Tag, you're it!

OK, so forever ago Serena 'tagged' me. I meant to do it shortly thereafter, but as you can see, I never did! Surprise, surprise! First I had to think of 7 bits of info that I would actually be willing to share... and admit to myself and others.

These are the rules:
A) List 7 habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B) Tag 7 people to do the same.
C) Do not tag the person who tagged you, or say that you tag 'whoever wants to do it.'

1. Talking is great. I love just being with family and friends and just talking about everything and nothing at the same time. I think it's important to have meaningful conversations in order to be able to improve yourself as a person, but I also think it's important to have pointless chat sessions to strengthen friendships and to truly get to know each other and understand backgrounds and perspectives that make each of us truly unique. I love hearing random memories from others because it makes me feel a part of their life even if I wasn't in it at that time.

2. Some ways that I am reminded that motherhood really is one of my greatest blessings is when Sammy sits on my lap and lets me cuddle him. He rests his head on my chest and will often put his hand in mine. I cherish our little 'conversations' that we have, even though I often only understand one word in it. I love when I ask him for a kiss or a love and he comes to me with his lips puckered (and sometimes his tongue protruding...) and wraps his arms around me and gives me a big kiss. One time when I was laying by him watching his movie he leaned down and kissed me on the forehead like I sometimes do to him. I think I got teary. Every night he softens my heart when he jumps into bed and smiles up at me. I love that he says 'sorry' by resting his head on any part of your body that it happens to touch first. He laughs so hard when we tickle him or when Jason plays with him. My blessings are visible and tangible as I watch what kind of father Jason is to him. I am so blessed to have such a special child in my home. I am also grateful for the one coming in the fall and I pray that I will be a worthy mother of two.

3. I am not a chocolate lover. Many women are shocked that there exists such a woman, especially now being a pregnant woman! I don't mind chocolate bars that have another flavor, such as Twix or Butterfinger bars, but plain chocolate... I'll pass. It's not worth it to me to have the extra calories and not thoroughly enjoy it. I'd rather waste calories on something that makes me want to close my eyes when I eat it. Or actually just something that I like more than chocolate. I don't care for brownies or chocolate ice cream. I pick the cookies with the least amount of chocolate chips, since I am a fan of cookie dough. Even in my s'mores I prefer to have the Hersheys with almonds, which makes Jason cringe... sorry, honey. I like caramel enough to eat the chocolates with caramel, but if I get a box of chocolates, I really hope there is a guide... so as to not waste those calories...

4. Grocery stores can be a place of relaxation for me... if Jason is not in it at the same time as me. I love my husband, but I do not love grocery shopping with him. He is more of an in-and-out kind of guy, where I am more the wander-up-and-down-every-aisle-and-compare-prices-and-look-for-sales kind of girl. (Not a recipe for a blissful marriage.) He gets too bored if he is there, and that stresses me out because I feel rushed. I love going by myself, or Sam can be there if he is being exceptionally well-behaved, but that is not a common occurance. I love starting at one end and casually meandering down each and every aisle to cross off my list and to stock my pantry with sales I had formerly been unaware of. I admit that I often cringe as the cashier tells me the final cost, which is probably why Jason prefers to be in and out in a flash... less time to spend more money. But I calmly remind myself that this therapy session was well worth it, and I have food to spare. (I'm only trying to build our year supply.) Fact is: I love grocery stores, but even more, I love grocery stores with great sales!

5. In my waiting or spare time I love to do word, number and logic puzzles. Like Sudoku or the logic puzzles that you narrow info down by the process of elimination. Jason calls it homework, but I call it extra credit! I love how versatile numbers and letters are, and their potential for creativity and endless entertainment.

6. There are two things that come to mind that I absolutely avoid if at all possible. It is usually not possible to avoid, but I love it when Jason is willing to do it for me. The first thing is that I don't like to carry a full milk jug. I had to carry a milk jug for a mile or two in college because the delivery option was closed shortly before I finished shopping without me realizing there was a time limit. My hands were numb from the cold milk and I had grooves in my fingers from the weight. I have hated carrying them ever since. The second thing is I really don't like to grate cheese. We eat a lot of cheese in my family, so it's nearly impossible to avoid. Jason usually will do it when he is home, but I try to have dinner ready when he gets home from work. I think I hate it because I picture part of my fingers being grated too. Sorry for such a nasty visual, but it is one of my irrational fears, and the more I grate, the less it helps me to overcome it. I know, I'm wierd.

7. I love the color red. I really wanted to paint at least one wall red in my new house. I chose a deep red as an accent wall in our living room. I must admit, it is by far my favorite wall in the house. I love it with the black framed mirror on it and the other mostly black decorations on the mantle in front of it. I will some day have a red front door. That was one of the necessities when we were looking at houses... to buy a house that would look good with a red front door. I like wearing red too. I don't necessarily think it helps me look better in any way, but I love it still the same. The infrequent times that I play on the computer with Jason or go bowling, my name is Red. However, as much as I like red, I don't want a red car. I would be ok with a deep red car, like a maroon kind of color, but not a bright or cherry red. Red just makes me happy. I like it.

The people I want to tag are:
1. Jenny Neilson
2. Rachel Hreinson
3. Megan Martin
4. Christine Harding
5. Tiffiany Robb
6. Melinda Haney
7. Jill Swenson

Let me know when you actually do it, I want to read all about you!

Birthday fun!

Jason started out my birthday by making a big yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage. To see him cooking was the perfect start to a special day... I just don't see him cooking enough...
A couple of presents from my sweetie. He also took off work to spend the day with me.
We went out for a birthday lunch a few days later. Thanks for lunch Serena!
A few days after my birthday, we had a get-together for Adam's blessing, and Emmalynn's and Cassidee's birthday, so Leesa threw my birthday in there too. That's a lot of candles! 27 in case you're wondering... yikes!
It didn't take much coaxing to get Emmee to trade with me! Why blow out only 4 candles when you can blow out 27? Well, I can think of a few reasons... but she couldn't!

pictures from Serena

Serena, Erica and I went out to lunch to celebrate my birthday (Apr 24) and Erica's birthday (Apr 11) a couple of weeks ago. (Serena treated. Yum Yum!) She also made us some yummy little cakes.
These are just some extra pictures she took of Sam, since she is snap happy... which I'm ok with if the camera is not on me!

Aren't they beautiful? And such good friends too! I love em to death!
This is one she took of my newest niece and nephew after my nephew's blessing. They look like little angels in all their white. Either that or a very tiny bride and groom...

our little stinker

Our little "Cinderello" working so hard. Sam loves to 'help' daddy with yard work.
For the last month or so Sam has been sleeping in his big boy bed. He absolutely loves it! Every night he eagerly jumps into bed, sometimes he's so anxious to hop in that he doesn't wait for our family prayer to even finish. During the day he will often go in and play on it too. He loves Cars, so I think his sheets help! We're just glad he's excited to go to bed everynight! Hope it lasts!
When Papa and Nana came to visit they made sure to feed the pig. They gave him his little piggy bank when he was born and every time they visit they load it up. (Dad, mom, can I have a piggy bank too?) Sam and Papa had lots of fun hearing the little chime each time a coin went in. (And mommy had lots of fun knowing she doesn't have to be the one to help him fill it up!) By the time they were done, the poor pig was resting on his belly instead of his legs! Sam could hardly lift it!
After Adam's baby blessing daddy and Sammy were patiently waiting in the foyer for the rest of the family to exit the chapel. Sam felt pretty big.
Even though it may not look like it in this picture, Sam loves being with Papa and Nana. He sure misses them when they are not around.
A little glimpse into a day with Sam. In case you can't tell, this is one of his many tantrum methods. I gotta give it to him, he usually finds something softer than the tile to rest his crying head on. He will literally go to another room to scream and cry if necessary, which doesn't bother me!

I'm back!

Well, many of my friends have been complaining to me recently that this blog was a little outdated. Very true... But as of today we have the internet again! We finally got it all set up again! Now I have no excuse... but please be kind, my blogging is almost as sparse as my journaling... which I am working on improving as well.
The following are a few sets of pictures since the last time I was able to update. Not too much has happened, that I actually took pictures of anyway...
I will soon take some pictures of the house now that it's painted and moved into, so stay tuned...

On Easter Sunday we spent the day with my sisters and their families. Aunt Ronda had a big Easter egg hunt prepared. Sammy had been sick the previous day and this day (probably thanks to the pizza...) but when it came time to find all the blue eggs, he was all of a sudden just fine! He had lots of fun finding them... especially when he realized there was something in them, and that it was something yummy!!

Easter egg fun

On Good Friday, my sisters, Ronda and Leesa came down to our house with their families to dye Easter eggs. As you might be able to tell by examining Sam's mouth, we had pizza for dinner. The little honker,unbeknownst to me, ate 4 pieces! (Which he threw up by morning...) He had so much fun with his cousins and with coloring the eggs.

New additions to the Riskedahl family

We have recently added a couple more special spirits to our family! On January 24, 2008 my sister, Ronda had a beautiful baby girl. They named her Brynja (brin-yah) Rebecca Christenson.
On February 29, 2008 another sister, Leesa had a handsome little boy, Adam Daniel Jones. They are both so adorable and so precious. Sam just loves them and every time we are with them he wants to hold them! We just let him hold one at a time though...

A few projects for our new home

On painting day Sam really wanted to help with the paint. Since we know what he is capable of, we didn't really want him to show us all of his artistic abilities yet, so he just got a dry roller, which he was quite content with!
We had lots of fun with the taping, oh wait, no, that wasn't fun at all. Just a necessary evil.
After a while Sam started getting into more things than dry rollers so we had to put him in the pack-n-play. He amazed us by tolerating it for most of the day. Poor kid. We put it by the window so he could at least see outside and look at the 'pones' or as we know them, ponies.
When we closed on the house, we never had a chance to see the lawn due to the snow. The day after signing our lives away... the snow melted. It wasn't until then that we realized how bad the lawn really was. Luckily Jason knows a few things about yardwork... cuz it's gonna take a lot of it!
Sam really likes to help his daddy, especially when it means being outside!

We closed on the house on Feb. 28th and on Mar. 1st we started with painting most of the main areas of the house and the master bedroom. That took a lot longer than we thought! We made the move a week later on Mar. 8th. We had lots of family and friends to help us, for which we were extremely grateful. I don't know how all our stuff fit into our apartment, but it definitely filled the house a lot more than I expected! Looking back, I'm surprised our apartment floor didn't collapse from too much stuff! We have pretty much everything (that is important anyway) unpacked and put away, so it's really starting to feel more and more like home.

new address

Well, it all worked! We have officially moved into our first home!


And unrelated to the move, though it did happen about the same time, Jason and I switched phone numbers.
Have a great day!!

We're under contract! Again!

Here's the view from the entry way. You can either go upstairs or into the dining room/kitchen or take a left in the living room.
This is the living room. The window looks out to the front yard.
Here's a shot from the dining room of the kitchen. The dining room is the same size as the kitchen.
This is a shot of the master bedroom, it's bigger than this picture gives it credit.

And the outside shot of the home. It could look great with a red door! (My dream!)

Well, these are a few pix of the house we are under contract with. Hopefully everything will fall into place and we will continue to feel good about it. (Unlike the last house!) It's in Springville, and it's actually a twinhome, but we felt the positives outweigh the negatives by a lot!

2008 off to a fun start!

here's mommy's little angel looking so handsome in his little suit!
Our Christmas picture for 2007.

Silly Sammy!! Keep your clothes on!

When daddy started a new job, he didn't need his old business cards anymore. So Sammy and daddy played in them for a while before throwing them away.

Lately Sam has been doing this silly little smile thing, it's almost like he's clenching his teeth without his teeth actually touching. He kinda shakes his head a little as he does it too. It makes us laugh everytime he does it!