hahaha, SO TRUE

I found this on my friend Darbie's blog. I laughed and laughed until it hurt. I remember going up to Cleveland with friends in high school every so often and thinking... there is something seriously wrong with this place. Thanks, LeBron, for giving Cleveland something to live for.

A little Morris family update (enjoy):

In addition to my latest post...

I just realized that you can't see the links to the houses we're looking at!! So for the "dream home" and the "runner up" links, you'll have to enter a username and ID. If you want to look at the houses, type in Username: Anonymous1 and Password: Anonymous1. That should get you in to the houses. Let me know if it doesn't work!

Looking for a House

We've been looking around the Las Vegas Valley for a house to buy!!! It's very exciting, and very tiresome at the same time. I'm pretty picky, I have to admit. If I'm going to be staying in this place for the next 5-10 years and spending all sorts of money, I better like it! I really prefer hardwood flooring with as little carpet as possible (just the bedrooms, ideally). I don't want to have to worry as much about spills, cleanings, etc. and I just like the look. I HATE the style of Las Vegas homes, the majority of them all have a very southwestern facade. No thanks. In a perfect world, I would be moving to a community where homes looked like these.
We found a beautiful home in Sun City Anthem (go figure, it's one of the nicest areas in the whole valley, yet this house is listed at just $160,000). Then we looked to see how far of a commute it would be for Adam. Too far. I was disappointed, but there's only like 5 million homes for sale in Las Vegas, so I kept looking. Last night, Adam showed me a house I liked even better!! It really doesn't top this thing. Nearly 1700 square feet, hardwood floors, fun cabinets, beautiful appliances, I LOVE the island in the kitchen, it's my dream home (at least, from the few pictures I've seen), and best of all, it's listed at $119,900!!! Holy cow! That's so affordable it's ridiculous. Then I went to go see what area it was in (holding my breath that it wasn't in the NE area) and how far of a commute it would be for Adam. Turns out, it's just 20 minutes away from his work, which really isn't bad! However, it's in Lone Mountain, the very NW edge of the Valley... not ideal. I looked up the school ratings and they were fine, I talked to a realtor (who we're not working with, so no strings attached) and he said it's an area we would enjoy. I've looked through probably about 1,000 (no kidding) homes in our price range and haven't found anything quite as good (or as inexpensive). So what do we do?? It's kind of out there... though the land around it has been developed with retail and restaurants, but we're definitely nowhere close to any of the main attractions. Perhaps it's a good thing?? I don't really know that I want my kids being raised in the hussle and bussle of the busy city... but it might be nice to be a little more inland for eventual resale.
Any thoughts?

P.S. Another runner up (but a little further to work)

To Alec

P.S. If you want to see more pictures, clicky:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajmorris13/HarryPotterCake

Happy Mother's Day and My Children's Amazing Abilities

First off, I want to say happy mother's day to all mothers out there!! You deserve a day to just enjoy yourself. Being a mom is DANG hard sometimes. I remember when Hallie was little and so fussy all of the time, I really thought I would have to be institutionalized. I've never been through something so hard as raising that child those first 6 months. Then came Ashton, he's so much better than Hallie was, but it's still 2 kids. In mother math, that's

2 kids ages 2 and under = HARD

Not only are they constantly demanding, they're even demanding when they're asleep because you spend all of that time cleaning up all the messes they made when they were awake. They spit up on everything, a neglected diaper will make itself known QUITE quickly, they find your bath salts and dump them all over the living room, and the list goes on. So here's to you, Mom, for putting up with all of it and remaining completely and totally so in love with your children you can hardly stand it.

That said... I was noticing this morning that many of my friend's/family's children have amazing capabilities. Our friends Jake and Kat's daughter isn't even 2 and is already potty trained. My sister's friend has a little boy Hallie's age that can recognize every letter in the alphabet. My sister's little boy has amazing aim and can shoot (with his all-powerful finger gun) anything moving with impecable precision. I was feeling a little distraught that perhaps I wasn't being proactive enough in my children's development, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how talented my children really are.

Hallie

1. Hallie has the ability to desroy all things in her path unlike any other child I have ever seen. She can open ANY type of makeup and apply it directly in every spot of the house that it should not be. She has mastered the chair and it's ability to help her get to things out of reach, and she is even willing to climb to get to her desired weapon of destruction.

2. She can count to ten. Not in order or with every numeral present, but she always arrives at ten eventually.

3. She can make out. This, albeit amazing, is a little concerning. Occasionally, Hallie will walk up to one of us, take our face in her hands, and kiss like she was never going to kiss again. Watch out, boys!

4. Hallie is a natural born fish. Last summer, she had no problems with jumping into the pool without supervision or floatation device. She is truly a woman without fear.

5. She still sucks on a binki! Amazing, I know. I'm pretty sure our friend Jake will have to work on her mouth someday.

Ashton

1. Ashton holds the fabulous talent of puking. He manages to spit up on everything within view at least 10 times a day. This not only makes for extra laundry but for a lovely stench that demands prompt attention.

2. He also has managed to become extremely fat. At 7 months, he weighs roughly 22 pounds, a weight Hallie managed at one year. He seems to be quite content with his size, however, as you'll see in #3.

3. Ashton is probably one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. He's got a smile for everyone in the world and has no problems with being held by anyone. He can bring a smile to anyone's face, no matter what kind of day they've had.

So even though Hallie isn't reading and Ashton isn't even sitting up yet, my children are still quite talented in their own way. Don't be jealous, but maybe someday you'll have kids as talented as ours.

P.S. Thanks, Adam, for making my Mother's Day so wonderful!

I love you!!!!!

The MOTHER of all posts

This post is going to be an eternity long, just to warn all those who prefer short snipits of information. This post will be more like a novel, so brace yourselves. To start, we moved... again. This time, we went from this...



To this... (or what felt like this)



I miss the family, but I DO NOT miss the weather. Provo is beautiful, I'll take it any day, even in the winter.

Not even 72 hours from when we moved into our new apartment were we on the road again. This time to sunny Las Vegas for job interviews and to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Adam interviewed/visited with 4 different firms and liked just about all of them.







(These were Adam's top picks, now we'll just play the waiting game!)

Hallie and Ashton had a lot of fun, too. The Morris' bought a new camera for their trip to Africa this summer, and it's AMAZING. Zach was running around taking pictures of Hallie and Ashton. Here's some of the goodness...

Pretty fun stuff. Last Thursday was my birthday. Adam took me to dinner at one of my most favorite restaurants!



After some delicious food, we went to a park and just enjoyed being together, alone (this is a RARE treat as we have kids and homework to tend to). Then we went back to the house for presents and cake. Julie got me some beautiful jewelry (which I've worn just about every day since) and my parents got me some adorable shoes, an awesome purse, a WAY cute watch and some fake potted calla lilies for my kitchen! Then came Adam's gift. I really had NO idea what he was getting me, so I was pretty dang excited when I opened up this...



What is it, you ask? This, my friends, is an airbrush for cake decorating!!!!! Ahh, I'm SOOOOO excited to use it!! I just ordered some special airbrush food colorings and I'm itching to give it a go. It also came with a humungously awesome air compressor, so I feel pretty cool.

We drove back home on Monday and we've just been trying to get situated ever since. Hallie is doing marvelously with her potty training (we had to postpone her training due to an accident on one of my mom's kitchen chairs) and she has officially moved on to a big girl bed. We figured since this apartment came with the beds, we might as well use them. Tonight is her first night in it, and she didn't even try to get out! However, it may take some time to get her from rolling all over the place...




Anyway, that's been our last month in a very compact nutshell. Until next time, Ciao!

The Refiner's Fire

I have a few things to post about (our trip to Vegas, my birthday, our move back to Provo, job interviewing, etc.) but I found out just yesterday that my little cousin has a tumor just below his brain. So instead of writing about me, I thought I would write something for him... and for another friend who just recently dealt with cancer. (I had some issues with the formatting of the first 2 stanzas, sorry about that!)

A new mother holds her son with eternal love in her eyes,

She holds him close, and while she pleads with the Lord, the mother cries.

What will the future hold for her babe, she can only wonder,

As she feels her perfect world has been completely torn asunder.


Four months before mother was to bring home her first child,

the doctor said there was cancer in her neck, not knowing whether it was fierce or mild.

The piercing words of chemo and radiation stung in her heart,

Feelings of fear , anger and despair began to start.

The mother prays fiercely that the cancer will somehow be lifted from her body,

As she feels that her baby is forced to grow in a body broken and shoddy.

Days after baby is born, the chemo treats mother so harsh,

But she knows it is the only way to give her body a new start.

The pain is unbearable, the fatigue never ends,

But daily she feels the love of her family and friends.

The mother, so faithful and true,

Asks how could this happen, what more can I go through?

The refiner's fire seems too hot to bear,

But deep down she knows that the Lord will sustain her in every moment of despair.

A boy, no more than eleven,

full of life and love for all, who knows his Father in Heaven,

Suddenly struck with nausea and headaches,

Is told he has a tumor by his brain, there is no mistake.

The family, so faithful and true,

Asks how could this happen, what more can we go through?

The Lord's ways are not always our own,

But we will one day look back to see how we've grown.

If we can hold on tight to the iron rod,

We will not be forsaken by our creator, our God.

When tragedy comes to your life, will you hold fast or waver?

Remember then, all things are possible through Christ, our Savior.