I haven't blogged in about 5 months and then all of then sudden I decided to empty my camera tonight and post 4 blogs. So, take a look at the 4 posts below. I'm not promising to be better at blogging more frequently, but I promise that my next blog will be about my big news! Ironically, I enjoy keeping up on all of your news by frequenting your blogs.
The Gamble House was built in 1908 for the Gamble Family of Proctor and Gamble Company. I've been to the Gamble House once before during an architectural summer camp at USC after I graduated from high school. I think I have even more appreciation now for the beautiful construction details after working on my own plans for the last 15 years and after working on remodeling our house for the last 5 years. Tom and I kept pointing out details that we liked about the house. What a beautiful house! I would love to live here.
The Hollyhock House was built between 1919 and 1921 for Aline Barnsdall. Aline only lived in the house for a few months and then moved into the guest house because she didn't like the house. The Hollyhock House has unfortunately not been kept up very well and is in disrepair. However, it is still an architectural landmark because it marks a transition in Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural style from his Prairie style houses to experimenting with concrete and outdoor spaces. 
So, what is next on the architectural tour? Tom is planning our next field trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin in Wisconsin. I've never been to Wisconsin. I'm looking forward to it. I'm currently reading "Loving Frank" to prepare for my field trip.We have pretty much finished our master bathroom remodel. We are just waiting for some hooks, the wall mounted soap dispenser, and the glass shower door. This only took us two years! I want to start the other bathroom but I want to wait until we have a plan and are ready to execute it within a couple months instead of years this time.
My friend, Jannene, gave birth to her baby boy, Connor, a week early. Jannene and her husband, Johnathan were at our house just 3 hours before her water broke playing cards. Jannene made the whole pregnancy thing look easy!
Me & baby Connor.
Angela & Connor
Tristan, Cherise, & Connor 
Denise & Connor 
Denise, me, Jannene, baby Connor, Angela, & Cherise - 6/27/09
Stephanie, Cherise, Sarah (my sister-in-law), me, Anna, Denise, & Lindsay
I'm now 33 years old! Can you believe it. We flew all the way to Colorado to celebrate with the Orsers.
Sunny & Tom
Dan & Sarah
Rob & Becky
Allen & Chris
The theme of presents this year was flowers. Look at all of the beautiful flowers I received... 
The fruit bouquet is from my friend, Denise Wilkes. It was delicious! In fact, there are a few pieces of fruit missing from the photo because I couldn't wait. I loved every bite!
The plastic flowers to be planted in my yard are from my mom (she knows I can't keep real flowers alive!)
The ceramic lotus is from my aunt Nancy (thanks to the great sale we found at the Z-Gallery in Denver)
I also received a great fur scarf from my cousins Rob & Becky! (They didn't get the memo about flowers this year.)Merry Christmas!
I have been completely overwhelmed with work lately. My life has been off balance and I don't like it. We planned to go to St. George for Christmas but with everything I had going, we couldn't go. I have taken off working yesterday and today, which is why I have time to blog. Tom has been trying to help me out by assembling sets of plans, submitting plans and picking up plans from the City, and preparing Primary schedules, directories, booklets, and lists. We also managed to send out 75 personal Christmas cards and 65 business Christmas cards. I have enjoyed received Christmas cards back. They are my favorite Christmas decoration. I have them hanging above the windows in my office and in the kitchen and above the book shelves in the living room. Thanks to anyone who sent us Christmas cards! 
It has been 2 months since I last blogged. Since then, I saw the movie Twilight. It was a "B" grade movie of a book I love. So, I didn't hate the movie but it didn't increase my love of the book either. I blame it on the directors. I liked the actors but I felt like the directors were not experienced film makers. They didn't know how to capture the emotion of Bella and Edward on screen. I knew the emotion from reading the books but for someone who had never read the books I would think it would be boring or even confusing. With that said, I would still love to see the movie again!
I have also been reading to unwind at night. I printed a book list off a friends blog ("The books the Shelfari staff loved") and I have been selecting books off that list as well as some recommendations from friends. I have read "Eat, Pray, Love" (from Shelfari list), "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (recommendation by Cher Rowbotham), and "The Martian Child" (recommendation by my aunt Nancy). I just finished "Eat, Pray, Love" last night. It reads like a diary. Elizabeth Gilbert is a great writer. I like her candid, honest style. I don't necessarily agree with everything she does, but I found it interesting. My friend, Eva, recommended that I join "Goodreads" to share good books. I never thought I would consider joining anything that has to do with books but this actually sounds interesting.
OK, that's enough of being on the computer for my day off! I'm going to go shopping now!
