Business Cards!!!

My business cards have arrived!

When I became a lia sophia advisor, I decided I needed some business cards to hand out to people so I wouldn't have to write my info all the time (very handy, business cards). Since I like designing things, I of course wanted to design my own! Logan gave me the idea of making it a generic card, so it could be used for graphic design stuff, personal stuff, or lia sophia stuff. Check it out!

I designed this logo a few months ago when I was preparing my portfolio for my current boss.

(The smudges are not on the actual card--that is for the benefit of this being on the internet)

The email address is new, but don't worry; my old email address is still active!

I'm so excited! Now I need to actually give them out...

Reorganizing

As you can tell from my blog pictures lately, Logan and I have been doing a lot of "housework" since he finished the academy. Our project this week was transforming the room formerly known as the playroom/former TV room/"front room that used to be a screened-in porch" into an office. Ever since I started doing work for Mariner Media it's been apparent that I needed a more official space for my "work stuff" than the little corner the computer occupied in our bedroom. Plus, it was always kind of weird inviting people into our bedroom to show them things I was working on. With the addition of my lia sophia items, the need for space increased. Now that Logan is working night shifts (and sleeps during the day) the need to get the computer out of the bedroom skyrocketed.

We had to clear a few hurdles first: 1) Internet. I send a lot of large files through emails and remote logins, so a fast internet connection was paramount. The new office didn't have an internet cable (and the walls, which used to be the external walls of the house, are over six inches thick and made of some incredibly hard substance. Additionally, the floor is a concrete slab, with no crawl space underneath). We discussed getting a wireless adapter for the PC, but we were concerned that this would hinder my ability to work from home. After a strange series of events with Comcast (oy!), we were able to bypass this problem by getting basic cable installed in our front room We then ran a line from that cable to the office. I'm not thrilled about the cable--I'm worried it could get distracting, even if it is only 7 channels--but it is kinda nice to have Tommy be able to watch Mr. Rogers (he doesn't find it terribly fascinating now...but he will.)

The next hurdle was getting the computer desk from our room to the office. Logan had a horrible time getting it into our room in the first place: he had to move a kitchen cabinet, and bend the not-so-bendy desk to get it through the strangely small door opening (it's barely over 2 feet wide). Since we've installed new cabinets, that was no longer an option. Our creative solution was to take the desk out through the window, which worked surprisingly well!

Did I mention that Logan and I moved the desk at about 1:30 in the morning?

Anyway, we seem to be able to "reorganize" better after the boys are in bed, so many of our projects have a late-night flair.

I probably won't post pictures, because the office isn't really all that impressive looking, but it is so much more convenient! I had a "graphic design emergency" this morning, and it was so nice to be able to sit and work, and have Jack play just a few feet from me, perfectly contented! All his toys are still in this room, so he had a lot more fun than he would have if we'd been in my bedroom.

As I said, Logan's working the night shift this week. A curious change of pace. It seemed to work out okay today, but I'm interested to see how things work out over the next few days. There's a chance Logan will be on the night shift permanently once the department goes to 12 hour shifts in August--we actually think this would be good, because then he'd always be able to attend church, but it's strange only seeing him in the late afternoon, even though he's technically "home."

Anyway, this post is getting rambly (it's late), so I'll say farewell. I hope everyone is having a cooler summer than Virginia right now!

Before I Forget

Lately Tommy has been singing A LOT! It's very entertaining, as evidenced by these latest greatest hits:

(To the tune of "Beauty and the Beast")

Tale as old as Jack

La da da da Jack

Tale as old as Jack

Jack la da da Jack

Beauty and the Jack

(Keep Walking from the Veggie Tales story "Josh and the Wall", sung at full blast in the middle of Wal-Mart)

KEEP WALKIN'! KEEP WALKIN'!

La da da da

KEEP WALKIN'!

Lah de dah de dah, lah de dah de dah,

What's the name of that song?

Lah de dah de dah, lah de dah de dah,

What's the name of that song?!

(from Sesame Street, sung in the middle of Sacrament)

This is the song, la la la la, Daddy's song

La la la la, la la la la, Daddy's song

La la la, la la la laaaaaah

La la la, la la la laaaaaah

I love to sing, la la la la, Daddy's song

La la la la, la la la la, Daddy's song

(He mumbles here, but the real words are "He loves the music, he loves the words")

That's Daddy's SOOOOOOOONNNNNG!!!!!! (Tommy's very good at long, loud notes!)

(To the tune of Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast")

NOOOOOOOOO ONE ladadada da da DA la da SPIT da da da! (repeated over, and over and over)

Pinky and da Brain! Pinky and da Brain!

La da de dah, dah INSANE!

Prove (mumbles) WORTH

Overthrow the EARTH

Dinky, Pinky and da Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain NARF!

(He's actually pretty close on this one...just a few mumbled parts!)

He's also very good at the Tarzan yell :-)

Logan's graduation

I got these picture's of Logan's police academy graduation from my Mom's blog. Sorry we don't have more! Hopefully we'll get some soon. Enjoy!

Our little family. Logan's much happier than he looks in this photo

--he just doesn't like having his picture taken that much...

Getting his badge pinned on by his police chief

Logan and his parents

Fun in the...humidity

Pictures from Penny Park

Note the elephant in one hand, and the horse in the other. They are members of Tommy's new entourage, whom he insists on taking everywhere with him...

Okay, Jack is ADORABLE in person, but he always seems to have his eyes closed in pictures.

I think he gets it from his grandma Rae Rae...

(entourage members not pictured: Giraffe and Dinosaur)

My little Gerber baby

He could do this for hours...

(doesn't he look like his daddy?)

This week the boys and I took a trip to the park, because I figured they could use some "outside time." Little did I realize that it was the HOTTEST, most HUMID day of the week! It was overcast, but very uncomfortable. Luckily, the boys didn't seem to care. They loved being on the swings, and Tommy had a lot of fun throwing bark dust chips down the slide. They're cute little guys!

The End Result

Last weekend Logan and I finished our living room! Our new couch cover arrived, we put up the chair rail, and hung our family pictures. Soooo exciting! I love how it looks, and it's much easier to keep it clean when it actually looks like a room with a purpose :-)

I was able to hold my first lia sophia show there on Tuesday, and it was wonderful! It was the first time in a long time that I wasn't embarrassed to have somebody in our front room. I have to admit, I was pretty proud, and eager to show it off (as well as the jewelry).

(please ignore the laundry basket)

and yes, the couch IS a different color...

Don't the red and the gold look great together??

Next on the agenda: turning the playroom into the office. Logan and I have decided that we need a space for the computer that isn't in our bedroom, and my lia sophia supplies are beginning to grow! I'll keep you updated if we do anything major, but at least I don't need to paint the room. We just need to figure out how to get reliable internet in there...

Interlude

Today was one of those days where my stress level hit a high note and made me a bit grouchy. The kids were good for most of the day, but for some reason when Logan got home Tommy decided to yell at him (we don't know what he was yelling, but he was very emphatic about it), Jack decided to be clingy, Tommy began bouncing off the walls, and in the middle of all this my lia sophia jewelry kit showed up. I was very excited to get (and open!!) my kit, but it was a recipe for disaster. Since I was wanting to look at the jewelry, my two lovely boys wanted to look at it, too, but since my stress level was high the situation did not turn out well. Tommy was crying, Jack was crying, and I felt like screaming!

Anywho, I finally declared to Logan that I was getting too stressed out, and needed to just relax. He jumped right in to help as much as he could, and took Jack to another room to play peek-a-boo, and wrestled with Tommy to get some of his excess energy out. Such a relief! I plopped down on the couch to watch an episode of "Gilmore Girls" and let my brain unwind.

About ten minutes later, Tommy quietly came back into the living room and said, "Mommy, are you okay?"

It was soooo sweet! My heart just melted. Here I was, wallowing in my own stressed-out selfish pity mode, and Tommy noticed! He ran up and gave me a hug, and rested his head on my shoulder for a bit.

Those are the moments that make being a mommy--even on the not-so-easy days--worth it.

A Child's Prayer

Heavenly Father

Thank thee for this day

Bless the cat

Bless the dog

Bless Achilles (our cat)

Amen.

--Tommy, this morning at breakfast

Picture Post

Sunset from our kitchen window. I love this view!!

Tommy eating one of his new favorite foods--Pizza

Jack, eating one of his new "solid" foods--green beans. Lately he's been very determined to feed himself. He gets mad at me if I try to feed him with a spoon! Thank goodness for baths.

Awww....ain't he cute? 9 months old!

The new livingroom color! This room is about 85% done. We need to add a chair rail, and I'm waiting for the couch cover to come in the mail, and I need to hang the pictures back up. Sooo close!

See my color palette...

The first rose on our new rosebush! We also have a low climbing dark pink rose plant, and a bush that gets tiny white roses. This particular rose is called Jacob's Ladder.

Our flourishing plant!!!

Papa, Tommy, Jack, and Logan feeding the fish at Smith Mt. Lake

The crazy fish at Smith Mt. Lake. They were HUGE. And very aggressive.

Tommy loved feeding the fish! And Jack is learning to stand...

Tommy playing miniature golf at Smith Mt. Lake (an interesting experience...)

Jack, Grandpa Tad, Logan, and Tommy at a boxwood maze in Bedford

We at at a cafe that used to be a train station. Quite tasty, and CUTE!

The past few weeks... (Finally!)

Whew! What a whirl wind the past few weeks have been!

On May 26th, Logan graduated from the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy in Roanoke, Va. We were so happy to be able to have his parents (as well as Nanna and Papa) there to celebrate with us! It was a nice ceremony, pretty short and sweet, and we were so proud of him! He received an award for being an "Iron Man" (receiving 100% on his physical test, which he did numerous times). After the graduation ceremony we drove up to Smith Mountain Lake, a retirement/resort area about 45 minutes from Roanoke, where we stayed in a house for three days to just sit back and relax. It was loads of fun! Logan and I took Tommy swimming in the lake, and we had some exciting adventures with the fish near one of the shopping centers (they were HUGE and very used to eating popcorn...) Tommy and Jack slept really well the whole trip, which made Mommy happy!

(Pictures will be in a separate post)

Sadly, Nanna and Grandma Rae Rae (my mom and Logan's mom, respectively) both got sick the last day we were at the lake! Still not sure how that happened, because it wasn't food poisoning, but it wasn't too fun for them. Logan ended up getting sick too, but not until just before he started work...luckily, the Lord seemed to be sustaining him, because he'd be fine at work, and then come home and sleep for hours, and his fever would go up, etc...he seems to be doing better now, but it wasn't a fun way to start out.

Other than the illness, he's doing well in Lexington. He's pretty happy to be done with school and moving on to the "real thing." He'll spend three weeks with a FTO (field training officer) on the evening shift, then he'll switch to a new FTO on the night shift, then three weeks later switch to another FTO on the day shift. At the end of those three weeks, he'll be ready to be on his own! Hopefully he'll be on the day shift, because that was his original shift he was hired for, but there's a possibility the new police chief might change the way the shifts work, so we'll have to see what happens when August rolls around.

Logan's parents stayed for 10 days, and we had fun playing with them, and working on some small house projects (I FINALLY painted my living room, and I actually like the color! It's getting so close...) Logan's mom also had the opportunity to do some family history work while she was out here, since she has some family dating back to the 1700s in Rockbridge county. Small world! Logan's dad took a ton of pictures while they were here (and I didn't) and I was hoping to get copies, but sadly he realized when he went to download them that he didn't have the right cable...sad...but he's going to send them later. It's always nice to have them come and visit us, and the boys certainly enjoyed getting to know them better!

In other news...

I have decided to become a Lia Sophia advisor! Lia Sophia is a fabulous jewelry company owned by the same family that owns Remington shavers (not that the two things are very related...). It's the type of business where you do parties and people can actually see examples of the product, as well as order items out of the catalog. I was hesitant to start up initially, because I wasn't sure how interested I would be in selling jewelry, but excitement is contagious! It really is a great product (and has a fabulous warranty...100% replacement on broken items, which is invaluable when you have toddler who likes to play with necklaces and/or earrings), plus wearing it makes me feel "girly" (which my husband likes). I love the energy of the parties, and the ability I'll have to run my own business from home! I'll keep you posted of how I progress, but if you'd like to take a look at the type of jewelry Lia Sophia produces, check out their website. And if you'd like to buy some pieces, let me know and I'll hook you up with some fabulous hostess perks...

And one last piece of small news: Logan and I bought three rosebushes a few weeks ago, which Dad helped me plant. We weren't expecting much out of them this year, but they've already started blooming! Each bush has bloomed at least once, which makes me happy. It's nice to look out the window and see a splash of color :-)

Great talk!

I remember hearing this talk by President Monson the year before I got married. The line that struck me the most was "Remember that ofttimes the wisdom of God appears as foolishness to men, but the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right."

When I was searching lds.org for the text of the talk, I discovered that President Monson has been saying that for years! Must be true, eh?

LDS.org - Liahona Article - Constant Truths for Changing Times