Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I'm Full of Vitamins and Minerals!

There is really nothing intersting going on in the Flake's world but I don't want to neglect my blog. So because my work laptop crashed, I'll spend some time writing about nothing, AKA Commercials that FREAK Me Out.

I really do not care for commercials that "alter" the human face, or turn the human head into something it was never meant to be. Clear back in high school I always cringed at the Afrin Commercial where the head turns into a giant nose. Think of the giant boogers!! Then recently I noticed another commercial that freaked me out where the human head turned into a giant stuffed Tedd Bear Head. Turns out, Afrin was re-creating the altered human head campaign (much to my chagrin.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3A4Hh8IoPQ EW. Just EW.

I don't like Star Trek or Planet of the Apes or any of those movies due to the altering of the face issue. Sure, the Apes are not supposed to be human but deep down I know it's Marky Mark.

However, I DO like it when they make that baby talk. I know that goes against everything I believe in, but when that little baby trades stocks and talks on the cell phone it's stinkin' halarious! I love the clown one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdfvWAp5GUw

On that same note, clowns to NOT freak me out. And yes, I've seen "IT". I always kinda thought that girls saying that clowns scared them was really just a pitiful attempt at making the man feel big and strong. Personally, I think most "fears" that silly girls have are just to make the guy put their arm around them and "protect" them. Except my fear of trains. That one is very real.

I lose a little bit of sleep over the Burger King ad. I think it's the fact that the giant King guy doesn't talk that gives me the heebie jeebies. He just stands there... kinda like the creepy guy in the raincoat on the movie, "I know what you did last summer". If you want to creep someone out, I am of the belief that you can just walk up to them and not talk.

The best commercial ever (except for the fact that I can't remember what it was advertising) involved a little orange cartoon guy who jumps off the Orange Juice bottle to say Hello to the unsuspecting family eating breakfast and they all FREAK OUT. Remember that? Then he chases the screaming family yelling "I'm full of vitamins and minerals!" I'll have to see if I can find it. HERE IT IS!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fA8ad71n94

And there you have it, the most useless and random blog post yet! Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

NEWS FLASH- Toddler sleeps without binky

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- Breaking news just in this afternoon. An Idaho toddler, who previously has been attached to a binky, has gone to sleep without it. Authorities involved don't know what caused the sudden shift in behavior but believe it may be due to the introduction of a pillow into the crib.

The family of the toddler is too stunned today to comment but a family spokesperson released this statement:
"While the miraculous event might be a one-time occurrence, the parents involved are obviously very pleasantly shocked at the recent developments. Party music and dancing has been seen at the residence today. I, personally knowing the parents, believe it is the work of an amazing mother, who uses her beauty, her instincts and sticks to her guns. Also, sheer dumb luck."
The toddler involved had this to say, "Mama, dada, nana, bampa, elmo, carebear, snowman, Pffhslhhh."

I believe...wait... yes we do now have some pictures coming into the newsroom that we'd like to show you...

This photo illustrates how attached this toddler is to her binky and what an amazing phenomenon it is for her to sleep without it, something we might not see for many months to come. Kinda like a solar eclipse.










Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Childhood DejaVu! (This one's for Gregg)

One thing I'll always remember about my childhood is this weird "game" Gregg and I used to play when we were really little. I know we must have been really young because neither one of us could read. We had this great toy box with a bookshelf on top of the big toy area. Still the coolest toy box ever and probably way bigger in my head than it actually was. So we would sit on the bookshelf and hold the books and pretend that we were singing in church. It seems like one of us would lead the music and then we'd make up songs about whatever books we were reading. (Maybe you had to have been there, and maybe Gregg will remember it better than I do.)
So today as I was straitening Brighton's room she crawled up on the back of her toy box and at first was just sitting there with her stuffed animals, and then (with no prompting from me, I swear) started reading books! It just melted my freaking heart and I had to take some pictures. Gregg will surely appreciate this!








Thursday, November 6, 2008

I achieved something I never thought possible!

Tonight I did something that I've heard legends of, but never really believed possible. Sure, other people might be able to do this miraculous feat, but not I. (Like a marathon, or a 10 mile run on the treadmill.) But sometimes we surprise ourselves. Sometimes the one thing we think we can never accomplish; we do. It just takes hard work, dedication and an incredible support system.

Tonight I....

Overdosed on candy corn.

I've heard people say how they can never eat candy corn because they once OD'd and I thought, no way... I could never eat so many candy corn that I'd never want another sweet morsel again. But now it's a reality. If I eat one more candy corn I will vomit.


Walgreens 75% off Halloween candy sale, You are the wind beneath my wings! Thank you for helping me flyyyy... so high I almost touched the sky.. thank you...thank you.. the wind beneath my wings.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

And Toto Too!




I forgot that part of doing a "family blog" is posting pictures of recent family activities. So here we are on Halloween. I have known that Brighton was going to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and I kind of wanted to do the "Good Witch" thing... but I've been feeling lazy and un -spirited, so I was going to pass. But then Aaron was all, "I don't want to do the scarecrow if you aren't going to do Glenda" and so I'm all, "fine". So this was a reject bridesmaid shirt from my wedding and the skirt Lynzi wore at my wedding. The shirt is glittery and super itchy, so my sisters better thank their lucky stars and me (by sending me chocolate in the mail) that I didn't make them wear these hideous shirts. And I thank my mom for putting up with me and having the good shirts made special. (This was my one Bridezilla moment that I felt entitled to.) Anyway, I digress. I was too lame to make a cool Glenda crown and wand, so this crown is my friend Natalie's son's Lego King Crown. I looked like a weird reject princess.
And can I just say how much I love Boise? In Idaho Falls you have to plan your costumes to fit over snow suits and here she didn't even need tights or a coat! It was awesome.

Oh PS, you can see a little video of Halloween under our videos. I'm still trying to figure that little video section out, cause right now its linked to Aaron's YouTube page, which has snowboarding stuff on it, so I'm in the process of making my own page with family videos, although the snwoboarding ones are awesome Aaron.
PPS. I just watched the Park City snowboarding video and realized that watching Aaron snowboard is totally HOT, so I'm keeping it up.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Peeing With The Door Open (And other things I swore I'd never do)

I was a total backseat mom, before I had kids. If not vocally, I was in my head. I would see the horrendous things other moms were doing and swear to myself that when my perfect child came into the world, I would NEVER bribe them with fruit snacks. But then again, my child wouldn't need bribery because of her flawless obedience.

I've only been a parent for 22 months and 2 days and here are a few things I swore I'd never do. And I'm eating my words, just like Bright is eating those bribery fruit snacks that I buy in bulk at Sam's Club.

1. Pee with the door open. I always thought, let the kid cry at the door, geez lady have some pride! Pride? Doesn't that go out the window during labor, never to be regained? I remember before Bright was tall enough to see into the bathroom drawer she'd reach her little arm up and rummage around, then when she pulled out an old tube of chapstick, she'd go "ooooh!" Like she'd found the lost treasure of Atlantis. That's worth my pride, right? And hey, it might help with potty training soon. For the record, I also shower with the door open and sometimes she'll just stand there holding the shower curtain open staring at me. That's the worst.

2. Flavor my kids milk. After I stopped nursing a few weeks went by and I realized I should probably still be giving Brighton some whole milk or something! I started trying to give her milk in a sippy cup and she about gagged! So after a couple weeks (ok maybe a day) of trying I bought some chocolate Ovaltine and never looked back.

3. Let her watch Barney. I thought she would only watch the shows that don't drive me crazy, like Sesame Street. But when you work from home, a little more TV is needed! I draw the line at Calliou. That kid drives me nuts. You're four and totally bald? Grow some hair and stop whining!

4. Go a day without showering. Need I say more? It happens. Get over it.

5. Make my kid talk to people on the phone. (Before they can talk). "Say hi to daddy!... (squeak). I think she just said hi to you!" Let's document this on video and put it up on YouTube!

6. Food Bribery- I've covered this but let me just say the first thing Brighton says when we walk into target is "popcorn!" Isn't shopping SO much easier when the child is contently munching on popcorn. And when we're at Walmart I'm not above cracking open a new bag of Goldfish that I will pay for at the checkout. (If she doesn't dump out the whole bag in front of the bed spreads). Don't worry, I used my foot to shove them all under the shelves.

7. Stage things for photo ops. "No, I swear, she put on that chefs hat and just climbed herself into that big soup pot!" Isn't she SO cute!!! "Oh no! I just caught her putting bright red lipstick all over her face! What a stinker!" Come on, every mom needs a picture like that. What am I going to do, wait until she does it herself and risk ruining my carpet?

8. Let my baby drink caffeine. What kind of monster would let a one-year-old drink Dr. Pepper? That is just wrong! Ugh, fine, one sip. Okay fine... have the whole dang thing. I'm sure she had enough in vitro to last a lifetime.

And when Brighton turns 3 and still has her binky and isn't potty-trained. I'm sure I'll have another list of things I swore I'd never do!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Time To Renew My Vows

Well, only one vow. The most important one. The one where I vow to actually blog, for time and all eternity. Blogging should be a gospel principal, under the category of family history. That leads me to my next revelation. I am too busy/not creative enough to blog about nothing. So, even though gaining a plot killed the finale of Seinfeld, I must now succumb to a blog plot. Not only that, but I must join the millions of other mom bloggers who blog about the doings of their family. I know, right?? But because I'm so busy (remember, that's code for not creative enough) I don't scrapbook anymore and I don't write in a journal, so I guess I'll blog. I'll understand if my many subscriber (code for my mom) is dissapointed, but I know she really just wants to know about Brighty-Bright anyway. And let's face it, I only had two non-Bright related posts anyway. We all knew this was going to happen. And by all, I mean my "many subscriber".

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Ten Day Road Trip

How is summer going so quickly? This has been such a fun summer. I now have an excuse to play like a kid all summer, going to waterparks and the park and pool. Oh, it's such a sacrifice to be home with Brighton all day!
We recently got home from a long road trip that took us from Boise to Idaho Falls- the ONLY place to spend the 4th of July (in my opinion). From there we met Aaron's family in Island Park where we stayed at my parents cabin, floating the river, golfing and taking the boat out on the reservoir. Next stop, Wyoming! Since my sister Tami lives there I got to visit with her and spend time at Aaron's uncle's house- it's an old LDS church that they turned into a house in Grover, WY. It's super cool. He owns a riding and rafts business, so some of the family rode horses and we took a raft up to a little mountain lake. It was gorgeous. Like I said in my last post, even though my heart belongs to the beach, Wyoming is just one of the most beautiful places to be in the summer. Just don't catch me there in the winter!!! Poor Tami. :(

I have to blog for a second about the one of the nuttiest things. You know how they say when you have a good experience you tell one person, when you have a bad experience you tell 10? Well I'm telling the whole blog world because this made me SOOO mad!! And if you know me, you know it takes A LOT to make me mad. We went to this little pizza place called Gunnar's Pizza, which used to have really good pizza. We went at 9:00 and when we saw that they were open until 10:00 pm decided to change our order to stay. The worker said it was fine, but the waitress was obviously not happy that we were there and she didn't try to hide her distaste!! She was so rude, snapping at everyone and pulling out the attitude. I brought in some little corn puffs to keep Brighton occupied so she didn't disturb the whole restaurant, and the waitress full-on took them away from her!! (And not in a nice way). She did the same thing to my sister-in-law with her Diet Coke. She just kept making little snaps at the kids and was just not nice.
So when we left, Aaron thought it would be the right thing to do to explain the situation to the manager and explain why we were only leaving a 10% tip (which is more than she deserved for throwing some paper plates on the table and bringing out the pizza). We even had to get our own water. Anyway, they threw a fit and said there was a mandatory 15% tip for parties over 8. They were so rude and then got our license plates and threatened to call the Sheriff!!! I'd like to hear that call "Yes, sheriff, a customer just left a 10% tip, instead of 15%, could you arrest them please?? LOL. Anyway, they charged our credit card for the tip, unauthorized, so just be careful if you ever get a hankering for pizza in Alpine, Wyoming! We laugh about it now, but we were all so mad that night! (Ok, we were laughing about it as we drove down the road.)

Well the trip ended with Sara's wedding in Logan. I must say, I've never seen a bride look so beautiful!! She was just glowing. Aaron did the photography and got some great pictures. We drove down to Ogden to spend the night and decided spur of the moment to go to Lagoon. It was so fun! My BFF from college Katie and her son Mac joined us, as well as my BFF sister Lynzi. It was such a fun day. May summer live forever!!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Give me the beach any day!



I was once with a group of about five Idaho women when the question was raised, "would you rather live/spend time in the mountains or at the beach?" I was the only one who said at the beach. I CRAVE the beach... there is some part of my soul that just longs to be near the ocean. I don't feel small when I stand beside the ocean, I feel bigger. I feel more complete and whole.
Unfortunately for this part of myself, I live in Idaho, near the beautiful majestic mountains. When I'm in the mountains I absolutely have an appreciation for their beauty, but after a couple days of dirt under my nails, I'm ready to go home. So hopefully one day we can have a cabin in the mountains for my mountain man, Aaron. And a beach house for my inner beach bum.

This picture is from California, when we went to Disneyland. I had to take a few hours to spend on the beach. This was Bright's second time at the beach. We went to Mexico on vacation when she was about 5 months old.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Our Weekend of Free Stuff


Anyone who knows my husband, Aaron, knows he is the KING of getting free stuff. He's actually just the king of getting whatever he wants, which usually include free things or favors. It's seriously nuts. But this weekend set a whole new level for the rest of us to live up to.

First let me say, I think Aaron hid this passion for payola until we got married. And in the hopes that you'll still like my husband after reading this entry, I think I'll downplay his obsession with getting free things. ;)

His motto is "you never know until you ask". So he asks, and asks, and then asks more.. And if that doesn't work, he'll ask in Spanish. He once was about to miss his plane, so he kept asking the airline worker if there was anything she could do. Finally he found a nice one who told him "doesn't your knee hurt?" and pointed at a wheelchair. She proceeded to push him through the airport security line in the airport. Smooth.

Also recently he got some $250 snowboard bindings for $10!!! He was in a snowboard instructional video and agreed to drop the business name in the video. :) There are so many examples that just make me laugh and shake my head. But I love him!

So this weekend we went to Idaho's largest garage sale at the Idaho Expo. It was ok... we got some good deals. A new softball mitt, some toys for Bright, a sweatshirt. Then we hit some neighborhood garage sales. But we did it the way of 2008 on a hot day, from our car! We just kind of drove around and "car-window shopped" because Brighton was asleep. The first house Aaron gets out of the car because he saw a sign that says "FREE"- a word that sends chills down his spine. We ended up getting a free little mini vacuum that I wanted to use under the high chair.

Then the next house he saw a little kid helmet that he thought would be good for when Bright learns to snowboard, so he just leans his head out the window and asks about it. The girl just walks over and says here, Merry Christmas. It was hilarious.

Aaron must have been on a free-high because he couldn't just end it there. When we stopped at A&W he used some Spanish charm to get employee to give him free cookies.

Then the Gods of Free Stuff were really with us. Sunday we were going out for a walk and our neighbor who is moving was giving away a free Little Tyke slide and one of those green turtle sand boxes. Aaron thought he'd died and gone to heaven! :)

Aaron's little "quirk" with free stuff is so known within my family that whenever someone "works it" to get something, we call it "pulling an Aaron". He is just so darn endearing, no one could ever turn him down!!! Hey, is that how he got me to marry him? ;) Love you Aaron!

P.S. If anyone has any Aaron getting stuff stories, post them here so I can remember!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

My Homage to "Juno"


Before all the Juno hype, my good friend Katie called me up and said "you HAVE to see Juno. I thought of you the whole time.. it's totally your sense of humor." So for months I kept trying to see it but haven't had the chance to see a movie in the theatre since Titanic (practically).. so I just got around to seeing it a couple weeks ago (and then renting it again this week). Katie, you're right, I DO love it.

For those of you who haven't seen it, it's about a witty, cynical teenager who gets pregnant and then gets involved of the life of the couple who intend to adopt the baby. First of all, I think it's wonderful that Hollywood showed a movie about a girl making that choice. I'm actually surprised it got four academy award nominations with that theme. Since when did choosing adoption become non PC anyway? I thought it was great.

As far as the humor, a few people have told me that Juno's sense of humor is a lot like mine. Well, I'm not 1/34th as quick witted as she is, and I don't have that teen angst that her character has mastered, but I think that's a compliment. (Even though no one talks like that in real life. That's why it's a movie, and why Gilmore Girls was a hit.) It does make me wonder though if I've lost some of that personality that I had in my "youth". I now have to watch what comes out of my mouth before spouting off some witty remark. My family always tells me "Only Brooke can get away with saying that."
Maybe it all started when I asked the doctor giving me my tetanus shot "Did you even GO to medical school, Doogie?" He told me I shouldn't be on antibiotics because... "it.. ugh.. does something bad". How could I resist? Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) I've learned to hold my tongue in situations like that. So although I'm glad I didn't have to go through a teenage pregnancy, I guess I'm a little glad that my friends still think I have a bit of Juno in me. Now if I could just find sunglasses like hers, I'd be set!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Disneyland Through the Eyes of a Child

Disneyland was a blast. I think Brighton will enjoy it much more in a year or two, but she was just so wide-eyed and fascinated with everything, it was like seeing the world through the eyes of a 15-month-old. I've never seen that girl scared of ANYTHING until we wanted to get pictures of her and the oh-so-scary Goofy. :) She was also a little nervous on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. And sometimes she was more interested in holding the steering wheel of the ride than she was the actual ride itself.

It was also really fun being there with my nieces and nephews ages 2, 8, and 9. And sometimes visiting an amusement park with my dad is as good as being there with a child. I swear that guy could start going on rides at 8:00 am and not want to stop until the last churro was sold.

Ahh, my one Disneyland regret, not eating a churro. Autym and I searched frantically at 10:59 pm on our last night there until we found the last remaining churro stand still open. Then, to our UTTER dismay the woman in front of us turned around and said, with a smirk, "I'm getting the last one!". I hope you inhale some of that sweet succulant cinnamon dust and I hope it makes you cough! Oh, how spiteful of me!!

I'll miss you churro!, Uh, I mean Disneyland! Oh and if you need directions, ask Jason. He'll tell you to banana right. :)

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Thrifty Car Worked for Me!!!


This post has nothing to do with Thrifty Car Rental. :) It's just something cheesy I like to say when I sound like I'm randomly endorsing a product.

Like the other day I went off on Aaron about Clorox anywhere spray.. how you can use it on anything, around food, the baby and how I love the smell. Then I put up my thumb and said "Thrifty Car Worked for me!"... Lynzi will get it.


Sometimes I also like to say "I'd like to bear my testimony, I know Clorox anywhere spray is true".. or whatever I'm loving that day... Mormons will get it.


Here's stuff I love recently:

Chocolate Almond milk- It's made from almonds! "nuts, huh!"

I always bear my Proactiv-amony. You and me, Jessica Simpson.

Recently I bared my pre-paid legal-amony when I got cited for driving with a suspended license!! I had no idea, I swear. Hint: Change your address on your license when you move, it will save you the headache of having the "Doogie Howser" of Idaho State Police troopers almost arrest you. I swear, he was 12!


Redbox movie rentals
Sonic Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla
DVR
Clairol Root touch-up. What can I say, I'm cheap. "No, honey, we're FRUGAL," said Aaron.
Peeps and Cabury eggs. (Hey, are Cadbury eggs smaller than they used to be??)

The Baby Who Didn't Know Mickey Mouse




AKA: We're going to Disneyland! My sister and her family are going for Spring Break, along with my parents so I decided to take Bright to the Happiest Place on Earth! I realized, though, that she'll have no idea who any of the Disney characters are. So yesterday I dug out all the free Disney Scholastic books I got in the mail, but she wasn't too interested in anything besides "The Little Mermaid". So today I went and rented all the Mickey movies I could find at Hollywood Video. I'll get that little girl ready for Disneyland! :) I don't know how much she'll enjoy, but I know I'll have a blast riding those teacups! I'll post pictures when I get back!




Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Warning to Readers: My thoughts are like one of those spider charts


Remember in high school English when your teacher would have you make a spiderweb chart to brainstorm ideas? I loved that! I could fill a whole page in a minute with all the different legs of directions my ideas could go.


So far, my blog entries remind me of one of those charts and I've decided to officially let it be that way. I need a place for my web of thoughts to untangle and I think this blog might be great for that! So I apologize if an entry takes an unexpected turn.


An entry about scrapbooking could turn into thoughts about religion, or a cute picture of my daughter could turn into a life lesson. Who knows?! But I've decided I'm just going to let it go there, and I don't think I'll ever go back and edit blog entries. I'll fill up an entry as fast as I can fill a brainstorming web, fast! So I guess this isn't as much an apology as it is an explanation for my random thoughts. :) Thank you!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Missing Old Friends and Mountain Dew


Rainy days always get me too introspective. Sometimes that's good, but today it has me missing old friends. I'm sure this is worsened by the fact that I've been finding old friends on Facebook and missing them, and the times we had.


Most people hated high school, but not me. I loved high school. I had the best friends, many of whom I'm still friends with today. But I miss the ones I've lost touch with. It's strange though how although I was confident in high school, I keep seeming to have these strange dreams where I'm back in high school, but I've lost the confidence I had there. I'm always lost. Looking for a class, looking for a friend, looking for a place to fit in. It makes me wonder if I feel like my adult life has become that way. I'm stuck in between the place where you're single or without kids and most of your friends are from work because all the "moms" at church don't have enough in common with you to invite you places. Now that I am a mom, most of my friends have older kids, so I'm still not quite fitting in. I wonder if that's where these high school dreams come from.


Maybe I'm just missing how free and easy things were in high school and college. Friends would come over, we'd take off in the car, have a fun Saturday or night out. Summers were the best in high school. How did my parents ever let me get away with so little responsiblity! I'm glad, though, that my memories are of long, easy-going, Mountain Dew drinking, cookie dough eating days, instead of being the one serving the Mountain Dew at the drive-through.


Here's to old friends and Mountain Dew! I miss you both!


Monday, March 17, 2008

There's Always A Reason

Now, I'm not the poster child for keeping in touch with old friends. In fact, I kind of stink at it. I've had a wedding announcement from an old roommate, Nora, in my drawer for about 3 years. It's made 3 moves with me because I keep thinking "I really want to send her a letter to get back in touch!". Now it's next to an old gummy lifesaver and a scrunchie in the junk drawer in my kitchen... just waiting.

I digress, keeping in touch with old friends isn't the reason I'm blogging, if you can call it that yet. Basically it's a big learning experiment for me. (does this thing have spell check?) I've recently made the transition from TV news to PR and some of our clients need assistance with blogs and I'm SO out of touch these days. So I need to jump in the blogesphere... (I'm sure that's a word, right?)

So here I am world, a 29 year old PR girl who is behind the times when it comes to blogging! So my second reason, is to seem hip. Now I can say, hey, check out my blog. How long will it be before people are putting their blogs on their business cards? Is it already happening?

See how much I don't know?

Don't be surprised if this blog is just me rambling. I need some kind of outlet and a way to get all this stuff out of my head, and writing in an actual journal takes too long. So there you have it, a few of my reasons.

This is a Test, this is only a test


In the event of an actual blog post, you would find creative monologue, pictures and video, and a writer who knows what the heck she's doing here. If you encounter any future posts on this site, contact your friends and alert them, because something strange has happened.