Double Tagged

A few weeks ago i was tagged by my friend Trish to list 6 quarks about myself. I really wanted to do it,but i was about to post a bunch of awesome zoo pictures, so I waited. But then i got tagged by a different friend Tawnya for the same thing. So here goes, one for me and one for Joe. Our quarks that make us sooo different.
Our 6 Quarks:
1. For some reason, I get SUPER hyper right before bed time. I always have. I can remember when i was little, running down the hallway singing at the top of my lungs and then jumping on my parents bed and licking my mom's face. Ya, hyper may be an understatement. I have no idea why I get so wiggly and silly and crazy right before bed time, but i just do. I really cannot help it-I've tried. It takes me at least an hour to fall asleep-bare minimum. Joe is just the opposite. If I wasn't there to bug him to almost death, he could crawl into bed and be asleep in less than five minutes. Every night is a battle...and I always win.
2. Joe is a planner. Every night as he is brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed he plans out his next day. What time he will wake up, what he wants to accomplish, and everything in between. If he has an open window of time in his planning, he fills it. Even on Saturdays! He hates waking up and not knowing what he is going to do for the day. I, however, hate being scheduled. It leaves no room for spontaneity. Sure I have things that I'd like to get done, but without the pressure of a deadline. There is nothing I love more than the complete and total freedom of an open schedule.
3. When I am meeting new people, and even with friends, I always feel like I have to watch what I say so that I don't offend people. It started in junior high when I told someone that "i used to be so nerdy with my glasses", and my friend with glasses really had her feelings hurt. I felt so bad, and I have always tried not to do that ever again. Joe has an interesting sense of humor sometimes, where he says rude things to people and tries to play it off as sarcasm. For example, Joe used to tell his/my family that he really didn't mind when their kids touched their nasty germy hands all over his stuff. But then he doesn't laugh it off after, so as to give the recipient the reassurance that he was only joking. The truth is, he really means what he is saying, but assumes that everyone will just think he's joking. It drives my crazy. If he ever does this to anyone, you have my permission to tell him that he is a jerk.

To Be Continued....

My Attempt At Greatness

A few weeks ago for my birthday, Joe bought me some wooden letters that spell out "Ethan" and "Noah". He also bought for me some paints in different shades of blue and brown/tan so that i could match the letters to the boys current crib sets. It has taken me quite a while to get started on this project, but late last night I found a website that gave me a renewed inspiration to get me going on these letters. Here is the link, you're gonna LOVE it:
http://www.pinktaffydesigns.com/room-decor-hand-painted-wall-letters-c-101_168_272.html
The design for the name "Tristan" matches the boys cribsets perfectly so I'm gonna go for it! Wish me luck!

Also, as a bit of news, I will most definately be needing to baby-proof since Ethan has begun to crawl. Just as i was typing up this blog and feeding Noah, I could hear Ethan's voice echoing in the bathroom. Naturally I got up to check on him and found him behind the toilet sucking on a Q-Tip that must have fallen from the bathroom garbage. YUCK!!! Somy question is: what am i going to need to baby-proof now, before I find out the hard way again?

Let the Competition Begin!

This is just a little clip of the boys fighting. They usually play really well together but we caught them being mean. Ethan pulls Noah's hair the Noah pushes him back. Jess and I thought it was pretty funny.

Home Movies!

I took this video to share with the grandmas who don't get to see bathtime here in Iowa city. Normally I bathe them when I'm home alone, but this time Joe was here and I was more than happy to take the opportunity to put them both in at the same time. Noah loves to play with the stream of water that comes out. I never plug up the tub so that it can drain and i can turn the water back on for Noah to play with. Also notice that he sticks his toungue out to taste the water on his face. I think its so cute. Don't worry, this video is totally modest. Hope you all get a kick out of it!

Conference!

Conference was so great this weekend. Its always nice to get new inspiration to try a little harder to be a little better. my favorite conference quote was "you may not know everything, but you know enough". It really struck me that i can still make a difference despite how little i know. Joe is such a scriptorian, he can almost always finish a scripture by memory when it is quoted, and then give me the reference. How could i ever learn that?! After that talk I thought, "Jessica, you don't have to know everything to be good enough. Some things just take time, but for now, use what you've got." It really inspired me to keep trying and bit by bit, the rest will come.

During the priesthood session of conference, a friend of ours from the ward invited a group of us over for a Cafe Rio potluck dinner. Each person was supposed to bring an ingredient for a Cafe Rio salad. I volunteered to bring the sweet pork, and it turned out almost exactly how i remembered! I'll have to ask my picky food snob friends to know for sure (you know who you are haha). So for any of you who no longer have access to the sweet juicy goodness of cafe rio, here is the link to the recipe i found.

http://favfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html

I also had the opportunity to attend the funeral for the son of a friend of ours. We wish this family rest and comfort from their grief and hope for their future. We pray every day for their well being. For those who know this family, please remember them in your prayers as well.