Christmas

I am happy to announce, this is my first slide show posted on my blog...aren't you proud I've figured it out months after all of you have? :)

We had a great Christmas in Utah with Marc's family...we were there for a week and had lots of time to hang around and do nothing (which is always nice), hang out with the fam, go shopping, cook, bake, have a Rueckert side family reunion (that's the pics you see where we had an airplane throwing contest & pinata), play with our nephews Ben & Owen, and just enjoy Christmas.

For Christmas Marc gave me a really cool new cell phone...called the Treo. It's kinda like a Blackberry--it has so many cool features on it, I've been constantly playing around with it ever since. But my favorite present that he got me was 4 baby outfits...I LOVE that he went to the store and picked out clothes for our baby by himself...I don't know why I love this so much, but I just do...he got 2 basketball outfits and 2 outfits that have frogs (cuz I'm decorating the nursery with a frog theme).

I gave Marc a few things, but one was Guitar Hero 3...and that was quite the success...I don't think I saw Marc for 2 solid days after he opened that on Christmas. He was down in the basement where the t.v. is, playing it SOLIDLY. I was glad cuz I wanted to give him a present he could play with.

We are back home from Utah now and getting ready for our annual New Years party with my family...hope you have a Happy New Year!

The Sad Story of our Caramel Apples

The sad story is...we basically failed miserably. After Rachel saying to me, and I quote, "There's really no way you can mess them up," I guess you can say I decided to challenge her statement:) Here's Marc showing the hardship on his face...
Marc and I tried so many times to let the caramel toughen up more in the fridge, and then put the M&M's on again...but every time we'd check in on them, it had all slid off the apple. I think I used crappy caramel. (I'll blame it on that and not me:) It was some packaged mixture you add sugar and milk to...
Yes, I know. I'm kind of embarassed about the picture above. I swear there are other things I can bake that turn out good:)

We finally managed to get some of the caramel to stay on the apples and just patted coconut all over them to mask the bald spots.
I thought I could trick people into thinking they were good if I made the wrapping around the apples look really nice. The more I sit here and think about it, the more embarassed I am that I actually delivered these to our neighbors. I don't even think they tasted that good. Maybe the next thing I deliver to the neighbors will be apology notes:)

The Old Days of Rach and Lu

This last week has been awesome cuz I have gotten to hang out with Rach so much. Rach & I met at BYU and instantly became siamese twins...friends truly connected at the hip:) We are definitely kindred spirits...and I have missed all the laughing and fun we have, ever since we have been apart! The last time we saw each other was right before her daughter Anna was born...so it had been too long! Her and her cute fam (Mike & Anna) came on a California vacation and came out to Torrance one of the days to hang out. We went over to the beach in the day...Marc was still working and poor Mike had to deal with us reverting back to our old ways of laughing so hard over stuff that no one else around us understands what's going on. But soon Marc got home and we went out to dinner and hung out...and the boys were able to talk about boy stuff:)

Her daughter Anna is ALL girl...I love it! We bonded as soon as I pulled my lip gloss out of my purse and put it on her...she wouldn't let me stop!
At Claim Jumper...


*MY FAVORITE HAIRDRESSER!!!!!*

In college, Rach and I learned how to weave hair...and we literally changed up each others' hair every week...she does hair better than anyone I know. Marc & I stayed with them in Vegas on our way to Utah over the weekend...we wanted to hang out more and see their place. Rach did my hair and I LOVE IT. Of course I knew I would cuz she is so good. She bleached it, dyed the bottom dark, and cut me some bangs. Rach, you rock:)

This Weekend

I just thought I'd post a few pics from this weekend...my fam came to see our new place and deliver the desk Marc & my Dad made. Yesterday after church I had to take a pic of Marc & Mike cuz they just looked so handsome...
Here's me & Mike acting like we're taking a picture for a My Space page...even though the face I made looks retarded, we were laughing about the fact that all the girls always look away and pucker out their lips...or they do that big smile surprised look...hence, this picture:
Okay, here I am at 25 weeks and counting! We took a tour of the Torrance Memorial hospital yesterday...and it was really nice and made us both feel more relaxed about knowing what to expect at the hospital.

Scrapbooking Desk!!!

We've been up to Bakersfield a couple weekends this month because my Dad and Marc have been working on a project....making a scrapbooking desk for me!!! I can't even tell you how exciting this is to me. In our old apt. all my scrapbooking stuff was just stacked in a messy pile in the corner of our family room...but since our new place is a little more roomy, we decided to build a desk that sits next to our other one (that my dad & Marc actually built a couple years ago) so I could organize all my scrapbooking stuff into it. My Dad is an AWESOME carpenter and has quite a nice workshop in the garage...and Marc really wants to learn how to do that stuff...so it was a great project for them. Marc learned a lot and they both had fun...and it turned out so nice.
Now I've got the job of painting it...so I'll post pics of it once I do that...

My ward baby shower

My old ward (as of a few weeks ago) threw me a baby shower on Dec. 5th. It was so much fun. Since I have been in Young Womens with my calling the entire time I was in that ward (3 1/2 years), the Young Women President, leaders and the girls wanted to throw it for me. It was at the Young Women's President's house...and the Young Women planned and ran the games and everything. It was awesome...Between all the young women and people from the ward, we had a full house...it was definitely a fun party. And I got some really cute stuff for my baby boy:) Here are just a few of the pics:

This is me with Rebecca, the young womens president
With some of the girls...I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss them!!!
With my friend Katie, who actually got called into young womens just a few months ago...and I was so excited--but then it turned out we had to move....she did a lot in helping to plan the shower

Blog page fixed!

Okay, I can't even tell you how happy I am right now. I messed up my blog somehow a couple of weeks ago...and have been trying to fix it ever since. I accidentally upgraded to a new kind of blogger template and wasn't able to view my page elements or anything. Seriously, I was so bummed cuz I thought I'd just have to delete this blog and start a new one. I FINALLY figured out how to fix it and so I am back in the blogging world! I'm just telling you this in case any of you run into this problem. Just ask me and I can tell you what to do. Now I can post again. Woohoo!

Hello Torrance!

The reason I haven't posted a blog in a while is since we moved to Torrance on the 17th, we haven't had internet...it has been driving me crazy cuz I've been wanting to check all your blogs...so, I found out that Panera Bread has free wi-fi...and so right now, Marc and I are sitting in the car parked in front of Panera Bread on our computers. The only pic for now that I have to show you of our new place, is...our laundry room!!! Last night we got our washer and dryer that we just bought...and Marc got it all hooked up...and today I did a load of laundry and actually felt excited about it cuz I wasn't in a laundromat. I'm pretty sure my excitement for doing laundry won't last long, but I am so happy to have a washer/dryer in our place!
By the way, I hope you are appreciating our cheesy factor...Marc was making fun of me cuz I wanted to take a pic of us with the washer/dryer once we got it in...obviously, he does not understand the mind of a blogger!!!

I will post pics of our new place soon...I will hopefully be done unpacking everything in a few more days...

One last look at Apt. 111

This was our little humble abode for almost 4 years! And the only place we've ever lived since being married...so I have to say that I cried when I actually had to shut the door as we left on moving day...I'm just nostalgic like that I guess:) Anyways, in moving out and seeing the place empty...I realized just how small it was! I'd gotten so used to it...and somehow, we managed to cram all of our stuff into such little places...so I was excited to be moving to an apt. that is 600 sq. ft. bigger.

Moving Day

We moved on Nov. 17th to Torrance and had to say goodbye to Brea
This shows you how hard we had to work on moving day:) You can see the guys behind us in the truck moving our stuff...Pfizer paid for us to have movers, and let me tell you...what a blessing!!! They did EVERYTHING...well, except clean our apt. we were moving out of...and I was exhausted from doing the work for that! I don't know what I would have done without them cuz I am noticing my stamina these days while prego just isn't what it used to be:)

More prego pics

I wear maternity clothes! This pic was taken a month ago. It was an exciting moment when I purchased my first pair of maternity jeans:) I also bought a sweat suit...and pretty much alternate between the two every single day...I think it's time to get some more maternity clothes...
Marc took this pic of me on Thanksgiving...and while I know my stomach probably looks like this every year after Thanksgiving dinner...I think this time it might be the baby:) I am 5 1/2 months now and really showing...I can't suck it in anymore! I'm really excited about it...and then sometimes I am really weirded out by it too when I look in the mirror. But it is super fun to be showing to the point where every one can tell...

Baby Kicks

I am at my halfway point now...20 weeks. I can't believe it! This last week I felt the boy kick for the first time...and now I am feeling him every day and different times throughout the day. It is such a cool feeling...I love it! It's making it feel more real to feel that there really is a person inside there...that and my expanding belly:) I just got on the scale this morning and now I've gained 8 1/2 lbs...it is so different being really excited about seeing higher numbers on the scale, isn't it? I just think how before it would be so upsetting--pregnancy has such opposites going on...you actually try harder to eat healthier, then you gain weight, and are happy about it!

Halloween

Here we are as Homer and Marge! We borrowed the costumes from my friend Katie who made all of it...

Halloween night was so crazy and so much fun. We decided to go to "The Parade" in West Hollywood...half a million people were there! It's not really a parade, it is this big party on Santa Monica Boulevard where they've blocked off a section of the street...there's a big stage set up where they had bands play and a costume contest...then they have booths all down the street...kind of like a carnival. But the coolest part is just seeing that EVERYONE there is dressed up...and there are a lot of cool costumes that people are in. We expected to see a lot of drag queens since it is West Hollywood...but actually we didn't see nearly as many as we thought we would. Marc was so bummed...haha:) But here is the craziest part...from the second we got there, the reaction was huge to us as Homer and Marge...we literally got to experience what it feels like to be celebrities. We were asked to be in pictures continuously the whole time we were there...there were times we couldn't even walk because there was a line of people waiting to take a picture with us...we had no idea there would be this kind of a reaction...people seriously love the Simpsons out there...everyone was so excited about it and high fiving us, running up and hugging Homer, etc. We even experienced the paparazzi feel because even when we weren't posing in pictures people were just snapping them of us at all moments....it was nuts, but so fun. But let me say I am so glad we could go back home and just be anonymous, regular people:)

Here we are with JackWith Lucy and Ricky...
With Dwight Schrute (for you Office fans)
With Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas
We weren't exactly sure what these people were...but they definitely committed to some all out costumes
Here's some drag queens for you:) They were the cheerleaders from Heroes...they were walking around calling out for Claire--it was funny to watch

I got tagged

I have been tagged by Rachel to do a post where I list 6 facts/habits about me. Then how it works is at the end of this post I will tag 3 people to do the same thing on their blogs. I will also leave a comment for each of them on their blogs to let them know they've been tagged. So, here it goes:

1. My favorite thing to do is to laugh. That's why my closest friends have always been ones that I laugh a lot with. That's one big reason I was so drawn to Marc...he is always cracking me up.

2. I like talk radio...and that makes me feel old:) I listen to KFI whenever I am in the car between 12:00 and 6:00 (for Dr. Laura and the John and Ken show). I love Dr. Laura! I know people either love her or hate her...I think it is just so refreshing to hear her putting out such high moral standards when everyone else I hear in entertainment has such a loose moral code...ie: The View...between Rosie and now Whoopi I just can't watch that show anymore because I get too angry when I hear them talk.

3. I love to scrapbook. The funny thing is, I actually feel stressed out that I am not caught up in scrapbooking...who feels stress about something like that? I try to remind myself that it is my hobby and shouldn't give me stress! But really, it is always on my mind that I need to get caught up in my different albums.

4. I poured myself a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning, and then picked out about 20 extra marshmallows out of the box to add to my bowl....umm, sorry Marc

5. I am a picture fanatic. It gets so bad that I actually have picture envy sometimes...usually over wedding photos. If I look at someone else's wedding photos, and they have ones I really like...I feel jealous. It is crazy enough that I have seriously considered at times having Marc and I get in our wedding gear again and go take the photos I wish we had.

6. My FAVORITE time of year is Christmas...and it's coming soon!!! There is just a certain feeling I get all through the month with everything from going to the mall and seeing all the people in the "hustle and bustle", the stores all decorated for Christmas, to all the Christmas activities--seeing house's decorated with lights, the giving, time with family, nativities, Christmas carols, decorating our apt. for Christmas....just all of it. It makes me feel excited, and romantic, and just so happy.

Ok, I tag the Hawkins clan...Ashley, Stephanie and Natalie!

We're Moving!

Well, it is official...we will be moving to Torrance in 1 month! We found a nice place...I'll take pics when I can and post them. I am sad to be moving...I will miss my friends in our ward, I will miss Brea, I will miss being in Orange County, I will miss living so close to all my family in Whittier, I will miss our 1st apartment...but there are a couple definite upsides to moving to Torrance. Marc will have NO commute...that will be incredible! It will literally take him 2 minutes to get home! (Compared to 1 1/2 hours!) So that will be so different and awesome. Also, we are literally 5 minutes from the beach...can't really complain about that!













Here's when we moved into our 1st apt. (our current place) back in April of '04.

Here's a link to a map of Southern CA (if you're curious to see where Torrance is...there's an arrow pointing to Torrance...also, if you didn't know where Brea is...it is labeled on the 57 freeway...on the right)
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Torrance,+CA,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=33.929688,-118.087921&spn=0.417039,1.263428&z=10&om=1

Growing Baby

The 1st pic is me at 3 mos. and the other is at 4 mos. In both of the pics I am sucking in...so it's crazy for me to see the change of not being able to suck in like before. I'm excited to really start showing...I don't know why, but I am. I can see the difference now, but in clothes you can't really tell. I bet in about 1 more month it will be a lot more obvious.

It's a BOY!!!

Yep, we will be having a little Marc:) We went to this ultra sound center and at 13 weeks they can tell you what you're having...SO, I am focusing on the color blue and preparing myself to be outnumbered by boys:)
Here's the boy kicking his feet up and relaxing
We told some family and friends by inviting them over and having them all bite into cupcakes at the same time...I had filled the cupcakes with blue frosting...so they were prepared to see blue or pink...it was a fun moment.

Eyeballs for 10 cents

Last Saturday our husbands went golfing and so us girls hung out and made a Halloween craft. I was very excited about this because I have been sad ever since Relief Society did away with homemaking...

Creative Date Night

Marc and I were trying to figure out what to do after we went out to dinner this one night. And I remembered an idea that is in this book I was given with FHE ideas for Newlyweds. There's some cheesy stuff in there but I decided we'd try this one idea out. We went to Target and had 20 minutes to split up and pick out something under $4 that would be fun to do. When we met back up at the register he had picked these juggling balls and I bought a baseball bat. So we went home and tried to learn to juggle...and my idea was to compete in seeing how many tennis balls we could hit against the door into the bucket. We really sound like dorks, I know, but it was actually pretty fun:)
Marc did pretty good at juggling...I was pretty good at getting hit in the head by balls I'd forgotten I'd thrown up in the air.

My Life With Movies

I am going to pick up Marc at the airport tonight and he will be home for good from training! It has felt like a VERY long total of 6 weeks and I am excited to have him home. In the time he has been gone I have watched more movies than one can imagine...mostly due to feeling sick, and then probably some laziness too. But let's not call it lazy, let's call it doing study and research for my pursuit in the film industry...yeah, that sounds much better:) So I would say if anyone wants some movie recommendations to ask me...but I don't recommend movies:)...I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to have the awkwardness that comes from giving rave reviews about a movie to a friend...and then they watch it and hate it. So while I don't recommend movies, I will say that I personally LOVE the movie Blades of Glory (Will Ferrell and John Heder)...I was laughing so hard I was crying through so much of that movie. And another one I have added to "my favorites" list is called Little Manhattan. It's so cute and funny...a story about these little kids having their first real crushes on each other. But anyway, no one watch either of those movies on account of me:) (Even though they are really really good).