Karyn - Mother-In-Training

2011 Gone....

2012-01-02T12:28:00.006-07:00

Well as I've seen other's posting on their 2011 year, I have been thinking the last few months on what a great year this was. Maybe it all comes in years. A great year or a bad one. So that when its gone, its time for the next. Max was born 1/16/11, my dad got a liver 3/2/11, mostly great stuff all summer, wedding 10/8/11 and a great great christmas with family 12/25/11 :) I really liked this year and it was full of *cue baby crying* great moments. Makes you remember that wonderful things do happen....I don't have pics of Christmas (camera is in WA Mother) but here are some highlites from the year.....here's to working on 2012 to be just as great.

Pregnant. I promise I was pregnant. 9 months in fact.

This is my only proof that we drove to Minnesota right before my dad got his transplant. Rochester bound.

Nice job 2011. Nice job.

Note to Self

2011-11-30T16:48:00.003-07:00

So I have been in my houe coming on two years. Yes that is right. And here I thought I knew most of its deep dark secrets. So a few weeks ago I decided to put up Christmas decor, which meant I had to clean everything first. So Erick starts with the ceiling fans adn something, something that i've never felt before, makes me take the vent cover off the wall vents and clean them. Oh I remember, I saw a pen stickign out. Whatever it was, I reach my hand down the vent and think, Oh there is something down here....little did I know that a fake snake, a few tires, a necklace, a gumby toy and the entire Big Wheels collection were all, I'm sure, 'in safe keeping' for some 4 year old that got suddenly moved before he could take his stash. Lesson learned..You should always check your vents.
I swear that all came out of ONE vent.

Santa Run 2011

2011-11-30T16:29:00.002-07:00

My first 5k! ANd it was probably the funnest....I was needing some motivation to get me back to the gym so I decided a public display of my running prowess might be just the thing. So I found this 5k for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was hilarious. The suits came with the registration adn there were over 900 Santas!! I finished in my first, and personal best time, 33:54. It was cold, fun and a great motivator. I'm thinking if this doesn' texist in Washington, when I eventually make it back...I'm bringing it with me. Good times.

Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

2011-11-01T19:57:00.001-06:00

Mobile Max

2011-10-22T18:42:00.001-06:00

Can you believe it!!?? He just up and let go one day. Its all over.

9 Month Max

2011-10-16T18:19:00.002-06:00

So Max is 9 months today. Can't quite believe we will be celebrating his first birthday so soon...He has two bottom teeth and just broke ground on the two top teeth. Drool central. Pretty sure Max is going to be walking any day now. 4 days ago he pulled himself on some step stairs that we have and proceeded to push them all the way across the kitchen walking. He is experimenting with letting go of whatever he is holding on to and just seeing how long he can remain standing. Today he suddenly discovered how to navigate stairs. It was like he's alwyas known how. And maybe his bigget accomplishment thus far....he started sleeping through the night Wednesday night. It has been great. I had started to not let him nurse at night and only give him a bottle to keep him in his crib and I wonder if maybe he just decided that wasn't worth waking up for. Who knows. But he is sleeping great. Now to get him potty trained.....

Oh did i mention how fussy he has gotten? This is what he looks like more often than not lately.

2011-10-12T20:07:00.006-06:00

Saturday October 8, 2011, Erick and I were married in Richland Washington. It was a pretty perfect day and in a more beautiful location I don't think it could have been. A friend of my sister's let us have it in their back yard. My uncle John who lives in Colorado flew up to officiate and it truly was perfect. We had a simple ceremony with family and a few friends - thank you so much for those that were there and traveled to be there. It was really special to have you there. My mom did so much to get everything ready and my sister created some great accessories at the last minute. I tended to be a little detail-ambiguous and I'm grateful that people put up with me. I've never been the girl that had this planned since she was a kid and knew exactly what she wanted...so I think it was pretty stellar considering. :) Thanks everyone.

Oh. And my last name is Cortez. Just for the confused :D

Cake by Jill Pospical. Exactly what I pictured. And tasted even better.

Erick and his mother Nelly

Still not sure what Jared is doing...but I thought Stephanie would like to see it
Don't be fooled - Max was NOT this thrilled most of the day....
It was more like this...

And the night ends... As beautiful as it began

Bridal Shower

2011-09-15T18:45:00.002-06:00

This was by far teh most creative shower I've ever been to. I've never been a huge fan of shower games or the like, but I had a blast at my bridal shower- wish I had more pictures. But this is a video of one of the games. It was a cupcake war theme and I definitely prepped for the competition. Unfortunately I don't have pics of my....creations....but there were some lessons learned. So I first tried to create a Smores cupcake. I found a cinnamon graham cupcake recipe with chocolate ganache and a home-made marshmallow frosting. THey looked awesome. Taste....definitely missed the Smores train. THe cake was all cinnamon, the ganache rocked and the frosting tasted like whipped eggs. weird. Second experiment was a lemon cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese frosting. Not bad, but the bake is pretty dense and dry. For some reason I thought dense=good but i've since changed my mind. Anyways the final product and my entry in the competition was a White Chocolate Marachino Cherry Cupcake. With diced cherries and white chocolate chips minced in the batter, topped with a cherry buttercream (i've learned the secret to fluffy buttercream! its butter.) topped with a marachino cherry. THis is a long story just to say they won Best looking - but totally not best tasting. Erick calls them 'prostitute' cupcakes. No explanation. Lacey won Best all around for a great Orange cupcake with home-made candied orange peel!! Extra mile Lou. Extra mile. Best tasting were...uh-hmm....store bought but still amazing coconut cupcakes. Unfortunately (or maybe thankfully) there was disaster on the homefront and Kendra's Butternut Squash with Marzcapone frosting cupackes didn't turn out. I still really liked them though.
I have since informed Kendra that I hope she has more ideas for her own bridal shower - because the creative gene got maxed out on her.

2011-08-10T20:43:00.002-06:00

Just thought I'd throw this in - I laid Max down last night - he wasn't asleep but you could tell he would eventually sleep without much fuss. So 30 minutes later I come in and find him like this. I guess escaping just took too much energy.

Raspberry Jam

2011-08-10T16:58:00.003-06:00

So I totally lied that the raspberry jam pics in the prevous blog - I will add them separate. If Dad ever reads this, we discovered that we need some kind of 'thing' (Christine knows the name)that keeps the jars off teh bottom of a pan so we can make the low-sugar version....but this is my first attempt at makign jam. Slickety slick.

Erick's Birthday

2011-08-10T16:36:00.003-06:00

We decided to hit up Bear Lake for Erick's birthday...Kyle and Christine have just moved down here, so we all headed out to Raspberry days (raspberry jam pics below) and hit the lake on the jet ski. The lake was super flooded so there was hardly any beach available, but we found a spot of land after ripping out some brush :D. Then we headed over to Laketown to the Weston's and the Raspberry Days rodeo. Tami' daughter Chelsea was the Rodeo Queen and Kathryn's girl Shelby was the princess. They were awesome and it was a great night for a rodeo....the bull fighter might not have agreed considering he got stepped on the head and pelvis by the first bull ride of the night. Slightly traumatizing.

Necessities 101

2011-08-10T16:28:00.003-06:00

So Erick is quite the bargain shopper/yard saler. I am not. I enjoy a shiny new product that I found in T-10 seconds in a store that always sells said product. HOwever, we were perusing(sp?) the local Savers and I found this gem. Always a necessity, this is the obviously the first step to the creation of Popcorn cake. This popcorn popper was my #1 find of the....quarter. At least.

Traveling Man

2011-07-17T14:42:00.002-06:00

Had to share this - I thought this was the funnest idea....

You know what time it is....6 Month Max!!

2011-07-17T14:25:00.004-06:00

Max is freaking awesome. We have about a week of him sleeping through the night (which means he wakes up once but goes back to sleep within 10 minutes), he is eating oatmeal, squash, carrots and today bananas. He loves to stand up and now puts himself on all fours. I think he is deliberating the benefits of crawling. Like his mother, he needs to think it all through first. As my blog title says, I really feel like I'm just stumbling through this whole mother-hood thing, but Max makes it easy on me. I"m grateful for all those out there that shares their knowledge and experiences with me. Maybe I make it sound great because I don't write about how fussy or curious (Erick says impertinent) that Max is. He can be all of that. But I think talking about how awesome people are helps us remember just that. I think that is my mother soap box. Kids are hard. Thats a given. Lets hear what makes them great. Random random thought.

This is Max somehow slipping between the beds (this has never happened when I'm home)

Don't think the Fat Cats staff thought this was as cute as I did...

5 Month Max

2011-06-17T21:03:00.002-06:00

Max is going strong and 5 months already. I really love just chillin with him. He is getting some attitude now though. He has figured out how to throw himself feet first out of his bouncy seat...we have found him face down on the ground pretty regular now. He has turned over...once. He just doesn't seem too interested. But he also stands up really well and actually takes steps while holding our fingers. Sleeping is still an issue - 5 months is starting to catch up to me. So I think we will make that more of a conscious effort now to get him to sleep more than 3 1/2 hours a stretch....starting feeding him some rice cereal about 2 weeks ago and he loves eating it. Just can't figure out if its helping keep him full at night...oh well. its really cute to feed him. My favorite things right now are bath time and getting to watch him wake up.

Wanting to put everything in his mouth....

Obviously anything will do...

Arizona

2011-06-15T20:49:00.004-06:00

Here are some pics from our trip to Arizona over Memorial Day weekend....I think Marble Canyon was my favorite...

Marble Canyon

Super Cachi

Over the edge....

2011-06-15T20:39:00.003-06:00

So I think I got a pretty cool engagement. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we went to Mesa Arizona to visit some family of Erick's. On the way back, we stopped at the Grand Canyon which was cool anyways. So Erick kind of went off by himself (details unnecessary) so I went looking for him at one of the view points. We ended up on the rim of the Grand Canyon and he took the ring out and got down on one knee. It was very sweet and we are planning on getting married on the weekend of the most important holiday. And I am of course talking about Columbus Day. It will be in Washington and we are very excited. Mostly for the cake. I love wedding cake.

White. Sun. Diamonds. Bad combo

Pac Northwest - Oh how i love thee

2011-05-22T12:41:00.005-06:00

What a great great weekend in the Pac NW. Kyle got married in Portland on Friday the 13th so we headed out Wednesday night about 10:30pm....Erick drove all night and we hit the junction to Richland about 630am...but we decided we just wanted to reach our destination, so we blew thejunction and headed to portland. but we did take our time and stop at a park by the river, Multnomah Falls and anywhere else we felt like. It totally renewed my belief that Western WA/OR is where i want to end up some day. I love it love it. It was so fun to see family and dress up (thanks to my wardrobe technician Kendra) I was spring green ready to go. Then we headed to Richland friday evening, stopping at Bonneville Dam on the way with Jared and his family. I loved shoing off the Pacific Northwest to Erick and his mom and they loved it. A little massive rain storm, reception and pizza in the park/living room and the weekend was complete. Really hope we get home soon. Nothing like it.

Erick and his mom at the Portland Temple

Introducing Max to the Columbia River

Photographers should never ask the Hodgson's for 'crazy' poses. We don't do crazy.

4 Month Max

2011-05-22T12:37:00.003-06:00

So this blog isn't so exciting but I wantd to be consistent and keep tabs on Max Max. So this is a few pictures we took recenty. Max is sill drooling like crazy, but no teeth yet. He hasn't really shown any interest in rolling over and any general movement besides almost launching himself out of his bouncy seat with extreme leg thrusts. He likes to stand up and he thinks sitting up is the bees knees. ALthough the weight of his large cranium often makes him fall over head first. He really is a happy kid.I hope we don't do anything to mess that up :)

3 Month Max

2011-04-15T21:35:00.003-06:00

This is the month of the face. Max's facial expression are spanning the spectrum and i believe we catch them all in the 900+ pictures that it just took to upload my pictures from my camera. I may put more on here later, but for now here is a taste. Max is talking alot. He still isn't sleeping through the night- I think he is teething. isn't it too early for him to be teething? but he is very drooling, mild fever sometimes, fussy lately...i don't know. that just what some very convincing websites have convinced me of.....We really enjoy Max. He is a great baby and really fun personality. A little thoughtful with a lot of smiles.

This on is better!!

2011-04-04T18:11:00.001-06:00

For Gammy

2011-04-03T15:41:00.002-06:00

2011-03-26T10:35:00.002-06:00

SO this will be quick because it has taken me 6 hours from opening this post to actually getting it done.....this was one of 5 projects this last week. this is the one that was the longest in the waiting and i can't believe erick finished it in 4 days.....unfortunately i don't have before before pictures of how the room was before i painted it red....but we finally decided the red wasn't exactly what we wanted...although red is fabulous. and very happy. so we (erick) painted it green and erick put up all the wainscoting, baseboards adn chair rails....I LOVE IT. it is so happy and awesome.....never fear color.

2 Month Max

2011-03-12T18:25:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow Max hits 8 weeks. I think I'm amazed at how fast he (and probably children in general) develops each week. By now, he can hold his head up, only waking up once during the night, and has started to smile on purpose - I think. At least it seems that we can encite some good smiles on occasion. I have now been back to work for 2 weeks. Which hasn't been too bad - separation wise. The actual job is another story. But Erick has been bringing Max to have lunch with me everyday so that has made the days go quick. Feeding is still probalby my biggest stress, but i'm trying to relax and just do my best. But I would never EVER have thought I would say that I am SICK of eating and drinking. I feel like i'm shoving my face with food or water every second of the day just to keep up production. Interesting visual I'm sure. We have yet to have his 2-month doctor appt, but I think he must be a good 30 inches now. He seems to only be growin length-wise. But after the last two days of eating, we are expecting a rapid en-fattening.

We went on our second walk - this time I broke out the carrier that my friend Nicole gave me. It was a good walk. However, instead of keeping Max awake like I wanted, he promptly fell into a deep coma.

Favorite pic #5 - I think this exemplifies his adorable-ness. And our lack of parent-ly responsbility of where we sit our child....

I think this looks like Grandpa Hodgson....Yes?

FIrst day back to work - decided to have a photo shoot first. Max is always up for camera time

Minnesota

2011-02-16T19:01:00.003-07:00

Some people know that my dad is really sick and hospitalized in the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota waiting a liver transplant. So we decided to road trip it. At Max's 3 weeks, we embarked on a great adventure to Rochester Minnesota, supposedly 18 hours by car. 22 hours later and 3 wrong exits later, we arrived. Max was a champ. He sleeps so good in his carseat (which we know is not always the case, Clark Hodgson). But it is also probably why he didn't sleep for 2 days when we finally made it back to Utah. It was a good trip, if not really sad. Hard to see Dad feeling so poorly and knowing he is so uncomfortable. We visited with him 1-3 hours a day, depending on how much he felt like walking and being awake. We will likely never make the drive again - but I hope to visit them again soon. But Nebraska is of the devil. It will be my life goal to never touch Nebraska soil ever again. Let it be written.

Wind Farms....and stretches of nothingness

Yes, I did feed and change him in the backseat...and it still took 22 hours.

1 Month Max

2011-02-16T18:52:00.003-07:00

So today is Max's one month. He still looks like an old man :D which i guess is good. Benjamin Button we do not want. He is doing good - I think he has gained a little weight. He is still a skinny bean, but he is getting long. Doesn't fit length wise in most of his jumpers anymore. I am trying to figure out how to go back to work. Hmmm...maybe i'll figure that tomorrow. Really pictures are all this post is about.

I love this pic - probably one of his cutest yet.

really hasn't pulled this off again...it was a one-time moment

You'd think someone had just farted or something...

Hmm, start at the bottom

2011-01-24T20:52:00.004-07:00

sorry about the order of these - pics should have probably come after the intro. But I don't know if i can change it. I think I need blogging lessons from Stephanie.
But this first week has gone by fast - and relatively relaxing. We are figuring out the ways of Max, feeding, sleeping and really just being lazy. Breast feeding is going well if not slightly painful. I am so grateful for all the gifts and support we have gotten. I didn't know how grateful i was until we started using the things we received. My friend Nicole made us dinner, Jessica took the dog for the first week, which was priceless. Friends from home dropping things off....its wonderful to be able to share what is the best thing in our world with those we love. And just everyone checking on us has made me notice again what great people I have surrounding me. Thanks everyone.

2011-01-24T20:47:00.002-07:00

Baby's first bath at home. He loves it, don't be fooled.

We LOVEEEE his hat from Uncle Jared and Aunt Stephanie. Its his traveling hat. And boy does he love to travel...he will sleep for hours in the car.

One of my favorite pics

2011-01-24T20:28:00.001-07:00

This is where the angel sleeps - you can't afford this bassinett...

Sleepy....

8 days - Max Leonardo Cortez

2011-01-24T20:09:00.003-07:00

I think I missed a few weeks in between - but I forgive myself because I've been busy/just really wanting to do other things than blog. But Baby Max Leonardo Cortez was born January 16, 2011 at 11:35am. He is a really cool kid. Sleeps great, eats well (I think), screams well when his diaper is being changed and has these big cool eyes that I love. He likes to have his hair combed.

I was very anxious to be in labor - and then when it started I decided I could wait a little bit longer :) But it started about 5pm on Saturday night. We were shopping and went home to watch some movies. about 715 I started timing the contractions and they were 5 minutes apart and about 40 seconds. Pretty consistant for the next 3 hours. ( well really 7), but I decided to shower and get some rest about 1030 because I knew that if it wasn't that night, we would be going in the morning to the hospital. Well instead of resting, we decided to watch another movie - A-Team. I enjoyed it. But by the end, I decided that 7 hours of 4-5 minute apart contractions was probably reason enough to go to the hospital and at least check the babe out and make sure he was ok. Erick had decided that since I wasn't screaming and rolling on the floor, that they weren't 'real' contractions, so he didn't think we would be staying. I said we should pack as if we weren't coming back. He kind of rolled his eyes, but indulged me. So we got the bags and car seat in the car and ended up at the hospital at 230am. For my records sake (nobody probably really wants to know this) but I had had just a little bloody show to this point, not much. But by the time they had me change into the robe so they could check me, my mucus plug had come out. They said I was dialated to 4cm and they were admitting me because i was definitely in labor. Crazy. Part of me realy thought they would send me home. And i problby could have made it through a few more hours at home, but being my first, I was anxious enough as it was to make sure Baby Max was ok. Called my friend Jessica who came down to be with me through the whole thing. She made it amazing. I was able to relax, chat a bit and just kind of wait it out. At bout 530, I decided that if this process was going to take another 4-5 hours plus the birth ontop of that, I was getting the epidural. I had really wanted to do it naturally but at the same time, I wasn't going to go crazy for hours just to say I did. Epidural did pretty well, but didn't numb my right side completely - so i could still feel some of the contractions. But the next 4 hours were pretty tranquil. Doc came in and broke my water about 7:00. They wanted to give me Pitocin to make sure labor continued but every time they tried, Max's heart rate would drop, so they had to turn it off. Didn't matter much beacuse I was dialating well on my own. But 900 I was at a 9 and at about 11 I was fully dialated and the nurse started to explain what would happen when i had to start pushing. I asked how long pushing would last and she said 'ooohh well 2nd time mom's can be as fast as 1/2 hour but it can last up to 2 hours sometimes'. I said 'oh i was thinking like 10 minutes'. she laughed. Well, doc came in, we all got in position and I started pushing. 9 pushes and 8 minutes later, Max Leonardo slid out to an almost unprepared doctor. Quite the feeling to hear that first cry. They put him on my chest and gave me about an hour with him before they took him for weighing and stuff. 7 lbs, 13 oz, 21 inches long, dark hair and eyes wide open. Love those eyes.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-05T17:52:00.009-07:00

So I pulled out the Christmas decor that I have been hauling around with me for years, 4-5 apartments and never actually getting a place to put them up. I go out every year after christmas and buy a little bit each year. So it was like Christmas all over again pulling out the decor I've never used. And I got a tree! Which I think is just a bit enormous for my living room - which I was not even considering when I bought it. Then of course the trial of the lights....and as Stephanie found out, these new 'warm' and 'cool' white lights are slightly weird. Both of them actually. I was thinking the warm was the equivalent of the old-school ones but no. So that is my tree for now. I really dig the star. 10.00 at Wal-mart. I really love Christmas but am kind of bummed that I really don't have any Christmas music to play since my laptop broke with all my music on it....but I fill the void. It will be a sad day this year since I can't go to Washington, but I am excited at the same time to play Santa Claus to me and my Erick. In fact, santa bought me a purse yesterday :D Although I think Santa Claus should have maybe let me in on how expensive filling a stocking can be....I don't think I was prepared.

34 weeks...

2010-12-05T17:47:00.003-07:00

So I think I took these pictures at 34 weeks....which was last week. Things are going great. Getting uncomfortable after I eat and definitely more tired in the evening. Trying to keep up the motivation to get stuff done around the house but mostly don't want to. I got to go to Alabama for Thanksgiving and see my 1-week old niece and it helped alot to talk to my sister-in-law and mom about how they handled pregnancy and birth. I - cross your fingers - think i will be more like them than most of the people i've spoken with. Which is to say instead of freaking out and thinking everything is going to be horribly painful and dramatic, I know there are those out there that handle it well. Not to say the drama queens don't. i'm just saying. But I reserve all rights to whatever the hell i want when the time comes. Just saying.

31 Weeks - and finally feeling pregnant

2010-11-07T11:29:00.002-07:00

So in trying to be comparative with my sister-in-law, I thought i should post pictures of my belly at 28 weeks. That was 3 weeks ago. But it would have been cool. So here is me at 31 weeks (on Monday) and no i don't know how to put cool writing on the pics like Stephanie. In fact, the more I share in my families blogs, the less inclined to blog I get because I get depressed at how much better bloggers they are than me. But Whatev. I took these this morning, no i did not put any makeup on, I think we are lucky I combed my hair? which may or may not have made a difference.....

Here I am striking the classic 'pregnant pose'. I used to think it was because women's back hurt and they couldn't stand any other way. I now know its just because there is no waist to put your hand on. And i'm trying to define the front of the belly so you know where it stops...

I can say I now feel pregnant, but I had no clue what I really looked like until I saw these pictures....most people still freak out when I tell them I'm 7 1/2 months along....but now I think they are just blind.

Front shot- probably why I was dillusional about my size...this is what I see everyday and I think 'Eh, still about the same.'

Slightly angled shot....and I'm pushing it out here just so you know. Seriously.

And this was all after I had to scrounge up my camera manual to figure out to use the self-timer...so that is why it looks like a 3 foot 6 person is taking these pictures.

Drum Roll Please.......

2010-10-24T17:27:00.006-06:00

So I"m so excited to finally be able to show the fruits of my labors....however I sorely lack comparative fotos from how it was before. My laptop died and with it all evidence....So for those who don't know, you may simply think 'Eh, it's cool'. But for those who know...IT'S AWESOME.
This is when I very first moved....

This is after I scraped the majority of the paint, texturing, and wallpaper off the red wall....You can see there is still some wallpaper on the top.....

Hmmm so i'm sure you are all assuming this all occurred over a short period of time....not sure why, but i'm assuming. From first scrape, to the pics below where they are scraped, patched, sanded and primed was probably 2 months? I'm sure my Dad thinks this would have been the perfect place to stop....all white:D

And here is the final product.....With a little Sweet Pumpkin Spice Wallflower in the background, it feels absolutely homey.

TO MY SISTER

2010-10-04T19:27:00.002-06:00

AHHHHH I recant what i said - words matter!! you have to explain what each of those random pictures are....but i must say, that lamp is absolutely FABULOUS! I almost want to put it on my blog just to claim i've seen it. And why can't I post comments on your blog!? THis is ludicrous and a completely inefficient way to communicate. Maybe you'll see this. maybe you won't.

100 lbs - give or take a baby

2010-08-31T18:25:00.007-06:00

ahhhh i just wrote a whole blog post and then somehow erased it! So I will try to be as eloquent as i was -- -but you know the patience to recreate the brilliance is short. So in short - in November 2009 I had gastric bypass surgery. And by June 2010 I had lost 100 lbs. and gone from a size 20 to a size 11. Which was kind of funny how that went because I had lost 60 lbs before I even starting changing sizes. I guess the body just takes to catch up. But by the time the changes were noticeable, the baby business came along and the weight stuff became a slight non-issue for a while. But I thought i would share what I can....i don't have alot of photos of me now and considering i'm 5 months prego and only getting bigger, I put what i've got. i'm about a size 12 now with my waist slowllllllllllllly making its way out. anyways. since i'm scared to move this post to the top and lose it again - the pics are first and i 'm sure most can tell which are the before and which are the afters! if not - please ask someoen else becuase i'm slightly intolerant of stupid questions.

But I will say this - I feel awesome, my health is awesome, I can run 30 minutes straight and probably more if my gym time was longer. Some personal health issues have been aleviated and i'm so happy i did this. And since this is my personal blog i figure I can put my own opinion on here. If you are addicted to food, can't or won't lose all the weight on your own, do what is best for you. You are the only person that matters and you and your health are worth it. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity/insurance/doctors/and support to be successful and very happy. And only getting bigger with my little Cabezon:D

My New Project

2010-08-27T19:00:00.005-06:00

So the greatest but not necessarily latest thing in my life is these beautiful ultrasounds....or more specifically the baby in the ultrasounds:D. He is a little boy and I can only imagine he will look exactly like his daddy - the good-looking guy in the picture below, Erick Cortez. And for now, the baby with what I bet will be a huge head, is Dominick Cortez. For now. Who knows. I am 20 weeks on monday and just barely starting to show. still not really in clothes, but my waist is getting thick and the baby is almost to my belly button. I, and we, are very excited and hoping to feel more pregnant every day - i've had a great go of it, no sickness, just fatigue. Anyways. Due date is around the second week in January and i'm anxious as all get out to see him. Wish us luck and health :D

Tuscan Dining

2010-08-04T20:10:00.002-06:00

So I will let the pictures tell most of the story -- but here is my 95% finished dining room. I'm actually quite excited how it turned out. Although you can't see the texturing in the pictures, I personally applied a italian-like texturing that turned out awesome. The table is in shipment from WA....so it will not be usable for a while....not that i cook much now anyways....

BW

2010-08-01T20:34:00.003-06:00

So I want to share on my new favorite spa treatment. The Brazilian Wax. Yes, I know many of you may, WHAT? or WTF as misty likes to spout, but yes. I have survived my first Brazilian wax and i must say, I'm a fan. Now since it may not be something some or any of you are familiar with, let me just say No, it is not my favorite as in 'Ooooh what a great spa and facial treatment' favorite. But in exceeding of expectations and results, I must say Yes to Brazilian Waxes. Thank you to my friend Nicole for talking me through the experience and giving me the expectation of greatness that pushed me to jump. Now, if by favorite some of you are thinking ' Oh that must means it didn't hurt'. no my naive followers, the actual process was slightly uncomfortable if never really painful.....BUTTTTTTT the AFTERMATH was what I would call shockingly tortuous. As I thought she was about to put another strip of wax on near the end, I double over it shrieking burning pain of the alcohol!!! that she had just dumped on me. And by dumped, i mean gently wiped. But seriously. What they don't tell you. But i am here to tell you. Waxing- yes. Alcohol -Never ever ever.

Only for you Sunshine....

2010-07-28T20:07:00.002-06:00

I really couldn't think of anything to say. Seriously. 15 minues. Nothing.

2010-06-28T17:59:00.002-06:00

So i've been getting hassle for not posting lately. people seem to think that i have house busines going on that i'm not sharing.....not the case. i haven't really don't anything since the purple room. i have done more 'demo' on the dining room. which means i spent a month scraping the wallpaper-textured-painted wall crap off the walls. then i did nothign for a month. well i did but that is for another day. nothing on the house. so i washed the walls, patched the plaster and just caulked the window/door frames adn primed the walls this weekend. i'm almost ready for the texture. so i'm excited to have a dining room soon. anyways..... the house is nice. had a bit of a leakage problem.....now i'm deciding central air may be a necessity possibly by next year....so just livin the dream....

One down.....

2010-03-21T20:49:00.003-06:00

One room down!! i'm also noticing my camera has a mark on the lense it appears.....anyways. So we - me and my free labor Luis - finished the guest room today. It has been like 3 weeks or more in the making......refer to previous posts for the wallpaper removal nastiness. So here is what you can see of the finished product. It rocks quite frankly.

Home Renovation and Demolition. Really just Demolition

2010-03-07T13:45:00.005-07:00

Here are some updates on the house. I've finally got some momentum on the house - mostly in the downward destruction direction. say that 3 times fast.. anyways. problem is 1) demo is cheaper than re-no and 2) I'm pretty clueless on some of the things that needs to be done but i'm learning as I go. I'll try to explain whats been done so far. And yes, the bathroom is still in its original state of disarray from the previous post.

This is the guest bedroom. Estupidos that lived here before painted over 2 layers of wallpaper that had started to lift in places. So I had to strip it. Seriously sucks. And if it looks like I have free labor, I do.

This is a different room - probably will be mine. There of course was a wallpaper border that was painted over that was lifting. Ugggh.

Here is me prepping the room...lots of dust

These ones are the 2 storage rooms that are in the basement. Looks like the constructed this random wall, that doesn't even reach the other wall...one room had shelves, the other was just empty. So I took my new hammer (the previous one's head kept falling off) and went to town. I even got blisters. I felt very SheRa-ish.

Bought a House

2010-01-31T15:17:00.003-07:00

Forgot to mention I bought a house. Honestly, i'm still more excited about Mexico, but I figured I should update a little. At the moment, I haven't really done anything to it except organize the living room and start to tear up the upstairs bathroom. Eh haven't gotten very far - i'll see if I have any before and now pics. But its really nice to be out of that moldy, tiny apartment and I am excited to learn how to improve some stuff here and there.

New Haircut. Slightly Teacher-ish??

2010-01-27T18:57:00.003-07:00

So I like the versatility, but it still seems like a haircut that a mother of 5 with no time gets, but somehow lacks....sass.

Long Time.....Lots Happenin

2010-01-27T18:39:00.011-07:00

Soooo I've been without a computer for a month since mine broke again. I must say - 3 year warranty has paid for itself octo-fold. So the most recent fun - well my only fun - has been my trip to Mexico. I finally just bought a ticket and went down to visit some friends. It was unbelievable - relaxing, warm, awesome and hilariously fun. Here are some of the things that made it great.....

The Fat Lady Has Sung -in more ways than one

2009-10-18T12:14:00.002-06:00

I'm gradiated. Feels amazing.

Countdown update

2009-10-11T15:31:00.002-06:00

Sooooo is it really a countdown if you skip numbers? Because we are at 2 classes left! I am actually counting days now since it seems more tangible....sooooo 6 days left!! I am so excited. I didn't think it would really notice a difference, but I'm so ready to be done. At least with this degree...:)

Potty Training 101

2009-10-10T09:56:00.002-06:00

Done. My dog has officially potty trained herself. either that or she has an incredible sense of hygiene and just morally refuses to go in the house. I probably should give Jess some credit? I don't know if they have been working with her on it, but she stayed the night with me last night and I decided I would try something different. Last time she stayed, I woke up every 2 hours with paranoia and took her outside. Last night I decided I should just see what happens. So she sleeps on a couch in my room and after a few hours, I didn't hear her anymore. So i get up and she is waiting for me by the door to let her out. Awesome. I will not say out loud that she has never gone in the house - because I know how that will ruin me - but she's been awesome. Now we'll just see what is waiting for me when I get home from class....
P.S. if it sounds like she is my step-dog, its only because she is staying with a friend until I can get into this house I'm trying to get.....

Changes in the wind.....

2009-09-29T19:33:00.004-06:00

So the first big change that is actually occurring in my lineup is that I've got going on in this 4th of 2009 is ....a bird...no a plane....no its a puppy!!! So the intention was not to 'get' a 'puppy' right away....But I asked my friend Jessica and her husband Mike to take me to the Humane Society just to look and see what dogs were there, my options, the breeds.....I will not purport (word?) that it was love at first sight. But she was beautiful, the kind of breed I wanted -- well as much as I could decide to want a German Shepard Beagle breed - and i knew she wouldn't be there if I waited a month or two. So anyways - drama cut short (yes teh humane society has drama) - I got a super cute puppy with funky ears and she is pretty cool. Kind of like her owner. Her name
is Foxy. No she is not a 'stripper' dog, but thank you Jesse for the clarification.

Countdown

2009-09-25T20:57:00.001-06:00

I think we should have a countdown. I have 5 classes left before I graduate and dare to never step foot in a classroom again (doubtful). But I will try and titillate (sp?) everyone with a very suspenseful and drawn out countdown. Here goes.....5.....

Growing up.

2009-09-05T11:55:00.005-06:00

I have to share this real fast - because I've been trying to make this for 12 years and I have finally done it. Adulthood is mine. I made the best pan of German Pancakes this morning EVER. Ok, so Mom is still probably better - but I don't know. I even made them with wheat flour (White Whole Wheat Flour- King Arthurs. Check it out). but its a little thcker than mom's...anyways. The issue is that you can't just make an individual batch (there are many variables in that equation - take my word it just doens't work out) so I have more than half left....and everyone knows that reheated German Pancakes is unacceptable...so I might be forced to walk around my complex and try and sell them like the Corn on the Cob Lady.....Hodgson's will appreciate the genius and gravity of this moment....

Road Less Traveled.....

2009-08-23T19:05:00.005-06:00

So i went for a hike this weekend. I'm trying really hard to figure out ways to get exercise that isn't just going to the gym. And by trying, I mean today was my first successful implementation. It was a beautiful day so I decided to go up to Donut Falls. I did this hike maybe 5 or 6 years ago?? by myself, some day that I had a few hours to kill through the valley...random i know but that's how it was. Anyways. So you hike up to these falls and then you can hike up the waterfalls. At least you could 5 years ago. No longer. Looks like some collapse happened and it was unhikeable. And by that I mean I was scared I would slip and fall and be left up there with a broken leg and no one would find me. So I hiked up, looked at the falls, walked in the water and went back. However, I did go exploring on some unbeaten paths....and by that I mean it didn't have a Trail This Way arrow.....

TDY (aka business trip)

2009-08-23T18:58:00.004-06:00

So I spent the week in Ohio. Dayton to be precise. Not thrilling but a pretty nice hotel. Quite nice actually. It had an adjustable bed so that you could make it harder or softer....And it was beautiful. But since the only pictures I took were these two.....maybe that speaks for itself at how Eh it was. The first big moment was in the layover at O'Hare International. I had a Chicago Dog. Hands down, best hot dog i've ever had. All beef, mustard, ketchup, onions, relish, pickle....seems liek i'm missing something. Anyways. And the then there was the airplane. And thats all.

2009-08-15T19:39:00.006-06:00

So its been awhile. I kind of think that nobody is reading this -but really, its titled Clarisesworld, so I guess I'm the one that counts right? So i guess I thought to blog because yet again - I am dying my hair! And this time I remembered to take before, during and after photos. Well its not after yet. But here is what it looked like before - if anyone can solve the mystery of why my hair fades to this dirty blonde with about 2 inches of roots at my natural color, i'd be fascinated to know. It never just grows out in one color....anyways. So of course, i'm bored and avoiding homework( more on that misery later) so I'm dying the majority one color and just leaving some wisps of the blondeish stuff. Now, the wisdom of doing it this weekend, 2 days before my first business trip - or TDY as they say in teh Air Force (i'm refusing to acquiese to the anonym mania of the AF) - so who knows who i'll be when I show up for the flight on Monday. And yes, I"m stoked. We are spending the whole week in fabulous downtown.....DAYTON OHIO. I"m super excited. I think any bsiness trip is really all fun and like 2 hours of business. Coolio. So here's the pics. These are my before and current......

2009-07-05T18:42:00.004-06:00

Here are some pics of Yinelis and Yasira for those that know them. They are still gorgeous....

2009-07-05T18:25:00.005-06:00

So not much is new but I thought since my great angst right now is house hunting, I could try and put that on here. I'll put in the few house pics I've taken but what ticks me off right now is that I actually found a house I like. Way tooo soon. the whole point of starting to look right now was to get an idea of what was out there, what I can afford and maybe if there was a short sell, I could be right on my time schedule of end of the year. Anyways, so I found this short sell and thought super - its a great deal for the size and price and blah blah....so it check into it and of course, its the one short sell that wants to close in 20 days. Egh. So yeah. I think I'm okay now with not getting it. My mom talked a bunch of gibberish that made me feel better about it. So i'm still looking. Between north Ogden and Layton. Nothing on the West side. No Split-levels. Hmmm maybe thats contributing to the frustration. All these blasted split-levels. WOrthless if you ask me. Anyways. Thats a personal opinion. So heres so choice pictures of my journey in house hunting

2009-05-22T19:53:00.007-06:00

Now I know everyone in Logan - by that I mean DWS - by that I mean the people that read this from my team - are wondering what I have doen with my amazing gift certificate to Tai Pan. Well, after 3 trips and much deliberation (read my next post. Deliberator) I have brought home....TREE! I'm slightly sad that I couldn't get Spout, but it wasn't there when I went back. Never let Tai Pan fool you into complacency. Anyways, I am super excited. I have always wanted more greenery in my house and I wanted to thank everyone sooo much and show you what I brought home with me. I miss you all very much. OOOOOH I almost forgot - I also took pictures of my office so you can see my memoribilia. I think I've convinced them that Clarise is the bomb.

2009-05-22T19:25:00.002-06:00

AIR FORCE ROCKS. So i'm pretty stoked about my job. Today I completed 2 weeks - 1 week of orientation, 1 week of....ummm... work. So I'm on a three person team.....Me, hmm maybe i should change the names to save the innocent. so its Me,..Delores.. and Vinny. Ahhh Delores. Brings back good memories huh Kendra. So its a good time. I have taken a million strengths, colors, and personality tests. I think it woudl benefit us all to know all about me. So here we are. I am a predominate Green, with a splash of blue and gold...so cute....and my top 5 strengths are Relator, Arranger, Deliberator, ummm dang now I forgot the other two.... maybe i'll remember. Anyways - here's an idea of my talent as an Arranger. "... When faced with a complex situation involving many factors, you enjoy managing all of the variables, aligning and realigning them until you are sure you have arranged them in the most productive configuration possible. In your mind there is nothing special about what you are doing...But others, lacking this theme, will be in awe of your ability." Yes you read that right, AWE. I thought that was AWESOME. HAHAHA. So yes, I'm excited about my job. Basically if Organizational Development Consulting sounds to confusing, we basically train management how to be better managers. Hopefully willingly:) Are you any of you asking yourself where I got the qualifications for this job? Please let me know if you figure it out.

2009-05-11T16:50:00.005-06:00

So every time I blog I say I won't smash a bunch of blogs into one but yet again, I lie so well. Soooo, I went home to Washington - it was Rad. Capital R. My friends took me out on the river and we took it to a restaurant, where we got rained on, walked into Prom with the Kardashians, and then went to a great dinner at Outback. thanks Lacey and friends. So now I"m 30 and lovin it. Except now I look at every outfit and wonder if I dressing over my age. Tinker Bell is pretty timeless though....So today was my first day of work at my new job. And I must say, Team DWS, i sure did miss you at 5:30am when I had to get up to be at Hill by 7:00. Yes, I know thats like lunch time for Laurie, but its basically midnight. But it was cool - met some new people and had alot of wasted time as it seems we were the biggest group of new hires they'd had in a while and didn't quite plan for us. Good times. went to Popeyes for lunch - fyi for the masses, no i do not get to shop or buy gas on teh base. Only military or retired personnel. fyi. Sooooooo the final news for all the world to see, and since its my only picture i've taken of any of these events, is my haircut. I feel my sister Kendra deserves teh credit for the persuasion, beratement, coersment, coercement, coercment,mmmmm anyways. so I got my hair cut. paid some chick money to cut it 'kind of short', then get home and Kendra says, 'That's not what I had in mind', and proceeded to wack at it with a razor and scissors. And today is the first day I can say Kendra, I was proud to walk out in public. It looked pretty rad. Lower case r.

Oh yes - and a little bangaje going on.

2009-04-30T22:00:00.005-06:00

Pretty sad day in the Clarise household. I mentioned a few posts ago that some exciting things had happened but they weren't exactly solid. Well, considering today was my last day at DWS, lets hope its more than solid. A month ago I interviewed and was offered an internship at (this may be top secret confidential info, maybe this should be in code) Oobahill oobaairforce oobabase and I will be starting on Oobamay ooba11th. Anyways. that will be fun. But today was super sad for leaving my job of 4 1/2 years with Team DWS. I'd like to shout out to everyone that I've worked with in the last 4 years. I've been really blessed to work with some crazy cool people and I hate that I can't always ahhh i can't remember what I was going to say. Needless to say I love you all. Hmmmm maybe that was a stretch. You know who are - I really miss you already. Anyways - today was fabulous. My beautiful friends got me the best gift EVER - a gift certificate to Tai Pan trading, best store EV-ER and then we had the best dip party, yes you guessed it -EVERRR!! Thank you everyone who made me feel so special. Sorry I teared up. Like I've said, I think the mold in my apartment has affected me. Like a tenderizer. OOOOOh did I mention we danced to Hangin Tough and - - here's some pics to immortalize my awesome friends.

This is teh dance party - Amy and Linds are rocking to WP - Wilson Phillips that is.

Cutest picture EVER......and of course Scott ignoring all pleasantries as usual. this picture compliments of 12x zoom:)

Janea and Julie - you guys are fabulous- this is my exit interview with Laurie. We both always remember the tender equipment rendered and sweet forms signed.....

2009-04-06T21:08:00.003-06:00

Soooooooooooo what is the new adventure? Well, I there are recent developments that are super exciting, but I think I'll first mention my recent obsession with fruit leather. Somehow I don't know how this gem has dropped of fthe radar, but I decided that since I love buying fruit when its on sale, but I can never eat it fast enough before it goes bad, instead of buying less fruit, I decided my only option is to figure out how to make the fruit last. And I remembered this refrigerator-size fruit dryer (drier?) that my mom had growing up that we made the bomb fruit leather on. Alas, it is no more, but I would not be deterred. So I read some recipes on making it without a dehydrator, basically just pureeing the fruit and then slow drying it in the oven on its lowest setting. I also think I missed the part about using parchment paper, not wax paper. So I puree the apples (with the skins on, can't lose the fiber) and spread it out on wax paper and stick it in the oven. This is getting long. So I turn it on low before I go to bed (yes yes I hear you) get paranoid around 1am, so I turn the oven off, and in the morning its pretty good, but I decide to turn the oven back on for a bit. Hmmm, fine line between leather and brittle. Somehow I bet all of this could be deducted from the pictures. Obviously, I got nothing more than a lick.

2009-03-13T16:05:00.005-06:00

So I haven't updated on my new talent as a hairdresser (yes I"m makign all these blogs on the same day) I really wish I had taken pictures of me foiling my hair, but I figured if Stephanie can do it, then I could give it a whirl. (Not that you're not amazing Stephanie). I'm going to outline this so we can either praise my brilliance or shiver at my lunacy. So I got buy a mahogany brown (Becca did this last time) with a 20 developer? Maybe I used the 30 developer for that.....I know I bought 2 little bottles, one of each developer. Then I bought MAGENTA, especially for dark hair. I bought 2 brushes, a bowl ( yes just one, dumb huh). Then I tore up strips of foil when i got home because seriously I did NOT need 500 sheets for 13.65. Anyways. Then I start separating hair - MAN i really wish I had taken pics of that. Anyways. Maybe we can see from these pics, but it turned out pretty cool. However, I think its very revealing of the environments I'm in when I go to the office and all I get is ' Ooooh red, that is interesting', 'That is bold girly, you're more gutsy than I am'. HELLLLO it looks awesome!! And then I go down to the lobby at work and a client with black fingernails says 'OH MY GOSH I love your hair!'. Yes that is how fabulous it is.

2009-03-13T15:47:00.003-06:00

So as I'm reading other peoples blogs, I realized that I have neither children or pets....or really anything except school right now. And since I am NOT going to put pictures of my textbooks on this blog, I had to hunt for the changes in my life that I could blog about. And that brings me too........du du duhhhhhh.... HOME DECOR! Oh my gosh are you so excited?! Ok not really, but I"m really do love home decor and like to spend my spare time watching HGTV Spice My Kitchen and shopping for the ideal kitchen. Shout out to Jessica Balls. You're my idol. Someday I'll have my perfect kitchen.....but until then, I have a new wall decor. Nothing too large I supposeeee, but I'd like to welcome Leaf to the house. I have a frame in process that i'm excited about - my friend Laurie made the frame herself awhile ago and I stained it and now I"m putting a quote on it but decopaged? pictures, but somehow I got back to Utah missing like 8 letters for the quote -- so if Stephanie is reading this, I need m, i, m, a, u, e, e in Jasmine, I think size 3?

2009-01-25T20:42:00.005-07:00

So I debate on whether I should share my joyssss or my frustrations. But since my current moral frustration with the current business associates is really long and drawn out - I'll just stick to my really fabulous new fruit paintings!!!! Unfortunately, I seem to be increasingly anal about quality and when the 2 new paintings came and they are so much better than then the top two that I already had, now i want to buy those ones again so that the quality will all match!! Wasteful yes. Necessary........most likely. I went to Chris Hodgson's farewell today - it was good. Aunt Kerri, Sheryl and Lanny, David and Deb were all there. Hasta luego

Holiday Magic

2009-01-03T14:49:00.002-07:00

So there wasn't much magic - but the holidays were good. I got to see some great friends Amy and Erin, which just showed how socially retarded I have become. I was able to go to Washington for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas which hasn't happened in many moons. This Christmas was a STEAL. I would like to be humble and not talk about how much awesome stuff I got, but really this blog is about me, so YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY WORD I SAY. (movie reference). Seriously though, I'm so blessed to be able to be with familiy AND get all the cool stuff I wanted:D. AND see one of my coolio brother Kevin's basket ball games. He looks like a Varsity Basketball Player - lol. My holiday decorations were killer too. I was going to put a bunch of pics on this but I think I'm lazy. HOWEVER, since I know everyone is concerned on my candy making skills and my previous demonstration of turd chocolates, I would like to report that I got pretty good - and thanks to the wisdom of my grandmother, my choclate covered cherries are now profesh. And I already boiled a can of Sweet and condensed milk to make caramel. Anyhoo - New years was good - low key. I looked pretty hot para que lo sepan! however, i ripped my pants. Distressful.
I start a new class on Friday - - sooo not looking forward to it. I've enjoyed watching Bowl Games and reading books that actually could be worth $135.00 AND probably be bought back by Wal-mart. as opposed to every single business book i've bought. This is a really long blog. I think I'll stop. Beso.

Do Over

2008-11-16T01:06:00.003-07:00

So yeah- obviously I can't figure out how to get that Hindu crap to translate back. So this will obviously be much less interesting. Unless you speak Hindu. I'm starting a blog because everyone else is. Which means I probably won't update it much, but I'm going to try to have note-worthy moments so that I can put them on this. For now, as soon as I figure out this thing, you all can see my sweet-A apartment where I spend all my time.

थे क्लेवेर्नेस इस Dormant

2008-11-16T00:54:00.004-07:00

सो इ - क्रेप सोमेहोव थिस इस अल ट्रांस्लातिंग इन्तो हिंदू! अन्य्हू। सो इ'म गोइंग तो टाइटल माय पेज अच्कोर्डिंग तो माय करंट गरद क्लास्सेस। एंड इ'म सुर यू अरे अल सूऊ जेअलोउस अबाउट मिस्सिंग आउट ओं माय एकोनोमेत्रिक्स क्लास। जुस्त रेमेम्बेर, वे कैन रिजेक्ट एंड फ़ैल तो रिजेक्ट। नेवर एक्सेप्ट। नेवर। सो अस सून अस इ लीर्ण तो पोस्ट पिक्स तो थिस बाद बॉय, यू कैन अल सी माय स्वीट-अ अपार्टमेन्ट वेयर इ स्पेंड अल माय टाइम।