Here are our family pictures we took this summer while at Cory's parents. It was Cory's idea to do Tennessee orange... I "unfortunately" don't have a Tennessee orange shirt.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays! And yes those are now bright blue tinkerbell boots, I can't get her to wear anything else.

Well we got a little bit of snow, and it made Madeleine very happy. Though now it is all melted, which now makes me happy. We had to buy her some new shoes as her Dora boots were just too smelly, so I finally got rid of the bright pink dora boots... only to be replaced with bright blue tinkerbell boots. She has her own personality thats for sure.

We bought a new/used car. So we'll see how it does on the drive up to NYC for Christmas to see my parents. Its a Hyundai Santa Fe, so more space than the sentra and hopefully more reliable.

The Face Book, And The Joys Of Cars

I'm not sure how Emily convinced me to sign up for it, but she has powers that others do not have. So I did it. Signed up so old friends could find me. Guess I can't take it back now, and so my internet addiction continues.

Yesterday our car died. I had dropped Madeleine off at her speech school, went to the office to turn in rent, and boom car won't start. The maintenance guy was really nice and gave me a jump, and I was able to get the car back to the apartment, barely. The alternator broke, to the point that after I got the jump and started to drive away... the car wasn't getting enough juice while driving that I was inching to our apartment.

I then called Cory and since his school is only a few blocks from Madeleine's school, he walked over and Madeleine and him rode the bus home, while I waited for a tow truck driver for the car. Madeleine cried that the car was broken, but very excited about the bus. I guess she talked to the bus driver the whole time.

Mechanics said the earliest they could get to the car would be Thursday, course that was 3 days earlier than the other places we called. Welcome to Tennessee I guess? I'm always surprised when we call and something needs to be fixed they will take a few days before they get out here.

So our only car is in the shop. Cory and I are wondering if its time to start thinking of other options, since it seems to keep having problems. But on the other hand, at least it isn't like last Christmas Eve when the car broke down at 4 p.m. We were at least able to get it towed, but no mechanics were open to even take it till after the holiday. Maybe I should have said that AFTER Christmas Eve... since that is still a possibility.

Hmmmm.....

December... already? Well better late then never right? Here is a picture of Madeleine in her Tinkerbell costume. And yes that is her with camo pants and her pink cowboy boots. Everything is Tinkerbell right now. The K-mart near us is going out of business so I was able to find a few things on sale. Madeleine got terribly sick again with an ear infection and Cory has his first final tomarrow.

I went to my sisters in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. She did a fantastic job for dinner, and we all had a lot of fun. Thankfully Aiden got along with Madeleine, and Stacy was nice enough to let us bring our dog. I got to see my friend Emily and her 2 little ones. I only wish I could have stayed longer to do some serious hanging out. Maybe I'll have to head back out there before both their husbands finish school this next year.

I feel like we've been super busy, but I don't have much to report. We are getting ready for Christmas. We bought our first tree this year, just a small fake one... but better than nothing. We are planning on going to my parents for Christmas, where my sisters Heather and Stacy will be there with their families.

Is Trick-or-Treating Dying?

Well We've had an interesting week and a bit. Madeleine came down with a fever Last Monday. Wednesday morning the fever was gone, but there were little blood spots on her pillow from stuff that had oozed out of her ear. Needless to say I took her to the doctors office as soon as they opened. She had an ear infection and bronchitis. I feel awful that it had gotten that bad, but she wasn't complaining of any ear pain, and Madeleine has only had one other ear infection when she was not even a year old.

So she is on 3 different medications that she has to take twice a day. She is being great about the medicine, and seems to be acting better. We go back to the doctors tomorrow to make sure she's healing correctly.

With Madeleine being sick we missed some of the Halloween parties, but we figured its ok there are lots of kids in our apartment complex Halloween night should be fun. Well unfortunately there weren't any trick-or-treaters and most the people we tried didn't have candy to give, and then I looked in the parking lot and realized that most the cars where gone.

So we put us all in the car and drove down to her school and went trick-or-treating at the houses down there. We saw some trick-or-treaters, but I even had some of the home owners ask where all the trick-or-treaters are this year. I then asked another friend and they said they usually have over 20 and this year they only had 4. I'm thinking trick-or-treating might be dying. Next year I guess I'll have to make sure we go to the trunk-or-treat and any other parties there are. Or if we have enough friends by then do one ourselves.

Attatched is a picture Madeleine drew for me the other day. It says Mom at the top, has tree with grass and a beehive, and a bee flying up the side of the page. She is spending a lot of time drawing. I ask if she needs help and just says "I'm not finished."

Once I get the pictures of Madeleine in her costume on my computer I'll post them. But... I can't seem to find the camera. Last I saw it Madeleine was taking pictures of Socrates with it. This should be fun!

A Little Late

So here is a picture from Madeleine's Birthday... that was in what? July... yeah I'm so ontop of things.

Socrates got a trim, he looks like a whole new dog. And his housetraining is going much better. Maybe he just had to get used to the new environment.

Madeleine has fall break this week, so we are doing lots of park trips.

Cory has several papers, so I'm hoping I will at least see him some this week.

I've been super tired... you know that tired where you get a full night sleep still feel exhausted and so you rest some more, and you some how feel even more tired? Yeah... hopefully its just a bug or something I'm fighting.

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the cooler weather! I know I am.

Separation Anxiety

So... I'm thinking "Soccer Tease" has separation anxiety. I've tried my best to house train him. We go outside frequently and not once has he eliminated outside. I think between Cory and I on Saturday we spent 6 plus hours outside with him and still nothing. But as soon as we put him in his crate and turn away, or leave the room he eliminates, and at night within 10 minutes of being alone in the crate alone he poops. I've even tried to take his pee and poop outside to the spot where we want him to go and have him sniff it.

Everything I read says to take them out often, if you see them sniffing like they are looking for a spot to go, take them outside and reward them when they go. The problem is even if I catch him before or during and take him outside he won't go, he just holds it until I put him in the crate while I go shower or clean or something. So I can't reward him for going outside if he never does... and when he goes in his crate I gotta take him out to clean it... I guess I should be glad that to some degree it is contained, but I also don't want him thinking his crate is his potty since I would love to not have to get up in the middle of the night to clean it up. We even bought a pad and sprayed it with some scent that is supposed to make doggies want to go in that spot, and still nothing.

And there is my venting about the house training, we can only get him to do it when we aren't around. I'm not sure how to even really attempt on fixing it. We haven't even had him a week, so maybe with time it'll get better? Other than the potty issue he's a good puppy.

Soccer Tease

I know... its been like 3 months since my last post.

Lets see... I quit my job last week. It was just getting to be too much for me. The move, Cory's schedule, Madeleine's schedule and mine... and of course other issues like the fact that I'm crazy. Last Friday was my last day, and I think it was a good thing overall. Now I can do important things like... updating this blog!

Madeleine is making a lot of improvements between pre-k and her speech classes. She bought some bright pink dora cowboy boots and wears them everyday. Here's a picture of her going to church... I know very country.

Cory has been working hard at law school. We still try to make time for leisure, but sometimes I'm lucky to talk to him before we head to bed.

AND to top it all off, for many different reasons, we adopted a dog. He's name is Socrates (Madeleine pronounces it Soccer Tease). He shouldn't get more than 20 lbs, and is about 5 months old... they think. So far he's been very well behaved. He needs a bit of a cut, but that won't happen until we can bath him, in another 5 days or so. And we get the joy of house training him, since we are in an apartment.

Madeleine Hungry

Sunday night Cory and I are watching the simpsons movie, Madeleine comes out of her room sees the popcorn and while grabbing her stomach says "Madeleine SO HUNGRY!" Then last night while Cory was attempting to lay her down for bed she kept saying "Madeleine hungry!" After a few minutes of her being quite she says to Cory, "Madeleine hungry! See small tummy!" and points to her tummy. I swear we are feeding this kid!

We are starting on the adventure of finding a daycare or preschool for Madeleine while I am at work. When we walk into one and they say "And what is your name?" she responds "Madeleine Robot Girl". Who knew I gave birth to a super hero?

Super Robot Girl

I have no idea where Madeleine got this idea. But her super-hero name is now... Super Robot Girl, and apparently she likes toilet paper to be tied around her. Here is another I found that Cory must have taken while I was at work the other day, since I dont' remember this at all.

We are doing well. I started my training, so for 2 weeks I'll be working full-time, which I'm not THRILLED about but in 2 weeks I'll be doing my part-time schedule. Everyone seems very friendly and helpful, which is good because I'm sure I'll have lots of questions once I really start.

Madeleine's birthday is Saturday, and I think we decided to do a water park. Since we can't have a real party might as well just do something we normally woulnd't do that we know she'll love.

Non-Jean Pants!

So today I spent the day buying non-jean pants for work. I of course have a hard time buying anything not on sale so I was only able to find a few things. With the humidity and heat walking outside is like a sauna, even at 10 at night. Yay for having AC here.

And for the real reason I'm writing this post. I realized Madeleine's birthday is in a little over a week. We don't know many people, let alone have any friends. So any suggestions on what to do for her, lemme know!

Pluck THEN Mascara

Yes we are alive. We've been busy getting settled in. I believe all the boxes are unpacked, but whether things are where they need to be... that's a whole different story. I'm hoping by the end of next week we'll have everything put away and even some pictures on the wall.

I was lucky to find a part-time job as a bank teller, just waiting to see if I pass the drug tests and the background check. I hopefully will be starting next Friday. And yes I'm already stressing about Madeleine and pre-school and daycare.

I signed Madeleine up for a play group at Little Gym on Wednesdays. Get to know some other kids in the area, I'm sure she gets pretty bored with just Cory and I all the time. I got the paperwork started for Madeleine's pre-school, now just a matter of time for them to get the proper papers from El Segundo and then for them to evaluate Madeleine... so you know... hopefully by August something will be set up for her.

Cory is looking for an internship or volunteer work.

It is definitely hot and humid here. I'm already running the AC, and we've been to the pool as often as we can. I unfortunately forgot sunscreen the other day so my shoulders are BURNED... you know when you have to line up your bra straps to exactly where the white line on your shoulder is... yeah... good times.

I was a genius this morning and decided to pluck my eyebrows after putting on mascara. Let me tell you, this doesn't work out so well. And the real sad thing is, this isn't the first time I've done that.

We Made It!

Well we got here yesterday morning. And after that long drive I am glad that we hired some movers to unpack us. They had everything in the apartment within a few hours. We still aren't unpacked, but slowly getting things where they need to be. Madeleine christened the new carpet last night at about 2:30 am. She woke up and was throwing up til about 6:30 am. Cory and I are very VERY tired. And I will say that Knoxville does not have as many 24 hour places as Los Angeles.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can find the camera!

Things That Have Saved My Sanity

In no particular order:

Charlotte! She came over Friday morning and helped me clean the kitchen and some other rooms in the house. Cory watched Madeleine and Jayden(her 2 year old son) while we scrubbed and chatted. She has been a great friend, and after Friday I can say that I now owe her BIG TIME.

Cory! His motivation for starting law school and this move has made it so much easier on me. He's packed up boxes and moved them into the garage without me nagging him even once. (If anything he reminds me that I need to pack this or that... but shhh we aren't going to talk about that.)

Preschool! Even though Madeleine only goes to preschool for 3 hours a day, and its a bit of a weird schedule throughout the week, having that little bit of time to get things done has helped a ton.

Madeleine! She is the cutest sweetest thing. If I'm having a bad day or upset she'll come over and give me a hug and ask me whats wrong.

My Parents! They have been very supportive. We wouldn't be able to make this move and law school without them.

Nickelodeon! Lets face it some evenings I need the TV to sit Madeleine while I try and finish up dinner or need some quiet time.

Diet Coke! I've tried quitting it a few times, but have not succeeded. And lets face it I know I have a problem when I'm having a bad day or night and Cory goes to get a Diet Coke in hopes that it'll help.

Magic Eraser! So shortly after moving to my parents house. Madeleine got into a red permanent marker and drew over the walls. I used this and cleaned it right up. So for some of those harder stains that you didn't know had been there... for who knows how long... I've been able to remove them without a problem.

The Internet! Being able to plan things ahead and look things up is so much easier with it. I'm not even sure how to do stuff without it anymore. Which is probably one reason why we called ahead to get the Internet a day or two after getting there.

Angela! She has saved my sanity more than once, and on Thursday after Madeleine is done with preschool, she'll pick her up while Cory and I finish packing up the truck and cleaning the house. I owe her so much, I'm not even sure how to start paying her back, especially now that I'm moving.

Next time I post I'll be in Tennessee! Exciting... right?

9 Days And Counting

Cory's last day of work is Thursday (woo!). That will give us about a week to finish up packing and getting the house ready for us to leave. Time is of course going faster than I want it to.

On a side note... who knew that answering 6 questions would totally say who I am. Course Deep Red is my favorite color.

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorcrayonareyouquiz/
What Color Crayon Are You?

Less Than Two Weeks

So in two weeks we will have the truck packed up and we will be on our way to Salt Lake City. We are going there to spend Saturday with some friends and Sunday (Mother's Day) with family. We then will have 2 LONG days of driving to get to Tennessee late Tuesday night. Since the apartment office will be closed by the time we get there we'll have to stay in a hotel that night. Then Wednesday morning we'll spend all day unpacking I'm sure. Cory's already called the utilities and internet (can't live without internet anymore) so at least we'll have power when we get there.

I was going to try and do a small party for Madeleine before we left, but I don't think I'll be able to squeeze one in. Instead I think I'll take some small items for her last day of preschool. That works right? Madeleine is starting to cry when I drop her off at school, maybe its because when she comes back there are items missing from the house.

I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm so scatter-brained that I can't seem to stay on one task long enough for it to get fully finished. We have boxes half full, Desks half taken apart, I have random papers around with important information about the move all through the house.

Also our car has decided to keep having items that needs fixing... I wonder if we've hit the point on our car that its costing more to put into it than buying another one.

If you would like our new info email me!

We Got It!

We got our apartment in Tennessee! YAY! My stress level for the move has gone down, now that we like... actually have a place to put our stuff once we do make the 40 hour drive. Cory is wanting to make the drive in 3 days. We will be stopping in Utah to visit family for 2 days, so at least it will be broken up a little bit.

Also family has visited and gone and Cory and I have started packing once again. We packed up and moved stuff that was under our bed. The scary world of "I don't know where to put this... OH I KNOW under the bed I'll deal with it LATER". I believe there were things that I put there after we moved here 2 years ago that I haven't missed or even thought about.

It'll be like Christmas when we move to Tennessee as our kitchen boxes are still in the garage since the move 2 years ago. I don't remember anything that we have in them.

Now to just make a few trips to Goodwill so we don't have to move things we don't want. And I know the last few weeks will go a lot faster than I want them too, but it will be exciting to get to our new home.

Stress and Cold Sores

Sexy title right? Well since being back from Tennessee, we've been busy trying to get things ready. When I get extremely stressed I get cold sores, now I usually only get them maybe once or twice a year but I've now had two in the last month. Am I stressed? I think so! I had one of those days where I started to panic, and what do you know! The next morning I woke up with a cold sore starting to form on my lip. And the thing about cold sores is I start to stress about the cold sore when I'm already obviously stressing. I decided to go to the store and buy some new cold sore medicine as what I had obviously wasn't working too well. I normally buy a moderate priced one, but this time I decided to go all out and buy Abreva, the smallest container for about double the price. I figure what do I got to lose? Well I gotta say this actually worked. The cold sore didn't grow to its normal size and didn't get nearly as nasty as they usually do. I know you are all excited to read my post about cold sores, but I'm excited to find something that actually helped!

Ok onto other things! Cory has started to take apart furniture in hopes that it will make it easier to move... he of course doesn't pack the stuff in the entertainment center or whats in the drawers but just sets them aside for "later". Does "later" mean me going through them? I think so! We are also trying to finish up the apartment application, which is much more detailed than anything I had to fill out in Utah. Here's to hoping we pass all the credit checks and such.

This week we also have my brothers family and one of his in-law families visiting. So its a full house once again. Madeleine is having a blast with the extra kids, and is learning about sharing very quickly. Cory's parents will also be visiting this weekend. Busy busy!

Ribs, Ribs, and More Ribs

We made it back from Tennessee in one piece! We had a lovely trip, and I must say that traveling without Madeleine made this trip SOOOOO much easier. We arrived Wednesday night and went straight to the hotel to try and get some sleep, since we were going to wake up at 7 a.m. (which was really 4 a.m. to us). Thursday we went apartment hunting all day, and we are very excited about one of the apartments we've found. Now we just gotta secure we get it. Friday was the meet and greet, and Cory is even more excited about attending the law school. We came back Friday night only to find that our car had a flat tire. Now I'm hoping this will be our last flat tire for awhile, seeing as we've now replaced them all since living in Los Angeles.

Knoxville has about every store you'd want. It will feel much smaller than Los Angeles, cause really... what won't feel small in comparison. There were lots of Ruby Tuesday's and Texas' BBQ places. I don't think I'm going to want to eat red meat for a month or two.

We are thinking we may move as early as May, seeing as if I'm able to find a job before Cory's school starts in August we can get residency... and really in the 3 years we'll be there that will save us over 30,000. And once he has residency it can't be taken away.

Things seem to be falling into place... I'm just hoping they land into place.

High Heights and Big Slices

Here are a few pictures of our trip from NYC. We first visited the Flat Iron building. Me for historic art reasons and Cory's for... well that is where Spider Man works. I'm not sure if that was the best decision in that everything after that Cory had some sort of reference to Spider Man. After the Flat Iron we visited Union Square, Ground Zero and Max Brenner's Chocolate Restaurant. And OH MY GOODNESS if you are ever a chocolate fan like I am this place was just... I mean wow... I still dream about some of those desserts.

Tuesday we woke up early, and my parents were nice enough to take Madeleine to a Zone Conference while Cory and I did lots of site seeing. We took the train to the city then rode the subway through rush hour to make it to the Empire State Building before any long lines formed. We then went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Time Square, China Town and we finished off the night by seeing Wicked. It was an amazing musical. Thank you again for the tickets Mom, Cory and I had a great day alone seeing the city.

Wednesday Cory and I were a bit beat from all we did Tuesday, so we went to the Bronx Zoo. Of course my California daughter refused to wear a coat when the high was 40 out. We ended the night with some pizza from the Bronx, and the slices were bigger than Cory's head. Was good and very filling.

Thursday we went to the Met before we had to go to the airport. Madeleine didn't enjoy it much, but I on the other hand loved seeing some of those art pieces. It was a great trip, even if it was short.

Cory and I are headed to Knoxville next week to see what we can get started on for our move there this summer. I didn't have the heart to take Madeleine cross country in a plane so soon, so we are having a friend watch her for 2 nights. I'm just hoping I have a friend when I come back.

Back, But Sick!

We made it back from NYC late Thursday night. We had a blast. We were all very sad to leave Grandma and Grandpa, I think we all got a bit spoiled by being there. Madeleine got alone time with Grandma and Grandpa and Cory and I got alone time together! But Saturday morning we all woke up with sore throats and stuffy noses. We are still in the process of recovering. I will give more details of our trip and hopefully some pictures as soon as I start feeling better.

Growing Up?

Yesterday Cory sold his 360 to one of his co-workers. He figures he won't have enough time to play this while going to lawschool. This was Cory's decision, I was quite suprised when he came home and told me he was selling it. Cory packed it up and all the games, controllers and the guitars for guitarhero and as he was putting them into the car Madeleine was crying "xbox... xbox..."

I've been a bit frazzled lately. Cory's decided to go to Tennesse for lawschool. So my mind is going 100 mph it seems constantly.

We are leaving to visit my parents in NYC tomarrow night. First vacation in over a year. Hopefully lots of pictures to come.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! We've never been big on this holiday. We acknowledge it but never celebrate in a big way. Cory worked tonight anyways. So I got to spend the evening watching a movie with Madeleine and folding laundry. Maybe Cory and I will go out to dinner later this week or something for it, less crowds too!

Thursday Afternoon

Well Madeleine has been to early morning preschool this week, and so far so good. She seems to be adjusting fine to it. The early mornings are harder on me than her I think. Since I'm the one running around in the morning trying to get her to school on time.

Currently I'm procrastinating laundry. I've been going nonstop this morning and sat down for lunch, and now I'm having problems getting going again. But I NEEDS to do laundry no one needs to see me running around without a bra on tomarrow.

Law School!

Here's a picture of Madeleine taking a nap on our bed. I seriously don't know how she does it.

Well the exciting news this week is that Cory got accepted to law school at University of Tennesse. Its in his top 3 choices of schools, so it is excited. I'm just glad we heard so quickly from one of his top choices.

I went to Madeleine's IEP last week. They would like her to start going to the morning special ed preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. To help with some of her speech and social skills. I'm hoping that going to school on Monday, Wednesday, Friday afternoons then going Tuesday, Thursday mornings won't be too weird or tough of a schedual for her. She starts her first Tuesday class tomarrow, hopefully the transition won't be too stressful for her. Though Madeleine and I have turned into pretty lazy morning people, so this will also be a challenge for me to get her to school at 8:30 am.

I haven't been up to too much. Cleaning up from the holidays. We did make it to Disney Land the other night. It was cold since it had been raining earlier that day, but we were able to just walk on all the rides. Madeleine had a blast and even asked to go on Pirates at the end of the night.

A Quiet Night

New Years Eve was very quiet for us. Cory of course had to work that morning and had to wake up early for work the next day. So it was a typical night for us. About 5 minutes after laying Madeleine down the power went off. Madeleine of course woke right up since the house was pitch black. We found some flash lights then looked outside and saw that the whole neighborhood was out. We played downstairs for a bit with the flashlights but after an hour or so and with Madeleine being so tired, we decided to go for a drive. Cory manually opened the garage and we drove around for a bit, by the time we got home the power was back on. We laid Madeleine down and us shortly after. I don't even think Cory and I were up at midnight.