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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

gettin' back to our roots

**UPDATE: Gidget Goes Home has a new home: http://gidgetgoeshome.com

So this is our family blog... but sometimes, I just can't help myself, and I have to post on some random topic, that you, our beloved readers may or may not care about. It's sort of like word vomit, although I usually mean to say it. This just probably isn't the proper venue for said words.
(Exhibits A, B, C, D.) For further example, I realize, Dad that you'd rather see pictures of Gigi than read about my adventures in cloth diapering. :)

All this to say that my personal blog is now going to be my outlet for set ramblings and rantings. From the deep thoughts to the superficial, that's where you'll find it. This blog will be reserved for family updates. I may remind you from time to time of what's going on over there at Gidget Goes Home, or you can check the cute li'l widget in the sidebar here that says "Gidget Goes Home: What's New?" for the most recent updates.

Basically, the theme is my stay-at-home adventures, and my attempts to fill my days with simple, crafty, green & fun living!
Come on over and bookmark or subscribe if you haven't already.

Now, in order to implement my new plan, I feel I must share a cute shot of Gigi Bri with you. Here she is today on top of Gigi Mountain, i.e. my attempt to redirect her out-of-control climbing habits.

Monday, July 28, 2008

uh, oh...

Just what I need, a new (probably addictive) pastime...
I found an awesome (FREE) place to do digital scrapbooking. It's quick, easy and fun! I may have to incorporate this into my scrapbooking hobby. I don't want to give up hand-scrapbooking for good, but this could easily become my media of choice. If I can figure out how to affordable print these, I'd like to do a combination of digital and hand-scrapbooking.
This is a sample that I just made in about 10 minutes at scrapblog.com.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

I got tagged!

The ABC's of Me
(I was "tagged" by Linda to do this!)
A. Attached or single? As attached as they come! I love being married!

B. Best friend? David! But my girlfriends are a close second... here are a few of the many I've been blessed with: Rena, Sarah, Beth, Kelley, Annie & my mom

C. Cake or Pie? Probably cake, although I'll take pie anytime too.

D. Day of choice? Friday! Especially because David gets every other one off.

E. Essential items? laptop, cell phone, sunglasses, a good book, my nalgene, and the Bible

F. Favorite color(s)? Teal/aqua

G. Gummy bears or worms? worms (sour!)

H. Hometown? San Marcos, CA (north county san diego)

I. Favorite indulgence? brownies (the huge box from costco!) or peppermint joe-joe's

J. January or July? July, definitely a summer girl.

K. Kids? a crazy little girlie (~15 months)

L. Life isn't complete without? Jesus... He makes life worth the living (same answer as Linda!)

M. Marriage date? June 28, 2003

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 younger bro

O. Oranges or apples? oranges (especially if someone else peels it for me!)

P. Phobias? the dark (more of a fear than a phobia though)

Q. Quotes- "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." S.E. Hinton (this was Linda's and I'm leaving it because I love The Outsiders!), but also: "We will never take our places as 'more than overcomers' with nothing to overcome." -Beth Moore, and "i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)." e.e. cummings.

R. Reasons to smile? I am loved.

S. Season of choice? I think I already answered this. :) SUMMER!

T. Tag 5 people: mom, sharla, ashley, emma, shan

U. Unknown fact about me? I'm pretty much an open book so even this might not be all that "unkown" to some of you, but in high school I was a cheerleader, did gymnastics, pole vaulted, played field hockey, and started surfing.

V. Vacation of choice? anywhere warm & tropical/humid with a pretty beach.

W. Worst habit? Wasting time.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound... I've had my fair share.

Y. Your favorite food? ice cream, corn on the cob, guacamole

Z. Zodiac sign? Aquarius. I don't believe in this stuff, but I do like water, so there ya go.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Visitors from the West

We had a great weekend with David's parents (aka Granny & Granpa) visiting! David got to go golfing with them on Friday, then Saturday we spent the day in Evergreen, for lunch and a walk around the lake.
Sunday we went to church and the farmer's market, and then we spent Monday downtown, doing a ballpark tour, a tour of the Capitol, and seeing the Dodgers cream the Rockies.
It was so fun for Gigi to spend time with Granny & Granpa. And we even got to go on a date one night to see the movie "Hancock"! Thanks for visiting; we miss you already! :)
Here are the pictures (with captions!):
http://flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157606371599038/

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

"I Love Sports"

If you like sports, and entertaining song-and-dance shows... here's a fun video. I've never really been a fan of Justin Timberlake (nor have I ever sat down and watched the ESPY Awards) but he was a funny host and is quite the entertainer!



(The last couple of minutes are not part of the song, so it's not quite as long as it says).

Friday, July 18, 2008

Corn cob, anyone?

she's so corny sometimes.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

"I thought the Rockies would be a little rockier..."

We spent last weekend camping at Rocky Mountain National Park-- our first camping trip with just the 3 of us! It was amazingly beautiful, with great weather, and Gigi was a champ. We love our big tent but look forward to someday when we can upgrade to something a little more substantial. :)
On Saturday, we went on an amazing 3.6-mile hike that went to 3 lakes. The scenery was unbelievably green and lush! We also went on a 9-mile off-road drive up above 12,000 feet. It was awesome to be driving above the tree line- we felt like we were in the alps or something. Gigi had a fun weekend using her new bike trailer/stroller too!

Also, on Sunday we picked up Auntie Rena who was visiting her great aunt nearby. She stayed with us until today and we had a great time! She even taught Gigi how to say "yo" (or more like "o-yo-yo").

Check out all our sweet photos for sure!
http://flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157606191606671/

Thursday, July 10, 2008

July, Part 1

Tomorrow we are off to camp at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, so beforehand I wanted to post this month's pictures to date.
But first... moms of girls will appreciate this... you know your baby is now a little girl when she can sport

a) a ponytail

b) pigtails!!
She looked so cute today in pigtails! But of course refused to smile for the camera. I'm sure we'll get one in the near future...

Here are all the pictures: (enable captions if you watch the slideshow!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157606100662527/

Monday, July 07, 2008

Videos from June

We got a little video crazy last month. Blame the new camera, loving iMovie, and a really cute little girl with ever-increasing & awesome skillz.
So here are a few...

First, the overview of June:



Next, a (slightly boring) day-in-the-life episode (mostly unedited) of Gigi playing outside:



And finally, what you've all been waiting for... more dancing!!


Saturday, July 05, 2008

not again...

sick (throwing up on Mommy, among other symptoms)
+
teething (more molars!)
=
no fun for anyone! :(

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Trip to NorCal

We spent a long weekend in California, seeing lots of peeps and driving all over! The trip was to go to my dear friend Emily's baby Shower in West Sacramento, which was awesome because we had almost the whole lake crew together (missing some of the guys and their significant others). We flew into San Jose because it was cheaper, which turned out great because we even got to see a few friends in the Bay Area in addition to our friends & fam in Sac.We stayed the weekend in shared hotel room with my parents (Thanks!) and then spent a night with David's sister Carly and a night with our friends the Wingers. Thanks everyone for your hospitality and a really fun trip (minus David li'l bout with food poisoning or the stomach flu).
Thanks to my parents babysitting, David & I even got to celebrate our 5 year anniversary) (which was Saturday) with a lovely dinner at Morton's!

Here are all the pictures (make sure to enable the captions if you do a slideshow!)! Click here (sorry I forgot to make it a link before!): http://flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157605951661795/

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

June Photos


Here's the June '08 edition of Life in Colorado... enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157605946392512/