5....4....3....2....1....

FIRE!


After a year of working at the crash test facility I was finally given the opportunity to press "The Button" last week and send a car to its destruction. The victim was a Toyota Camry. I will try not to let the power go to my head.

Here is a video of a typical crash test.

My Tragic Haircut

So I went to get a haircut yesterday....let me just say that the girl that cut my hair was new....very new. I was so nervous the entire time, as was she. Even the hairdresser stationed next to her was nervous for me; she let me know that my hairdresser gets very flustered. Anyway, she cut it way too short and my bangs are a lot shorter than bangs should ever be. But I think I've fixed it...I covered the ugly bangs and figured out how to style the rest. I think I'm happy with the result. Otherwise I have to wait for it to grow.


What do you think?

Victory

Sorry for the delay in the update on the war. We have been very busy hammering out a peace treaty with the enemy.
The battle was short and sweet thanks to operation "Kool-aid." The rebels were caught off guard with what they thought to be a peace offering. After 36 hours of gorging themselves in the delicious nectar of death their lines began to thin and the casualties began to build. Eventually the lines of the tiny ground-pounders ceased altogether and they were only spotted in small teams dragging away their dead (They actually did a great job of clearing the area of dead ants).
The next morning we awoke to find a single ant carrying a white flag*, the universal signal for surrender. Since then we have agreed that they are not allowed to enter our living area and we have promised not to disturb them in the dumpster out back. Victory is sweet!

*Crumb

Be Gone

A is for Ant
...
...
D is for Dead

My new spanish word of the day is 'Hormigas'
I have chosen to combine this with a previous spanish word of the day; 'Muerto'...I think you can see where this is headed.

Our apartment has been consistently probed by the rebel forces in increasing amounts since we moved in. The lack of a trail has made it difficult to find their point of attack and my tracking skills have failed me as I can not seem to find any footprints. A vacuum, fitted with the essential hose accessory, was our first plan of attack. The use of this weapon seemed only to confuse and bewilder the ants which were imprisoned in the vacuum bag. The high winds must have interfered with their antenna and gps because they walked around in circles for a bit after the bag was emptied.

Plan B was of course anyone's go-to weapon: "Raid" We successfully broke the enemy lines with multiple "Raids" over the course of a week. Our base was ant-free for a good 5 days. Then as if someone had announced an ant buffet we were attacked. They came from the west, the north and the south. Nothing could stop them. We were overwhelmed with no backup in sight and running low on ammo and provisions.

In the heat of battle I was able to escape leaving the rebel scum to overrun my apartment. I was able to flee to the local Home Depot where I was instructed to purchase the ultimate weapon to end all weapons. Although it is unfortunate that I had to resort to full out chemical warfare these ants sure do love their Cyanide* laden Kool-Aid. My plan is that they will find this sweet concoction and share it with the rest of their forces. Hopefully their commander will fall as well.

The satellite surveillance photo you see in the upright corner is at ground-zero at approximately 18:34 pacific daylight time (roughly 12 minutes and 35 seconds after the Kool-Aid was placed into position). Since this time 2 other hotspots have been located and are currently receiving treatment. Updates will follow shortly.

-Garrett

*Borax

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Garrett and I love this recipe...seriously, we've made it at least 4 times in the last 2 weeks. The great thing about it is that all of these ingredients are so common that you most likely have them at home already. All you need are the bananas. I hope that you like it as much Garrett and I do!

1 3/4 c. flour, divided
2/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed ripe bananas (2-3) bananas
1/3 c. softened butter
2 Tbsp. milk
2 eggs
a handful and a half of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine 1 c. flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add mashed banana, softened butter and milk.
Beat with electric mixer on low speed until blended, then on high speed for 2 minutes.
Add eggs and remaining flour, beat until blended. Stir in nuts.
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Just Cook Already

I have just become a huge fan of the blog, Just Cook Already. They have tons of fabulous recipes and creative ideas.

Check it out....the Chocolate Bottom Banana Bars are to die for!

Our Project

For months I've been wanting to find a good old beat up dresser that Garrett and I can fix up ourselves and make it our own because 1) it will be cheaper than buying a brand new one, and 2) it's so difficult to find exactly what you want, so this is our solution. A few weeks ago we found our dresser at a local thrift store for $35. At this moment it is extremely ugly because of its terrible paint and two different kinds of knobs.

So far we've removed all of the knobs, filled in the holes, removed an ugly piece of molding and began the sanding process.

Now I've sanded things down before but it is taking SO long. And do you know why? Whoever the previous owners of this piece of junk were put a coat of primer over the original finish, and then paint over that, and more finish over that, and then more paint and more finish. Needless to say, we still haven't finished the sanding. It'll be a while. But we WILL finish.

It'll be a long, long project, but I can't wait for the finished product. Wish us luck.....

it's gonna be a while...

A Visit with the Kidlets

In July I took a trip to Rexburg to visit my sister, Jenni, and her kids and lots of other relatives. I don't really have any exciting stories about my trip, but I want to share a few pictures of my nieces and nephews. I love them so much and had a blast with them!

This first picture is of Kalissa JACQUELINE. Yes, she received her middle name from me. She's 5 years old and is a hoot and a half! While I was there I went to lunch with a friend. Kalli came along and she was so happy...she was a big girl!


The next two are of Alexa. We call her Lexi. She is 2 and a half and has definitely grown since I saw her last Christmas. Now she's talking up a storm and singing primary songs and she is absolutely hilarious. Everytime I look at her she makes me laugh.

I took this picture one morning after we had both waken up. We shared a bed the night before and layed in bed together in the morning for half an hour before doing anything else.

As I stated above, I shared a bed with Lexi for a few nights. Boy, does she kick! Everynight without fail she would turn her body perpendicular to the way she was laying before. Despite her kicking at night, I absolutely love this picture of her.

Kalli and Seth...need I say more? This is Seth's well known "Sad Face." We don't know how he does it. We've all tried to do it ourselves, but we can't. Those big brown eyes are just amazing!

One night we went to Warm River. Let me say that the river was anything but warm, but the surroundings were gorgeous! My uncle and his kids, and my cousin and her kids were there also. All of the kids enjoyed doing jumping pictures. Seth did great! Seth is such a sweet boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and he loves to cuddle. I just can't resist those big brown eyes!



The goof balls. From left to right: Seth, cousin Jack, and Miles. This is Miles' favorite face. I swear that more than half of the pictures of him look like this. Although he may not look like it at this moment, but he's a smarty pants. He loves school. Every time I talk to him he talks about a new book that he's reading. And he kicked my butt at Dance Dance Revolution. And he let me know it.

This is Chandler. Sometimes he likes to go by his middle name, Ethan. We don't know why, we just go with it. He is the oldest of the bunch. He just turned 11 last month which totally blows my mind. I remember when he was the only one! Chandler is an amazing gymnast. I wish I had the talent he has.

So that's my introduction of my sister's children and you'll be hearing more about them in the future. They're awesome and they made my visit wonderful. And not only did I get to visit them, I got to visit my parents' dog, Clementine. Woot-Woot.

Meet Ernest

This is Ernest.

He comes out to play every time we vacuum our carpet. Our landlord had installed brand new carpet in our apartment before we moved in. We fear that at the rate in which Ernest is increasing there may not be any carpet left by the time we move out.

The First Year Flew By

On July 11, 2008 Garrett Mattos and Jacquie Haeberle were sealed for time and all eternity in the Oakland Temple...



We just returned from our First Anniversary "get away." We didn't go far, but we had a blast. We traveled 2.5 hours to Cambria, CA, a small town on the coast. While we were there we kayaked...

...stalked the sea lions...

...watched the sea otters...

...dodged the hungry pelicans...

...jumped on rocks at Moonstone Beach...

...took a tour of Hearst Castle...

...laughed at the faces of the elephant seals...

...and saw zebras as we drove down Highway 1.

It was a wonderful get away weekend! Some people say that the first year it the hardest, but we say it was easy....married life is awesome!

Our new tenant

My little, or I guess I should say younger, brother has moved into our apartment. I corrected myself because I am 5'4" and Joel is 6'1", but he's two years younger than me. He's here to get away from home and get a job. I'm so happy that he's here...we're gonna have a good time!
Love ya, Joel!

Sunday in the Park

Garrett and I got bored before and after church on Sunday, so we decided to take some fun pictures......






Garrett's are more exciting than mine...I can't even do a cartwheel! Hope you enjoyed!

The Graduate

I know that it's a little late for this post, but I'm too proud of my man not to do it at all. He's all done! No more papers, no more homework, no more projects.....lots more cuddle time. He worked so hard and deserves every bit of credit that he's received.


During his senior year he worked at an internship in Goleta for a company called Xprts...it's a rollover crash test facility. He really enjoys working there and they like him so much that they offered him a full time job after graduation. Garrett started last week. We've been so blessed and I'm so proud of my graduate and grateful for all of the hard work that he's done to provide for us. I love him so much! I love you, Garrett! Congratulations!

Garrett's Thumbs

As some of you may know, Garrett's thumbs aren't your average thumbs. Some of us like to call them "toe" thumbs or "mole" thumbs.


I have always loved his thumbs. Yes, I admit that sometimes I laugh, but I really do love them. Sometimes they make it difficult to text message on his touchscreen cellphone and to play the piano. But they come in handy when we need to measure things. Garrett's thumbs are exactly 1 inch wide! We have measured things with them many times.

The other day, Garrett and I were sorting through some of his boxes from his mom's house. Inside one of the boxes we found a clay mold of Garrett's hand when he was 4 years old. And guess what....he even had the "toe" thumbs when he had baby teeth.


So cute...I love you, Garrett!

Lift Where you Stand

So we were able to move into our new apartment today! YAY! But there was one thing the we had been dreading about our move.....the piano (dun-dun-DUN). We had to move the piano down a flight of stairs, into the back of a truck, and over to our new apartment. Instead of paying $300 to have someone move it for us, we had 7 wonderful members of our Elders Quorum come to help.

I'm not going to lie...I had some major doubts about this move. My heart was racing the entire time that I watched from downstairs. After 30 minutes of deliberation between perhaps too many engineering minds, the men finally decided how they were going to do it. In the end they followed the same advice as explained by President Uchtdorf:

"As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”

It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood."

The piano was moved safely and is in one piece. And Garrett and I are happy to say that no one was injured during this move. Thank you so much to all those who helped us today. We couldn't have done it without you!

Does anyone know how to tune a piano?