Giveaway! May 18, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Saba, Thoughts, Utah , 11commentsHey you! Yeah you! Looking at my blog on your monitor!
We’re friends, I’m sure of it. Even if I don’t know you. (At least I think we are because you’re reading this.)
Here’s the thing, our relationship has been so one way. I’m always talking, and you’re always listening.
ALWAYS listening.
Come on, you want to say something sometimes. Right?
I know you do.
One way conversations are SO BORING!
So, here’s the thing, speak up!
Yeah you! Reading this right now!
It has come to my attention by many readers that you may not know how to say something.
Several of you have sent me emails expressing your suppressed frustration with not knowing how to comment.
Well, I’m here to clear things up.
My blog layout is a little different from other blogs.
I know the most logical place to look to leave a comment it at the END of a blog post, but what can I say? I like to switch things up. I like to keep my readers guessing and confused. I guess.
On my blog, if you look at the TOP of the post, you will see the categories for the post and NUMBER of COMMENTS.
It’s really that simple. Just click on COMMENTS, and you will have the floor to say what ever you want, for how ever long you want.
When writing a comment, the field asks for your name, email, and web address if you have one. Here’s the break down:
- NAME: Tells me who you are
- EMAIL: tells me you’re a REAL person (your email won’t be published). Not just some crazy computer spamming me. I get plenty of spam. Thank goodness for this field to weed all that out.
- WEB ADDRESS: If you have a blog or other website enter your web address, and other readers who read your comment will be directly linked to your site when they click on your name.
Simple, right?
So speak up now!
Leave me a comment! I want to know who you are! Since we’re friends and all, you should at least say, “hi!” Tell me what your wearing, where you’re from, what you like to do, or what you like to eat. Heck, just leave a comment saying, “I read the dang post.”
That will do.
As a thanks for making this a two-way conversation, I’m having a GIVEAWAY!
It’s not a typical giveaway contest because EVERYONE wins! Really! I’m posting high resolution downloads of Saba. Want a new screen saver? Desk top photo? A cruise ship on your bathroom wall?
Please take.
To download a picture using Mozilla Firefox, simply right click on the picture then select, “Save Link As” and select where you want to save it. To download a picture using Internet Explorer, you also right click on the picture and then select, “Save Target As” and select where you want to save the file. There you have it! (You could even comment to say which picture you like. Totally easy!)
Saba Rainbow
Saba Sunset
Saba Sunrise
Saba Runway
Saba Cruise Ship
Islands off Saba
View of Saba Villages
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sporting a C-Collar May 16, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Friends, Saba , 1 comment so farSome of you may have heard about my friend, Coleen, and her wrestle with death.
She escaped with a hangman’s fracture on her vertebrae. If you think that’s bad, you should have heard what happened to “death.”
Death did not survive.
Under STRICT doctor’s orders, (meaning her and her husband’s orders since they are officially doc’s now) she is taking it easy.
Living up it up on the most kick back island on the planet, Saba.
I asked her to send me a picture of her frolicking on the beach in her sexy C-collar (she’ll be sporting this awesome neck brace for the next three months).
I am 90% happy for her to be relaxing in the Caribbean, and 90% jealous.
(I know those percentages don’t add up. I’m not known for my “mathlete skills” you know.)
Doesn’t Co make this C-Collar look glamorous? Like a rockin’ choker or something?
I think so.
May the Saba sun heal all her aliments.
Dallin Newsletter #4 May 7, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Little Man Dallin, My Former Dog Children, Saba , 5commentsThis little guy smells like strawberries and brown sugar.
All the time.
In fact, I’m pretty sure your monitor is going to smell like strawberries just by looking at this face.
Our little Dallin boy is 10 months old this week:
- Dallin has precise little fingers that double at tweezers. (He’s tried them on Paris several times.)
- He speed crawls up the stairs and looks back at you with his I’m-so-smart-catch-me-if-you-can grin.
- He already subscribes to the toddler rule of “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.”
- He will wrestle anyone or anything (meaning the dog) that gets in his way.
- He will climb all over you. He climbs on everything.
- He turns into an octopus in the bathtub splashing enough water to wash the entire house.
- He does not like his nose wiped. EVER. Under any circumstances.
- He will steal what you’re eating and not think twice about it. Beware of chocolate. He can smell it across the room, and if you happen to be eating a chocolate chip cookie, he will inhale it in no time and possibly your hand too.
- He is a mama’s boy. The second I’m out of sight, his whole world falls apart. When he cries, I think, “ . . . so all those months I wore you in the Snugli do matter!”
He is very bashful, but after he warms up he will slobber your cheek with wet kisses.
Come with clean cheeks, leave with dirty ones.
That’s the way he rolls.
Kansas, There’s No Place Like Home May 5, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Saba, Texas, Utah , 8commentsIn every place we’ve lived, we’ve noticed certain attitudes or trademarks which are unique to the area.
For example, you know you’re in Utah because every other car is a mini-van, having 6 or more children is the norm, and people say, “Oh my freakin’ heck!”
In Texas, every other car is a BIG TRUCK and the kind folk say, “Hey y’all!”
In the Caribbean, when someone is having a birthday, they say, “My daughter just MADE eight.” Instead of saying, “My daughter just turned eight.”
You know, slight differences that remind me no matter how comfortable I feel in a certain place, it’s a little different from home.
Kansas is no different.
This is what David and I have noted:
- TONS of people have vanity plates. Like every other car.
- Kansans are very friendly. I’ve met most of my girlfriends at the park or out shopping. When someone asks for your phone number, they WILL call you. Make sure you like the person you’re giving your number too, or have a fake one ready . . .
- Kansans are very, very proud to be from the Kansas side of Kansas City. Which is the side I’m on, so I guess by default, that makes me very proud.
- Spring does not come early around here. It’s May, and this is what it looks like:
In a nutshell, Kansas is a late blooming state full of friendly people who love vanity plates.
When Two Medical Students Study Together . . . March 3, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Friends, Kansas, Saba, Thoughts , 4commentsWhile I patiently wait for access to post pictures of our grand adventure in Kansas, I thought I post these lovely pictures from our visit with Dave and Coleen. They drove down from Idaho to visit us right before we moved to Kansas.
This is is what happens when two medical students spend a lot of time together studying. They get married, and have a baby.
Meet Anabelle.
Daughter of Dave and Coleen.
(She is so darling a petite. Dallin was like a semi-truck next to her.)
Grand daughter of Clover from Saba.
I miss Saba. Especially the people. I wish I could drop into El Momo and chat it up with Clover today.
Actually, today would be nice to be on Saba. It is currently 35 degrees outside with a blanket of snow covering the ground. I just got an email from a friend on Saba and she was going on and on about how beautiful it is right now. The weather is perfect. She has been enjoying a slight breeze coming from the east, while she sits out on her patio watching cruise ships, sail boats, and planes go by.
Thank you for reminding me that I could not be more landlocked than I am right now. Smack dab in the middle of the USA.
I’m missing Saba.
Missing warm weather.
Missing my Saba friends.
A Little of This and a Little of That February 5, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Family, Islands, Photography, Princess Hannah, Saba, Trips , 2commentsCan you believe I’ve had other things fill my free time besides blogging?
I know. GASP.
Truth is, I’ve been otherwise anxiously engaged in other causes. It makes me feel busy and important (much like how I used to feel when I had a career and every minute of my life belonged to someone/something else).
We move in about two weeks. We found a place to live. I think it’ll be great.
I mean, I hope it’ll be great.
LET’S PRAY THAT IT IS. Um, ’cause I haven’t actually seen it. But it sounds great, and the pics look good, and some friends that live in Kansas City area have vouched for the area and thus VALIDATED my hunch that I’m going to like the place.
But, if it’s not a great place, then we just plunked down a lot of money on a dive. And that makes my want to to throw up a little bit in my mouth.
GULP.
But moving on (and literally, we’ll be doing that in a few days). My mother-in-law is recovering from knee surgery. Hannah has been an excellent nurse. She drinks Gloria’s Ensure, (which, by the way, is one of the perks of surgery. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Ensure and would drink it everyday if I knew people wouldn’t tease me for liking a geriatric drink. And . . . if it wasn’t like 400 calories per serving. I’m just sayin’ . . .) offers her marshmallows, (you know, to take the pain away) and snuggles up in bed next to her grandma. Hannah only has to be reminded 346 times a day to not touch the hurt knee.
Such a good little caretaker.
Gloria has been somewhat stranded in her bed with only our little live-in family as visitors. As fun as we are, I know she likes to see other familiar faces and spend time with other people who don’t hang out in their pajamas all day. You know the kind, people with personal hygiene. People who wear regular clothing and shower. Daily.
Anyhoo, just yesterday was such an occasion. Some of her siblings came by to see her in her laid up state. For some reason, (see I don’t know how they got onto this subject because I wasn’t actually in the room. I was just minding my own business making myself some lunch in the kitchen and couldn’t help myself from overhearing this conversation) they got to talking about “scary runways.”
Now, everyone in that room was well-traveled. They talked about this place and that place and every place in-between. They were all positive they had flown on and off of “scary” runways.
I’m not one to assert my opinion when I’m not asked, but yesterday, I had to say something.
I needed to back up my in-laws.
Remember how I used to live on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean? And remember how I blogged about the scary runway here? Well, it turns out, I’M NOT CRAZY.
(This is the Saba runway. Picture by David.)
Travel and Leisure magazine named the top ten scariest runways in the world. Saba and Sint Maarten were in the top ten.
(This is the Sint Maarten runway. Picture by David.)
See, take that you people who think I over-exaggerate everything.
Balancing Act January 15, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , 2commentsAt our house, we believe balance is very important. This is what David starts doing with our kids when they are about two months old:
Obviously, David loves it. And there is a 99% chance Dallin will stop crying when David holds him like this. HE LOVES IT. Dallin thinks he is so smart, and so cool while standing in his dad’s palms.
Which of course, he is.
David practiced this with Hannah when we she was just a few months old (we lived down in the Caribbean).
She loved it too and stood super straight with her arms to the side.
If our kids ever make it to the Olympics in gymnastics, we’ll all know where they got their start!
Not Assuming Anything January 8, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Saba, Thoughts , 9commentsWhen David and I moved to Saba, in the Caribbean, I assumed housing accommodations and house standards would be a lot like the United States. I neglected to ask a few important questions (not that anything would have changed, but I would have had a better understanding of the island and moved there with both eyes open) and I was astounded when I realized I was responsible for my own running water.
YES, RESPONSIBLE TO COLLECT MY OWN RUNNING WATER.
While this was not complicated, (every house had a cistern and the rain on the roof would run off into it) it was still stressful to think about our water level and I constantly prayed for rain so I could take a long shower.
This week, all of my time has been spent looking for a place to live in Kansas City. When inquiring about at home, I ask questions like: Does it have running water? Does it have a dishwasher and disposal? (Because my house on Saba had neither of these items and I SWORE on my grandmother’s grave that I would NEVER, NEVER, I repeat, NEVER move into a house without a dishwasher ever again. I have hand washed more than my fair share of dishes and it is the ULTIMATE not-fun time waster! ) What about a roof and air conditioning? Do the doors lock? (My house on Saba didn’t have locking doors. Anyone could just help themselves to my house and my stuff ANYTIME.) I don’t want to assume anything you know. During this week where all my free time has been spent scouring Craigslist for housing, I feel like I have come to know the people and the city layout of Kansas City. This means I have probably spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME on this task.
I did find us a great place, and hopefully, it will be ours!
I also found the steal of the century on a crib, changing table, and pottery barn crib bedding. It pays off to shop Craigslist and KSL.com!
Why We Miss Living in a Warm Climate December 21, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Islands, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba, Thoughts , 5commentsWe’re all sick around here.
One of the reasons David and I want to settle in a warm climate is to avoid the chronic sickness that comes along with cold weather.
David starts a Pediatric rotation in a couple weeks. When I complained to him about doing a Pediatric rotation during the winter months, and ALL THE SICK KIDS he would see all day, everyday, who would be coughing, sneezing and sharing their nasty germs with him, he smiled.
Because if he sees a thousand sick kids over the next six weeks, he’s going to learn something about how to treat and care for most child related illnesses. Won’t that be great for us when our kids get sick? He’ll know how to treat them! What better time to do a pediatric rotation?
This is honestly what he said to me. This man must be the most optimistic person that ever lived. (The benefits of seeing so many sick kids during the peak winter months never crossed my mind . . . but I must admit, I LOVE this quality about my husband.)
All I’m saying, is that when we lived here:
Hannah and I never got sick. Not once. From time to time, I may have thought I was going to die from heat stroke, or drown from breathing such humid air, but we never got colds.
Here’s to hoping there’s a warm climate in our future . . .
No Longer Flying Under the Radar December 4, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Books, Holidays, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Saba, Thoughts, Utah , 5commentsIt’s official. I have been accepted into the blogging world. After two years of blogging and over 225 posts, I have been tagged for the first time. (I had no idea what that term meant for like a year.)
8 Favorite Books:
I have so many favorite books. I’ll have to just pick a few.
Twilight Series (all four books)
Harry Potter series (all the books)
The Time Traveler’s wife
The Shopaholic Series
Good Night, Sleep Tight. (The Sleep Lady’s Gentle approach to get your kid to go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up happy
Baby Proof (by Emily Giffin)
InStyle Getting Gorgeous (written by the editors of InStyle)
Being Happy
8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
Yesterday is just so yesterday. I’m petty sure I can’t recall eight things I did over 24 hours ago, so I’ll name eight things that happened today while my brain is still working:
I showered
I put on make-up
I took my kids to The Festival of Trees
Loaded the dishwasher
Talked to my sister Jenn
Edited photos
Talked to Dave
Changed EIGHT poopie diapers and cleaned up my dogs poop THREE times.
8 Things to Look Forward to:
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
My husband coming home after an eight week absence
And some other stuff like: Dallin being 100% sleep trained, couples Christmas party, Family Christmas party, Christmas, Moving to Kansas, and a glorious reunion with my stuff in storage.
8 Things on My Wish list:
A Nikon D90 (with several different lenses)
A MASSIVE computer monitor for photo editing.
A powerful desktop computer (one where I can have several different programs running or applications open and it works lightning fast. My laptop has four gigs of RAM, but I am so IMPATIENT. )
A terabyte hard drive (What am I? Some kind of computer nerd? My husband has brainwashed me!)
A new SUV (not sure what kind yet)
Invisalign, or veneers, or whatever it takes to get chicklet teeth. (Mary, you know I have teeth envy!)
A trip to Saba. (Yes my fellow Sabans, I want to go back for a visit! But only during the winter months)
8 Things I love About Winter:
Actually, I hate winter. Why do you think we moved away from Utah to Arizona, then to Texas, then to the Caribbean? Ewe, all the dry skin, chapped lips, and sickness that comes along with the cold weather. This will be my first cold winter in seven years! Let me think here . . .
Stephens hot chocolate
Carmel apple cider from Starbucks
Snow on Christmas (but only on Christmas)
Hmm . . . I’m still thinking . . .
Wearing my cute winter mohair coats
Wearing my sassy tall red leather boots (note to David, find them in storage and send them to me!)
Um, yeah . . . I’m still thinking. It certainly isn’t scraping ice off my car windows in sub-zero temperatures
OK, I think that’s it
8 people I tag:
Good. I’m done. This tagging business is way too thought provoking.
Melanie J (Write Stuff)
Pam Nash
Laura White
Lacy Allphin
Andrea Swenson
Shannon Rolfe
Sheri Jenkins
Amber Bechtold
Have fun ladies! 
