Who Put The Stump - Bob Rivers

Warning! This has a little poop in the brownie and while the poop is funny, it may not be appropriate for children.

Anyway, this is a funny song! I LOVE Bob Rivers and his Twisted Christmas songs!

Im an Aunt!

John Cannon Nelson was born on November 14, 2008!! He weighs 7lbs and 13 oz and is 20.5 inches!

Oh wow!

Thats all I can say...wow!

I hate hormones...and I hate Doctors offices.

Marie Osmond

This was my favorite song when I was a young girl pondering my siblings and their adoptions. Always made me cry!

My baby daddy!

So I have the most amazing baby daddy...heres why.

1) He doesnt complain when all I do is sit on the bed or sleep...or both.
2) He cooks, cleans, does laundry, carries my bags, and does everything else I should be doing instead of sleeping....everyday.
3) He works overtime so we can have a little bit of extra cash and then still comes home and takes care of me.
4) He changes from his pjs back into his real clothes at 10:30PM to go search HEB for the last bottle of Lemon juice they have so that his wife can have some relief from her cough.
5) He cleans up after me when I just walk into the apartment and drop bags and things as I head to the bed to sleep...again.
6)He cleans up after me when I have "morning sickness" at night in my 4th month of pregnancy and can make it to the sink and bathroom counter but not the toilet.
7) He is patient with me when I am moody and complaining, even if its his family that Im complaining about.
8) He just laughs whenever I put the icky trashcan outside to dry after being washed..on trash day, causing us to go out and buy a new trashcan tonight.
9) He lets me sleep.
10) Hes my luvvy duvvy hubby that is amazing in every way and I am blessed to have him in my life.

Here!

David, whats wrong? Who leaves their french horn in the car?!
Shes still asleep?!
Why is her car in our parking lot?
Why is she taking over our couch and talking on the phone to mom while watching us play the Wii?

Ooooh.....this cant be good....(notice the website is my mom's blogpost, which this is in response to...)
Thats right, all! My lovely sister has come to stay!! Well..she wont be staying at our apartment forever, but shes here in Beaumont to go to school!! Yay!

Random thoughts from a tired, pregnant wife trying to keep her husband awake.

So...my husband was given a RIDICULOUS project this past Thursday and was only given a week to finish it by his Six Sigma instructor. He has to find 4 articles that are atleast 5 pages long that are case studies about Six Sigma. Now, those 4 articles not only have to relate to each other regarding Six Sigma, but also about the same aspect of Six Sigma (i.e. Customer satisfaction, effiency, etc) Now I bet everyone is asking....What is Six Sigma? Well....I dont know. Not really. Its an optional course David took for Electrical Engineering. Im pretty sure its a quality improvement method for processes....I sound smart, dont I? Well, thats a direct quote from Dave, so...oh well. Anyway, These articles are ridiculous to find and the ones that ARE easy to find on the internet cost about $30 an article!! Dave has been searching for DAYS and said that if he could find them by the end of the night, then he would have enough time to write the ridiculously long essays about each of the articles! So I am keeping him awake by promising his popsicles, hot chocolate, and other things if he finds a certain number of articles in a certain amount of time. To keep myself awake, I am typing random thoughts as they come...for instance:

Penguins are really cute. I want a pet penguin, but I really dont like David would let me. He likes very domestic animals...like fish...and plants. He barely wants a dog. Maybe if I offered him a monkey. He would love having a monkey.

Pregnancy tests are dumb. I understand the need of finding a certain hormone in the urine, thus needing to pee on a stick...but really. When you are first pregnant, you want to march around showing everyone the proof!! But its gross to be waving around a stick you urinated on. Dis-gust-ing. Why cant your eyes all the sudden turn purple or your belly button pops out, so that you can just show your belly button!!....although I dont think I would want to do that either....Or maybe you toes could turn blue or something along those lines. Or even along the lines of a thermometer that was in your mouth. Atleast then its mouth germs. Those are my thoughts on that!!

I love sleep. Always have. Cant get enough. Always want more and better sleep. Couches are great places to sleep on, you know that?? Especially mine...if I didnt think that Dave would get upset, I would sleep on our couch ALOT more. Its just that comfortable.

Favorite words right now: Fyi Im tired so theyre probably not spelled right.
Squee gee - the thing you can use on windows to clear of the water...theyre awesome...and the name is awesome
Smoush - like you smoush a bug
...and a bunch of other weird words that Im too tired to remember...

YAY! Dave is finished...night yall!

Guess what?

I got tagged!!

I love being tagged!! It makes my heart smile...Anyway...before I forget, got to my sister Lyric's blog, she posted something really funny!!

5 things I did 10 years ago
1. Read
2. Finished 4th grade and progressed to 5th
3. Made my first real friends at school
4. Swam at my neighbors house every day
5. Skipped a trainer bra and went straight to a 'big girl' one
5 things on my to do list
1. Pack for Arkansas
2. Clean the apartment
3. print up all the itineraries for the reunion/Arkansas/San Antonio trip/Ace's stay
4. practice Reunion music/lip sync
5. play Wii
5 favorite snacks/food
1. chocolate....dark, peanut putter, semi-sweet, almost any
2. grapes
3. strawberries/pineapples
4. grapefruit/apples/almost any other fruit
5. marble slab ice cream...double dark chocolate ice cream, strawberry ice cream, with real strawberries mixed in....its an addiction.
5 things I would do if I was a billionaire
1. Pay off school
2. Save for early retirement
3. buy a house with a maid..custom build
4. Let my husband quit his co-ops, if he wanted to, in order to finish school faster
5. buy all Wii games/extras
5 bad habits
1. eating chocolate
2. cutting my nails too short...but theyre very weak, so i cant just let them bend...right?
3. picking at my chapped lips...I know it makes it worse, but its a hard habit to break
4. too much sleep...I just LOVE my sleep
5. I love junk food WAY too much
5 places I have lived
1. Beaumont, Tx
2. Fort Worth, Tx
3. Irving, Tx (I think...it was when I was like...3 months old)
4. Dorms? (I ran out of cities!)
5. Apartment?
5 people I tag (this means you guys have to answer the questions on your own blog--cut and paste,kiddos)
1. Carrie S.
2. Sally S.
3. Natalie G.
4. My daddy (post using mom's blog!)
5. Christie!

Ode to my Davids

I have two very important Davids in my life. My husband and then my father. I know ALOT more Davids than that, but those are the 2 most important! So here is my Ode to them! They are both great men that have their faults, but that just makes them cuter!!

First is my daddy, David Lynn Jeppson. I always call him daddy, because I like it and I'm pretty sure he likes it too. When I was a child, he was the one who would try to help with our math or spelling, but once we got beyond the third grade, we realized that we needed to go to mom instead. We had gone above Dads level of academic knowledge! ;) However, you will not find a man that knows more about social services, working the system, family history, or surviving in times of need than my daddy!
Daddy would always be ready and willing as a father, counselor, or (most of the time) bishop to give us spiritual and moral advice and help. He kept FHE going and had us watch documentaries on the prophets Sunday afternoon. That always got us to help mom with dinner. We would have tithing settlement or bishop interviews on his bed, lying on our tummies. He was always ready and open to talk to us....unless it was about "womanly problems" and then he was nowhere to be found!!
Daddy loves to play games! Monopoly, chess, battleship, Uno, Acquire, checkers, or any other game you can think of, he`ll beat you at! Except Scrabble, that was Moms specialty! Lately I have been getting him into Wii games, especially Links Crossbow training, where you shoot targets and enemies. I thought that he would never be able to beat me, but now he can! Hes amazing at it! My daddy was a fun daddy!
Besides my love of games, love of family, and fiscal knowledge, I inherited from my daddy many other things....such as thick hair, bad eyes, HORRIBLE allergies, and my short round nature! (although, to be fair, I did get my eyes and body shape from both sides of the family) However, I did inherit good things. My mom can sing, but cant whistle to save her life! My dad can whistle a wonderful tune, but can transfer that 'wonderful' tune over to his voice! I got the best of both! I can sing and whistle! And I love whistling with my daddy!
Daddy loves his toys, his random cool tools, his label-maker, his bread grinder, his laser pointer, and his blackberry. He loves emailing, calling, listening to music, taking pictures, playing games, and storing info all from the same place! I guess I got that from him, too. I love my toys!! Although I don't like doing rebates like daddy to get them. That's where my David comes in, hes learning to love rebates like daddy!
Lastly, my Daddy was a peacemaker. He doesn't like confrontation whether it was between children, parents and children, or him and mom. He was always trying to get it to stop, whether it hurt or helped! ;) He loved us all very much, even though he did have to be reminded of how old we were, when our birthday was, and, sometimes, which name we had. He loved mommy very much. He loved her funny hair, although he probably would have preferred it less...colorful! He loved her cooking and always did the dishes for her. Leah and I were talking the other day and saying how spoiled we got by that. We would help with dishes and/or dinner. But we`re so use to daddy doing dishes, that now when we cook dinner...or even if we don't...we don't do dishes. We wait for our husbands do them...of course that doesn't work all the time and we delay and delay until we have to FORCE ourselves subconsciously to do the dishes. But I love my daddy for it! Daddy is a great man!! Daddy is a great David!!

Next is my WONDERFUL hubbie David Jamison Hall! We have been married for a little over a year (May 26, 2007!) and have known each other for almost 2 years! We met my first week in Beaumont! But I suppose that will have the be the subject of another post! This is Davids hair when we first met. Cute isnt it? The first thing he said to me was "DONT TOUCH MY HAIR!"
Girls are always told that they marry someone like their father, so I always looked for someone that was like my dad...good with money...nerdy in a good, smart way...adorable...has a plan...etc! And I found him! David is an Electrical Engineer student at Lamar University. Right now he is a Co-Op (like an intern) at Entergy in their Construction Engineering dept. Hes black man with white man tendencies. My sister, Lyric, is blacker than he is most of the time! But I love him for it!
David is very serious at times, but loves to laugh and makes jokes. We love to play the Wii together and he can SOMETIMES beat me. However, get him at a pool table, ping-pong, card games, or chess (as my dad can attest to) and he is a formidable opponent. We tend to act like children when with each other or with his family!
He is a total engineer. Very professional nearly all the time. He uses Excel as much as he can and likes to make lists and write things down. He budgets like no other and learned the glory of rebates from my addicted father. He has this 'zone' that he gets into when cooking, cleaning, or completely any other task. But mostly only cooking. Its hard to distract him from such a task when he is in the 'zone', but that means he gets things done...sometimes. Being an electrical engineer...David loves to tinker with things. He once bought a Pirates of the Caribbean sound card (the ones that open and play music) and took it apart to see how it worked. He then proceeded to cut apart some old speakers and attach them to the sound card, thus amplifying the song. Total Engineer. Just watch or read Dilbert if you watch to know more about Engineers.
Dave went on a mission to New Caledonia, which in the Fiji Suva Mission. Everyone who goes there says that its like paradise! Beautiful sunsets, sandy white beaches, drunk men that come after you because youre American...oh wait...thats another story that David will have to post. We hope to go there someday as either a Senior missionary couple or on vacation with our grown children. The video is of Dave and his companion in New Caledonia (he's the black one!) and the picture is a random New Caledonia beach. Hes also musical and can sing, use to play the tuba, was drum major, and can mix music like no other. Of course...he was the drum major of a showy band...nothing like a REAL marching band like L D Bell Blue Raider Band!!
David, of course, has his faults like any other man. When set a task at work, he is very focused. At home, he gets distracted easily. But right now I still find that cute, especially when I am distracting him! He snores, but so do I, so what do I care? As long as I can sleep through it, Im good. He also has this really annoying talent of being too cute to get mad at for a long time. If I really want to have a good, long anger session, I cant see him then! Hes just too cute.
Despite that, David is a great man. He loves kids and I cant wait to give him his own one day. He takes great care of me, even when Im at my whiny-est. He is very practical when Im not but spontaneous and impulsive when appropriate. He is the Prince to my Princess. He is a perfect match for me and I thank my Father in Heaven every day for smushing (my new favorite word) us together!

A very late Ode to my Mother

I have a wonderful mother. She is an amazing cook, dancer, singer, teacher, comfort, driver, wedding planner, comedian, adviser, chocolate lover, and blogger. As well as so much more! I could talk about her FOREVER! So...instead Im going to just write a few of my favorite things about her.

Favorite musical thing: She loves ALL kind of music. Her taste in music ranges from VERY old and classical to Florida 'Low' and Carrie Underwood 'Before he cheats'. She sings ALL the time ANYWHERE...much to Lyric's chagrin. She is in a wonderful ethics show with Dancing Moose Productions and is fantastic! They are hilarious!! Here is a picture of her cuddling up to her unethical counselor! My Mother is also a very idiosyncratic.
Story time!! My mom's hair is very short most of the time, but she likes to grow a little 'tail' at the very bottom that will be quite long. She loved it! My dad hated it. So...for one Christmas she cut it off! A month went by and my dad STILL did not notice. My mom really wanted him to notice, so she plotted a devious plan. My Dad was bishop at that time and had to leave every morning early to go to his meetings. My mom was always up on the stand because she would direct music or play the organ. This week was the organ. After my dad left for his meetings one morning, my mom pulled me to the backyard and handed me a can of hair spray coloring. "Spray!" she said! And like the perfect little child I was, I did! I sprayed her hair right before church. We went to church, early like all Ensigns are, and she proudly went up to the organ to play. My dad walked in after his meetings and all he could say to my mom was that he liked it! (Otherwise, she would continue spraying her hair that particular shade in rebellion!) My dad did notice then about the tail..but only after my mom had sprayed her hair a hot pink color for church.
My mother has dyed her hair colors like: Cotton candy pink (her favorite), Denim blue, Purple, Hot pink (my favorite), and many other shades, just to be different. She doesn't do it so much now, because of her show, but I love that shes not afraid.


On the more serious side, my mother is very practical and wise. She is always the voice of reason whenever anyone needs to make a decision. Her sisters, daughters, and many others call her for advice because of her knowledge and ideas. She is very fun and loves to be wild and eccentric, but she is also very smart about what she does. Her viewpoint is "The glass is not half full or half empty...its just twice as big as it needs to be!" I will always strive to be like my mom, because of her love for us. She aches when we are hurting, but knows when to let us solve it ourselves. She knows when is good to tease and when she should admonish us for our childish decisions. She enjoys playing the devil's advocate with us, so that we see the other side of things. Especially when you're married! She will almost always take my husband's side, because she knows of my faults and knows when I am in the wrong. My mother loves us unconditionally, even when we weren't the best to her and would just give her peace and quiet on her birthday and Mothers Day. She is just the bestest!

Just a few other random favorites of mine that are hers too:
~She loves big words. The big words in my post today and just for you, mommy!
~She loves games. Scrabble, Wii Sports, Scum, Pit, Rook...she loves playing them! But don't play Battleship with her! According to her, boats are suppose to move in that game!
~She loves the color purple, hence the color of the font in this post.
~She loves random sayings like "Your mom!", "Glances!", and "Oh snap!"
~She loves me and I love her!
"And I---e I------e I will always looooooooooooove yoooooo---oo---oo--ooooo!"


While we are on the topic of mothers, let me just mention my other mother. This is Iva Lou Hall. She has a Doctorate in Nursing and is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Nursing at Lamar University. She has raised 3 wonderful children...well....they are wonderful in their own way atleast! ;) One of those children is my amazing husband, whom you should meet my next post. She has struggled as a convert, a working mother, and the mother of really sick and struggling children. I admire her greatly! Now, if she would just get a pool.... ;)

I am amazing.

WARNING: This is going to be a very arrogant and...proud sounding post, but Im not really like that, Im just really proud of myself!

I MADE DEANS LIST AGAIN!!!!!! Every single semester at college (this is my 4th) I have made it on the Dean's List!!

I got 4 A's and one REALLY HIGH B!!!! My GPA went higher and now I have a 3.63 accumulative and a 3.8 for this semester!

Considering that I slept through half of my classes, rarely did homework, and studied the night before each test, THATS PRETTY DARN GOOD! And mom...dont even start asking about that B and saying that its really close to a C which might as well be failing, because its not!!!!!!!!! Its a 3.8!!!

This is the part where Im really going to sound arrogant and tooting my own horn, but youll just have to get over that, now wont you? Im really smart. I seem to catch on to topics and concepts really fast. I cant create my own ideas, mind you. But once I am taught something, I can use it. Especially in math. I attribute this all to my AMAZING teachers that I had when I was learning how to learn and to my mom who is a genious. I must have inherited it from her. Thats the reason I want to be a teacher. Because I want to help kids learn things as easily as I do.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

And now that I have stated that, Im going to go start the Twilight series, thank you!

Teacher Appreciation Week!

Happy Teachers Appreciation Week!!!

I really should be finishing my studying right now as my last 2 finals are tomorrow, but both my mother and husband have posted and Im in a good mood, so why not take a break?

Let me tell you, I CANNOT WAIT TO GRADUATE AND BE WITH KIDS INSTEAD OF ADULTS!!! No offence...Im adult...I love adults...but kids are infinitely cuter.

I have so many ideas and plans and tools that I want to use for my own classroom and I HATE that I have to wait 2 more years atleast until I get to use them! Not to mention that between then and now, I have to be in many different classrooms with students that arent my own, using techniques that I dont agree with, and trying to impress the teacher that is mentoring me. Grrr....I have no patience.

It made my day today when one of my nursery children came to my filthy apartment and gave me 2 cupcakes and a card (albeit grudgingly) for Teacher Appreciation Week. Side Note: Library Week is the same week as my birthday and Librarian Appreciation Day is the same day as my birthday!!!!!

Anyway...I work in the nursery in my ward. We have, on average, about 20-25 kids a week. We have, in total, about 30 children (18 months - 3 years old) in our nursery. They are all active and we are anticipating getting another 6-7 this year still! TONS of children. If we are lucky, we have 5 adults in the nursery each week, mostly its just 4. The children are split into Jr. and Sr. Nursery and I stay on the snack/lesson side. First hour we get the younger children and the second and longer hour, we get the older children. The younger children are as cute as can be and have fewer in number, so far, but they dont understand the rules yet and dont understand how to sit. The older children are still cute as can be and they understand the rules and how to sit, but...at the same time....they are devious little beings who know EXACTLY how to break the rules if you arent careful. But I love them all! Especially when the younger ones hold my skirt or wont let me go when its time to switch rooms because I am their security blanket for the moment. It makes my heart smile! :D

Funny story!!!! An example of how one of the cutest little devils you have ever seen can create almost instantaneous pandemonium in a congregation of almost 200 people. As we were switching rooms one week, the older children, as usual, form a line against the wall outside the classroom so that the younger ones can slip past the divider in between the rooms. One of the older children was being held by a fellow, experienced nursery worker. He just happened to see a bright red, shiny box on the wall that had a lever. He thought it would be funny to pull the lever! Im in the classroom when the older group walks in and sits down. All of them look scared and unsure. I, being the mother hen that I am, go around comforting and distracting them, thinking they just missed their parents, but then Ethan walks in. Poor Ethan had tears streaming down his red little face and he was so frightened. It was then that I heard the fire alarm. Very loudly. For the next five minutes, we sat with the children calming them down and getting them ready to leave. You may ask, why 5 minutes?! They could have been dead by then!!!! Well...at first we were told to just sit and wait it out, then we were told to leave, then stay, and so on and so forth. Finally after numerous parents had come to get their children, we decided to risk the pandemonium and each grabbed 3 children and went out into the chaos. Families were leaving everywhere. Every step I took, a child was taken by their frantic siblings, grandparents, lost long cousins, or parents. (By the way, nearly everyone in my ward is related to someone else in the ward. Its really confusing.) The next week we were given a fire escape plan and 2 weeks later, we had a fire drill. Moral of the story: Have a fire escape plan and dont let the children next to the fire alarm lever. Its shiny and red. Enough said.

Anyway...Dabid is now snoring horizontally on the bed, waiting for me to finish, but alas, I still have one more class to study for. Off I go! Heres a picture of some of the kids first, though!

KAWAII!!!!!

Next episode: Dabid appreciation...inspired by mommy's post about daddy! Its funny! Read it!!

Happily Crazy

So...a little bird named Meredith told me to post again, because people thought I was getting depressed. So I guess Ill post and assure everyone that I am NOT depressed! I was just a little emotional when I wrote that last one. ANYWAY! Finals are here!!!!!! School is almost over!! In 3 class days, I have 4 very important finals!! I took today and yesterday off of work to study and did alright yesterday...but I left the books that I needed for today in Davids car which is now in the next town over at a smelly, dirty refinery that pays David ridiculously well. So I will do what I can, and then clean our apartment that is filthy, but sanitary. Thats always important...our messes dont bother me quite as much as long as they are sanitary!
Ready? This is the new report! Do you want good news or bad news first?....well I cant hear you so I will decide for you! ;)

GOOD NEWS:
~Dave got another co-op at Entergy for this summer and it will be a $4 pay raise than he was originally expecting this summer!! It is also about 5 blocks closer to home than last summers job...which was only 7.5 minutes away...we counted.
BAD NEWS:
~The job at Entergy will be a $10 pay cut than his current Valero co-op, but thats to be expected because no one pays as good as Valero. He`ll still be making over $10 more than my measly, BUT IMPORTANT $6.15 an hour student assistant job.

GOOD NEWS:
~I was just accepted into the Educator Preparation Program at Lamar University!!!
BAD NEWS:
~Nearly everyone is accepted, but its still good!! One step closer to graduation!!

GOOD NEWS:
The end is near!!! School is almost done!!! Then I get into the incredibly business of summer and the 1 month break I have from classes!!
BAD NEWS:
FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
'nuff said.

GOOD NEWS:
I have a GREAT plan for mine and Davids anniversary!! It will be awesome!
BAD NEWS:
I cant tell him or anyone else about it until after it occurs!!!!! AND hes trying to influence my plans and RUIN them!!! Not that he knows that he doing it though...

GOOD NEWS:
My mom gave me the new Twilight series for my birthday and I CANT WAIT TO READ THEM!!!!!!!
BAD NEWS:
David wont let me. He wont let me read them until after finals. He says that if I start them, then I wont study until I finish them. Well its not true! I have plenty of time to study...sort of...and I can put the books down to study! Ill study right after I finish that chapter...but then the next chapter looks sooo good. One more page...it wont take me that long...Ill just read the first paragraph of the next book I promise!!!....what was I suppose to be doing again? Okay...so maybe Ill obey and not read them until after finals...book Nazi.

P.S. New favorite group to listen to: Within Temptation. However...all of their songs pretty much sound the same and they have boring music videos, but I like the sound and dont watch their videos, so Im good! They are VERY similar to Evanescence and I think the lead singer REALLY tries to be like Evanescence's Amy Lee. But I like them too, so its good!!

Impatient but lazy

In case you didnt know...I am very impatient but too lazy to do anything about it! For instance:
-I have CLEAN clothes ALL over my apartment and Im ready for them to be put away! But I dont do it.
-I really would like to stop spending money on food at restaurants and fast food. But its been awhile since I have actually cooked.
-I am SO ready to be done with school, but Im having to force myself to get my assignments done on time.
-I REALLY want to stop feeling tired and getting headaches every night and allergies every day, but I just cant seem to take my allergy pills, prenatal vitamins, multi-vitamins, and nasal spray every day, go get my allergy shot once every 2 weeks, and go to bed at a reasonable time every night!
-I desperately want to lose weight, but while I go exercise everyday, its the bare minimum and I still eat bad.
-I want to be pregnant, but, sadly, there is nothing I can do about that that isnt already being done. Im off the pill, but I suspect theres still some in me.It cant happen soon enough for me. It seems like all of my friends/family are getting pregnant at the same time...some wanted and some not...and I am too impatient for it to happen. Plus, now I have an all new reason for hating my period!

By the way, folks, Jasmine is PMSing a little bit...ya know...just a smidge...and that is the reason for her dark mood in this oh-so-important first post, which is why she is going to stop now. Time to procrastinate more by playing Super Smash Bros!!!!!