Halloween 2011.

Sonnet has spent every one of her Halloweens in Beaver. They do a cute little parade where all the elementary school kids walk down Main Street in their costumes and everyone comes to watch. Then they do a big "trunk or treat" at the church. My mom always make chili, cornbread, and carmel apples. It's just a fun tradition to be with family.

This year, Nate had to work all weekend, so Sonnet and I came up and my brother and his wife came down from Provo. Hayden helped Sonnet carve a pumpkin. She refused to touch the nasty stuff inside (Wonder where she gets that from? But she was grossed out all on her own, I didn't even say anything). What are uncles for?! We visited Cove Fort, ate waaaay too much food, and had a fun weekend being together!


(Our buddies Hayven and Chipper. They always dress up so cute.)










(Sonnet's boyfriend MaCoy. He was a rodeo clown!) :)



Happy Halloween! I'm going to eat some more chocolate...

Ghosts of Halloweens Past.

This is Sonnet's 5th Halloween! [Insert nonsense about how time flies here]. Just because it's fun to reminisce, check out my baby girl from years past...

2007: Princess Leia
Not because we have any particular affinity for Star Wars, but just because that "hair" was so cute and she was too young to object.

2008: Bandstand Baby
Who doesn't love the 50's? And her skirt even had her name on it!

2009: Alabama Cheerleader
Uncle Hayden brought the outfit and pom poms back from his mission. Roll Tide!

2010: Dog
This was the first year she was very picky about what she wanted to be. She had to be a "white dog with black spots and a red collar." Mission accomplished. And Nate and I even dressed up as fire fighters to match our little dalmation. :)

2011: Belle
I'm sorry, but does she not look SO OLD all of a sudden?! [Sniff.] This year she insisted that her Belle dress go "all the way to the floor." It's actually so long she can barely walk, but she LOVES it. :) And I love my little princess! :)

What I Wore Wednesday

Let's be real. I've been feeling very... not cute... for a while. Something about a growing midsection, breakouts, hair that will not hold curl and keeps coming in gray (and I hate the color right now), bitten off fingernails, and a general lack of energy... All of this means that I have spent most of my recent days sporting sweats and a bun. Some girls are cute au natural... I am not one of them.

So, I decided to re-institute the What I Wore Wednesday posts (for a little while at least) to give myself some motivation to actually get dressed. I mean, I love fall... especially fall clothes... I should be having fun with my wardrobe, not despising it. So, I figure if I make myself take a picture every day, it might make me put on something worth recording. Or maybe not. Here goes anyway...



Shirt and boots: Target
The brown boots were a recent purchase. They're beautiful. I want to touch them all the time.
Nasty old jeans that I wear all the time because they are the only pants that sort of still fit.

Black tee and flowery dress: Down East
Pink cardy: Target
Black pumps: Marshalls

Black sweater and scarf: Walmart
Same jeans
Red flats: Target
This outfit was cuter in my head.

I love the sock- with-boots trend that I've been seeing lately. I'm trying to figure out how to wear it without being a total retard.
Black sweater and pink socks: Target
Skirt and boots: Kohls
Pink belt: New York and Co.

Red tee: Target
Gray skirt: New York and Co.
Black lace vest: Kohls
Black clogs: Marshalls
I was trying to copy a look I saw in a catalog. I'm not loving it.

Green tee: Target
Vest: Marshalls
Boots: Boot Barn
Wearing my cowboy boots always makes me feel like I can kick the crap out of someone... in a good way. So this was a good day. :)

I know, you love my socks. :)
Gray dress: Marshalls
Yellow cardy, socks, black shoes: Target
I'm just about to give up on trying to wear belts...

Hey, I bought some maternity pants. They are not the most flattering, but they're pretty comfy!
Blue sweater: Marshalls
Black pants and leopard pumps (I feel like I'm on stilts, but I love them): Target
The end.

24 weeks and...

So, I'm 24 weeks now. My belly feels bigger. I feel heavier. I can't get comfortable at night. BUT I'm trying to pretend like it's not that big of a deal seeing as how I still have 16 weeks to go! I can't start whining too early. But I can definitely tell that some growing has gone on in the last couple weeks.

In happy news, my little guy kicks me all the time and I quite adore it. I don't love being pregnant, but I don't mind it either and I do think it's a miracle. I was always very thankful that I got to experience it once (when I had Sonnet) and having it work a second time just seems like an extra blessing... especially when there are so many people who struggle with it.

I finally got my sewing machine to work. Yay! I finished that little quilt I was working on. It is by no means a high quality item and it doesn't match anything, but I happen to LOVE it. It turned out better than I expected given my lack of sewing skills and I feel all attached to it because I made it all by myself just for my baby. Aww.



I took Sonnet to pick out her Halloween costume last weekend. She officially decided on Belle and she is SO excited about her dress. Much to her dismay, I told her that she could only wear it to a Halloween-related activity and then on Halloween itself before it got put into her regular princess/dress-up rotation. She, of course, wants to wear it EVERYWHERE. She picked out a little crown and a rose to carry around too. She's pretty DARN CUTE if I do say so myself.


Last week, she had her buddy over to play for a bit and she even talked him into dressing up. Such a good sport! I have a feeling that her little brother is going to go through several costume changes each day if she has anything to say about it.


Sonnet has been quite funny lately. Last week in her ballet class, they were doing "Ladybug Girl." We didn't know that character, so we went to the library and checked out a few of her books. They're actually really cute and I enjoyed reading them. Sonnet, however, did not. She just couldn't get over the fact that the girl was a BUG. It didn't matter that she is a LADYbug and that ladybugs are nice and cute... she was just too creeped out by the fact that the girl wanted to dress up like an insect. So, when Thursday came around and it was time to get ready for class and Sonnet wasn't parading around in her leotard since the moment she woke up like she usually is on dance days, I knew something was up. I told her to go change so we could leave and she said, "Mom, I really love dance, but I don't want to dress up like a ladybug. I think I want to stay home today. I'll go next week." Well, we all know I'm weird about plenty of things--- jello, Halloween, board games, etc.--- and I saw no point in driving across town to make her dance if she really didn't wanna go... so, we went to lunch instead. And there will be no more mention of Ladybug Girl in this house.

Speaking of books....The other night before bed, Sonnet was picking out the books she wanted me to read to her. She was sorting through a big stack she had on her desk and thinking out loud... "Not Ladybug Girl, don't like bugs." "Oooo, my new Fancy Nancy, yes!" "Not the weird Halloween one." "Yeah, I want this one!" "This one has dogs!" Then she picked up her little copy of the scriptures that she takes to church and goes: "I don't wanna read Jesus's book. He didn't put any pictures in it!" I totally laughed.

Nate's crew did some night training a few shifts back. It's rare that I get pictures of him from work, so I had to include the Handsome Man. Hubba Hubba.


We eat grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch after church every Sunday. I know, most people do a roast in the crockpot or something, but we're not that fancy. Do you have a traditional Sunday meal?

I started watching a few new TV shows this fall. Not that I need anything meaningless to take up my time, but there were several shows that looked interesting to me. I'm not really into sitcoms or comedies, but I do like dramas. I started Prime Suspect, Ringer, and PanAm, but I didn't think they were all that great, so they have since been deleted off the DVR. Then I found out that my boyfriend Elliot Stabler didn't come back to Law and Order: SVU this season, so that got deleted too. I'm still deciding if I like A Gifted Man. It's a bit slow or something. Nate and I both LOVE Person of Interest. Jim Caviezel is just so gorgeous. Swoon. I watched the first episode of Once Upon a Time last Sunday and I actually liked it a lot more than I expected too. I'm hoping it stays good. And of course, I still watch Vampire Diaries (Stefan is still hot stuff, even if he is evil now), Body of Proof, and Say Yes to the Dress (I totally want to renew my vows someday just so I can try on dresses again). I also still love Jeopardy. I know, I'm such an old fogie. But I swear, I'm good at it. I want to go on there and win some money! :)

That is all.

A Moveable Feast.

BOOK REVIEW

33. A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway

I fell in love with Hemingway in 11th grade when I spontaneously checked out "A Farewell to Arms" from my high school library in an effort to acquaint myself with some of the "classics."

I remember being so swept up in that book... my boyfriend at the time even called me Catherine and I just thought it was the most romantic thing... Ah, sorry, CORNY! :)

After "A Farewell to Arms" I read "The Sun Also Rises," "For Whom the Bells Tolls," "The Nick Adams Stories," "Islands in the Stream," "The Old Man and the Sea," and several biographies and collections of letters on Hemingway. Can you tell I'm a fan?

But I had never read "A Moveable Feast." After reading "The Paris Wife" earlier this year (which I rather enjoyed), I really wanted to read "A Moveable Feast" since the events described in "The Paris Wife" took place during Hemingway's early years in Paris with his first wife Hadley, and it was during this time that he wrote the original draft of "A Moveable Feast." (It wasn't published until after his death, and was actually just revised by his grandson in 2009).

Honestly, there's not much to the book. It's just a collection of Hemingway's personal experiences in Paris in the 1920's. It's not fiction, it doesn't really have a plot, he switches between the first and second person a lot, he's very specific about names and places and addresses... it sorta just reads like a journal. But come on, a journal written by Ernest Hemingway?! You know it's fascinating.

I just love the way he writes. I was so taken with him when I first read him in 11th grade because his writing is so simple and so sharp... clean and cold and frank... but still so descriptive and passionate and real. It just kind of amazes me. I feel like it's how I would write if I could write. It's how I'd like to write. Does that make any sense? It's how I think, anyway.

I mean, the first line in "A Moveable Feast" is: "Then there was the bad weather." Doesn't that just make you smile?! In a way, that sentence makes sense all on it's own. Everyone can relate to that statement. But then, you also just HAVE to know what comes next.

In "A Moveable Feast," Hemingway talks about his writing process a little. He says, "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written."

I think that is a perfect description of his writing. And that's why I like him so much. Not every single one of his statements rings true to me, but SO MANY of them do... and you can tell that he believes them all or he wouldn't have wasted his time including them. It's just so... purposeful. I respect that as a reader. I've always thought it was much harder to write short sentences and short stories. With enough words, anyone can get a thought across, but to do it in only a few words takes real talent.

I'm so glad I finally read this. And I'm actually glad that I read "The Paris Wife" first because I felt like it gave me some background and insight into the stories found in this book. I'm glad that his apologies to Hadley were included in this restored version. This was an entertaining, depressing, colorful, wonderful trip through 1920's Paris with the perfect tour guide.

Verbal Vomit.

I know you've all been dying for some good old-fashioned Holly Ramblings lately. No? Well, better click off this page then...

First of all, let's talk about how my sewing machine is the devil. I'm a sucker for toile fabric. If you have no idea what toile is, don't worry. Your life will go on. Mine, however, would not be complete without toile. LOVE it. I generally favor black and white toile because hello, it's black and white, and I've been a fan of black and white since before it was trendy. Not that I mind that it's trendy now... it makes decorating much easier. Anyways, I happened to come across a few scraps of this teal-ish and brown toile a few years back and I bought it. I decided if I ever had a baby boy, I would make him a blanket with it. I know, my son will not appreciate the toile pattern as much as I do, but until he can object, I shall wrap him in cute blankets. Anyways, I pulled out the fabric the other day and starting cutting and pinning. Let's face it, picking out the fabric and cutting it is my favorite part of a sewing project anyways, but since I've been feeling the need to actually FINISH a craft lately, I decided to forge ahead and sew the quilt together. Look at me go! That is until I pulled my machine out, plugged it in, and remembered that it doesn't work. I'm sure it can be fixed and it's probably just some stupid thing that I'm doing wrong, but I've used that thing a hundred times... I've taken everything off and out and put it back in... I spent 2 hours trying to fix it yesterday... I even got Nate in on the job... and it still just keeps jamming up. So for now, I choose to just call it An Evil Thing and move on. When the pile of fabric on my dining room table starts to bother me enough, I'll give it another shot. Or go crawling over to my mother-in-law.

Speaking of fabric, this is the fabric I want to use in the baby room:

Love love love. Yes, the nursery will have a cowboy theme. A vintage-y, Roy Rogers-ish feel. If you know me, you get it. If you're one of those annoying people who think cowboys are hicks and you don't understand the spirit behind the icon, well then, I probably don't like you anyway.

Someday I'll get around to ordering the fabric and talking my friend into making the crib bedding for me (because my sewing machine is EVIL--- and because I always like stuff SO much more when someone else makes it). I'll paint the walls and stack up the diapers... and oh yeah, add a wall to the loft so the baby room is actually a ROOM... but for now, I'm just brainstorming. There will be lots of this going on:

Sonnet has changed her mind about what she wants to be for Halloween at least 4 times in the last few weeks. She is currently claiming that she wants to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Before that it was Tinkerbell, a princess, then Snow White. I am making her wait until the very last minute to buy a costume because 1) She might change her mind again and 2) She will beg me to wear the costume every single day and it will be ruined before Halloween even comes around. That girl loves to dress up! She's not "girlie" per se, but she loves her princess dresses and she is really into picking out her own outfits. This is what she wore yesterday:

That would be a Rapunzel dress, a huge blue satin bow in her hair, blue eyeshadow on her eyes, and red shoes that she made "fancy" by tying ribbons on them. Girls are so weird. But I guess I can't blame her for wanting to play dress up all the time. I get the same thrill when I go in my closet every morning... although I currently only have one pair of pants that fit my pregnant belly and I'm pining for this black and white sweater from BHWM that I refuse to spend the money on. I don't think I've ever spent more than $30 on a shirt and I don't intend to start now.

Back to Sonnet... she got to dress up as Belle in dance class last week and she was in heaven! She made me take about 20 photos of her because she didn't want to change out of the costume. I'm pretty sure she would have just ran out the door and drove away in it if, you know, she could reach the pedals.


I don't like Halloween. So many people I know just love and adore it. They get SO excited to dress up and decorate their houses and throw creepy parties. I'm sorry, but I will never understand why eating cupcakes that look like eyeballs or scooping the stringy innards out of a pumpkin or going to a haunted house and paying someone to scare the daylights out of you is appealing. I shouldn't be such a hater. I DO love the Fall. I love chili and cornbread and hot apple cider. I like jackets, although I never get to wear them around these parts. I do like to go to the pumpkin patch and kick piles of leaves. And hey, I did decorate my front door. But that's as much as you'll get from me.

Sonnet asks me about 800 questions a day. She's not trying to be annoying, she's just very curious. I try to explain things properly because she really listens to my answers and she remembers every single thing I say. But sometimes, I just want to tell her to zip it. I get so sick of talking. I am not a talker. I hate the phone. I don't even really like one on one conversations. I've always been more of an "observe in silence" kind of person. I mean, I can talk if I have to... I have proper social skills and good manners when called for... I just don't like to talk if I have the choice. I like silence. I really do. It's part of the reason why I don't mind being alone. But with a a very social, very smart 4 year old running circles around me all day long, silence is not an option. I have to explain why I have to pee again and why she has to put her seat belt on in the car and where we're going and why some people drive red cars and why Daddy goes to work and why the dog snores and why vegetables are healthy and why she has to clean her room and why we have to brush our teeth and why we can't buy another doll at the store and why we have to return our library books and why that guy has two earrings and why she can't talk during church and why I farted and how she got green eyes when I have blue eyes and why the baby looks silver on the ultrasound and why airplanes can fly when they're so heavy... why why why. She needs a 24-hour hot line she can call. I'm exhausted. Good think she is SO stinking CUTE! And whoever said you don't need an education to be a mom is nuts.

Speaking of the snoring dog, isn't he handsome. I happen to think he has diabetes, though. He drinks excessively and he pees more than I do. Is that possible?
My friend asked on Facebook the other day: If you had to choose your "last meal" what would it be? I mean, what's you very favorite thing to eat? I had to say cheese enchiladas with green sauce, chips and salsa, and either a virgin lime margarita with salt or a coke. That's probably my favorite thing ever. But then I got to thinking about scrambled eggs, bacon, and buttermilk pancakes. That's a close runner up. Then, of course, there's Olive Garden salad and some fantastic pasta with artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes, grilled shrimp and arrabiatta sauce. And no doubt I'd have to have warm chocolate chip cookies with milk. In all honestly, I could probably just skip the meal and go straight to the cookies. Is there anything better?

That's all.

A Nice Day.

We went to check out the gardens and the water show at the Bellagio today. Sonnet was in love with the talking tree. She would have sat there all day if I let her. And it smelled so good in there! :)

The Belly.