Road Trip

The kids have been begging to go to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas for over a year. So, since it is Spring Break, I decided that there was no time like the present to take them there.

It was supposed to be beautiful weather and I didn't want to go when it was hot or rainy. So this was it. The park is in thesouthwest corner of Arkansas. I was very surprised at how beautiful northeast Texas and that part of Arkansas are.

There are lots of forests (we passed many logging trucks) and it was so pretty with all the blooming dogwoods and redbud trees. There are many cattle ranches and farms as well. I think it would be nice to own land out there. I think it is a completely different lifestyle out there in the country.
The state park is the only publicly owned diamond mine in North America and it is the 8th largest diamond mine in the world. Many diamonds have been found there including the largest one in North America at over 40 carats.
Any diamonds visitors find, they can keep!
There are many ways to prospect for diamonds. There is the dry screening process, where you sift through the dry soil looking for diamonds.















Or you can dig a hole and then screen. Or you can wet screen,which we didn't do because we didn't have the right kind of equipment and I didn't feel like going back and renting it. The last option is the walk around looking for diamonds lying on top of the soil, which is a good thing to do after a rain that washes away the soil.
The kids quickly tired of digging and sifting and not finding anything worthwhile (which I knew would happen when I agreed to take the kids on this adventure). So after a couple of hours we left.
15 hours of driving for 2 hours of digging in the dirt - the things we do for our children.

Nevertheless, we had fun staying in motels for 2 nights, jumping on beds and watching cartoons.

The tip of the iceberg.

For my birthday, Betsy got me a 90 gallon aquarium. I have been talking about getting a fishtank for a few years now, so she bought me the tank. I am officially coining a new phrase to describe projects such as my new fishtank: "tip of the iceberg projects." A tip of the iceberg project is a project where you buy something because it is a good deal to start the project, and everything quickly escalates and gets out of control. I haven't spent more than the tank cost yet, but it will probably only take one more trip to Home Depot before the tank is no longer the most expensive part of the project, and we haven't even added water. I have decided to do a saltwater tank, so you can expect updates for the next couple of years.


Here is the stand that I am in the process of building. I honestly think that this thing could support my car.

Strawberry Fields Forever

The kids are on Spring Break this week - so we have fun things planned for these days off. Today we drove out to Sweet Berry Farms to pick strawberries. It was the perfect day. The Farms is way out in the country and so we had a nice drive, the kids picked about 15 pounds of the sweetest, reddest strawberries, and then we had a picnic and the kids just played for a couple of hours. I would love to move out to the country and have a bunch of acres for my kids to run around in. Now if only I could get Dell to let Nate work from home we would be set!
We found lots of mutant strawberries.

You Are My Sunshine!!

Hazel is getting so big! I have been pulling out her sundresses and unfortunately some are already too small, and she never got a chance to wear them! But this cute one is one that Mom bought for her and it fits. Hazel has started crawling and pulling up on the furniture. She has gotten better at sleeping during the day and at night. And she loves to eat!!! (Of course she looks as though she has missed so many meals!!:) She is always happy and we love her.

Know your friends survey

Copied this from Robin's blog, thought I'd answer it. It is interesting to read everyone's answers, gives some insight into their personality.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5am worried about Hazel, she was still asleep...I obviously wasn't.
2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds of course, what else is there?
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Firewall (it was decent)
4. Favorite TV show? Nova and National Geographic
6. What is your middle name? Jane
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Anything Asian
8. What foods do you dislike? sushi (I have a texture issue)
9. Your favorite Potato chip? Cheetos
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? anything classical
11. What kind of car do you drive? Dodge Durango, love it
12. Favorite Sandwich? Big ol' hamburger with lettuce and tomatoe. Although I also like a grilled cheese or a BLT
13. What characteristics do you despise? insincerity
14. Favorite item of clothing? white shirts
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? the beach
16. What color is your bathroom? cocoa mix tan, just like the rest of my house
17. Favorite brand of clothing? whatever I can find that fits right
18. Where would you want to retire to? somewhere close to the beach and the mountains
19. Favorite time of day? when everyone is asleep
20. Where were you born? Salt Lake City
21. Favorite sport to watch? basketball
24. What laundry detergent do you use? arm and Hammer
25. Coke or Pepsi? water
26. Are you a morning person or night owl? night owl
27. What size shoe do you wear? 7 1/2
28. Do you have pets? yes, two birds
29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? Hazel slept thru the night!!
30. What did you want to be when you were little? a singer, a mom, a pyschologist
31. Favorite Candy Bar? Lindt chocolate squares
32. What is your best childhood memory? making hideouts with the furniture with my brothers and sisters
33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? pre school teachers aid, scale girl, scheduler, consular aid, baby sitter
35. Nicknames: Bepsi, Bets, Betsy-wetsy, (the two obvious ones are from my childhood)
36. Piercing? My ears.
37. Eye color? green
38. Ever been to Africa? not yet
39. Ever been toilet papering? once
40. Love someone so much it made you cry? yes
41. Been in a car accident? twice
42. Croutons or bacon bits? neither
43. Favorite day of the week? Sunday, only day that I can relax guilt-free
44. Favorite restaurant? Eddie V's and Pho Hoangs
46. Favorite ice cream? vanilla
47. Disney or Warner Brothers? Depends
48. Favorite fast food restaurant? Pho Hoangs (They don't have a drive through, but are very fast)
49. What color is your bedroom carpet? beige
50. How many times did you fail your driver's test? none
51. From whom did you get your last email? Nate
52. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Design within Reach
53. What do you do most often when you are bored? watch TV, eat, play computer games, read
54. Bedtime? 10:30 pm
56. Last person you went to dinner with? 13 women from my ward when we went to Time Out For Women in San Antonio
58. What are you listening to right now? PBS on TV (I'm multitasking!)
59. What is your favorite color? red
60. Lake, Ocean or river? ocean
61. How many tattoos do you have? none
62. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Chicken
66. Somewhere interesting you went last year? not a single place comes to mind
67. Any big goals you have this year? lose weight, lose the clutter

34

Happy Birthday Nate!!

It's my turn

I was tagged by Bonny so here goes:

Four Jobs that I've had:
1. pre-school teacher's assistant
2. Scale girl at the sand and gravel pit on the night shift
3. Assistant to a consular officer at the American Embassy New Delhi
4. Room scheduler at BYU

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. The Wedding Singer
2. The Princess Bride
3. Documentaries
4. Ann of Green Gables

Four places I've lived (there have actually been 13):
1. Riverton, Utah
2. Annandale, VA
3. New Delhi, India
4. Seoul, Korea

Four TV shows I love(d):
1. The Dukes of Hazzard (old one)
2. Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner Show
3. American Idol
4. Nova

Four highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a minute of:
1. 24
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Gilmore Girls
4. The Office

Four books I am now reading or just finished (I'm on a How-to and self-improvement track right now):
1. You Can Never Have Enough of What You Don't Need (a great book)
2. If Life Were Easy It Wouldn't Be Hard
3. Getting Things Done
4. The Parenting Breakthrough

Four Places I've Vacationed
1. South Padre Island, TX
2. Disneyland
3. Kathmandu, Nepal
4. France

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Chuy's enchilladas
2. Steak
3. Pho
4. the Giardellhi chocolate dessert at Eddie V's

Four sites I visit daily:
1. my blog
2. freegames.ws (while I'm feeding Hazel)
3. my family's blogs
4. Nate's family's blogs

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Bubble bath
2. at the movies
3. in bed
4. at the beach

Four bloggers I'm tagging
1. Erika
2. Liz P.
3. Julia W.
4. Jenn P.