P.S. Halloween Happened

We were dinosaurs and at least two of us were darling. Wiggly tails, spikes, and all.

This was Logan's first year trick-or-treating and he LOVED it. He was a little shocked each time people just gave him treats. Getting to be a dinosaur and roar at everyone was a bonus.

This is the best we got on my camera as far as a family picture goes. One of us is always pulling some weird face.

a million things

I can't sleep again. bah. I hate this... I'm fully exhausted all day and then can't sleep at night. It's me being stressed over all the usual things, and all the new things.

Baby could come any day now- emotionally I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be for him. I'm pretty excited now, but stressed out of my mind at the same time. From what I hear I need to get used to that feeling. As far as being actually prepared for him to get here- not even close. His clothes need to be washed, his crib finished, and about a million little things need to still be bought. Yikes. Also, his room is currently serving as my make-shift craft room. I'm already dreaming of the day I'll have space of my very own to make things.

The craft room monstrosity is because I decided fairly last minute (as in two weeks ago) that I want to do all or most of our Christmas presents to family by hand this year. yikes. Nephew's gift is nearly done now and I have to say it's even cuter than I'd hoped. I'm a little in love with it. I also have most of the stuff together to make sister's present. The goal is to have all of the Van Allens' gifts done by the time Mom leaves from helping with brand-new-baby. wish me luck!

Today the maintenance guys are coming to check on our air-conditioner, smoke detectors, vents, etc. I'm thrilled. Ok... I lied. I don't want them to come. Mr. Joseph will be at school and their visit means I won't get to nap. dang. Plus we had to move the shelves that my sweet husband made me so that they can get to the air filter. Also- we get to meet with the bishop tonight. Not sure what that's about and not sure I'm excited. Now would be a fairly inconvenient time to get a calling.

Mr. Joseph is talking in his sleep in there. It makes me think of the part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Ron talks in his sleep- possibly my favorite moment of that movie. It's kinda adorable. The poor guy is also sleeping in a long sleeve shirt and pj pants since my little space heater (aka baby Booger) makes it so I have to turn on the air conditioner despite it being the middle of November.

Nikki's James comes home today. Holy flip. I'm so excited for her. Russia buddies forever lady. Crazy to think this means that it's been almost two whole years since Mr. Joseph got home. James flew to Russia the day Kimbal came home from his mission. I can't even believe we've known each other (or at least known of each other) for that long Nikki. I'm so happy for you! It's going to be wonderful!

I miss my MG's. All of you. Like a whole lot. I want to come see you all badly, but I'm not really supposed to travel. bah. I'm trying to think of some way we can fit all of you into our itty-bitty apartment for a get together. Perhaps sometime in early January when Booger is still little and new, but not so new he's super susceptible to getting sick (I'm already getting paranoid about that).

happy?

Last night Mr. Joseph asked me if I'm happy. For the first time since we got married, I had a hard time answering that. Am I happy? With what exactly? With him? Absolutely. He's amazing- I honestly never dreamed I'd have a husband this caring, loving, and understanding. But with life in general? I'm not sure. I know life is hard for everyone right now, but sometimes I let myself indulge in a little pity party because we just can't seem to catch a break. We've been trying to get a steady job for over a year. Being poor I can handle- being completely and utterly broke... not so much. We're only a few weeks (at the very most) away from this baby getting here and we don't have the time or the money to get his room in order. On the other hand, I have an incredible husband, a great family, and while I'd love to have a few friends who live close to me the ones I've got are pretty incredible. I'm trying so hard to do my best here, but I've about reached my limit of stress before I just break down. Whine much? Yes. But I have to get it out so I can try to move on and get something done today.

First up- Today I get to work on Cameron's Christmas present! YAY! My sweet husband got my sewing machine all cleaned up and running. I'm psyched. I just hope I'm better at sewing than I think I might be... yikes. Also looking for tutorials for crafts for my Momma. Already found a few that I think she'll love. Bomb.

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."

-Margaret Bonnano

Smarty Pants

I LOVE when I know things that Mr. Joseph doesn't know.

I've always been a smarty pants. I don't know when or how it happened, but it's true. I know random crap and retain most anything I read. Sometimes it's super, odds are good I'll kick your butt at trivia games, but sometimes it just makes people hate me. I think it made Fate want to spite me a little too because I married one of the few people I've ever met who not only knows most of the stuff I know, but a ton of things I never even thought to memorize. Dang. I never feel like the smarty anymore- after years of hiding behind that it's a tough blow to the ego. So when Mr. Joseph asks me a question I sometimes instinctively rattle off the answer in true know-it-all form (you know, absently- as though the k.i.a. is clearly contemplating deeper things and is a. too important to be bothered by your mundane inquiry and b. judging you for not knowing something so basic in the first place). Then I have to stop- frequently I literally stop whatever I'm doing, especially if it's walking- and stare at him for a moment. Is he serious? Do I really know something he doesn't know? Or is he just trying to make me feel good about my intelligence for one brief, shining moment in my day? Sometimes I ask him, "Did you really not know that?" because I can tell when he's lying most of the time. Then if he didn't really know I proceed to gloat until the next time I have to ask him a question I don't know the answer to and surrender that elusive pair of smarty pants.

We're...

exercising. For anyone who knows me... REALLY knows me... I HATE to exercise. Loathe entirely (totally picturing Sister doing her whole Grinch bit right now. Hilarity.) but Mr. Joseph and I got talking. I've been losing weight. Good? Not so much. I seem to only be losing from the girls and the tush. My two favorite zones. His too... just sayin. So we decided to get in shape. Bad choice? I think so... We're about five days in and I'm still sore from day one and hating life. Help anyone?

Russian with love

Preevyet! (Hi!) For those of you who don't know.... I'm learning to speak Russian right now. It's pretty exciting and I'm becoming obsessed with the idea of have super secret conversations in Russian with Mr. Joseph on Trax and going to Russia on a couples mission and pretending we're foreign at the bus stop etc. My sweet husband swears I'm doing great but I have the reading level of about a four year old (I can sound things out but have NO CLUE what I'm saying) and the vocabulary of a two year old. We work hard but it's a pretty crazy language and my brain can only hold so much at a time. My favorite part of Russian lessons though is how excited and proud Mr. Joseph looks when I get something right. Love it! We watch movies in Russian sometimes to suplement the lessons and keep his language skills up. Twister is our favorite and pretty much the only one I can watch the whole way through without getting bored or frustrated but Mr. Joseph worries that if we keep watching that one I'll be able to swear in Russian but nothing else. Typical me right?! I also love watching War and Peace with him but it doesn't have subtitles or anything and it's tough for him to translate it fast enough for me. Dasvyedania!

Computer time! Yay!

So I'm in the library again... yayayayay. And I have so much I want to tell you all right now.

First. I have the best husband in the whole world. Really. Don't you other married girls try to argue with me. Mr. Joseph wins hands down. He's so good to me. I want to cry every time I have a second to think about how blessed I am to have him. He's just amazing and he understands me more than I understand myself sometimes. Today we went to Albertsons on the way to the bus stop. We realized we didn't really plan in the fact that it was lunch-ish time when we left. So we stopped and got some things there and then got on the bus and rode to the school. We had a lovely little picnic by the library. It was wonderful. I'm not doing it justice at all but the important thing is I love him. And us. And this beautiful life we're building every day.

Second. I keep thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. A mom first and foremost. And a darn good one if I have anything to say about it. But do I want anything else? I've known for a few years now that if I do have a job... I think I'd be happiest in the wedding industry. Really I'm obsessed. It's a little sick. So Mr. Joseph and I got talking the other night and I'm now thinking that I want to maybe do wedding planning as well as doing wedding cakes. I don't exactly know how to break into the biz though... Any thoughts? Tips? Anything?
You all know me... Do you think I'd be any good at that?