Baby Earley

This is our very first picture of our little addition! Boy or Girl, I still think it's kinda cute :)

Thanksgiving

So, the parental units are making the long journey from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Portland, Oregon, to spend Thanksgiving with us. I am beyond thrilled! I don't get to see the fam that often. However, I am a little nervous about cooking "The Big Dinner"

This is the image I have been daydreaming about for the last two weeks. I really want to go all out and have the ginormous turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and so on. However, I have to be real with myself and accept the possibility that the dinner may turn out like this:

I've never really been gifted in the kitchen. Anyway, if any of you have any recipes for a turkey that have worked really well, please let me know. I would be forever in your debt, and I know for a fact that my family will love you for it, too!!

Lessons from Primary

I have been teaching the six year olds in Primary ever since we moved to Portland. I really enjoy my calling. It's so rewarding when the kids tell me scripture stories that they remember from class and are visibly excited to get baptised and go on missions. We have a lot of fun together, and there have been many memorable days. Sure, some days the lesson is on tithing and we all somehow get sidetracked talking about lose teeth and the Tooth Fairy, but I figure that it is all part of the experience. There is one particular day that I remember quite fondly.

I can't really remember what the lesson was on, but there was a story in the manual about a girl that was sick and her friend decided to bring her chicken noodle soup to help her get better. Once I was finished telling the story, one of my students raised his hand to say something.

Me: Did you have something to share, Bobby (*name has been changed to protect the innocent :) *)

Bobby: Yes, Sister Earley, I have something to say.

Me: Go ahead, Bobby. (Pleased that the little boy had raised his hand).

Bobby: I just want to say that I have a sickness, too.

Me: Oh, dear. That is not good. Do you need me to take you to your parents?

Bobby: No, I don't think so.

Me: Ok, well, just let me know if you need me to take you to your mom. I hope you start feeling better.

Bobby: Me too.

I attempt to continue with the lesson, when Bobby raises his hand once more.

Me: Yes, Bobby.

Bobby: I would like to tell you about my sickness now.

Me: (slightly unsure where this is going to go) Ok, Bobby. As long as it's not too detailed.

Bobby: (With the most serious face) It's ... diarrhea.

Wow, wasn't expecting that one. I don't know what it is about excrement that is so funny, but I tried the hardest I could not to laugh. It didn't work. My face went red and I had to look away so that he would not see me. My husband was co-teaching with me that particular day and looked at me in absolute horror. He clearly did not find it as funny as I did.

Bobby politely raises his hand again.

Me: (Desperately trying to compose myself) Yes, Bobby.

Bobby: It's not nice to laugh at people that are sick.

Me: Your right, Bobby. It's not. I am so sorry.

That sad thing is that out of a room filled with six year olds, I was the only one laughing. Who is the mature one in this situation? Clearly, I have a long way to go.

Adventures at the DMV

So, I have a confession to make.

This is a good one...

Ready

I have been living in Oregon for almost two years without an Oregon drivers license.

I'm pretty sure this is illegal on a variety of levels

... but it gets better...

I recently discovered that my Utah license has been expired for 6 months!

That's right...

6 MONTHS!

OOPS!!

I know, extremely illegal!

But to my defense, I really think that someone should send you a letter or email to prevent this from happening. Oh well.

This leads me to my wonderful adventure at the DMV. This has got to be one of the worst places to be in the world next to the dentists office. I was really dreading it, but luckily my wonderful husband agreed to keep me company for the whole day. Sucka! Anyway, I made sure that I prepared myself. I went to the website and made a list of all of the documents that I needed to bring. Old drivers license, SSN Card, utility bill... pretty standard, I thought. But just in case, because I certainly did not want this to be an all day affair, I packed my passport, birth certificate from Canada, birth certificate from US, marriage licenses... You name it, I brought it. Or so I thought.

I was feeling pretty good when we got into the car to go to the DMV. I felt prepared. We plugged the address to the DMV into out GPS and were on our way. We ended up driving to a residential area. Clearly, not the DMV. So we tried calling the office to get directions. The lady that answered the phone informed us that the GPS does not work for this particular location and that we had to follow instructions online. Oh my, this will be fun. The directions were extremely hard to follow. Here is an example:

'Just past OR-217 before the railroad tracks, turn RIGHT (North) on the connector road.'

No clue what a connector road is. Needless to say, we got very lost.

We finally made it to our destination after a half hour of driving, and I was already irritated. Luckily, we had brought every document that we owned under the sun, so we would be ok. Wrong. First, my drivers license was expired, so we had to revert back to my passport (I was really glad I brought that. Genius, Anna!) However, my passport was in my maiden name. They told us that they needed something else to make the connection that the two names were in fact the same person. Remembered the marriage license. Yes! I knew I brought that for a reason!! However, the gentleman told us that the marriage license was not an official license. I couldn't believe it! Mike and I tried to explain to him that this was the only license that we had and that we had ever received. The gentleman didn't seem very sympathetic and repeated that he needed a marriage license issued by the state. He went as far as to say that it looked like the most fake marriage license that he had ever seen. Maybe the whole "For Time and Eternity" thing through him off. Anyway, I was livid! Luckily, another lady that overheard our conversation informed the man that the drivers license can be expired for a year and they will still consider it valid for identification purposes. Crisis averted!! However, I think I should check into getting a state issued marriage license. I guess I just assumed that if it was accepted in Utah, it was accepted everywhere. My bad!

Wait, the story gets better. On to the proof of residency. Now, I'll admit that I didn't really check the utility bill that I had grabbed for a date. I just grabbed the first bill that I saw and left the house. However, the bill that I provided the employee was 3 months old. The employee reminded me that the bill must be no more than 2 months old, and that I needed to go back home and get a newer bill. I couldn't believe it! The last thing I wanted to do was to drive back home, come back, and wait in line for another eternity. But you gotta do what you gotta do. So, we went back home, came back, and went through the whole deal again.

On the bright side, I am no longer breaking the law, and my driver's license picture didn't turn out half bad :)

My Two Boys

Here We Go Again

It never fails. Every time I take time off from work, I end up getting sick. Bummer!! Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, and it has gotten progressively worse since then. It's hard not to feel down when things don't go as planned, but there are some positives to being down and out for a little while. For instance, Mike has been doing a very good job and taking care of me. I get to lay on the couch and watch movies with my dog. Also, I have an excuse to sleep all day if I want to. Maybe this won't be so bad :)

New Moon Trailer

I'm so Excited!!