looming winter

Across the street, next to the now-plowed cotton fields, sits this old forsaken shack. Constructed of rubble and loose wood, I think it's shelter for two horses and a little donkey.

paint swatches

Already, the search has begun for choosing colors for the home we will settle into in Alaska. In our previous home in Texas we had three rooms painted, one wall in another room swathed in dark fabric (a quick fix instead of paint), and repainted our bedroom to a lighter blue. Chelsea, I never got back to you, but that color was Cumberland Fog from Behr.

I've chalked this pasttime of mine up to a hobby. Back in Texas the search began for light spring-like colors for a "winter room" to keep us awake during the dark and dreary days, but I didn't give a much thought about a "summer room" to unwind in when the sun stays up past it's usual bed time. I think I have about... oh I'll just count them.. I have: 29 from tonight + 27 from before = yes, 56 paint swatches. Watch out mom and dad, I'm bringing them to Christmas for us all to stare and awe at. O! I'm just so happy!

happy things

After a cold afternoon of tying quilts and putting screen doors on patios, Mark and I headed over for some delicious Happy Donuts. Compare these to the best, most mouthwatering donuts you can imagine: Winchell's or Dunkin' Donuts. Whichever you like more. That's right. That's how yummy these taste.

frozen rain drops

This 'storm' I mentioned below is beginning to brew. We had made plans to drive to Northern Oklahoma to visit a few friends of ours, but the base wasn't allowing passes because of 'frozen rain' that just ices over all the roads when it lands; almost instantly.

This morning the passenger side of our car was all glossed over with these crystal beads of ice. It was freezing, but very pretty.

Christmas in the city

There is a park downtown that has been decorated with Christmas lights and set-ups throughout. There was even a Santa Clause with a real beautiful white beard. I had seen his poster hanging in a boutique when doing Christmas shopping earlier this week; he must be famous. I thought I saw a man in a car a few weeks ago and thought, "wow! He'd be a great Santa." Perhaps it was him, giving his reindeer a break.

Because of the predicted ice storm this weekend we expected it to be cold. We were right!

It was cooooold. We wore long johns under our jeans, I had two sweatshirts on underneath this 3 layered coat! Then my mom's bear gloves, then the incredibly fun beanie with a pom-pom atop. Mark just looked chic in his magazine-appropriate turtle neck and dark accessories.

on this day

At about 5:30 tonight I drove onto the air base here to pick Mark up after his simulator finished and as I drove around the 'round-about I saw 4 men in uniform pulling the flags up to full staff.

I didn't realize today was a 'half-mass' sort of day. Only when I was driving back past them with Mark in the car did I remember that today marks the 66th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

It was a beautiful reminder to see all those flags at half staff.

unoriginal thought

Wednesday laundry. I don't have a set day for laundry, I just do it when it needs doing. Suppose I like spontaneity in more things than just behavior.

Having a dry week for blogging entries, and a day full to the brim with washing, I thought an ode to laundry would be appropriate. Just to see what was out there, I googled "Ode to Laundry." My, what an unoriginal thought I had.

Blogspots here, typepads there. Everywhere there was an ode to laundry, or an ode to my Japanese laundry line. I didn't read any, thought it would be a bit intrusive on what someone else thought was a fun, original thought.

O Laundry, Laundry, wherefore art thou Laundry!

Folded and stacked away neatly and warm.

Saturday's sunset

After the rain ended and the clouds began to break up, this is what was left behind. This is sans photoshop, just a crop to get out the 'worldy things'.

rain drops

This morning I opened my eyes to find a grey hue coming through the tight blinds. I looked outside and got a very pleasant suprise! Rainy days make me enjoy my day so much more thoroughly. Being 'stuck' inside with warm pajamas, oatmeal and a good book with rain tapping the windows is my version of a good day.

Because I was so cozy within my warm walls and new pajama pants, I decided to stay inside and look for a rain picture rather than go outside and risk my warmth.

I found this rain drops picture above from a site I've never heard of before. I was really impressed with the ones I browsed. I don't know what else could be on this site, so note that I don't endorse it 1oo%.

In other Jayci-news, I've begun a new book. I finished Eclipse yesterday, and instead of going into a post-good-book-funk, I reserved this book for this time. It's young and fresh and it's called Secret Society Girl. So far so good. Looks like another rainy day tomorrow!

babyshowers

Tonight will be my first triple babyshower that I'll be attending in an hour. I'm still a little sick, so I will bounce out after 20 minutes (a planned escape) to go get Pizza Hut with Mark.

Buying gifts for three different babies proved easy, just expensive. You can't get one girl something extravagant just because you're her visiting teacher, so to be fair, you get all three girls something just as fun.

Pajamas! Footsie pajamas to be more precise. With onesies to wear underneath. I always go a size bigger than newborns. This means getting the 3 month old size. I like to think that I'm helping them plan a few weeks ahead for when the baby outgrows all the cutsie teeny stuff.

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You see the gold shimmery bag in the back? That was the only bag I had, so I bought the cute 8" bags from the Base Exchange (BX) and stuffed white tissue paper at the top to hide the gift, of course. Usually, I try to give non-baby bags at baby showers so that they can reuse them for most any occasion. The camera light setting was on Sun, so that's why they look a little yellow. When I turned it off, the bags looked blue. I stuck to this one:

new banner

This is an older picture, but somehow it has a winter-ish charm to it. I'm still playing around with winter pictures.

Ah! stress of the holidays, even on a blog.

enchanted

No Lord's name in vain, no smoking, minimal cursing, marriage supportive, and fair. This movie I asked Mark to take me to was very sweet and very mesmerizing. It makes you appreciate Disney for what they do for families. They support the marriage system and never conveys the message of sacrificing all the good times for the bad ones; no one has to fall out of love. I had to laugh with this whimsical girl as she experienced the anger-emotion for the first time. Even in reality, we're still able to live happily ever afters.

happy things

It's nothing like last year's, but we needed a little Christmas spirit in our small apartment for the next three weeks.
We got a Christmas tree last night from the store for a grand total of 6 dollars. The crooked little berried tree sits inside a red Santa Boot. We strung a tiny strand of lights through the branches and hung silver ornaments around it.
How it sparkles!!

Thanksgiving Reeder's Digest

Now that we're home from a very enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday, it can be blogged about! I wouldn't doubt it if I've never had a busier holiday weekend before now. It was a record setter. My purse-calendar was nearly full for each day we were there. Just like my belly.

Mark and I slept in the car Thanksgiving Eve because we didn't like the idea of leaving a hotel early (after paying for only 5 hours of sleep) and then rushing to find a parking spot. It was much better this way. We flew into Utah at about 8:30 and were picked up from the airport by the Reeder's on their way out to Brigham City for Grandma Reeder's farm. There were 50 people there for dinner. Can you believe it? Neither can I. Grandma Reeder has a large room in the back of her house where there were about 6 tables set up. It was some party, and Mark's brother and sisters in law were the life of the party. I finally got to sit at 'the cool kid's table.'

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Below is a picture of all the Reeder's there for the holiday. We were missing Mo and Tory (Mark's brother and his wife). Behind us is the slough that freezes over every winter so they can go ice skating for miles and miles. It was just barely frozen around the edges. It looked cold!

After dinner we went skeet/clay pigeon shooting and then took all the pictures with all 50 people. Stacey's nephew Johnny (who's a Benson, not a Reeder) was the photographer. All the old ladies were saying, "Oh! Who's that? He's a looker." Poor Johnny (he's in the blue sweatshirt below), Mark is next to him in his leather jacket, who's next to Paps Reeder, and then that's Mike in the white. Now all I needed were the Judds. But Tessa, my sister, got to join me for some fun later on.
What a family I have; I'm thankful.

the Painted Veil

A couple of movies ago, I watched The Painted Veil. It is beautifully told, and set on a continent that Mark called home for a while. It is a cinematic experience that is now hard to come by these days, even if I still do love most movies I see. This is one for the books. Or blog.

The scene is set in China during the cholera epidemic. Her husband takes her into the midst of dying people as a punishment for her selfserving nature.

Throughout this movie, you witness the transormation of a girl into a lady. She is socially forced into a marriage by her parents who don't want to take care of her any longer. She thinks the man is kind, but her interest stops there. Their hearts soften and realize how lucky they really are to have one another. Her transformation is a hard one, but it makes the viewer appreciate love in all forms, and motivates to improve life in any situation. My synopsis does no justice; watch and enjoy.

it's beginning...

to feel a bit like Christmas.

And the need to begin some gifts!

the big 22

Today marked my 22 time around the sun (Mark's way of thinking of a birthday)! I got so much love from everyone, I almost fell over.

Much of the day was spent in my pajamas while enjoying Dancing with the Stars, chocolate, New Moon, and the company of Mark and Buckwheat, and talking with and/or texting many of you.

Later, when Mark was home from his simulator, we scoured the town in search of a restaurant. Our plan of Applebee's was dashed with bad reviews. We settled on Tres Rios, a Mexican Restaurant with yummy sopapias (sp?) that come free when it's your birthday!

The restaurant at 9:30 pm. Scratch that, we had it privately reserved:

Me about to embark on the quest for achieving 'sugar lips'. mmm delicious! It looks like the plate is about to dump on me, but I was careful of course! My name ain't 'Stain' for no good reason!

happy things

don't you love 'happy things' that resemble colorful one of a kind, hand-painted dishes? Me too.

This one was for Chelsea (if she ever reads this). She has a thing for black and white decor spun through different designs as the one you see above. Below, the blurry picture is just a red tea mug, with a country sort of napkin stuffed inside it like a feather in a hat. I know it's sort of like Luke's diner, but I love differently ornate dishes and mugs, especially mugs. Pick your favorite. I'm still looking for mine!

Veteran's Day

Today was our stake conference in Lawton, Oklahoma. When the meeting started, the Stake President got up and started to get choked up. He said it gets him every time. I didn't know what he was going to do.

"Will all the active duty in our military armed forces stand up."

"...and their families."

"Will all the reserve military stand up."

"Will the retired military please stand."

"Will the veterans who fought in wars please stand."

More than half of all the people in the stake center were standing. As I stood there looking at young and old, I teared up at the realization of how lucky I am to be a part of something so special, a part of something that I have so much respect for.

I'm so thankful for Mark bringing the military to me, and me to the military.

Reeder's Digest

When we moved here to Oklahoma, we met a lady in our church who was just so fun to spend time with. Our first time over to her house we got to talking about her house and how much work she has put into it just by herself; she just needed shelves for some food storage. Mark knows how to build sturdy things, so he volunteered for the job. I was a little skeptical seeing is how all we had to work with was what's in the picture above and a box of nails! But it took off when Mark got working.
After 700 nails and lots of arm pain, Mark and I finished the shelves for Ruth. I only hammered about 200 or so, but I did come up with some time-saving, sturdy-ensuring ideas. Regarding those ideas, Mark had to tell me, "Jayci, I'm sure glad you're smart." He made my day.