sorry it's been a while

yeah... i haven't been on here for a while- sorry. I've been flat on my back for the past 3 weeks- but it's turning around nicely! first I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, then it was a tight iliopsoas (a muscle that originates at the lower spine and inserts in the femur) on my right side, but now the doc thinks it's a tight sciatic nerve on my right side- in laymen's terms- it hurts tons to sit or stand. Good thing I only have ONE little guy to crawl after!

well AJ and I have composed our Christmas card letter- check it out!

This year our family hasn’t been bored
We’re grateful for our blessings from the Lord
It all started off with a family addition
A bouncing baby boy- filled with ambition
In August Mandy finished her bachelor’s degree
While Treson tagged along for the ride- yippie!
We packed up our things and headed up north
To be closer to AJ’s job here of course
We’ve settled quite nicely up in Taylorsville
Treson’s so curious he just can’t sit still
He’s got crawling down pat and can pull himself up
We’ve tried baby proofing with not much luck
He loves to dance, give high-five, and play
With two teeth already and some more on the way
The hubby is reconstructing an arcade
Won’t he be glad he’s done once it’s made
AJ is our church’s financial clerk
Which keeps him busy when he’s not at work
Mandy has picked up a couple of things
Blogging and cute crafts with ribbon and strings
With all this extra time she has on hand
Scrapbooking is a thing that has been un-banned
This year has been great and lots of fun
We’re excited to start another one
We’ll stop rhyming now- and we mean it!
- any one have a peanut?

Hankie Prankie

check out this youtube vid- it's hilarious! I was just browsing through and found this crazy crazy guy and this even crazier guardian-

2 truths and a lie

Sarah tagged me to do a factoid post, but I decided to switch i up a little.

The rules...
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 2 true facts about yourself and 1 lie.
3. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Have people guess which one out of the three is false.


#1 I met Micheal Jackson when I was 7
#2 By age 18, I've gone sky diving twice
#3 I won an African-American pageant when I was 11

ha- this is so fun- I wanna do another one!

#1 I was a childhood model in Tokyo
#2 While in Australia, I was serenaded by an Aborigine on a didgeridoo
#3 I got to hike up to the top of a volcano and see hot molten lava in Guatemala


let's see if you can catch the lies!

tagged:
Sarah
Brittany
Nancy
Rachelle

What to do tonight?

So we have our new couches. We got them at a great price and they are really comfortable. A few weeks ago we were sitting there and were wondering what should we do tonight. Well as you can see in this picture Treson was scheming.


Little did we know but he had something in mind for us. Yea he looks so innocent but really he is quite devious. I think he gets it from his mother. ;) So I left the room and came back to find him like this.


Apparently like you will see in this next photo he had an accomplice to help him do his dirty work. Oh how she mocks me with her "cool composure."


Needless to say they did a great job of it.


When Treson saw me coming he tried to run away.



He even left behind his accomplice. Well it didn't take long for her to follow his example and skidattle.

Well I had to go in after them and they surprised me by taking a picture. Its ok I am not with out my own means of defense.


Well after I caught up with them we all got together and had ice cream well except Treson. Hes grounded ;) j/k

Hope you enjoyed our story.

my Juicy Juice

Tagged by Brittany Boyce...

1. Where did you meet your husband?
we officially met in the lounge of my apartment complex after a college Sadie Hawkins dance when he came up to me and asked "don't I know you?" I didn't recognize him, so we checked if we had any mutual friends- no luck. That following week we spotted each other in our microbiology class thus discovering the connection. weeks went by and AJ would progressively inch his way closer to my seat ( sneaky huh?) We eventually became study buddies.

2. How long did you date before you married?
from "being official" to our wedding day we were just one week shy of a year

3. How long have you been married?
1 year and 6 months

4. What does he do that surprises you?
on occasion, he'll come home with a present- lots of chocolates( a full freezer bag full!!!!), cute little notes, or cookies. He'll set up a song on the computer and dance with me in the office. And he plans fun cute dates (wink and a nudge to AJ- it's your turn for date night this week)

5. What is his best feature?
I love his hands and I'm a sucker for his lips ;) oh, and he has huge calf muscles too.

6. What is your favorite quality of his?
He's so honest- (he can't even play balderdash!), he's very assertive, he's a team player, and he'll voluntarily change our son's diapers!


7. Does he have a nickname for you?
he always calls me"Honey", but when he's serious he'll use Mandy or Amanda

8. What is his favorite food?
"sweet meat", french dipped sandwiches, chicken, and bread (seriously- if the meal has rolls then it's a hit!)

9. What is his favorite sport?
Soccer!

10. When & where was your first kiss?
on our real first date (that makes it sound like I'm easy, but it's quite the opposite)- we had huge tin-foil dinner date around a campfire and played sardines.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
we love to take walks and play sports outside, watch movies, camp out in our livingroom, and see and do new things.

12. Do you have any children?
we have a little 6 month old, Treson James Clifford. he loves it when daddy comes home- he can't stop smiling!

13. Does he have any hidden talents?
he's pretty nifty on a sewing machine

14. How old is he?
25

15. Who said I love you first?
he did. It was a vary casual "love ya"

16. What is his favorite music?
Enya! yes- actualy, along side other genras

17. What do you admire most about him?
He's selfasteem- he's very approchable and he's always ready to serve others.

18. What is his favorite color?
Green

19. Will he read this?
I'll make sure he does

20. Who will you tag?
some friends and cousins

SS: Hollywood Morals

ha- is there such a thing?


On "The Today Show," Hoda and Cathy-Lee were interviewing Kirt Cameron about his movie "Fire Proof," when they came upon the topic about a particular kissing scene.



Following this discussion, I was so intrigued by his personal integrity that I did some research of my own. This led to some surprising feedback by critics and the general public regarding his small moral stand behind the scenes of this movie. They claimed that he couldn't act because he wouldn't kiss another woman other than his actual wife. How desensitized can they get- they've failed to recognize his valor in all of this.

Most actors today have little, if any, standards. Sure their character maybe their polar opposite, but that doesn't change the fact that they, themselves, are physically carrying out grotesque scenes. I'm not saying that kissing your character's spouse is "R" rated, but a lot out there is. They could argue that those productions have an artistic message, but how can they when most this sludge is just shallow entertainment?

Teeffies!

The time has come: not one, but TWO teeth have emerged! He may look cute, but he has a fierce bite! " he's got huge sharp.... he can leap about.... look at the bones!!!!"

us trying to take a peak

There they are

uh oh! Now he's upset...
later: when babies attack

Whats happened to today's music?

First of all, hello everyone. This is my debut in the blogging world. Thought I would take advantage of my wife setting up this blog for us and finally post something.

There has been something going through my head for the past few weeks now. It is the difference between American music and other nationalities music. It seems like American music has become nothing more than a fancy beat and some words thrown in. Now I know there are plenty of exceptions but I am talking about the music as a whole. I don't know about other languages other than Spanish and Portuguese but it seems like music in those languages has a lot more depth to it. They have the beat and they have great lyrics that go along. That is just one of the many blessings that I took away from the mission. Being able to understand the language now I get so much more out of their music. Before I would just listen to the beat and dance some salsa or bachata or something now as I dance and understand the words it adds another level of appreciation.

On a separate but related point. I miss the good old days of entertainment (movies especially) where actors and actresses could do more than just read a script and rely on special effects. I love watching older movies when they can dance, sing, act and have a variety of talents. Even though they didn't have the best graphics back then, I will take their plot lines and actors abilities over any block buster hit. It seems like all Hollywood is doing is spitting out movies that have nothing of substance but full of special effects.

Anyways this is just some random late night post. Hope you are all doing well.

Update

Enough of all these insights- I know what you want, so here it is.

Treson is a funny one! goodness- he's having a blast rolling everywhere! We can barley keep him in one place on his back! This proves to be especially difficult when it comes time to change his diaper. He wants to crawl- we can see it in his eyes, so it'll come soon.
He's been QUITE fussy as of late, so maybe some teeth will pop out soon! We'll be sure to post teeth pictures when they do.
but for now- we have these for you to see.

T-I-double-ga-rrrr

Mr.smiles

SS: Energy Drinks and a Presidential candidate

How in the world are these two related? Maybe McCain is an avid consumer; or he could be secretly campaigning against this cash cow industry. Probably not. In fact they only share the same sentence because I felt like addressing both single and separately- but at the same time. (did that make sense?)

I recently saw this commercial advertising a low calorie energy water which used a less than classy technique. They were comparing their competition with their own, pointing out the fact that the other leading power water had an enormous amount of calories. The actors who were staged in a gym seemed baffled that they had to run another 6 mile to burn off what they had just consumed. HA!
Calories = energy! Hello- the whole point of these drinks are to have more energy.
Sure- if you are a little on the pudgy side and want to loose weight, then by all means- drink this new water (or just regular water!) and let your body metabolize your own energy stores. BUT if you want to be active and competitive in a sport or activity then go for the increased caloric intake.

Now for McCain. I wanted to express my concern for the fact that Sen. McCain was a P.O.W. Does that not worry any of you? There's emotional scarring that comes with that. Makes you wonder if he's any way desensitized or has a hidden agenda to retaliate his oppressors once he becomes President. What if the pressures of the office surpass his breaking point?
He's a powerful leader and I'm sure he would make some great changes, but you just have to wonder- what risk am i taking if I vote for him.

well that's all folks! until next time-

Saturday Soapbox: Language Barrier

I used to work at a retail clothing store in my early years and would come in contact with many tourists from different countries. They would speak slowly and have a heavy accent that garbled their sentences. They seemed uneducated. My associates would grow impatient and rudely rush them on. I’m not saying that I never fell pray to the “Ugly American” persona, but more often than not, I played role of the spectator. Having the opportunity to live in different countries where my mother taught English as a side job, I knew how hard it was for others to learn our language (something I’m still trying to do too!).

The experience that brought this home for me was when I participated in a study abroad to central/meso-America. This was an awkward match for me- being a Frenchie and all, and knowing very VERY little Spanish. I had a Spanish speaking friend with me or my Spanish booklet on me at all times. I was very surprised how patient and kind the natives treated me, even when I slaughtered my requests for the bathroom. They were always impressed with my effort to learn their language.
The struggle I went through with improper verb conjugations and poor wording made me respect foreign tourists for how much they DID know and how brave they were to speak. Even though this happened years ago, I still want others to know of my experience, and to take away the same message I did: empathy.

cultivation of the mind

Liberated. The weighty pursuit of academics for achievement's sake is over! The redemption of leisure.

I'm so excited about all the things I can do with my time now! All those verbs!- except for "rob," "Plunder," and "kill"of course...
To dive into a book, tackle a sewing project, experiment in the kitchen, and lull my precious baby boy to sleep. Oh the joys of being a house wife and mom!

Catch up:
We have been married since April 07 and have a baby boy named Treson (Trey-son). We both graduated with our Bachelors in scientific fields and now AJ works for a Health Company in Utah and I'm taking a break from school for now.

We're both excited to keep in contact with friends and family through this and hope you enjoy our updates and insights!