Recycling, it DOES make a difference

When we moved to our new house I was amazed at how much trash we had as a family. In our apartment we shared with another apartment, so I was able to pretend it wasn't really us.
After we had lived here a few weeks I signed up for a recycling can, at $5 a month. It is only picked up every other week, but since we had so many boxes from moving it was packed each time. I didn't really notice the difference in our trash can though.
I just took out our trash can for the week, and as I did so I emptied all the trashes in the house and took out the one bag they filled. That made a grand total of 2 trash bags this week. So, by recycling our boxes (cereal, and bulk item boxes), our milk jugs and aluminum cans we went from having an overfull trash can, to one that the bottom is barely covered.
I know we could recycle more, but at least we're doing something to help the environment, and the little we're doing is making a difference.

On the way!!!

I found out yesterday that......I'm pregnant!!!
I'm totally excited. I've been ready for another baby for awhile and I'm glad one is finally on the way. It's also nice to have a reason for being sooooo tired all the time.
According to my calculations, and the web sites I visited, my baby is due November 25th. I'm hoping she'll come the 27th so she can share a birthday with her Aunt Liz. We'll see if I end up being that lucky.
Karl's excited too, and I think the boys will be, but they don't really understand. They just know Karl and I are happy. We're hoping for a girl so I can have my Esther Rose, but as my mother in law says: "I don't care if it's a boy or girl, as long as the baby's healthy!" And if she ends up being a he, I'm sure I'll love him just as much.

Come What May and Love it

Free Plug for Applebee's

Tonight Karl and I traded babysitting with Von and Emily so we could have a date night. Actually I babysat yesterday and they babysat today. Anyway, we decided to go to Applebees for dinner.
One of my terrific brother-in-laws used to be a manager in a restaurant, and his wife, my sister used to be a waitress. Through talking to them I've learned to pay attention to things in restaurants that I wouldn't usually notice. One of those things is how close to empty your glass gets before you get a refill, and another is how visible the manager is. I really like going to restaurants that you see the manager, mostly because then I can tell them if something is awful, or great and I know they will do something about it.
Now that you have some background... tonight at Applebees we noticed a paper on the table that basically said that if the manager doesn't come talk to you by the time you leave then you get $10 off your next visit. I thought that was cool because it means the manager realizes the importance of it and is doing something about it. I also figured there was no chance of him NOT coming to our table.
We noticed him making his way through the restaurant and when he got to the table next to ours he got sidetracked in solving a problem. A little while later he came back to that table to explain the Utah liquor laws and why the guys martini wasn't as full as he was used to. Karl and I thought that conversation was pretty funny.
After he finished talking to them he walked past us and said hi to the people at the next table over. I think he thought he had already talked to us.
When our waitress brought our check we pointed out the sign and she said she had been trying to find him and tell him he had missed our table. She then went to get him and he brought us our $10 off coupon. Karl and I were pretty happy about it. I think the manager was frustrated though. On the positive side for them though, we were impressed enough that we both said we wanted to go back soon anyway. So now we get to go there again and get $10 off. How cool is that?

Running

Kaleb has recently discovered running. He likes to do it. He prefers outside, but on the Wii works too. One of the cool features of the Wii fit is that you can run against someone. Each of you holds a remote, or puts it in your pocket, and you run. The Wii detects your movements. Kaleb loves to do the 2 player run, but Karl and I can only do it so many times a day, so Kaleb has learned to do it himself. He holds one remote in each hand and runs. The funny thing is that his right hand usually finishes about 30 seconds before the left hand...
Kaleb also likes to run to Nana and Poppie's house. When I'm driving over I drop him off at the corner of 400 and 400, so he gets to run just over a block all by himself. One time he ran the whole way home and was so proud of himself. It was cute. Hopefully he'll continue to enjoy running.

Two Coins

A Confessions Tag- To tell the truth (or not)

I picked up this tag from Della.
Here are the rules: Copy and paste the whole questionnaire and replace my answers with yours. You have to state and create a link for the blogger who tagged you. Pass to 4 other bloggers. Remember to inform them by commenting on their recent post. Last, answer each question with truth and nothing but the truth since this is a confession tag.
Have Fun!
.
1)What is your blogger name? Carrie and Karl
2) When is your birthday? December 17
3). How long have you been blogging? Since September 2007
4) Who tagged you? My lovely sister Della.
5) Tell me your 5 most favorite body parts? My big toes (they are well shaped), my fingers and hands, eyes, and of course my badonkadonk
6) What do you wish most for your birthday? That is more than 9 months away, I haven't thought about it yet.
7) What color are your nails now? Totally natural, they were looking decently long (meaning you could see a tiny amount of white on most of them, then I went to the dentist and they all were bitten off on the way there.
8) Any depressing thoughts lately? Not really, life has been pretty good lately.
9) What's your next 1 month's plan? To stay on WeightWatchers and hopefully lose some weight and have more patience with my kids, and finish the semester so I can have a break for a few months.
10) At what age did you have your 1st crush? Well, I really liked Brian in 1st grade, Sam in 2nd grade, Roger in 3rd grade, Scott in 4th grade, I took a break in 5th and 6th. The first guy there was a real crush on was in 7th Grade, at about 12 years old.
11) Did you attend any school reunion after you graduated till now? I was on my honeymoon during my 5 year, but my 10 year was pretty fun. I had kept in touch with most of my friends though.
12) Have you ever passed gas in public and pretended you didn't smell anything? Absolutely.
13) Are you a clean freak? More OCD than a clean freak.
14) Which era do you wish you were born into? I'm pretty happy to be right where and when I am.
15) Are you a vegetarian? No, I like meat too much.
16) How many pillows do you sleep with at night? 1 and my husband's arm or chest.
17) Are you a light sleeper or an I-don't-care-if -there's-a-bomb-here sleeper? Light, unfortunately.
18) Do you secretly wear comfortable granny panties when your man is not around? No. Absolutely not. I wear them all the time and there is no secret about it whatsoever.
19) What is your ultimate dream job? Someday I want to be a Marriage Therapist.
20) What is it your hubby does that annoys you the most? When he says he has to study and then he plays online or watches tv while holding his textbook (but he knows this bothers me and is working on it. H
21) What is your dream car? A Purple Minivan- that would be cool.
22) Do you easily wake up in the morning? Wake up, yes, stay awake, no. Even when my sister calls me to tell me measurements, which I promptly forget when I hang up. sorry Lillie.
23) Do you like hairy men? It depends on the amount of hair. If it's just a regular amount it's fine. When it looks like a sweater I start to have problems.
24) How about goatees on men? Yes, especially on Karl
25) Which one would you prefer, 2 hour spa, 2 hour Thai Massage or 2 hour foot massage? I really don't know. I'd probably go for the pedicure with my friends instead.
26) Have you ever wished you had a different name other than your real name? Not really.
27) What is the most extreme sport you have ever done? Basketball on the mission. I don't think it's possible to get more dangerous than that.
28) Do you prefer traveling in Europe or Asia? I loved Europe, but I'd like to see part of Asia some day.
29) What is your favorite food? The kind you eat. I have too many favorites to name them all. Lately I've been enjoying chinese food, but I'd really like a good steak.
30) What is the most embarrassing moment when you were out on a date? I don't know. None are coming to mind.

Please feel free to consider yourself tagged. I'd like to see Lillie and Drew's though.

Confused

Remember after we moved into the new house what a problem I had getting Kaleb back in school? Well after dealing with the Provo Early Education Program on that I wasn't ready to deal with my next problem, Von's speech.
Karl was ready though, so yesterday morning he kindly got the number for me to call. I immediately got an appointment for a hearing test,and was told that Von's name would be sent as a referral and I would be getting a call about setting up testing for him later. I figured I would wait at least a week or two. So imagine my surprise when I got a phone call yesterday from his case manager, wanting to set up his initial appointment.
So when I have a son who already has an IEP in place, has been attending preschool for over a year and just needs transferred it takes weeks. But when I have a son who might have delayed speech and I just want it checked out I get a phone call the same day.
I'm confused.

New Calling

Last Thursday we got a call from the Executive Secretary in our Ward. He said the Bishop wanted to speak to me and Karl that night. I was a little worried because they don't have both people go in unless it is a calling that will take a lot of time. For some reason both Karl and I thought it would be a calling for me, and we were right.
Today I was sustained and set apart as the Relief Society Secretary. I'm not sure what all that entails, but it will be interesting to learn. I'm excited to do a calling that will influence more than 4 or 5 kids. Not that they aren't important, but a change will be nice.

As far as exercising/ becoming more fit goes, it sounds like Lydia, Lillie, Alice and Drew are interested in a competition. Anyone else? Should our goal be weight loss in general, trying to reach a certain number of hours exercising, a combination or something else? Let me know what you think.
Also, what should the prize be?