The assembly begins! Chris and I (thanks to his gererous folks) bought a king size bed from IKEA. The putting together part was easy because Chris is really good at reading instructions and actually following them. I'm not, so I sat there and took pictures and brought him soda and handed him nails and screw drivers. It went pretty well until it came time to put the box in the frame. After many frustrating attempts and a few dangerous moments we called it quits for the evening. I was in tears as usual and it was getting close to midnight. Chris blew up the air matteress again for me to sleep on and I ended up sleeping in the living room among piles of bedding and IKEA boxes. We finally got the issue resolved and last night my dad and Chris finished assembling the bed. This morning the mover guys that work for Ikea came and picked up the defective boxes and I was really happy to see them go! It turned out that there had been a recall on some of the boxes that were made because when they were put together instead of making a king size they were about an inch off! So frustrating.
At least it all turned out well!

I am so excited to now own an ipod Nano. Thanks to my highly evolved tech fiance I reap the benefits and keep getting set up with fun technology. It came with some of my favorite artists uploaded thanks again to Chris. I can't wait to learn how to work this thing and put some more songs on it!

I had to put a picture in of Chris and I. Yesterday we were driving to meet with one of his friends who is in charge of the music at our upcoming wedding. I was driving behind Chris and all of a sudden he pulled off the road we were driving on and there was a beautiful little look-out spot over looking the San Fernando valley. The weather was perfect and the the air was fairly clear for L.A... beautiful.


Tonight we went down to Malibu and had an AMAZING dinner at Geoffery's, an elegant out door restaurant looking out over the ocean. It's in an amazing location but the food is tasty as well. I started with the arugala and pear salad topped with a very mild creamy goat cheese and some sort of yummy dressing. Next was the chicken breast stuffed with a creamy rasberry stuffing on a bed of small blue potatoes and mushrooms. Lastly I chose the rasberry creme brule. Oh it was good.
When we had finished our meal we just sat back and took in the twinkley lights and the vast dark ocean and I have never been so happy that I live in Southern California. Good times.

Last night when I went to bed I was really bothered about Bubba having to be in such a small cage. It may seem silly but because I have so much other stuff going on in my life, but I couldn't stop fretting about what I was going to do with Bubba and if I put him back in his big cage how in the world was I going to keep it sanitary.... on and on and on my mind wouldn't stop.

I couldn't go to sleep and I finally called Chris. I knew he would be up at that late hour because of his wierd work schedule. I guess that when I finally called him in an exhausted stuper and started rambling on about how Bubba's cage was soooo dirty and I had to put him in the little cage and now I can't sleep........ he had no idea what I was talking about. Later today when I talked to him again he said that he was trying not to laugh because it sounded so crazy and desperate. I said that yes I was feeling desperate and little crazy. Luckily the morning brought some perspective.

I solved the problem today by taking the whole cage apart and scrubbing it out with bleach and then reasembling it. If I don't find a new home for Bubba before the wedding then I'll just come up with a better long term cleaning system.

I feel like such a bad pet owner. I love my chinchilla but I am sitting here at my computer and I can't help but feel guilty.

It all started when I got a new cage some months back. Bubba (the chinchilla) was outgrowing his two shelf cage and I wasn't able to get him out to play as often as I thought he needed, so I went down to PetCo and bought him a new "condo". It has six levels and plenty of room for him to run and jump to his hearts content. The only problem with this fantastic cage is that it is close to impossible to truly clean. It's tall and the cage doors are at akward places and the bottom of the cage can only be scrubbed out by taking the whole top part of the cage out. It's completely inconvienent. So every week (if I was able) I would vacume out the shelves of the cage and every couple of weeks I would scoop out the bedding from the bottom and replace it.
It probably has only gotten one good scrubbing since Bubba has moved in. Needless to say it has become a problem. In the proccess Bubba has developed a fungus and it won't go away easily. It sounds so gross and yes, it is. luckily he doesn't look any worse for the wear but as a animal lover I have to do something about it. (I also don't need to deal with skin fungus right now.)

Tonight was the time to take action and so I put Bubba in his play area and I set to work. I had to bring out his smaller but easier to clean cage and get it all ready for him to move back into.
I finally finished the ordeal and caught him to put him in his new "old" house. All he could do was hop around and try to find a way out. He has grown so much and it feels really crowded for him. I just feel awful seeing him hop around and not be able to have very much room.
*sigh*
I guess we'll see how the arrangement works out.

Hmmmm.... I have some thoughts surrounding the recent Danish cartoon debacle. First let me preface this blog with the fact that I have not seen the cartoon and really have not been interested in the debate. I have other things to think about. The discussion has been going on around me in the background, on the news, on some frequented blogs and such.
I normally don't even attempt to discuss politics or religion on this format because I have a hard time writing anything truly serious lest it come out trite. Writing is Not my forte. Neither is spelling as some may have caught on to. (apology in advance!)

Anyways, I made an observation this morning while listening to a local radio station. They were discussing the issue at length and had some pretty emotional calls regarding the subject. One girl compared the anti-Muslamic cartoon to the Holocaust.... hmmm. Another more reasonable girl had some very good points but the reality came out when she said (not quoting word for word) that because reverence for the prophet Muhammed is what the Muslim religion is centered around NO ONE had the right to make fun of or mock the Prophet and if they did they needed to be held accountable.
The hosts of the show pointed out that Jesus, the Pope, and other religious figures are mocked on a daily basis on a universal scale and there really is no outcry for retribution.
They were making light of it and yet it struck a cord in me. I saw something interesting in her outlook and world view and I saw the reverse of that in the opposite view.
What I saw was FREEDOM. Not on her part because when it all came down to it as reasonable and western as she was, there was a militant spirit that demanded either alligance or retribution. On the other side I saw a freedom to let truth be truth. The freedom for people to come to that truth on there own with no violence or force.

I feel that that is the spirit that Jesus brought.....Freedom. We are free to choose, free to mock, free to turn to him and cry for help, free to enjoy him, free to let others learn the same lessons we learned by being free or to let them turn away, and mostly, free to experience the consequences of those choices. We can't force or coerce or find vengence if someone doesn't believe the way we do. Because they are free. Even though the United States is really not a Christian place there are some values that have splashed over and made their mark. And one of those values is freedom. As a nation we really value and have come to expect it as right.

I am so thankful beyond expression for a God that gives me choice. I'm thankful for a country that values freedom (even if it's not perfect). I'm thankful for the grace of freedom and that I actually get to experience it.

I have to say that my new favorite documentery is "Mad hot ballroom". My other favorite is "Spellbound". If you havn't gotten a chance to see either they are both completely heartwarming and insperational.

Today is day #3 of cold watch 2006. I've officially gone through 4 boxes of kleenex and one half roll of toilet paper. My nose is about to fall off and I have NO idea where the snot is coming from! I must truly be dehydrated by now!! This morning I ventured out to the bank and then to Drug Emporium to get some new Kleenex boxes and some saline drops........ all of these "non-medicated" cold remedies REALLY do nothing accept make you think that you are doing something. I mean I'm glad that I can placate my self by sqirting saline water up my nose and I have to say that those "Shower Soothers" really smell good and cut through the congestion. But when all is said and done nothing has made me feel better and now all I want is a FULL dose of heavy medication not only to knock me out but to make my nose STOP RUNNING. Thank goodness no one is living with me at the moment and I can spread out in the living room and read while making piles and piles of kleenex. It's very freeing. Actually at this very moment I am looking over a pile of kleenex on my desk that if I let it will be obscuring the screen by the time this blog is written. *sigh*

Anyways, I'm done complaining. If anyone has some ideas of good movies or books I'm open for suggestions. Right now I'm reading "The Voyage of The Dawn Treader" for the 10th time and love it, but that will be finished by this evening and I have a feeling I may need more time to make this cold go away.

Blechhh... I'm home sick with a yucky cold. It's kind of been coming on slowly looking like allergies and it just hit me full force this morning. Because I can't actually take anything I promptly went down to the local Save-On and stocked up on a humidifier, vics vopo rub, vics humidifier add-in, and last but not least the frivolous yet desperate purchase of Vics shower pellets. You put one on the floor of the shower and while the hot water is running it's supposed to open up your airways. I'm a bit of a sucker but what else was I gonna do? I'm desperate! As soon as I'm done writing this I'm going to curl up on the couch with my box of kleenex and watch "Mad hot ballroom" on pay-per-view. It's supposed to be really fun. I'll report back on it at some point.

O.K. So I've been slacking off a bit on the blog front. My creative energy level has been pretty low lately. There is sooo much going on and when that happens I kind of get passive. Eventually something kicks in and I fly into action and work myself sick. The wedding is coming very quickly and I have most of the details on my side under control thanks to my wonderful mom... (thanks mom!).
Chris has been working very hard lately on a job that requires alot of hours and creativity. Along with the hour+ commute, wedding plans and our busy schedules we have to work at having quality time together. I mean this is what it's all about isn't it?? Goodness gracious! The busyness of life has a way of crowding out the important stuff.

Today I woke up and when I looked in the mirror on the way to my moring shower I noticed my tummy was taking on a different shape. The baby and it's surroundings are beginning to push everything up and I'm losing the little bit of waist that I had. I freaked out because I didn't know that's what it was supposed to look like and I thought that something must be drastically wrong! So when I got to work I told the girls about it and they all laughed and assured me that was normal and that I probably was carrying "high". I guess I just didn't expect anything show for a while yet.... It's all very new. I'm thankful that I work in the environment that I do. All my co-workers have had children and one of them is pregnant with me. The conversation always gets a bit interesting and extremely graphic when it comes to childbearing. I feels sorry for the guys that happen to get caught in salon while everyone is chatting away freely.

On a different note...

A couple of high lights from this extremely eventful week.

- Reading sister Erin's blog about Gpa and Gma visiting her and Jim in Texas
- Having lunch with friend Rachel today (turkey, cranberry, and cream cheese sandwiches on sourdough) yum!- Feeding my chincilla his favorite treats when I get home from work.
- Taking a super hero quiz compliments of cousin Luke's blog. Apparantly I'm Super Man!
- Getting off early from work today as is my usual Thursday custom.
- Buying yet another book about pregnancy as well as a Patsy Cline CD which I'm listening to right now (very good).
- Taking a long nap today..... the topper of an exciting and eventful week!!
- Oh! I almost forgot the one truly exciting event which was seeing my tummy change! Creepy but exciting.