Twilight

Yeah, I ended up being one of the crazy people that went out and bought Twilight Friday night at midnight. Alexis went to a party they had at the mall, they had a look-a-like contest, bobbing for apples, prizes and games. They had random questions like, what was the population of Forks, What was the first thing Edward said to Bella, "Hello", that's how Alexis won the box of chocolates.

Spring

Last Wednesday it was 75 degrees. There were so many people at Purcell Park. It was such a beautiful day. The trees are full of blossoms, the daffodils are in full bloom, and it's March. So, we had to make a fresh strawberry pie. Thanks, Joy, for sending the Danish Dessert. YUMMY, we'll top it off with fresh whipped cream!!!!

My job is going great. Never a dull day. Tuesday and Thursdays I'm in classes at JMU and last week I went to UVA medical center in Charlottesville, a doctor's office in Timberville, and J&D Court in Staunton on Friday for two hearings. And you guessed it, they all ordered transcripts.

Bookshelves

I finally have bookshevles. I even put them together all by myself. YEAH!!! I had all these books in my closet for the last seven months. One is in the living room and the other one is in Alexis' bedroom. It's so nice to have extra space, so now I can really start on food storage.

JMU was on springbreak last week so I didn't work very much, WHEW, nice break. I made mini lemon bundt cakes for her teachers -- parent/teacher conference -- and a ward party we had on Friday. Alexis is doing well in school. If you get 86% it's a C in Virginia, 93% to 100% is an A, 87% to 92% is a B. What happened to the 80% being B's? Anyway, I met with all of her teacher's and they are all fantastic.

It was so nice to have a break and play catch-up this week, hence the bookshelves. Alexis spent a lot of time at the pool for swimming lessons, more like stroke development. She even went swimming with her friends Maggie & Anna on Thursday before her lesson -- no school because of parent/teacher conference. She also played in a basketball tournament with our stake in Charlottesville and her group took third place. She had a ton of fun and will probably play basketball in school next year. Alexis and Valerie spent the weekend together, again.

New Beginnings was also last week. Alexis gave an amazing talk on Faith. She even prepared for it all on her on. So, not working a ton last week really came in handy.

4th Snow Day, March 2

So we had another snow day. They even delayed court today by two hours, yeah for me. The judge started calling out cases, so by the time I arrived my hearing was over. That was the easiest money I've ever made. I love appearance fees. Alexis went sledding with Valerie at Mary Baldwin College, Valerie's mom is a biology, professor there. It was really cold. It was in the 30s.

By Friday the weather had completely changed. Really warm, in the 70s. Lots of shorts and flipflops. The weather here is very strange. I'm not used to actually having spring in March. I can't wait, my first spring in the East.

Alexis & Valerie

Alexis' friend Valerie spent the weekend with us. They have tons of fun together. Last weekend Alexis went with her family to Tyson's Corner, a huge shopping mall, around 100 stores, any and everything you could ever want and think of, and the Melting Pot for dinner. Aren't friends the best.

We even saw a bus by the American History Museum with Alexis' name on it.

American History Museum

We had a great time at the Smithsonian. They had tons of displays. They had an entire display of President Lincoln, Dorothy's ruby slippers, actual trains and buses, 1st lady dresses, etc. The restoration of the Star Spangled Banner has been completed, the one that inspired Frances Scott Key to write the National Anthem, was on display too. Last time we were here, they were still working on the restoration.

Happy Birthday to me!!

I had a wonderful birthday. It was snowing in the morning, so I thought maybe church was going to be cancelled, they tend to do that here. Alexis made me a chocolate cake from scratch, frosted it with chocolate ganache, and chocolate chips, and of course, homemade icecream. It was so yummy. She's becoming quite the chef.
The day before my birthday, Saturday, we went to DC and went to the American History Museum, had really yummy Greek food for dinner and the best cupcakes ever. Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Alexandria. They have the best cupcakes ever!!! Even better than Cakelove, well, maybe not better than Cakelove, but they have different flavors. I had a chocolate cupcake with bloodorange and chocolate ganache, vanilla cupcake with lemoncurd, hazelnut cupcake, it had hazelnuts in the cupcake and a rasberry hazelnut frosting. My favorite the Belgium chocolate -- this tasted like the Godiva Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory.

I can't believe I'm 36 now. 40 is right around the corner, yikes.

Gymnastics Meet, Feb 19th

Alexis has been taking gymnastics, she had her first gymnastics meet. She placed on the uneven bars and did an amazing job on her balance beam routine. She did a fantastic roundoff of the beam. She had lots of fun and really enjoyed her meet.

Valentine's Day

We started out the day with heart shaped pancakes and pink eggs, thanks to Alexis, it was yummy. We also made big sugar cookies for our treat, so good. Friday I went to a deposition for a divorce case and they wanted the transcript by Monday, which also happened to be Presidents' Day. Are you kidding me? The deposition was of two toxicologists, so not your typical divorce case. They were trying to prove or disprove whether traces of cocaine, sprinkled in milk, would show up in a drug test. Are you serious? So I learned everything and them some about cocaine, it's composition, etc.
So I spent the entire weekend working on that transcript. Up until midnight Friday and Saturday, all day Saturday and yeah for Sunday, break.
I still had not completed the transcript, so I woke up at 12:30 am Monday morning to finish it. Completely insane, but I wanted to keep the Sabbath Day holy. I finally finished it by 9:00 a.m. and took a little nap. What a weekend. Since it was a holiday Saturday, I did take a small break. We went to Confessions of a Shopaholic. I was the best break ever. For a few hours I was able to completely lose myself in this movie. It was definitely the most eventful Valentine's Day I've ever had.

3rd Snow Day February 2nd

Yeah for snow days, no school. Alexis played with her friend Alexis all day. They didn't miss being at school at all.