Here is Ainsley singing! We thought it was cute and wanted to share with all the family members. This was taken a while ago on St. Patty's Day. Enjoy! I am also trying to figure out this video thing. Just hit play.
So I got this from my friend Jes's blog and I thought it was so funny. Take the time to read at least the bottom of this husbands point of view on the books. so funny! He also some other really funny post. I think my husband would appreciate his writing. Speaking his mind something my husband would love to do. http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/02/twilight-series-for-dummies-and-totally.html
So I have been going to more cycle classes at the gym more often and it kicks my butt every time but I also love it too. I now can stand for as long as they tell you to get out of the saddle. At first I couldn't hang with them it was too tough for me. Now it is still really hard but at least I am doing better. So that makes me happy! I haven't lost any more weight and that is disappointing but I have lost inches so I don't know what to think of that. I have been measuring my self well twice this month but usually I think I will do a monthly measure. And I weigh my self like everyday which I probably shouldn't do but oh well. I will just keep going to the gym. Hopefully I reach my goal!!
Things have been slow going regarding the theater. As to the actual room itself, I have only accomplished one thing: patching the holes in the walls (toward the front of the room) that I used to determine what was behind them.
My brother-in-law, Kevin, has been prodding me for some time about my audio equipment. I have had the speakers for the theater for about 2 months now, but they have been sitting in boxes in the study. Three weeks ago I pulled the trigger on a projector (had been waiting for reviews to come out regarding a recently released projector before making a decision), and so I decided it was time to test out all of my equipment.
I went to Walmart and bought some white fabric to hang up on the wall as a temporary screen (much to everyone’s surprise, this has worked reasonably well for a temporary set-up). I bought some generic cable (still waiting for my $500 Monster Cable order to come in, BRAD…) which is running along the floor to the speakers… basically, it’s about as makeshift as it gets… BUT…
The sound is amazing. Clear dialogue, thundering bass, tight highs and deep lows. Wow. We’re not talking about one of those HTIB (home theater in-a-box) setups. This is very legit sound. The image, un-calibrated and on a bed sheet, is gorgeous. The 1080p from the HD-DVD versions of 300 and Bourne Identity (my two free movies!!) looks incredible. It just makes me want to get this room done even faster.
As far as what’s remaining (and in order):
Riser for second row of seating
Paint
Screen-wall treatment (black GOM Fabric)
New carpet
Power-outlet in ceiling next to projector mount
In-wall wiring for speakers and A/V receiver
Hopefully I can get more accomplished in the next 2 weeks – I want to have the grand opening before May.
Do you ever just sit around thinking of people you miss that you don't get to see as often as you would like. Like old school friends, roommate's, cousins, and newer friends? I have been thinking about some who I have missed dearly. Some that I am trying to set up a girls night out with and hopefully turn it into a monthly thing so we can keep in touch. At least more than we do now. The people I miss first is my best friend Jen "fur fur" I met her in college at good ol BYU-I and then we became roommate's, best friends, road trip junkies, and concert goers. We would wake up on Saturday then say hey what you want to do then go somewhere. Who knew where we would end up, mostly to a different state. We tried going everywhere if we had a week off from school or even a 3 day weekend. You could get a lot done in 3 days. We lived life in a whim. It was wonderful. We were inseparable. When life got busy and we got married, and had children. We still kept in touch. Trying to go see each other at least once a month when I lived in Utah and her in Idaho. I don't miss SLC but I miss traveling and see her or her coming to see me. So I miss SLC for her. We still talk to each other on the phone every day. And conversation never gets boring. She is still my rock and we are still so much alike it is crazy. She is defiantly like a sister to me.
Connie I met her while I was in high school! Even when I left for college. I always came to visit. She she got married, I travel to England a few times to visit her! Now that she lives back in the states she has came to visit me. When we met we clicked, we hung out all the time. Practically lived with her. We would go party together. We watched out for each other and stuck up for each other. We would drive down the road windows rolled down and yelling on top of our lungs because the song described what was going on at the time. She was fun and crazy and she put up with my craziness as well. She is still one of my best friends who I talk to on the phone frequently with. She has a daughter named Lexi that is Ainsley's age. I wish she lived closer so they could play more. I wished she lived closer so we could go hang out like old time.
Then there is my cousin "cuzy wuzy" Sarah Moorman. The second pic is of us as kids and then one of us older. She is like a sister as well. We fought like sister, and love each other like sisters. She was closer in age to me than my own sisters. So we were always together. Especially since we lived like 5 minutes from each other. When we hung out too much we fought but as soon as we were separated we would be calling each other on the phone no matter if we just got into a fight. We just couldn't be separated for too long. We would call each other and if we didn't answer we would leave a whole conversation on the answer machine no matter how many times we had to call back. We were cuzsis's. Now she lives in FL and I miss her a lot. I still love talking on the phone with her for hours when we play catch up.
Then there is Jenni (pronounced Yenni, She is from Finland) "Sunshine"
Have you ever had a friend that you just clicked with and don't know why? Well here is one of them. I knew we would be life long friends when I met her in English Class my senior year in high school. She was a foreign exchange student and with not so good conditions she had to find a new home to live at so she called me up and then she moved in with us my senior year. It was great. I had like a sister living with me. My sisters are a older than me and was married when I was younger so it was just me and my parents for the longest time. Having her move in was so fun. We would stay up way to late and chat and ride to school and even hang out together on the weekends. We never got tried of each other. Since she left to go back she has came back here to see me. She is going to college in Finland and is studying to be a doctor. She is now engaged to a wonderful Fin man and is quit the looker too! We consider our selves sister and we are still Best Friends no how far apart we are. We talk often, send pictures often, and can't wait to see each other again.
Then there is Chrissy (She is from Germany, but pictures where taken in Hawaii. I also met her in high school and she was also a foreign exchange student. What can I say I have always love learning about other cultures and what better way then have foreign friends. This girl is amazing and if she puts her mind to it she can do what ever she wants with 100% perfection. Since high school I flew to Germany to visit with her and hang out. Then for my college graduation gift Jonathan and my parents paid for me to go to Hawaii with her. We island hopped and had a blast exploring all the sight together. There will be no full body shots because of me because at the time of Hawaii I was pregnant with Ainsley. And yes I even made all the hikes to see everything. I hiked 5 hours even to see flowing lava and it was amazing. Since Hawaii we still keep in contact and she is a news reporter in Germany.
Brittany (Brit Spit) She is the most fun crazy person ever! She doesn't care what people think about her and she is so confident! We grew up together in the same ward and went to girls camp, and EFY together all the time! She was one of my best friends and I ran around with her a lot. We would do sleepover from Friday til Sunday and never fought. She was adventurous just like me. Since we have grown up we try to see each other. She now lives in CO, and when I live in UT she came and saw me. And has came to see in me in TX as well. Her parents live in CO now too so there is no one but friends down here and she still makes a trip to see us! She will do anything for anybody and she is the happiest person I know.
Catherine I met her in college in UT after I was married! We had weekly girl night outs and we had most of our classes together. We have supported each other so much! She came to my graduation and I flew out to hers as well. She came for Ainsley's blessing. And we loved her coming with her hubby Travis. Travis and Jonathan are friends as well so it is awesome. I was always excited when she won a pageant and she has won many! I would wait for the call for her screaming out of excitement. Now she lives in CA and We miss her so much! I miss our weekly hang out and chatting.
Katie Taylor (well Brown now she is married) We met our first day in kindergarten! We have always been the Jayne and Katie duo. No matter if we had other friends we would hang out with at times it was always back to the two of us. No matter what! We always saved a place for each other on everything. She is my best friend, and no matter where life took us we always meet back up. She is amazing! She is bright! and She is caring! Since the first day of kindergarten we have been BFF's. When we were kids we would call each other and play games on the phone like "What do I see". We knew each others house so much we didn't even have to be there to guess what it was! After every birthday party we would stay the night with each other and maybe throw some one else into it but then most likely they would be left out since you had the two us put together. We would try to stay at one of each others house almost every weekend as long as our parents would let us. When we got older she would come over to help me babysit. She even gave me a reference to Angie who I admire so much! And is still great friends with her and her kids. Collin and Cailee who we tell people we are siblings. Katie lives 2 hours away and I miss her so much. Since now that we are married and have kids, we still keep in contact. In the summer we try to get together once a week and meet up. Now I am trying to get a monthly girls night going with some other high school friends. Sarah (not my cuz), Michelle, Tanya, Janie, Mellissa, and Melanie. I hope it works out because I miss them too. And I hope to see them really soon!!!
Now this was a blog about the ones I miss. So I always miss Jewel, Kristie, and Kaci. But luckily I get to see them often! So I am sorry I didn't blog about you but I know I have since I see you often! You always make my post when we do something. which once Jewel sends me pics from last Saturday's party I can post those. So send them Jewel.
Happy Easter everyone!! We had a wonderful Easter! We went to the first hour of church and then skipped out early so we could drive to Murphy to my sister Jens house to celebrate Easter. They put on Ainsley's first Easter Egg Hunt which she loved and caught on as soon as I pointed to the first egg then she just went off looking for them. She loved opening the eggs and seeing what was inside it was so cute. We had some yummy food, Easter Ham. My sister is a great cook and it was really good. After eating the kids played the adults talked then broke out theater plans for my sisters new theater room they are going to do. Since Jonathan has already started ours and they came out to see it they want some input on their room. Which Jonathan absolutely loved doing. They loved sketching out plans for everything and so fourth. The boys even got some PlayStation games in. Of course us girls talked about scrap booking. My niece Whitney took care of Ainsley the whole time it was great! I got to eat dinner and visit without interruption. Whitney did great with Ainsley and Ainsley loves going over there to play with them. Here some cute pics of our happenings at Easter.
We had a wonderful time at the Twilight Book Club last night! It was book number 1! We had great discussions and wonderful in depth questions! My friend Jewel was so amazed with all the deep questions this was her first book club so I remember not knowing what to expect my first time. I had two friends from Sanger come Jewel and Angela. I have heard alot about Angela but not really know her and I really enjoyed her! So now we are new friends.
Above is Darla she is the Queen of book club she is so funny and can come up with really good questions every book club and this one was no different! Thanks Darla for making us think
Above is Sharee. When she was paying the cashier asked if we were sisters. Sharee said "no, why do we look a like" and he said yes and that was exciting for me because I think Sharee is so beautiful so if I look anything close I guess I am not that bad. I don't think we look alike but I enjoyed the complament.
So this morning I took an hour long cycle (spinning as you may call it but other gyms can't use that word due to copyright reasons) IT KICKED MY BUTT!! No joke it was hard but well worth it! Can't wait to do it again!
Here are some cute pics of Ainsley and her St. Patties day hair bow! I am crazy about St. Patricks Day!! I absolutly love this day! You have too sleep in green in my house so you won't get pinched first thing in the morning! I mean business here! Of course we eat corn beef and cabbage! Jonathan is not a huge fan of it but Ainsley and I are. Maybe that is becuase we are Irish. My Grandma is full blooded and grandfather was I believe half Irish and the othe half Scottish. So that is why I have Irish Pride!!!
This is an older pic of Ainsley for her first St Patties day ever!
As promised, I will be giving updates on my progress on the theater room. I have not had time to set up another blog, so I will have to post it here for now... (Don't worry, for the hundred or so of you that received my wife's disclaimer email, I will keep it clean!)
Dad spent a couple of days with me to work on the theater room. I had put some pretty lofty goals in place as far as what I wanted to accomplish in the two days that I took off work. In no particular order, I wanted to finish:
Sound stage Screen wall Riser for second row of seating Projector mount In-wall wiring for surround sound and audio connections to projector/ A/V receiver
We didn't finish every item on the list, but we did get a lot accomplished. (Thanks, Dad)
Here is the screen wall. This was built for two purposes. 1) The builder decided to send the water heater exhaust flumes through the front right corner of the room, making it impossible to mount a screen larger than 100" against the back wall. Since I plan on a 120" screen (1.78 ratio - that's 16:9, or HDTV, for those that don't know), I needed to build a "false wall" to mount the screen on. Fortunately, this allowed purpose 2) the use of an accoustically transparent screen. The bracket you see in the middle of the screen wall is where the center speaker will sit. This means that center channel audio / speech will come from behind the screen (not above or below), just like it would as the movies. Sweet.
This is the sound stage. Sitting on two layers of carpet pad, it is a bottom layer of MDF, a plastic-lined interior filled with ~300 lbs of play sand, and topped with a layer of MDF. The purpose of the sound stage is for placement of the subwoofer - this is meant to dampen a vibrations from the subwoofer, so they are not to be felt throughout the house. They say that it can take 600 lbs. of sand to get the desired effect, but I am hoping that my smaller version will make at least some difference. Besides, my theater is on the second floor, so I didn't want to have too heafty of a sound stage.
Projector mount. I wanted to conceal the ceiling plate in the attic, and only have the drop pipe visible. I should have taken a picture of the ceiling plate, because we did an excellent job with it. It basically is a Chief RPA-101 ceiling plate mounted to a 2x10 using rubber washers for dampening. The 2x10 was then laid across the ceiling joists (also with rubber washers between the joists and the 2x10), and the pipe was lowered through the ceiling. I am hoping that this eliminates any possible vibrations that may be transduced to the projector.
All in all, I felt like we accomplised a great deal. Hopefully I will get some equipment in that room shortly (all of the equipment that is just sitting in the study), get it wired, and be able to enjoy a true home cinema.
Alright all my out of state friends! Texas got snow! what more unbelievable it that the day before getting 4" (which like never happens here) it was 70 degrees then the next day BAM 4 inches. Talk about crazy weather. so here are the pics of our house and street in the snow.
I love my friends who have blogs! i love to see pics and up dates especially when they dont live close! I just dont like the keeping up with the jones fact of it! But to my friends keep on keeping on! Love your blogs! you know cause i comment on them.
I (Jonathan) will soon be maintaining a blog separate from this one. I will still write to this one when it suits me, but I intend to write on this new one about anything that I is on my mind, however offensive it may be.
Actually, I want to begin keeping track of the progress that I make on the theater room. I will be starting some major projects this week for the theater (I have even scheduled a couple of days off work to do it) and there I can post about the equipment and different techniques used without sounding braggy.
Keep an eye out for it in the coming days, or weeks.
Okay so I have jumped onto the Oprah Book club this month and am reading the Eckhart Tolle book " A New Earth Awakening to You Life Purpose" I actually bought the book! Which if any one knows me I am against personally in my own household buying and buying books instead of going to the library. I just don't like so many books that you just have room for them and just boxes and boxes of books lying around. If they have meaning or really like and will read again then fine but not just clutter of books everywhere
And I am going over chapters 2 workbook and one of the questions striked me and I want to share with yall who are not reading this book or not interested in the book. But as you do read this question just think about it.
In childhood, we start looking for a sense of self in the things we want and get. "My toy later becomes my car, my house, my clothes" (p. 35). Things themselves are not bad, but our identification with those things keeps us unsatisfied and unhappy. Investigate your relationship with the world of things, and in particular, things that are designated with the word my. Be alert and honest. Take some time to honestly answer the following questions from page 38, using examples from your daily life:
Do certain things induce a subtle feeling of importance or superiority? Do you casually mention things you own or show them off to increase your sense of worth?
Does the lack of them make you feel inferior to others who have more than you? Do you feel resentful and somehow diminished in your sense of self?
Don't get me wrong I like things and I like things we have but it doesn't make me who I am and it shouldn't. It is not trying to say that having things is bad it goes back to a saying "in the world but of the world" and "live within your means" is another one that comes to mind. I do excited with finishing a project that we work on in our house and I don't think that is bad either. I think I will have to really ponder this more.
You don't have to read them all but please read #'s 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11-22, 25,26, 28, 29, 31 I will try to high light them
1
) You can recite your baby's medical chart by heart backwards sideways and in pig latin but can't remember how to sing "I'm A Little Teapot" to your older kids.
2) You constantly get asked "Oh, are you a nurse?" when you spout off a string of medical terms.
3) Your baby wears hand me downs from her younger cousins... and you have a few month's sizes stockpiled.
4 ) Your friends get teary eyed when their babies get shots, and you can hold your baby down while they get a catheter or a new PICC line and not bat an eye or flinch.
5) Your "newborn stories" involve bowel sounds, desats, and a gross sound effect used to describe the air leak around your son's ET tube.
6) You ruin the family reunion by shouting at the woman who says "OH! My baby's SMALLER than yours!" Because her daughter was a full term baby born last week at 7 lbs and 3 months after her birth your baby has finally gotten to a nudge over seven pounds.
7) You take your almost 3 year old to their first movie ... and the seat collapses on them because they are *not* heavy enough to keep the seat bottom down.
8) You buy tickets for your child ... who is under 3 (so still goes into places for free) and the lady hands you a ticket in disbelief .. Not because she thinks your child is older than 3 but because she cannot wrap her mind around a child so small being 2.5 years old.
9) when booster seats cannot make your children tall enough or close enough to reach the table .... so your toddler kneels in their booster seat while keeping their elbows on the table in a futile attempt for support
10) You take your 2 year old to the doctor and he is talking and dancing then you hear people comment, "I've never seen such a young baby talking so well or moving so well He is *such* a smart kid!" And you laugh because you know your baby is doing what 2 year olds do.
11) You ask parents how much their baby weighs and are appalled when they answer, "Oh, between (#)lbs and (#)lbs" - when you can spout off the pounds, ounces, and grams of your child at any given age!
12) When you want to smack some sense into every pregnant woman that's had a completely uncomplicated pregnancy but "can't wait to get the baby out now!" Even though she is only 34 weeks pregnant.
1 3) When you know your childs resting and active heartrate, O2 sats, blood type, and complete medical history.
1 4) When you answer strangers who ask, "How old is your baby?" with their adjusted age so you don't have to explain.
15) If you've ever used the words "gavage" or "PICC" or "NG" and know exactly what it means. < /blockquote> 16) When your close family or friends have used the words "gavage" or "PICC" or "NG" and know exactly what it means.
17) When you feel a deep sense of accomplishment every time your child moves into a bigger size of clothing.
18) Your 18 month old still rides rear facing.
19) Other parents cant figure out why your 16 month old is still on the bottle and not a sippy cup.
20) You realize other parents cant stand to get their kids shots and you have the day circled on the calendar for their RSV shot.
21) Your baby has doubled their birthweight and is still not even the size of an average newborn.
22) You cry over every little accoplishment because you know it's a miracle that they do it.
23) You walk into the Pediatric ER and they already know your name.
24) Your child still uses the Soothie pacificer and everyone wants to know where you got it.
25) You are the first one to pull your child out of class because everyone else is sick.
26) You have two cabinets filled with paperwork from endless doctors and the NICU.
27) All of your friends call you for medical advice.
28) You still have all of this overwhelming guilt but don't know why.
29) You know what POP, PDA, NEC, RSV, IVH, A's & B's, and ROP stand for.
30) Your more comfortable talking about your babys weight in grams than in pounds and ounces.
31) you walk past the meat department at the grocery store and when you pick up 2 pounds of meat you think this is how big my baby was.
Ok, if you couldn’t already tell, my last post was exaggerated and over the top. I realize that many of my wife’s friends read this blog, and it is not my intent to offend anyone. I was simply making a comment on what I feel is a growing problem – it is in fact an old problem, but with a new medium… Let me explain.
Too often are people (in my example, women) making comparisons between their lives and the lives of others. Who has the nicer, more decorated, cleaner house; who has the smarter kids; who has the husband that does nicer things for them; the list goes on. Come on, we’ve all seen Johnny Lingo (I was a 5 cow wife myself. Well my husband paid six cows for me! Pwned!!); this is not a new sin we are faced with.
I don’t want my wife to feel the need to “keep up with the Jones’ “ after reading her friends blogs. For one, it creates a financial burden – unnecessary, luxury items soon get bumped towards the top of the priority list. This causes conflict with an otherwise working budgetary system. Don’t mess with the system. In addition, it cultivates an attitude of pride (the sinful kind of pride). We must avoid comparing our lives to others, and I feel that blogging has simply invited this age-old sin into the digital era.
I must emphasize this: find pride (the good kind), and happiness, and joy in the successes you have enjoyed in life, but don’t put them on display for the world to see, as you only instigate competitive and unrighteous feelings in others. I know that I, for one, am VERY proud of the successes I have had in life, but realize that I have been blessed tremendously in getting here: God has had a significant hand in each part of my journey.
A couple of weeks ago, a salesperson stopped by our door and commented how nice of a home we had for our age. I never once thought, “Yeah, well I’m awesome and I have earned it.” I simply responded with, “Yeah, we have been really blessed so far.”
So, be careful, and avoid the trap of turning your blogging into a contest of who has the biggest blog penis.
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