Hated living there, but sad to see it go.

I have some potentially upsetting news for those of you who went to BYU, but no longer live in the greater Utah County area. Our beloved Deseret Towers is on its last legs. I have driven past the former housing complex twice a week, almost every week, since last winter and have been watching the progress in its demolition. I actually got to watch one of the halls be crushed by a wrecking ball. It was pretty cool to watch although I'm sad they didn't use dinomite; that would have been more exciting to watch. Eli and I pulled into the parking lot by DT field stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes and watched. It was fun. That was several months ago. Now there are only 2 1/8 buildings left.

What's especially touching is that, judging from the current path they're taking, U-Hall will be the last one standing. I know that many of my readers will shed a tear when that one falls. That's actually where I met most of the people I am friends with now. I do have to admit, though, I hated living there. I went from living with my mom and three brothers to living with 40 girls and no way of sound-proofing my room. Not a very easy transition. I will never forget the MANY times I would hear girls running up and down the halls screaming about boys. UGH! I also remember how many phone calls I received from my friend who was just 3 doors down from me!! (Janelle, you know who you are!) The common room was also a place where many memories were made; they mostly involved sweaty girls doing Ty-Bo. (I have pictures and if you're not careful, I'll post them!) The community bathroom was another unforgettable feature to this wonderful dwelling. There were girls shaving their legs in the sink, girls who took showers that lasted FOREVER, and the scary hispanic lady who cleaned it every day. (And for all you male readers, girls poop and it doesn't smell good! Shocker, I know!) I loved the phone system though and the Sunday night broadcasts only the girls in U-Hall floors 2 &3 would receive on their answering machines from those mysterious Chinese boys in Q-Hall. KBC is still my favorite radio station. And do I even need to mention Visiting Hours? Double UGH!! Ok, enough inside jokes that only half my readers will understand.

Oh, the memories. There are so many more and I have pictures to prove them. Be grateful that they are packed in a box right now! It was fun living there and making life-long friends, but I would never want to relive it!!! I'm sad to see it go. If anyone wants a piece of the rubble from the destroyed tower, just let me know and send me enough money to pay for the fine I'll get for tresspassing in a dangerous work zone!

If you want to check out footage of one of the buildings being torn down, here's a cool link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-D35zR1uWY

If you're not careful, it'll happen to you too!!

Thanks to Brittney Miskin for tagging me. I didn't really know what it was until I read her blog and saw my name there. So, to all of you reading this right now, check out my answers to these questions and check and see if I put YOUR name at the end of the entry to see if you have to do it next!!
1. What was the best thing you cooked last week?I don't usually cook, but I did bake really good peanutbutter chocolate chip cookies.
2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who? Some Spanish-speaking country with a nice tropical resort. Of course I would take my honey, Mike with me!
3. When was the last time you cried? I'm happy to say I don't remember
4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago?
1- I was a sophomore at Salisbury High School
2- I was getting ready for the soccer season to start
I can't remember anything else
5 - Five things you were doing 5 years ago?
1- I was engaged
2- Going to school full time at BYU
3- Making wedding plans, getting a wedding dress, etc.
4- Spending all of my time with Mike
5- Trying to pass my classes and get some sleep because I was spending all of my time with Mike
6- Five things you were doing 1 year ago?
1- Getting ready for Eli's 3rd birthday
2- Trying to potty train Eli
3- Trying to help Mike find a job
4- Taking care of Baby Leah, who was 5 months old
5-Hanging out with friends down in Provo
7 - Seven of your favorite hobbies:
1- Playing Soccer
2- Watching HGTV
3- Doing crafts
4- Playing video games
5- Painting/drawing
6- Watching movies
7- Blogging
8 - Five favorite foods:
1- Chinese, especially egg rolls
2- Chocolate Chip Cookies
3- Really good bakery bread
4- Chocolate Milk, I know that's not a food
5- Pizza
Five places you’ve been:
1- Florida
2- California
3- Las Vegas
4- Ohio, exciting, I know
5- Bahamas
10- Five favorite memories: (in no particular order)
1- High School soccer
2- Marrying Mike
3- Having Eli and Leah
4- My freshman year when I got to hang out with my brother Will a ton!!
5- Any fun, silly thing I've done with Mike

People I will be tagging are: Shaina and Sarah B. so that you will have something new to blog. Sarah K. because it will annoy her and she needs to blog something new also. Shannon Martino (I read your blog often!). Okay taggies, copy and paste and put your own answers in your own blog, then tag at least four other people.

What?! I've only done it two times. It's not like I'm addicted!

Who am I kidding? I am addicted. My only problem is that my drug of choice is in very short supply. What am I addicted to, you ask? Those dirty Stephenie Meyer's books about vampires. So far I've read Twilight and New Moon and I think I finished both in less than two weeks. The second one I borrowed from a friend (thanks for being my supplier Brittney) on Thursday and just finished today (Sunday). These books are each over 500 pages long. I know they are a bit on the middle/highschool level, but I have never read a book that fast before in my life. Actually, I don't think I've ever even completed a book that long, let alone 2! (Please refer to my previous blog where I mention that I don't read)

I just can't get enough. I think what draws me to reading them is that I can completely dive into the story and be totally absorbed!! And it doesn't hurt that the hero of the stories is very swoon-inducing. The addiction is so bad that I have put off sleep to read these books. Last night I stayed up until 1am to read. That's a pretty crazy thing for me to do considering my "delicate condition" and all. It's a good thing I'm done with the second and won't see my supplier until probably Wednesday. That means I might actually pay attention to my children and husband and maybe get some sleep. But I don't think I can wait that long until my next fix.

Well, there you have it. Admitting you're addicted is the first step to recovery. But I'm not ready to give it up just yet. At least not until I've read books 3 and 4, and the first one over again followed by the first book rewritten in Edward's perspective. And, of course, I will see the movie. Crap, there's no hope for me.

Please leave your comments and tell me about your addition to those wonderful vampire books. I need a support group! If you haven't read them, read them, become addicted (almost inevitable), and then you can join the support group. The more the merrier!!

I'd like to give a shout-out to my sis-in-law, Shaina!! This one's for you!

I was recently chastized by my sister-in-law, Shaina, because apparently, I don't blog enough. So this one is dedicated to her!! Thanks for inspiring me Shaina!!!! (For those of you college friends that might read this, that's right, Shaina Groves married my brother Mike. Weird, I know!)

So the computer that I download all my super cute pictures on somehow got broken and no longer connects to the internet. I blame Eli, although, I have no hard evidence, only speculation. I finally copied some pictures onto a cd so that I could use another computer in order to make my blog a bit more interesting. Let's all be honest with ourselves for a moment. Once in a while, we would all just like to look at a few cute pictures and not have to read so many words. Okay, maybe that's just me. Just ask my Mike; he'll tell you that I don't read. It's true. I like lists and pictures. So here you are: some pictures and brief captions of what the pictures are about! Enjoy!!

This is Eli all ready for his first date with a little girl named Sydney. We haven't met the girl or her parents yet. We're already concerned that things are moving too fast. Just look at the smile on his face!

This is Eli again. He's wearing a wonderful pair of "Grandpa Pants" and flexing his "big" muscles. For those of you who don't know, Grandpa Pants are any pants that that have a waist that hits closer to the armpits than the actual waist.

Eli's first gingerbread house. I did most of the work; he did most of the eating.

This is marshmallow Leah, all ready to play outside in the snow for the first time. She's soooo excited, probably because she can't move. She did perk up later, when we let her help shovel the sidewalk.

Here, we have a wonderful display of how Eli and his best buddy, Tanner, act sometimes when they get together. First, there's some fighting (Eli's winning), then some sledding and having fun, followed by more fighting (Tanner's winning this time). At least they did manage to make it down the hill, on the same sled, at the same time. Way to go boys!



Fortunately, by the end of the morning, they decided to be friends!

And they celebrated their renewed friendship with some hot chocolate. Yeah!!!!

I think I've been found out!

I was talking to Eli this morning and telling him that his friend Tyler was coming over to play. He asked me when he was coming and how long he was going to stay. Then he asked, "Mommy, are you gonna pick him off?" I think what he meant to say was, "Mommy, are you gonna pick him up?" At least that's what I hope he meant. I was really hoping Eli would be a bit older before he found out that I'm not only his mom, but I'm also a sniper.

Another squishy, white, bundle of chubb

As some of you may have noticed, there are two new additions to the Bell Blog and both of them are baby related. That's right....I am PREGNANT. The baby is due July 21st. We're really excited. So please, enjoy watching the baby countdown along with me. Also, vote on what you think the gender of our third bundle of chubb will be. If you want, vote several times. That will make me think there are lots of people who read my blog, and thus make me feel good. I know I shouldn't base my general emotional status on something as simple as how many people read my blog, but I do. I'm irrational and emotionally fragile by nature. Being pregnant only hightens those flaws. You know what else makes me feel good? When people comment on my postings. Hintedy-hint-hint. I'll keep you posted on any updates. Now get commenting and voting!

New Year's Survival Guide

If you want to survive 2008, there are certain things you MUST do on New Year's Day. This is not a joke. Don't take this lightly. If you want 2008 to be the best year ever, you will follow these 3 simple rules.**

1) Do not eat any form of fowl on New Year's Day. That means no chicken, turkey, eggs, etc. If you do, you'll scratch for a living the whole year.

2) DO eat some kind of pork product. Pigs only move in a forward direction. Therefore, you will only move forward in the new year.

3) Get a herring. Make sure it's dead. Wrap a dollar bill around it and hang it from the highest window in the house. (I would hang it on the outside of the window to make sure your house doesn't smell fishy) Then, make that dollar the first you spend in the New Year. This will ensure that money only comes into the house and doesn't leave the house throughout the year.

To be totally honest. I only participate in 2 of the 3 necessary steps to making my year a good one. I'll let you guess which 2.

If you read this today, that means there's still time! Don't delay. Run to the store. Buy some pork chops. Find a herring. By the way, I have no idea where you can find one. Just trust me; your efforts will totally pay off.

**These traditions are brought to you by my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. I love stuff like this. I think it's cool. Oh, and I only do #1 & #2. I'm not too crazy about fish.