Monday night couch potato.

Can you guess what I was watching on tv tonight? You guessed it...

In the words of my dear hub, this show combines people who are good looking, promiscuous, and slightly crazy grasping for their 15 minutes of fame. Cast criteria aside, this show seems to be Bachelor meets Survivor with all of them competing for $250,000.

The first episode (minus the first 15 minutes which I managed to miss) was already full of drama... the ladies on this show did not dissapoint!

The top two crazies?

Elizabeth, who looked much,  much better with dark hair...

And....

Michelle, who was also the big-time crazy on Jake's season. Michelle dear, if you're the crazy on two separate shows, what does that tell you? That you may be a little imbalanced? Maybe.

I think that this show is going to be super entertaining, because it's combines crazies + drama. Count me in!

10 months.

{you can see Dylan's nubby little front teeth in this picture}

Dylan's 10 month stats 

Length: 29 3/4 in (78th percentile)

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz (25th percentile)

Head: 17 1/2 in (11th percentile)

My baby is already 10 months old and is quickly exiting baby land and is about to enter little boy land. Crazy! This also means that he has been out of my tummy longer than he was in, which is mind boggling to me, as pregnancy seemed to drag on and on, and Dylan's life has just flown by.

Dylan doesn't seem to have hit many new milestones in the past month, although he has gotten much better at the things that he has recently mastered. He is a lightening fast crawler and can stand alone for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. He is making more noises and babbles to himself on a regular basis. Also, he babbles to me and expects me to know what he's talking about.

Dylan has finally gotten to the point where he is interested in books and will sometimes just sit on my lap and let me read to him or show him pictures. 

Dylan is sweet and charming as ever and has such a fun personality. He is 100% boy and is already facinated with trucks and motorcycles. He has also shown attachment to his teddy bear that is in his crib, which is really cute.

I can't believe that he turns one in less than two months! Crazy! You better believe that party plans are already underway and it's going to be great!

Excuse me... you have something on your face.

That something would be soap bubbles... Dylan did this one himself with no assistance from mom.

House project: Taking away the cords.

Ever since we changed our basement tv/entertainment center situation, I have been irritated with the 300 cords that I could see dangling behind the entertainment center. They were so distracting in my eyes... white walls, white entertainment center, big black cords. Yuck.

To remedy this situation, I bought materials to create a functional and cute backing to the entertainment center. This way, I wouldn't have to look at the over abundance of cordage, but if anything just notice the cute backing to the entertainment center.

Ugh, I forgot to take a before shot to illustrate the obnoxiousness that were the cords. Please imagine the less than attractive situation through.

And here is the much better looking after:

And a closer look...

Mind you, I just finished this project last night, so I haven't really figured out my accessorizing for the space. Just give me time. Sidenote: The little gold pear and the gold cat are swiped from my parent's house. I have sticky fingers whenever I go visit their house, especially with all their snazzy redecorating.

How did I do this super easy project? Easy!

First, I bought a bunch of scrapbook paper that I thought would look nice lining the back of the entertainment center. I also bought a few pieces of poster board so that the scrapbook paper could have a more sturdy backing.

This is the scrap paper that I chose. Pretty, right?

I taped 4 pieces of poster board together to make the a same size space as the entertainment center. I then used scrapbook adhesive to stick the scrapbook papers to the poster board. I then cut a few holes in the finished backing to run cords through, and went about detaching every single cord back there and snaking them through the pre-cut holes in the backing. Staple gun the whole thing to the back of the entertainment center and you're done!

The finished result- fabulous!

The project was super cheap too-
Poster board- 4 pieces at 99 cents each
Scrap paper- 16 pieces at 89 cents each
Adhesive- $4.99
Staple gun- already owned

Grand total- $23.24

Current fantasy wishlist.

Every once in a while I get a case of the "I wants." It is when I see things left and right that I would love to have and waste time thinking about when I know that there is no way that I will be buying any of these things anytime soon. It's fine to daydream about them though, right? Here is a list of a few things that I'm lusting over right now.

  Louis Vuitton Boétie GM Handbag

So lovely, so insanely out of my price range. I saw a girl carrying this bag at the Nashville airport and I immediately fell in love. While looking for this bag online, I came aross the site Barbie Handbags and they have this some bag in stock for just (haha just... yeah, still really expensive) $299. Seems a little too good to be true, but I'm definitely interested.

Le Creuset Cookware

Again, insanely expensive, but insanely beautiful at the same time. As you all know, I'm not the best of cooks but I know that if I had these in my kitchen I would put a lot more effort into my dinners! Maybe I can convince Ben to buy me one piece each year as a Christmas present... eventually I'd have a full set. I'll have to file that idea away for a few months.

Tory Burch Reva Flats

I have been lusting after these shoes for at least six months. While they are insanely expensive they are reportedly ridiculously comfortable. I actually bought a pair off ebay for a fraction of the price in April, but I ended up cancelling the sale since I thought that they were fake. Now I've gotten the itch to buy another pair. Ben, are you reading this?

I know that my mom is reading this post and shaking her head thinking, "I did not teach my daughter to be this materialistic" which is entirely true. I guess the good part is that this is merely a wishlist and I'm not about to whip out my credit card to make any of these things mine any time soon. Sigh.

He's ready to go.

Where did my baby go? He's too little to be riding on his car!

Cupcake time.

As most of you know, I have a slight, tiny love for cupcakes. When my pal Stacey informed me of a Cupcake Conference in Salt Lake a few weeks ago, I was super excited. It turned out to be kind of an exclusive event- there were only 50 tickets given and Stacey, Erna, and I were able to get three of them!

The conference was held in the Presidental Suite at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake. It was a great time full of cupcakes, socializing, prizes, and of course a swag bag!

The group met with the pastry chef for the Grand America and she told us all about her sugar coated job.

Also, there was a cameraman from channel 2 news. I did my best at dodging him, as I have proven to be incompetent on camera. Remember when I was on tv for the Scrapbook Expo and apparently my mouth was hanging open the entire time?

Here we are with our finished cupcakes... they tasted delish.

After spending some time in the kitchen we went back up to the Pres. Suite for some much needed socializing and the raffle prizes. Erna was the big winner out of the three of us.... she ended up winning two shirts and a fabulous gift basket from Dipidee.

I won a 12 pack of Pepsi Max (the new zero calorie version of Pepsi) and poor Stacey didn't win anything. Not to be dissapointed though... we all walked away with a neat swag bag which included coupons to some of my favorite cupcake spots!

It was a super fun night and I'm hoping that the Cupcake Conference becomes an annual event. Thanks Stacey for discovering the event!

Holy creep out.

I just want to share some creepy ridiculousness that happened to me this afternoon.... emphasis on the creepy.

Right after I finished one of my work appointments I decided to stop my the Wells Fargo ATM by Orem Center Street. As I was pulling up to the ATM I noticed an old man walking across the parking lot toward the bank, but didn't really think anything of it. Right after I got my cash but before I pulled away from the machine I heard somone trying to open my passenger door. It was the old man!

He kept trying to open the door even though it was locked and it was not like I was going to unlock the door for him. I just looked at him and lifted up my hands as to say, "What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything but just kept standing there, trying to open my door. I rolled my back passenger window down a centimeter and asked him if there was something that I could help him with. Except I didn't say it in a helperish tone, rather an annoyed, angry tone.

He said, "Are you going north?"

I said, "Nope, I'm headed south." He just said, "Oh, ok."

With that I rolled up the window and drove away. I'm all for helping people, but I got the heebie jeebies from this guy. Seriously, who tries to open a stranger's car door unless they're 1. nutso or 2. trying to car-jack

Who knows if he was just a harmless old man... or more likely a mentally ill old man, but either way his methods of getting some help seriously creeped me out!

Soapbox alert.

There aren't a lot of things that really get under my skin, but this banner is so frusturating to me!

As most of you know, part of my job is working with foster parents. Some foster parents are really great and come into the foster care program with the best intentions, but there are some that just aren't the best. 

Every pair of foster parents have different motivations for getting into the foster care program, but I really feel that the message of "subsidize your income" is the wrong reason to get started in foster care. Yes, foster parents are given a monthly foster car payment, but that money should not be the reason that you begin fostering children! Fostering children should be about wanting to help children that are in need and wanting to give them a loving home, however temporary it may be!

The type of people that are drawn to foster care for the extra income really should not be foster parents. I think that this banner is sending the wrong message about the reasons that families should foster children. It's about love, not money.

Stepping off my soapbox.

I can't make this stuff up.

Alright, this is my no means a recent event, but for some reason it came to mind when I woke up today.
At our wedding reception, instead of having a guest book we put little cards onto each of the dinner tables and requested that each guest write me and Ben a piece of marital advice and then sign their names. Most of the notes were really sweet, such as:

Oh how I love you guys! Watching you guys at your wedding and the reception made me so happy and I can't wait till my day comes! You guys are awesome and so perfect for each other. Ben, take careof my Chrissi or I'll kill you. Chrissi, do what you will Ben, he's all yours! Ha! I love you guys and keep in touch! (Taylor Kowallis)

or this one....


Our advice: Hold hands, be adventurous, keep dating, always hold hands, stay out of debt, work hard, say what's on your mind, then say sorry, but always hold hands. (Brian Kriddle)

But this one was something else. I have no idea who wrote this one or what kind of advice they were trying to give... all it did was give me the creeps!

The only things I can say is what I know. Since I've never been married (nor do I ever see myself so because of my transgressions...) Always keep the Lord in your life without him you cannot survive-- physically, spiritually, for very long. I've died long ago spiritually and slowly now physically. Never forget the Lord who sent you.

Ummmm, thanks?