I'm a Storm!

Alright!! I'm a tropical storm!! :) Maybe I'll turn into a ginormous hurricane! Right now I am targeted to hit Greenland :)

Water Baby!

We have discovered that Ella LOVES a water ring! Oh yes. She is very smart and strong and can hold herself up in it! :) So cute! So here are a few videos and pictures of her before and at the pool. So cute :) Sometimes we'll put her in the pool, then go back inside....

Juuuuuuuust kidding! I'm sure, what kind of parents do you think we are?!

Swimming in her water ring

Crazy haired baby! The sunscreen makes her hair really funny :)

No, she is not wearing a diaper. Yes, she took it off herself. Yes, she crawled to the diaper bag, found a bottle, and proceeded to drink it...diaperless.

Funny baby! Ready to swim!

*Shaking head in disbelief*

I hope you all get a good laugh out of this story.

So this morning, I was taking Tom to school. We left at about 7:42a.m. and were on our way down to our car. We take the elevator down two flights every morning. I am also only wearing my underwear and a bathrobe. Ella is in her diaper. I have keys in one hand, baby in another when all of a sudden as we are stepping into the elevator....

*SLIP*

*Jangle*

*Thunk*

*clink clink*

*clunk*

*keys slip through crack between floor and elevator*

*silence*

*clink*

*keys are silently resting at the bottom of the elevator shaft*

*Eyes widen*

*Stare at Tom in disbelief*

Oh yes. I dropped my keys through that little crack between the floor and the elevator......down that little shaft they fell....onto the bottom of the inside of the elevator shaft.

Well, now we have no way to drive the car and no way to get back into the apartment. Jenna and Pat have already left for school so now Tom is going to be late to school and I am going to be stuck outside in the billion degree weather! So I run outside to tell the security guard to see if there is anything he can do. He says he will get a guy to come get the keys (??). Meanwhile, as I'm running back to Tom, I see some other students that live in our building and ask them to give Tom a ride. They say yes, so off Tom goes to school.

Ella and I are sitting outside waiting for "the guy" to come get my keys. He comes...finally...I tell him what happened and pointed to the right elevator door. He says, "I need a flashlight" He ambles on off...gets a flashlight...comes back. Looks down and is like, "oh man...I need some wire" He slowly walks away...goes and gets some wire (it looked like REALLY long hanger wire). He fishes around for the keys for a while...no luck. He says, "I need thicker wire." He leaves...comes back with a fishing pole, and some really thick electrical wire that he is trying to tie onto the end of the fishing pole. (Oh yes, it was quite entertaining). Meanwhile, the electrician guy comes and says, "Oh, we just need to get the elevator key from Robert, then we can stop the elevator at a different floor and jump down into the shaft and back." So he goes upstairs to find Robert (the complex manager). While he is up there, the fishing pole guy is fishing for my keys...

After a while, the electrician guy comes back and is explaining to me that he needs the keys, but Robert lives in the other building....then the fishing guy says, "I got them!" :) I was pretty excited. I was seriously melting in my big bathrobe and Ella was hot and sweaty. After the electrician guy finally explained to the fishing guy how the elevator key works, they walked away and I went up to our apartment.

Wow...If that happened in the first fifteen minutes of me being awake, I'm a little afraid of what could happen the rest of the day!!!! :) Wish me luck!!

Lots of posts! Too many??

Yeah, I know - I've been posting like crazy, but there have been a lot of events that are worth posting about!



We had the Get-To-Know-You Potluck tonight with the Spouses Organization tonight. It was FABULOUS! It had been raining all day and I was totally worried that it was going to pour - and it didn't! YAAAAAY!!! :) The food was great, and the company was too. I think everyone had a good time - at least I hope they did. Here are a few pictures of it...It was very fun.

Also, Ella is starting to walk like a crazy woman! She walks everywhere now! I don't understand why she still crawls, though...hm....maybe it is like a security blanket. She is pretty stinkin' cute, though. I am also uploading a SUPER funny video of her! I don't know if you guys will think its funny...but I totally crack up every time I watch it. Silly girl...

Tagged Again! :)

Ashley, this is from your tagging ;)

5 things I was doing 10 years ago...
1. Not much, I was only 13!
2. Probably being dramatic and whining about something
3. Probably fighting with my little sisters :)
4. Looking forward to being in high school
5. Practicing the piano a lot

5 things on today's "to do" list...
1. Get stuff ready for the Potluck tonight
2. Shave my legs
3. Call the mailbox to see if my acceptance letter came in
4. Send Megan the song list
5. Try to record some new pieces

5 Snacks I enjoy...
1. Candy
2. Popsicles
3. Fruit roll ups
4. Coke (I know its not really a snack, but I drink it when I am a little hungry)
5. Onion Rings

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. Pay off debt (all us dr. wives are boring :))
2. Buy new clothes for Tom, me, and Ella
3. Put most of it in a high interest bank account so we can make some more moolah! :)
4. Install an in-house recording studio
5. Buy a Steinway Classic Concert Grand....*drool* ooooh yeah....

5 places I have lived...
1. Provo, Utah
2. Camarillo, California
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Salt Lake City, Utah
5. Oxnard, California

5 jobs I've had...
1. Calvin Klein salesclerk
2. Wedding dress consultant/salesclerk
3. Instrument salesclerk
4. Personal Assistant
5. Lab technician

5 People who should consider themselves tagged...
1. Amber - again :)
2. Lindsay
3. Megan F.
4. Angela
5. Barbara

Tagged! My 6 Quirks

Thanks Amber! These are for you! :)

1. I absolutely cannot talk or listen to anyone or anything when there is another sound of some sort going on at the same time. For example, if Tom is trying to talk to me, but the t.v. or radio is on...I only catch about half of what he is telling me. I am absolutely incapable of talking on the phone and listening to the radio or t.v. I cannot even stand when too many people are talking around me because I can't concentrate on anything! Maybe this is a form of ADD? I think it is similar to you, Amber, with the talking on the phone thing ;) Along with this, I tend to FREAK OUT if the radio is on, no one is listening to it...and it starts going staticky. Oh my gosh....I about have a coniption (sp?) until it gets turned off!! How come I'm the only one who notices it?!

2. When I hear music, I play the notes on my invisible piano. When I hear talking, I type the words on my invisible keyboard. So bizarre....I know....maybe that is why I'm such a fast typer, though?? 90+ wpm ;)

3. I'm obsessed with waxing my eye brows. This has diminished since living in the Caribbean where I don't trust many people to do this. In the states, however, I would wax AT LEAST once a month. I always thought unmanicured eye brows looked bushly. Yes, I love getting my eyebrows waxed...it is always worth the pain.

(I'm finding these are harder to think of as I go along...but I know I do some quirky things...maybe I just don't think they are quirky? I'm desensitized!!)

4. I hate to sweat. I know that is a little inconvenient living here in the bowels of Hell. This is the main reason I don't like to excersize is that it makes me sweat. Ew. It is so yucky. I don't mind swimming, though, because you can't feel yourself sweat. Sweating is so gross. Blah.

5. I don't like weather. Yes, you read correctly. I do not like weather. I don't mind the snow, if you can drive away from it. I don't mind the rain, if you don't have to go out in it. I don't like the sun, if it is so hot you sweat. I prefer a balmy 72 degrees with a light breeze....year round. It is too hot in the Caribbean during the summer. It is too cold in Utah in the winter. It is too fluxuating in Chicago year round. That is why I prefer the little nook of Camarillo :) Peeeeerrrrrrfect.

6. Tom will know what I mean about this one: I absolutely have to have a clean house. Not a tidy house. A clean one. I don't care if there is junk everywhere and you can't see the floor....just as long as the floor is clean! Sometimes when I am cleaning the house, I'll pick stuff up...clean underneath it...and then put it right back where it was! It makes my house not look so tidy, but you can guarantee it is clean. That is one of the reasons why I can't stand how our maid cleans (yes, we have a maid...it is in our contract to live where we do). She just kind of tidys and wipes down stuff....I could do that!! I want her to clean clean! haha!! :) Tom is the opposite, though. He HATES clutter...so it works out with the two of us! He'll clean up the clutter, and I'll clean up the real germs! haha!

So yeah, those are the ones I could think of...I'm sure there are more :) Now I tag Tammi, Barbara, Angela, and Lindsay.

Video of Ella

Yeah....I'm pretty much obsessed with her :)

We Love America!!!

UPDATE!:

(that is a random picture...but I think it is so funny!)

May I start this entry with a poem:

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain

For purple moutain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea.

*wipes tear from eye*

That's how we feel about America.

So this post is about our trip home. It consisted of many fun and exciting things. Here are a few pictures from them:

First off, we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Joshua Bell play. It was pretty fabulous, except Joshua Bell only played two pieces in the entire program! It was a little false advertising I think...maybe he just wanted to get out of practicing so much??

Then we went to Disneyland! WOO HOO!!!! This is us waiting in line for our passes. Ella is pretty excited, too! Yes, that is Kathryn in the background looking lovely as always :) hehehe

After buying Ella the CUTEST Minnie Mouse outfit, she got a little tuckered out and fell asleep in the stroller....so sweet!

We liked the Princess Ears, too, but we didn't get those...just the Minnie Outfit. She was pretty dang good AAAAALLLLL day, too! She liked some of the rides, like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and the Jungle Cruises. She didn't really like Space Mountain, though, or Splash Mountain....

Just kidding ;)

This is her in her entire get-up. This is also her Halloween costume this year, so you guys are getting a sneak peak!! :)

All us lovely ladies in front of Cinderella's Castle! Actually, I guess it would be Ella's castle, since that's Cinderella's real name! haha! :) I really do have a princess for a daughter!

So Happy at Disneyland!

After California, we went to Utah for the rest of our break (which was WAY too short, bytheway). While in Utah we went to a Bees baseball game, which was really fun! I don't recommend taking a crawler (Ella) to a baseball game, though....it was a ginormous pain! Tom's mom ended up being out by the concession stands with her almost the entire game! Some people's children...

Later that week we went to this place called i-Fly! It was SOOOO awesome! It's an indoor skydiving place! It was SOOOO awesome! Did I say it was awesome already?? Well, it was SOOOO awesome!!! I highly recommend it to everyone :)

While we were in Utah, we got to eat at some of our favorite American Restaurants: Arby's, Wendy's, Cheesecake Factory, (I had In n Out in California, too...mmmm....). So yummy. We love America!

Anyway, now we are back on the island and doing really well! We're in the swing of things and things are just great!

This semester (and next) I am the President of the Spouses Organization. It's kind of a big deal ;) There are close to fifty members this semester - I think it might be the biggest group ever! I'm not sure though....but there are A LOT! Last semester there was only about 25-30. So yeah, big group this time. We had our Welcome Breakfast this morning, which went REALLY well, I thought! It was fun to see so many new faces, and see all the familiar ones, too! I hope this semester goes really well, there are lots of fun things planned, so I hope people participate.

Last night was the White Coat Ceremony. It was about a bazillion degrees at Bliss, and the food was just so-so. Also, we didn't end up sitting next to anyone we knew, so we were kind of by ourselves, it was a bajillion degrees outside, and Ella was up WAAAAY past her bedtime....needless to say, we didn't stay for very long. It was fun to get dressed up, though! I even got to put Ella in a beautiful fluffy dress! Yay!!! :)

So yeah...that's about it so far! Ella and I went to a pool party this afternoon, too, and I have really cute pictures/videos of her, but you'll just have to wait till next post. I'm getting tired :)

Hope this update is up-to-date enough for all you avid Ella fans! :) haha!!

Brief Explanation...

I'm sure you are all going through Laura/Ella/Tom withdrawels, but you will just have to wait a little longer. I can't seem to find the little battery charger for my digital camera, so I don't have any new pictures! I refuse to do a post without any pictures, so you will just have to wait. Sorry :)

Missing everyone!