slacking

sorry you haven't heard from us in a while! things have been crazy here. here are some of the highlights from the peterson household these past 2 weeks:

*brynn's pronunciation of "princess". i have to get it on video so you all can hear how she says it! we DIE whenever she says it. hey, its entertaining! everyone who has heard her say it pees their pants.

*finally getting all of our paperwork signed/completed so we can get our orders. now we are just waiting for the call. once we get them, we can start getting things/dates set up to move. i will be able to sleep better at night once we get the ball rolling on everything.

*going to ikea in koblenz with emily s. without children! it was nice to get away and buy some decorations. i'm so bummed that there isn't an ikea in anchorage as i love their stuff. i bought some awesome candlesticks, frames, art, plates, serving dishes and some other organization things. and of course we stuffed our faces with their meatballs! i love those things!

*finding out that my honda crv was needing some work. we took it into a mechanic LAST tuesday and didn't get it back till wednesday night. it really sucks having one car! thank goodness we have some awesome friends that live pretty close as they have been helping us out with carpooling. the mechanic told us it would be around $850 to get it all fixed so that sucked. well, he calls me on monday night to tell me that they "discovered" another part that needed to be fixed (whatever dude, you're shady) asap to prevent further problems. so the price would be a little higher then what he quoted me. so i'm thinking a little higher is what, $45? wrong. the total came out to $1,200. there goes our tax money and my hopes for doing some more traveling before we leave. pissed me off. oh well, at least we have our car back.

*brynn and her friend ethan (or as she calls him,"E") locking themselves in my friends bathroom with the ONLY key yesterday. it sucked. i was so mad. i just sat on the floor in the hallway PISSED as all of us mom's tried bribing them to pull out the key, and slide it under the door. they were in there for about 10 minutes (which seriously seemed much longer as i was stressing about all the things brynn was destroying in the bathroom) until brynn finally did what we asked her to do. these stupid german doors drive me crazy! its not the same in the states with a lock that you turn from the inside. each door as its very own skeleton key and if you loose the key, you have to replace the whole unit! i'm so sorry kristen s. for yesterday! this is exactly why i hate taking brynn places with me.

*getting a new wii sensor bar and game! our friends introduced us to rayam's raving rabbid's tv party a few weeks ago and we loved it (we have the 2nd one). its hilarious to play with people as there are dancing mini games in it along with some really random games that make you look ridiculous! if you have a wii, check this game out! its so fun and great for all ages. im also happy to be able to rock out again on guitar hero again as it's been too long.

*getting released from the primary presidency. i have been the 1st counselor for over 2 years in our ward and was ready for a change. i was actually released a lot sooner than i thought i would be (in our ward, its common to be released AFTER you have moved and i was sure that was what was going to happen with me) and it caught me off guard. i will miss all the kids and the people i served with. it was a wild ride for sure, but i believe i have grown in many ways.

*watching american idol with steve. we love the auditions and crack up over some of the crazies that think they can sing. seriously, some of these people MUST be hard of hearing if they think they sound good!

this was from last year, but STILL makes me die! i get uncomfortable when he this guy dances as its soo nasty! but you can't help but feel bad for him as his feelings have obviously been hurt.

idar oberstein

we decided to take advantage of steve's day off and go somewhere local that we hadn't visited yet. we've heard great things about idar oberstein (about an hour away on the autobahn) so we decided to check it out. it poured all the way there so i was afraid we were going to be miserable and wet, but luckily it stopped once we arrived!

idar oberstein is known for all of it's gemstone's and mine's along with it's church (felsenkirchen) that is built right into the side of the mountain. legend has it that back in the 14th century, 2 brothers fought over the same girl and one was thrown over the cliff in a jealous rage. the brother felt so awful for killing his sibling, that he went to a priest to confess and he told him to build a church with his own two hands where his brothers body was found. he did this and was supposedly forgiven and then buried along side this brother in a nearby tomb when he died.

i see the strangest company's names on the sides of semi trucks and cars and was lucky to catch a picture of one as steve drove today. nice huh?! lol! it had us cracking up.

saw this well today on our steep walk back to our car and had to see if it actually worked. don't mind the hat. i thought it looked pretty cool, but after seeing these pictures i realize i look like an idiot. and don't mind my pants being rolled up! one of my pet peeves is getting the bottoms of my pants wet so i had to roll them today to prevent my jeans from getting soaked up to my knees! i don't enjoy being wet and cold. how am i going to survive alaska?! hmmm...

imagine living in one of these homes! this road was so friggin steep and a little scary to walk down with a stroller. like how the germans park on the side of the road? ya, its so cool. i think i've almost side swipped a billion cars trying to get down narrow streets! i will NOT miss this part.

no outing is complete without a peterson self portrait! ya, we need to invest in a mini tripod.

i have to take yoohoo's wherever we go as this is my trick to keep brynn happy. who doesn't enjoy a yoohoo?!

posing next to a huge gemstone in the museum.

church in the mountain. up above is remnants of a fort where the brother threw his brother from. we hiked up there from the bottom!!! it was not so fun with the slick ground and a stroller.

view of the walkplatz with the church in the background. really cute town! we had fun walking around and seeing the stores.

steve really really likes kebab's.

fun day! we will miss germany and all the awesome sites that are so close to us. im kicking myself for not doing more when we first moved here in february 2006. the past 3 years have seriously gone fast and i feel like we didn't do much at all! i hope we are stationed again in germany.

crazy girls

brittnie r planned a little night for ashlie b before she left on saturday and we had a little too much fun together! we started at roma's in speicher for dinner then headed to base to show our skillz in the bowling alley. i SUCK, so towards the end i opted for bumpers (no joke, im that pathetic) and that STILL didnt help my score! so so lame. i am a pretty sweet bowler on the wii but too bad that didnt carry over on saturday. everyone around us probably though we were drunk as we were acting like tards and had to dance each time we got a gutter ball (which was often...). ahhh, thank goodness it was dark in there and i didnt see anyone i knew! and ya, im not even going to post the stupid pictures of the faces i was pulling! hahahaha! well, maybe later i will.

valerie and i tried our mad dance moves (as we totally kick butt together on rayam's raving rabbid's tv party for the wii) on dance dance revolution, but failed miserably. hey, it was hard to hear the games music as it was so loud in there! im a white girl and need arrows to show me how to dance...

we will miss you ashlie b and hope spokane works out great for you!

backpack, backpack

getting packages out our way can be slow. very very slow. for example, the christmas present i ordered for steve towards the end of november arrived on monday. nice huh? ugh, it will be so nice to live next to real stores again!

my brother, many, and ava sent brynn a package for christmas forever ago and it FINALLY arrived yesterday! i was getting a little worried because it was had been 3+ weeks since they sent it from washington state. sometimes mail gets sent back (this has happened to me 3 times since we have lived here! FRUSTRATING!) without us getting a notification in our box and i was beginning to think that was what had happened. luckily it wasn't and i was so excited to know that their box came safely. brynn couldn't wait to open it up and kept trying to pry it out of my hands as we were walking up the stairs to our door.

you guys definitely made her day! she loved everything in there! if you know brynn, you are aware with her obsession with dora the explorer. it all started back in july when she had just too much of elmo (probably my fault as i made her an elmo cake, got her tons of elmo gifts and videos for her birthday) and decided to switch gears and be more like her cousin ava and worship dora. thank goodness the library on base carries lots of dora dvd's as that has been my saving grace during the day when im trying to get things done!

so now she can add a dora tent, blanket, umbrella, flashlight, more dvd's, bandaids (which she has already covered her arms and our couch with), and big girl underwear to her stash! guys, she was so excited to see all of the stuff and couldn't stop smiling! thanks again for thinking of her and taking the time to get all of those things. she spent most of the afternoon in her tent rolling around and blinding herself with the flashlight. she kept thinking it was funny to shine it directly in her eye! she gets that from her daddy...

later in the evening, a friend of ours was having a birthday party for her son aiden at the base bowling alley. brynn had never bowled before but had a blast! thank goodness for the ramps. i wasn't sure how far her little arms would be able to chuck the ball so those definitely helped. steve came over right after pt (exercising with his work) and joined us. look at what he has to work out in?! hahahaha! nice huh? and his shorts are actually longer then most! ive seen guys sportin' shorter ones then his! its almost like a flashback to the good ole 70's days of basketball.

brynn kissing her buddy aiden goodbye. him and his family are leaving on monday back to the states so we will miss them greatly. im sure brynn's boyfriend ethan is going to be a little jealous if he saw this! brynn definitely likes to play the field.

thanks ashley for a fun night! we will miss you and your family.

"help me tom cruise!"

(if you are cool, then you know what movie that quote is from)

something funny happened the other day that i have to blog about.

we have an awesome picture of christ up on our wall (simon dewey) and brynn loves to look up at it. she always waves to it and says "hi, jesus" and at times i use it as a way to get her to be good. the picture is in a very convenient part of our living room, so when she is being horrible, i will often point to our picture and tell brynn that that type of behavior makes jesus sad. i know i know, this may back fire on me in the future.

well the other day, brynn was going thru our dvd's as she often does when i'm not looking and pulled out the last samurai (calm down people, its edited!). tom cruise is on the front looking all warlike and crazy with his long hair and beard. brynn immediately says, "JESUS! JESUS!" and looks proudly at me for recognizing a new "jesus" picture. i about died. it was so funny! she didn't understand why i was laughing so after a minute, i finally corrected her. i told her it was tom cruise NOT jesus on the dvd. she then goes over to our painting, points to it, and says "tom cooz". so if you hear her at church referring to jesus as the beloved actor tom cruise, you will know where that came from.

hey, its an easy mistake! just look at the cover!

you want to put that where?!

i'm so stressed out.

because we are moving to alaska (elmendorf afb), it's considered an overseas assignment so there are a lot of extra things we need to get taken care of before they will officially move us. we cannot get our actual orders until we have all of this stuff checked off, so we're stuck until then. you cant do ANYTHING until you've gotten orders (like get dates set up for shipping your car, setting dates for the movers to come get your crap, getting loaner furniture when they ship your household goods, going to tlf on base, out process) so i'm anxious. i'm afraid we will be living out of suitcases for 3 months just like we did when we moved to germany in february of 2006 and that was AWFUL.

some of these extra things include more doctor/dentist visits so we can be cleared medically (they want to make sure you're going to an area that provide services in case you have special needs). i'm just a little annoyed that steve just told me all of this stuff a few days ok! and as a dependent (if you're a military spouse, you can totally relate!!!) i cannot go and find out what needs to done/schedule things as steve is in charge of our whole family! i don't have a clue on what needs to be done, so it's all on steve. ugh....so yeah.

i made a butt load of appointments for brynn and i so once we get thru all of those and are cleared, we can finally get the paperwork rolling. i'm hoping that we can get our car shipped asap after that as it takes a good 6-7 weeks for it to make it to the port in alaska by boat and i really want to have it waiting for us when we arrive in march so we don't have to worry about renting a car. moving is so expensive and every little thing adds up.

so, i had the privilege of seeing a doctor this morning for my "woman parts" today as it has been a good 18 months since i last went and i had to get it taken care of to move (i know i know, all you guys want to know that.). i really really don't like going! i understand the importance, but i feel so violated and embarrassed! being a chick is so hard...

something made me nervous today as i was waiting for the doctor to come in and prod around my nether regions. i was lying there on the weird chair with stirrups, looking around the room reading the corny posters on the wall and the pamphlets about breast exams when i saw a few drawers marked a little strangely. i had to get up to make sure i was reading them correctly! one said "spatula"! WHAT THE CRAP!? A SPATULA?! what are they going to put inside me?! i'm not a friggin' mixing bowl! of course i know its not really a spatula like you use in the kitchen (and i'm sure my ob nurse mom will explain to me what they are) but it made me laugh! i also saw drawers labeled "c. brush" and "c. broom". its nice to know that they clean you up good and purdy down there! LOL!

the doctor probably wondered why i was smiling real big and trying not to laugh. she must have thought i was one of those freaks who ENJOYS these visits. so, while she was doing the good ole' exam, i kept stretching my neck to see what instruments she was using just in case...thank goodness it was nothing abnormal.

it seemed like such a good idea

i always make little resolutions each year but normally become frustrated and give up towards the end of january. i really HATE that i always do this, so this year i promised myself to set smaller goals, and then progress from there. here are a few things i WILL change this year and hopefully continue with in the future:

*be more organized. i have always been pretty organized for the most part, but have definitely slacked since we moved here to germany. i used to blame it on the lack of stores that carry organizing items and our small home out here, but need to not use that as an excuse anymore. although i am really really excited about going back to the land of targets and walmarts! it will be nice to have a place for everything once again. i'm sick of our bedroom acting as our storage room! its depressing to go to bed and seeing piles and piles of papers and crap taking up space on the floor. this drives me CRAZY! also, our storage area beneath us is INSANELY messy and i have been having nightmares about it. its so overwhelming to go down there and see all the things that need to be taken care of. i want to get it all organized, donate items, sell things before our movers come as i don't want to take this mess with us to alaska.

*cook healthier meals. (this makes steve groan as he isnt into eating wheat pasta, brown rice, and wheat flour like i do) i have good intentions and have a ton of healthy cookbooks. its time to use them! i also just purchased jerry seinfeld's wifes cookbook "deceptively delicious" and have been very interested in trying some of her recipes. she makes all of these vegetable puree's and hides them in her children's foods! this is what we need as brynn and steve aren't too cool with eating their veggies. some of her recipes sound a little crazy to me (sweet potato puree in hot cocoa!?) but i'm willing to try them. i don't cook horrible foods normally, but need to be more consistent in the meals i do make.

*become more spiritual. i have been such a slacker in doing the things i know i need to do to become more in tune with the spirit. i used to blame it on being stuck down in primary but hello! i am so to blame. i don't make the time and have really noticed how much it is hurting me. i have such great days when i start them off by praying, and reading my scriptures and am frustrated with myself for not doing this consistently! i don't have my priorities straight.

*run. i have always wanted to be a runner (nothing crazy. i'm not about making 6 minute miles here people!) as one, it will help me loose the rest of this disgusting bread dough belly and two, it makes me feel so strong and capable of anything. i have always been so envious of those who can do half marathons/marathons (ahem, kristen, janae and kiesha) and can live to tell it! i would like to complete a half marathon someday, and MAYBE do a marathon. i have to see if i can survive the 13.1 miles first before i agree to go for the marathon. i just don't know how people can go for 3-4 hour long runs!

the base had a new year, new you 5k run this afternoon at noon and i had been planning on running in it for a few days now. of corse, it snowed yesterday (not as bad as it has been in seattle and cache valley thank goodness!) and was butt friggin cold this morning. still, when i woke up this morning, i promised myself i wouldn't wimp out due to the nasty weather and continue with my goal. so i dug around in our winter clothes and found an old warm headband to protect my ears. i couldn't find any light weight gloves and decided that my hoodie would be ok to keep my hands warm (bad idea). shelly said that she wouldn't mind watching brynn for me in the mothers room at the gym, so i was relieved to know that she was in good hands. so i head to the front lobby, and there is no one else there wanting to run! yah...i was the ONLY one! i tried recruiting a few people to run with me, including steve's boss, but everyone laughed and said it was too cold to go outside (it around 20 degrees). i almost wussed out, but knew i would regret it so i signed up and waited for the lady to start her stop watch. she thought i was crazy to run outside and gave me a few pointers on areas to watch as there were patches of black ice along the way. hooray. just what i need, a broken ankle. 3.1 miles is not hard at all, but it is hard in the COLD! i'm such an idiot for not running outside for a few days to prep my lungs to the cold. running on a treadmill for 3+ miles is cake when you're in a warm building. my lungs were screaming at me for a while in the beginning.

i did fine the first 10 minutes but then my ipod died on me. this really pissed me off as i swore it was fully charged! i'm all about listening to techno and awesome music to keep me pumped (and i had just added a new podcast to my list that i was excited to hear) and distracted while i run, so not listening to anything just about killed me. but i guess the sounds of the f-16's and traffic helped me stay somewhat distracted. my hands were totally numb and tingly when i reached the turn around point, and i was cursing myself for not grabbing the thick snowboarding gloves that i saw earlier in the morning (although it would have looked RIDICULOUS, i didn't care). but i kept on and eventually made it back to the warm gym, face all wind burned and completely frozen. the lady who started me was shocked to see me back so soon (she was probably thinking a fatty like me took an hour to do a 5k) and questioned that i actually ran the full 3.1 miles! so i was eager to know what my time was as i thought for sure i took longer then 37 minutes (my goal was to get below 40). i ran it in 33 minutes and 15 seconds! that was so awesome to hear as not listening to music really screwed up my rhythm and i was so sure that i took forever to get back. now i know to all you fast runners, this time is LAME (average mile a little over 11 minutes) but i don't care. i don't care about speed. all i care about is finishing and getting those endorphins baby!

plus, i want to be in GREAT shape when we get pregnant next so i can continue working out during my pregnancy and not take 2 years to loose all the baby weight! it was so depressing for me to not lose it as fast as everyone else around me was. if you people have secrets that i don't know about, tell me!

facial threading

this is sort of random but its been on my mind...

my sister in law kristen told me that she had her eyebrows threaded the other day where she lives and LOVED how they turned out! she also said that the lady ended up taking off some other fuzzy facial hair too that she had no idea was there and it wasnt too painful. i had my eyebrows waxed twice and both times, i broke out in a HORRIBLE rash, so this sparked my interest. i tweeze faithfully, but sometimes thats hard to get nice looking brows.

so steve and i looked on youtube to see how this was done and now steve thinks he can do it. he claims he can get rid of my beard and side burns (im a hairy mofo.) for free so i had him try it tonight. FRIGGIN' EH OUCH! leave it up to my cheap finance hubby to try and get me to not spend his money! hahaha jk.

has anyone had this done/or knows of any places here in bitburg that offer this? steve has been fired and isnt allowed anywhere near my fuzzy cheeks and moustache. and to tell you the truth, facial hair on a chick isnt too sexy. i used to hear stories before coming to europe that the women here dont shave and are hairy...umm, so not true! they must be hiding these hairy beasts i heard so much about as all the ladies ive seen are hot and make me want to run 30 miles a day to fit in.

happy new year!

hey! i hope everyone had a great new years. its crazy to think that its no longer 2008! this year went by so quickly and im still in shock about it. so many things will be happening in 2009 for us (moving back to the states, possibly buying a home, maybe adding to our family) and its a little overwhelming! along with the mental list of all the new things i have to do differently this year to be successful, organized and happy.

we had a great night and actually left our house this year! since we have lived here in germany, we havent done anything for new years as we're lazy and havent bothered trying to get a sitter for brynn. plus, we arent night owls like we once were (we're getting old...and cant see too well in the dark) so staying up late isnt too fun.

we were invited to the pratt's house for a bunko new years along with 7 other couples from the ward. i had never played the game, but have heard from several people that its fun and easy to play so i was excited to try it out. it was so fun! it was nice to get to know a few people from the ward that i dont normally talk to (as im downstairs in primary and tend to talk to people that serve down there with me) as the game forces you to constantly switch partners. in the beginning, i SUCKED but eventually started kicking butt and actually tied for first with danielle b! that seriously surprised me as i NEVER win at games. but it is true, i have magic fingers. hahaha!

after, we had a white elephant gift exchange and came out with some good loot. i found some hideous ceramic garden gnomes and a bird feeder with tons of bird food at this cheapy euro store in bitburg last week so we brought those for our gifts. steve ended up getting casino royale and some sneaker odor balls (thanks nielsens! his nasty PT shoes smell like butt so those will definately go to good use) and i got an awesome nightlight lamp as shown below. its a good thing i had watched "a christmas story" last week as i wouldnt have understood the gift. there was also a shirt going around with the one legged lamp on it that i had my eye on but some PUNK, who shall remain anonymous, stole it from me! hahaha! its all good. im over it as i came out with the night light. we cant use it at our place as its 220v here, but its definately going up in alaska baby!

shelly and i went to REWE earlier in the week and grabbed some fireworks for steve. he loves playing with fire and misses hitting the indian reservations with me in washington so he made sure i picked some up for him for the new year. a few other guys brought some fireworks too to the party so we had a pretty good amount. it was crazy to see how many people were out at midnight going crazy with the fireworks! the pratts village was filled with fireworks in the sky along with tons of smoke. it was fun (aside from the part where steve accidentally shot a bottle rocket at a house) to feel the excitement and hang out with friends. i didnt stay outside the whole time as i felt like i should go back in their house and check on brynn (she was upstairs sleeping in one of their rooms) as it was really loud outside. my intuition was right, she was confused and upset so i took her out of the playpen and brought her outside with me. she wasnt too thrilled to see the fireworks, so we stayed inside and played with baby emma (aka her obsession). i also made her put this hat and allow me to snap some pictures. please ignore the ratty hair and eye boogers, she had just woken up.

it was a fun night and we were happy to have been invited! great way to start a new year.

luckily brynn slept until 9:30 this morning so we were able to get some sleep. did i mention i think shes hibernating?! seriously! these past two weeks she has been eating like crazy and sleeping 12-14 hours a night! not that im complaining about the last part...but im a little concerned. i hope shes hitting some growth spurt or preparing for the coldness in alaska that we will face this march. other then that, i have no idea why shes become the little hibernating bear. but it is nice to wake up before her, shower, clean up a bit, and get things ready for the day without grabby little hands everywhere!