Following

My in-laws just started up a blog! On it, they had an interesting gadget in the sidebar called "Followers." So I looked into it, and added it to mine, as well! If you read this blog a lot, you can add yourself as a follower. Then my blog will appear in your blogger dashboard like an RSS feed, I guess. And your picture shows up on my blog! How fun is that! Anyway, check it out, and become a follower! :)

Creative Suite 4 Announced!

Today, Adobe has announced the latest version of the Creative Suite: CS4. If you're a designer/photographer/illustrator, you'll know what that is. If not, it is the gold standard in creative software, providing InDesign for print, Photoshop for images, Illustrator for graphics, and Dreamweaver for web.

The initial thoughts on the upgrade seem to be pretty good--it's certainly a far cry from the original CS, which is what I have on my home computer--and I hope to upgrade, at least with Photoshop. I have CS3 on my work laptop, and I'm not sure I'll recommend the upgrade there...I usually upgrade every other time, because in reality, I can put out good work with what I have, despite the fact that something new and shiny has come out. However, it's not that expensive to upgrade--a drop in the bucket for my work, if not for myself--so maybe I'll go ahead and suggest it.

If you're interested, check out more information from CreativePro.com. CS4 is scheduled to come out in October!

Blockbuster Queue

I have finally rated enough movies on Blockbuster.com to get good recommendations from them. Usually, Blockbuster recommends things that are way off track, mostly R-rated (which I rarely watch), and things that I would never watch, even if it were just to be social (which is a reason that gets me to do a lot of things). But finally, today, my Blockbuster queue was surprisingly great! Lots of good movies, some of which I had not seen before, and most of which I wouldn't mind watching even if it were just me at home. Hooray!

Do any of you do Blockbuster online? How about movies you've seen recently that you'd recommend?

And the winners are...

Last week I announced a giveaway in celebration of my 300th post. I compiled all the names, and Jon drew from a hat. I had enough magnets to give away six sets!

Here are the winners!!

Carolyn
ChristieLynn
KarenD
Rachel
Mommy the Human Napkin
Teresa

I have everyone's addresses or a way to get them, so don't worry about needing to send me anything. Now you just have to wait patiently for the mail! :)

Thanks for reading, everybody!

There's a trick to it!

Jon and I are fans of natural peanut butter. But, if you've ever had natural peanut butter, you know our problem with it: by the time we've made it about a quarter way through the jar, the rest is a solid block, making it nearly impossible to get out and spread evenly on a piece of bread.

Well, I've figured out the solution! First, toast your bread. This is a yummy trick Jon taught me the first time he made me a PB&J. It tastes good, adds crunch to your sandwich, and, regarding the natural PB dilemma, makes your bread a little firmer.

Next, while you're toasting your bread, hold the PB jar over the toaster! When it's still pretty full, hold it up-side-down so the heat is caught in the jar. If it's almost empty, you can hold it right-side-up over the heat. By the time your bread is toasted, your PB is warmed up enough to be soft, making it easy to spread!



Tada!!

How to Eat Frosted Mini Wheats

Pour your Frosted Mini Wheats (or in our case, generic Frosted Mini Spooners) into a bowl. Add milk.

Turn over all the mini wheats so the sugar-coated side is up, so that the sugar won't get soggy and melt into the milk. (Yes, it's all going to the same place, but I'm just teaching the proper method here.) Then, proceed to eat the mini wheats from least sugary to most.

Yummy!

MamaMia Surprise!

Tuesday night is our official date night. Sometimes we double date with friends, sometimes it's dinner and a movie, and sometimes it's just staying home, because hey, when it's the only night at home in a week, that's pretty special, too! Lately, however, every Tuesday has been staying at home, so I was excited to hear last week that Jon was planning something for our next date night.

By Monday, I hadn't heard anything more about Tuesday's date. I casually asked if Jon had any plans for the next night. He said he did, and it involved only a little bit of cooking. Hm...okay....

Tuesday rolled around, and it was a beautiful rainy day. I shaved my legs and fixed my hair, not knowing what we were doing that afternoon. About 3:00pm, Jon called from work. Of course, I'd left the phone off its base all day, so it immediately started beeping for a low battery. Usually it beeps twice and goes dead, so I said, "Battery'sdyingtalkfast!" So Jon quickly gave me two options: 1) go swimming (at the indoor pool), go eat Mexican, and come back home and make beignets, or 2) go eat downtown and see MamaMia!

Well, I'm usually up for any option that involves downtown, and adding MamaMia into the mix made it a no-brainer! I could go swimming some other time, but Jon had managed to procure a couple seats to the Bass Hall show for that night, and I wouldn't miss that for anything! I quickly said, "MamaMia!!!" and we hung up.

Woohoo! MamaMia! What was I going to wear?? People these days take the theater way too casually, and I like to dress up. Plus, it's date night! After a little rummaging around in my closet, I found a great prego date night outfit, and was quite proud of myself.

The evening came and we headed out to a Mexican restaurant we'd never tried downtown. The chips were excellent! Salsa great, enchiladas great, rice...meh, but who goes for the rice anyway? We headed from there to Marble Slab, where we had a coupon for buy one, get one free sundae. They were HUGE! So we grabbed them and walked the few blocks to the Bass, eating as we went. As we got near (and the showtime got near), we each had to throw away at least half of our sundaes, but oh, well. What we had was yummy, and we really didn't need to eat it all!

Into the Bass Hall we went. I love that place. It's beautiful. We were seated by Jon's source there, and then it began!

At first I was a little put off by the acting. I forget how "overacted" theater has to be in order to convey emotions, etc. to the furthest back row. I'd seen the movie, so I was expecting the subtle nuances of Hollywood. However, soon I got used to the feeling of theater, and everything was just great. The movie stayed very true to the musical! Being theater, the musical had more crude jokes in it, but otherwise, the two were very similar. I'd heard that the play ended differently than the movie, but it didn't. So either that person forgot, or they changed it once the movie came out. I'd kind of doubt that, but I guess it could happen.

When intermission came, I had the sudden realization that I needed to go to the bathroom, and no one wants to wait in a women's bathroom line in intermission. I immediately told Jon, "I'm going to the bathroom, let me out!" I pushed my way past him as he cautioned me who to find when I came back. Since we didn't have official tickets, he was worried I wouldn't be able to get back in. Well, that was not my top priority at that moment, and I booked it to the bathroom. I didn't know where one was, but I followed the determined lady ahead of me, and sure enough, she was headed to the same place. I was fourth into the bathroom!! Woohoo! Small triumph for the prego! In the short time I was in there, the line went from empty to about forty women. I squeezed past them with only a little bit of smugness. Then I realized I had been so focused on getting to the bathroom that I had no idea how to get back. I dimly recalled seeing a pink boa on display, so I wandered around for that, and sure enough, there was Jon's face at the door to the theater. I still had time to spare before the second act!

All in all, it was a great date, and I have a great husband who knew I would love it!

300th Post!! And a Giveaway!

This is my 300th post!! I started blogging in June of 2005, after we'd moved here and half-way through our Summer of No Jobs. I was much more contemplative back then, when I had lots of time and God was humbling me with my inability to secure a job. Then involvement at church came, the job (and the cat!) came, and my busy life turned my blog into small (mostly silly) glimpses of my life. Despite that, my readership has grown from about six readers a day to about twenty-six readers a day, and I've actually made a few friends from blogging!

One of those friends is my sort-of cousin, Lorie. Following her blogaversary tradition, I'm arranging a giveaway! Post a comment here, and in one week (Thursday, Sept. 18th), I'll put all the names of the commenters in a hat and draw out one (or more!) winners. And what will you win, you ask??

Magnets!

Okay, if you're family, you probably already have some, but who couldn't use more magnets?? I happen to have a few left over from a certain entrepreneurial idea that Leanna and I had, so you just might win them! And if you have absolutely no desire for magnets, well, they make good stocking stuffers or gifts for coworkers. So leave a comment and have fun!

Thanks for reading!

Hair Experiment

Why is it that every hair cut is a much-weighed decision? Yesterday, Leanna was asking me what she should do with her hair this next cut, and for once, I stuck with the simple, "I think you should do what you did last time." She and I never do that! We usually start looking at books, going online, discussing face shape and hair color...and yes, pretty much for every cut. It could be because we're dramatic, but I think it's because we like change...at least with our hair.

In early August, I had no idea what to do with my hair. The plan was to let my hair grow out until early November, when I would get it cut short again, so it would feel new and cute when I was 9 mos pregnant. But then I realized that growing out my hair from August to November was not enough time for it to get past the awkward stage, and why go through three months of awkward just to cut it short again? So, then I thought maybe I should just keep growing it out, even after Caleb's born. I've had it short for awhile; it's time for something new. But then I realized (after a conversation with Karen, my source for all things new mom) that I don't want hair that needs to be fixed when I'm a brand new mom and people show up with dinner or just to see the baby. I need hair that I can wet down, run gel through, and it's done. That, my friends, is short hair. (The other low-maintenance option is hair long enough for a pony-tail, but I can't pull that off in three months.)

So, after that debate, I decided I would do short hair, but try to get the shape back to the first short cut I got with Lynn. Lynn was still my regular stylist, but every appointment my hair got shorter and shorter, so I decided to try someone new. Still being cheap, I went to Ogle School of Cosmetology, where I got a 6-buck haircut. Sweet! And the student did a great job, kept the length, but shaped it up very nicely. I really liked the way it turned out.

And then two weeks later, it was frumpy again. Ah...now I see why those short haircuts were so nice. I could go 6-8 weeks between cuts before. I put off the decision for a few more weeks, but yesterday, I was done. To make my hair presentable on Sunday, I had to gel, blowdry, curl, pomade, and spray my hair, and I was not going to do that again. Sure, it's cute, but way too much work! So yesterday I went back to Lynn, and pretty much had my head shaved. Back to its pixie glory. Someday I'll grow it long, but today is not that day.

In the midst of these length concerns, I also had color to worry about. I have been highlighting my hair for awhile now, and had ended up with a little bit of a highlighting mess: more highlights on one side of my head than the other, and roots over an inch long. (Why do I choose to do things that require maintenance when I obviously don't maintain them??) So, the plan was to dye my hair back to its original color, and then put new highlights in. I didn't know if the color would cover up the existing highlights enough, but I thought it was worth a try.

And it worked! The old highlights were mostly covered, with a slight color variation off of the brown I chose, but I like to think of that as added depth. And then the new highlights...well, I'm pretty sure I like them. I did them myself, so at some point I just gave up because my arms were getting tired, but I think I got them all in the right places.

So basically, my hair looks like it did about two months ago, and I like it. :) I especially liked fixing it this morning! Yep, I think it's the cut for me, at least until it's time to grow it out again. But until that time comes, I think I'll just take my own advice to Leanna. I'm gonna stick to the cut I have.

What's been going on

I owe you a post here, for sure! I've been posting on my baby blog, and that seems to be just about life-consuming these days! I asked Jon this morning, "What can I post about that's not baby-related??" Well, I'm not really sure the answer to that question, but I'm going to try anyway. If baby topics come up, oh well! :)

Jon's started back to school. His last semester! It's very exciting, but also very challenging. This is his third and last semester of Hebrew, and I know he will be so glad when it's done. He's also taking a history class covering the Enlightenment, which has TONS of reading which isn't so fun, but he really enjoys the class itself. And then his last class is fairly easy, and they go over stuff like how to baptize, because I guess there's a trick to it! All in all it's a demanding schedule, but with few enough hours that it's doable.

He's also working on his resume and has a couple churches in mind where he'd like to apply. I'm sure he'll have applications all over the place before it's all said and done!

Bonnie & Clyde are our constant entertainment. They charm everyone who comes in the door. If you stay long enough, you'll get in on the game of musical chairs as the two go from lap to lap. Clyde loves to jump. He jumps from the couch to the computer chair, to the top of my monitor, then to the top of Jon's monitor, then to the printer, and then once he's made it he meows at the wall. Bonnie sticks to the ground, mostly, but loves to explore. Inside shelves, boxes, bags, she finds pens, paper clips, and her favorite: the Scrabble stickers from Subway. She's got a radar for those things.

I went to an Arbonne Mercedes event with my mom yesterday. A lady had made it to a certain level in the company where she is given a white Mercedes, and this event was to celebrate that. I admit that I went into it with a slightly jaded perspective. I mean, if you know me, you know I have no desire for a brand new white Mercedes. I wouldn't even have a white car myself, except that it was the best car I could find for $6,000. Buying new doesn't make sense to me, and having a Mercedes really doesn't make sense to me. So, to go to an event all about a Mercedes, with people packed in to ooh and ahh and be inspired by the Mercedes...meh... To top it off, everyone there was dressed professionally, and while I tried, I just felt quite pregnant.

Well, it turned out it wasn't so bad. It was definitely an atmosphere I'm not used to or like very much, but the ladies I spoke with were very genuine. The ladies were not so much there to be inspired by the Mercedes, but by the speakers and the success of other ladies just like them. The speaker, despite her multi-million Arbonne business, still shops at Target, which I can respect. And she also asked for a discount at a hotel (she was just there for a few hours to change, go over her notes, etc.), which I thought was funny. I guess, in a similar situation, I would have changed and gone over my notes at Starbucks or something, but I can grant her an extravagant pit stop since she did ask for a discount. And then, after heading to the event, she promptly forgot the name and location of the hotel where they left all their stuff. Oh, how I can relate! She did a really great speech, and it didn't focus on the white Mercedes at all. Instead, it focused on being able to have an overflow of money to give to others. That's something that's always been important to Jon and I--budget and stay out of debt so that God can use your finances when needed--so I appreciated the speech.

Overall, it was an exciting event, and I can't wait for the day when my mom is handed her own set of keys to a brand new, white Mercedes! Just remember, mom, the lady yesterday took her family to Cancun to celebrate! (wink!) Seriously, I know she can do it, and I know that Arbonne is giving her the financial freedom to do what she does best: gift-giving! Whether it's money to missions, clothes for a family in need, trips to visit family and adopted family, or diapers for her grandbabies, my mom has been given the gift of generosity, and Arbonne is allowing her to reach her full potential in that.

And speaking of gifts, my mom gave me a sea salt bath soak and lotion for attending, which I enjoyed thoroughly when I got home! Even today my skin feels very nice. I was hoping for a miracle, but no, my stretch marks did not disappear. Still, the sea salts are supposed to soothe sore muscles, which I'm sure I'll encounter more of as I make it through this last leg of pregnancy, so I'm thankful to have them!

And with that, I'm done with the post. I didn't go too overboard talking about pregnancy. Turns out there is other stuff going on after all!