boo with it. And our little bookworm LOVES to read!