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.

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!!

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!

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. :)

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!

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!