Oh, how festive!

So, what would the Christmas season be without making gingerbread houses? We're still not ambitious enough to make genuine gingerbread houses, so graham crackers are what we use. One day, perhaps, I'll be brave enough to try the real thing.
Here's the construction zone:
Ma and Dito made a cute little ranch style home:Adam made either an apartment building or a castle...it depends on who you're talking to:
I made a church:With all the variety we had, we decided we could make a little gingerbread city. Nathan's creation helped us determine what city it was. His house collapsed. Therefore, it must be Cleveland since most the homes there are vacant and falling apart. ;)Here's our mini-Cleveland:

Charlotte Meets Santa

Last night we took Charlotte to meet Santa. They take free pictures at Pro Bass Shop, and they also let me take pictures. She was so good for Santa, but did look a little confused as to what was going on. She wore the new hat we bought her yesterday. It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but it was WAY too cute for me to wait until Christmas to put it on her.

My Heart Sings

My first love was motherhood. I was always "the mother" when playing make believe in my childhood years and being not only the eldest child, but also the only girl, created the perfect opportunity for me to become a "mini-mom". My second love was music. I used to make up songs about how sad my life was because I had no sisters to play with, only rotten brothers (they seemed rotten at the time, now I wouldn't trade them for anything).
Visiting home always seems to make me nostalgic for my high school chorus days. I sang various alto parts all four years of high school and loved every minute of it. The other evening I went to a play that was put on by my old high school. I went with my best friend, Heidi, who was right by my side for all those years of chorus. We used to sing for fun. In fact, our friends who weren't in chorus were often embarrassed by our need to sing for no particular reason. While there, we bumped into another chorus friend of ours, as well as the accompanist from all our chorus concerts.
Seeing the faces of these wonderful people brought so much joy to my heart as memories flowed back about all the great times and learning experiences I've had from being involved in chorus.
Now we get to tonight and the reason for this post. My younger brother, Nathan, had a chorus concert tonight. He goes to a different high school than the one I attended, but at the end of the concert they invited all those who know the Hallelujah Chorus to come up and sing with the choir. Now, my high school choir performed the Hallelujah Chorus every Christmas season with the orchestra. We had rehearsed the song many times with no real incident. The night of the performance came, and I was ready to sing my heart out. Standing in the dim lighted cafeteria, the strings began their tune, and as I opened my mouth to sing, I found that I was choked up with tears streaming down my face. While I have always loved to express myself through singing, I had never felt such strong emotion come over me. At that moment, I was able to sing about Jesus Christ and let everyone know that He is my Savior. "Hallelujah! King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He shall reign forever and ever." So much joy filled my heart as I was able to share what I know through that holy song.
I had not had the opportunity to sing that song since I graduated from high school. Tonight, I was able to stand next to my brother and testify of Christ through that song. The tears filled my eyes again as I felt of the love that I have not only for my brother Nathan, but also for my brother, Jesus Christ. As I stood up there singing, I could not help but think of how glorious it'll be to sing my own glad tidings when the Savior comes again. I hope that when that time comes, I will be able to stand and sing with all of my family and the friends who have become my family. This Christmas, I wish that all could know of the love that the Savior has for each and every one of us. Tonight, I was given a gift through song. I was reminded of how precious all of our souls are, and I pray that I will be able to be an instrument for good in helping others find the joy that comes from opening our hearts to Jesus Christ.

Damp Washcloth

Charlotte thought it was so funny when I'd place a damp washcloth on her face and then remove it. Enjoy!

The Things I've Done

I saw this on a friend's blog, who saw it on a friends blog, etc. I don't know where it started, but I thought is was kind of cool. A way to reflect on life a bit. The things I've done are in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (Does Stone Mountain count?)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (I do this for fun...they're everywhere in Ohio)
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (Adam, you need to work on this!)
53. Played in the mud (I had never played in the mud until I got married to Adam...no joke!)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (My family made a silly movie for my Aunt Karen one Christmas)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (I really have a wonderful husband!)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I still have all my Barbies in a box in my parent's attic)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Charlotte Eleanor's Blessing

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we blessed Charlotte. She was blessed at my parent's home and it was so nice to have the quiet, family setting for the blessing. We just wish Cassie, Jonny and Hailey could have joined us, as well as Dario and Joshua.
Charlotte was able to wear the same blessing dress that I wore wore when I was blessed. Which I didn't think would be possible since I was blessed at one month and Charlotte was blessed at almost four months. Luckily, Charlotte is on the small side and the dress fit her beautifully.Adam, his dad, my dad and Bishop Sheridan stood in the circle, and Adam blessed her. I am so grateful for a worthy Priesthood holder. It was a wonderful experience to see the Priesthood work within our own small family once again and bless our baby girl. It was a beautiful blessing.

Thanksgiving

I know I'm a little late with the Thanksgiving post. Okay, a lot late. So, here goes...
For Thanksgiving this year, Adam and I didn't have to choose which family we were going to spend it with. We were fortunate to have both of our families around for the holiday. Adam and I went down to Georgia and Adam's family joined us from Texas. It was GREAT to have all the noise and bustle in the house. It really made the holiday!The girls (Mom Nelson, Charlissa, me, Ma Zuluaga) had a great time in the kitchen baking pies and rolls, cooking the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the other delish food that goes along with Thanksgiving dinner. Where were the boys???
Entertaining Dito (or were they just entertaining themselves and using Dito as an excuse to play Legos?!?) and playing NERTS.
Then we just ate,and ate,and ate.
It was a great meal and everyone took a nice, long nap afterward!

Twilight Happened at Midnight

I admit it...I went to the midnight showing of Twilight. I bought my ticket days in advance. I showed up to the theatre early. I survived all the squealing high school girls who were swooning over Edward. I swooned a bit myself,but for Jacob, not Edward. Also, I never squealed. I wasn't alone in this fanatical event. There were other post teenagers there...lots of them, and I have proof:
In all seriousness though: I went, I watched, I witnessed. It was so much fun to be there with all the energy that was buzzing through the theater. Things got exciting enough to bring out a camera man from one of the local news stations. I really enjoyed the movie. It had it's weak spots due to the fact that it was a lower budget film, but I think they did an excellent job with all the characters. Most of them looked just they way I had pictured them in my mind when reading the book. I think the best part though was going with a bunch of the other podiatry wives at midnight. It was fun to feel a little carefree again!

A Time for Thanksgiving

Here's a game of tag
That should be great fun
Count ten of your blessings
Begin with number one.
Count to number ten
Then tag four others,
You can tag your friends,
Sisters, children or mothers.


My ten blessings:
1. My Savior, Jesus Christ

2. My husband. He's perfect for me. But more importantly, he's a total stud!

3. My baby girl, Charlotte. Nothing makes me happier than being a mom!
4. My parents. I wouldn't be who I am today without them.

5. Adam's parents. I have two reasons for this. The first is that I think they did a great job raising Adam. The second is that I get along with them wonderfully. I'm so glad that I get to be excited when I visit the in-laws!

6. My big brown fuzzy blanket. It's the blanket that leaves all other blankets behind. I feel like a little kid again with the way I drag it around with me from room to room. Don't judge...if you had this blanket, you'd do the same thing.

7. Hot showers

8. Music

9. The internet...so much knowledge right at my fingertips!

10. My home. It may be a small, simple place, but it's my little refuge from the world.

I tag Cassie, Amber, Beckee and Emily W.

Just copy the poem above to your blog and add your ten blessings below the poem.

The Cavs

Last night Adam and I went to a Cavaliers game. It was my first time attending a basketball game that wasn't held in the church cultural hall (sad, I know). A friend of his from school, Dan Piper had some extra tickets to the game and invited us to go. We had a really good time, and Charlotte even enjoyed it.

Basketball games have a very different atmosphere than baseball games. There were a lot more bells and whistles during the basketball game...including flames.

Adam wanted a picture to prove that Charlotte was a Cavs fan, so he insisted on this picture:

Charlotte acted surprising well during the entire game. She only fussed once and the rest of the time sat on Adam's lap. Her hands are very entertaining for her right now. What I want to know is why she can't sit this contently at church.

We had a great time with Adam's friends from school. They were a lot of fun, and I'm sure Adam was glad to have someone watching the game with him who actually loves sports. I enjoyed going to the game more for the experience of it rather than the actual game. The Cavs did a great job though. They not only beat the other team, but they made more than 100 points which means that if we take our tickets to Taco Bell, we'll get a free chalupa!

Reading

Charlotte has already cultivated a love for books. She even likes to read to herself when Adam and I are busy:
Okay, not really, but I thought it was so cute when she grabbed the book I was reading to her and held it all by herself in front of her face! She just looked so mature with that book there it made me laugh.

Change

With all the commotion about the change that is coming to the country now that Obama has been elected president, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and make a change myself. Okay, let's get real...it had nothing to do with the election. It had more to do with the fact that I was way overdue for a haircut.

I decided to chop my hair off. Why? I don't really know. I liked my long hair. It was easy to manage. I was used to it. Adam liked it. Just a few dead ends needed to be taken off and the layers cleaned up. I think I just wanted something different. I thought about short hair, but it made me a little nervous.

Quick story: When I was in fifth grade I went through this phase where I wanted to look like my mom. I don't know that I really wanted to look like my mom, but I just wanted to look more grown up. I was in that akward transition stage where your arms are too long and your nose is too big and you have to start using face wash. I realized that I didn't look like a little girl anymore, but I didn't know how to present myself as a teenager. So, I went for the next closest thing...my mom. I wore her clothes that were too big for me (Looking back I now realize that she must have known that I was adding to the problem rather than helping it...I was also probably too stubborn to listen to her when she told me it didn't look good). Well, she cut her hair short, and I got the crazy notion that I needed to do the same thing. BIG MISTAKE! First off, I remember that the lady who cut my hair was still kind of learning. As she butchered my mane, another one hovered over her attempting (but failing) to fix her mistakes. I came out of there with a haircut looking more like my dad's than my mom's. To top it all off, I was going through that akward stage, remember? That means I didn't have a very feminine body yet. The worst day was the one when a kid a few years younger than me asked, "Are you a boy or a girl???" Talk about DEVESTATING!

So, to this day I have been terrified of cutting my hair short. I told Adam my predicament, and he assured me that if I cut my hair short I would still look like a female. I wasn't entirely convinced. Luckily, I really trust Jamie who cuts my hair. Bless her heart, but she had to go through two weeks of me emailing her pictures and asking her questions before I finally made up my mind to go short.

I did it. I don't think I look like a boy. And I like it.

Here are pictures from before the change

and after the change

I donated the hair I cut off to Locks of Love, so that was exciting. Also, these pictures aren't the best because I had to take them myself since Adam is at school. And please, don't ask me if I'm a boy or girl! ;)

Back to the Future

When my dad was here, a picture was taken that reminded me of one of my baby photos. Here is the picture of my dad and Charlotte:I don't think it even occured to him that 21 years earlier he had posed with me the same way:
It seems like some things never change!

Scared Stiff!

You would think I was wearing a scary mask by the look on Charlotte's face, in reality I just hadn't put my make up on yet! Just kidding. She made this face while I was snapping some shots of her. I accidentally caught this facial expression and laughed so hard. I love that her arms are sticking out...she looks scared STIFF!

Jack O'Lantern-ing

For Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins. Here are some pictures of the evening: