Thanksgiving Splash

Sam's First Haircut

After a year of free-flowing hair growth, it was time to trim Samson's locks (get it?) It's kind of hard to tell in the "after" photo, but now his little curls are no more. Now that they are gone I miss them, but I know they'll be back before we know it (and then I'm sure I'll be ready to cut them off again). Thanks to Becca for doing the deed!

My Obsession

I am on my own version of the Maker's Diet, a diet that allows you to only eat things that God directly created (i.e. fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, grain, seeds, etc.). At first it was really tough, because I am a carbs and sugar lover. If you know me well, you know that I am a sweets girl to the core (All the Kings girls are, actually. It's a curse). This diet was really tough for me at first, even though I give myself a little breathing room in that I allow myself any one meal and any one treat of my choice once a week.

One sweet per week is not enough to keep this girl happy.

The other night I was talking to Whitney and telling her how I found this "raw" recipe for cookies that complied with my diet. Whitney is amazing at cooking, so she helped me simplify the recipe even more. What we came up with is a pure miracle, I tell you. It has 3 ingredients, and I kid you not, tastes just like and possibly even better than no-bake cookies.

Here's how you make them:

-blend about 1 cup of dried dates (with 1 tbsp. of water) in the blender
-mix that with 1 heaping tsp. of all-natural cocoa powder
-add about 1 cup of rolled oats and VOILA!

amazing, HEALTHY, no-bake cookies. I dare you to try them. I DARE YOU.

The Apron Still Fits

This is the cute apron I used to wear when I worked at About Memories and More while I was a student at NAU. This was quite possibly the world's most amazing job (minus the working until midnight on Friday nights). I hung out with fun women all day, got to make stuff while getting paid for it, and got to peruse the infamous snack locker for hours on end. That was the life.

My former boss, Kirsten, nominated me for a blogging award. I am so delighted and honored that I am going to follow the directions shown on her blog for being nominated! I want to thank Kirsten from the bottom of my little blogging heart for thinking of me, even though I am now a "valley resident."

Here are the rules:

1. thank the person who nominated you for this award
2. copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. link to the person who nominated you for this award
4. name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
5. nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers
6. post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
7. leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated

Seven Interesting Facts about Myself:
1- I'm obsessed with Sam. You might have known that already.
2- I am kind of musically inclined but I don't really share that with a lot of people. Don't get excited, I can't sing or anything cool like that. I can just play the piano a little and I have an ear for notes and such.
3- I love the new Fox show, Glee.I love the main character, Rachel's voice.
4- At the age of 17 I was Miss Junior Arizona. I used to be embarrassed to tell people about that, but now looking back at pictures I realize that it was a unique, once-in-a lifetime experience, and I should be proud!
5- As you all know, I am a convert to the Mormon church for 2.5 years now. I never in a million years thought I would be a Mormon, and now that I am I don't know how I lived without the restored gospel for 22 years. The LDS church is the true church of God. You can take that one to the bank.
6- I have a fake tooth. I hid it from all my friends while in high school, and then one day, during my junior year in college, I felt the strong desire to call them all up and confess my secret. They just laughed.
7- I'm obsessed with Sam.

On to the 7 blogs I'm nominating:
1) Kirsten's blog, aboutmemoriesandmore.typepad.com I don't care that she's the one who nominated me. I love that Kirsten has a blog. I could never quite tell what Kirsten was thinking at work, so I just think it is the best thing that she displays all her thoughts, along with her cute projects, on her blog. You are a fun gal, Kirsten.
2) Stephanie Nielson's blog.
You are not a true blogger if you have not heard of this amazing woman. Long story short, she and her husband were in a plane crash last year, and she blogs about her daily triumphs and struggles.
3) Cjane's blog. She is a funny mom who reminds me of myself :) She just happens to be Stephanie Nielson's sister.
4) My true love, Selena's blog. Selena and Russ make me feel better about my and Devin's "ordinary" life. Some people constantly blog about their latest trip to Cabo (sorry,I just can't relate), but Selena and Russ keep it real. They are just as poor as Devin and I but are way more creative with the way they spend their time.
5) Jessica and Ian's blog. I love that Jess and Ian are just as open about their obsession with their kids as Devin and me. Ian is constantly doing photo shoots of adorable, red-headed Halle, and their blog is consistently adorned with her portraits. Keep it up, McDowells.
6) My mom and 7) Whitney. They are new to the blogging world and they need more comments, dangit!

New Moon

Last night Brooklynn, Ciara, and I ventured out into the cold to see the midnight showing of New Moon. It will suffice to say that it was an experience. I don't think I've ever been in a place with more pre-teens in my life. Don't these kids go to school? I was confused.

We arrived at the theatre at 10pm. It was crazy. We searched for almost 1/2 an hour to find 3 seats together, and yes, they were in the very front section. I'd give the movie itself a B+. I'm kind of a critic when it comes to special effects, especially when things look blatantly fake, so I had a few hang-ups. I guess you can expect that sort of thing when the movie is about werewolves...

After struggling to back out "Big Blue" from the packed Harkins parking lot, we finally arrived back at the Barry's around 2:45 this morning. I am a tired girl today, but surprisingly, not that grumpy!

Here is a picture of the 3 of us waiting for the movie to finally start. Normally flashing your camera in a dark theatre is an embarrassing thing, but trust me, if we had NOT taken a picture, we would have been in the minority.

p.s...
Amy and Marcus had their baby girl today! Amy, your tribute will be coming soon!

Sam's One Year Video

I was waiting to blog Sam's birthday video until after it premiered at his party yesterday. Here it is!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Do you ever have those moments when you say something and instantly think, "why the heck did that come out of my mouth?!"

For this Monday's family night activity, Devin and I dropped off jars of jam (Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw taught me how to make it) to all the new neighbors who had recently moved in. Most of the families weren't home, so we ended up leaving a jar with a "welcome to the neighborhood" note taped to each. This aftenoon there was a knock at the door. It was one of the recipients of the jam, a cute young couple, and they had stopped by to thank us. They were extremely nice, and we got to talking about the neighborhood, how much we love it, etc. They made a comment on how we are lucky because our yard is small, which means not as much yard work. Then they said, "yeah, our yard is huge. We've got all that grass." My witty reply was, "Oh yeah, I know. My dog pees on it all the time."

All my recovery comments after that were useless. We are now known as the weird people on our new neighbors' street.

One.

I have been dreading this day for a while now, but inevitably I knew it would come. Today my sweet pea Sam turned a year old. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful that he is a healthy, growing boy, but this birthday marks the beginning of the end of Sam's babyhood. Am I a downer or what on a birthday??? Sorry. I tried to make today very special, even though he won't remember a second of it. That's ok, though, because I will.

We started off the morning with birthday pancakes.


Devin was working close by so he stopped back home for a birthday visit.


We love birthdays!


Then we met Whitney at In 'n Out for a birthday milkshake.



followed by playing at the play place in the mall. Gogo later met up with us there, where she sprayed Sam with birthday joy (inside joke for Gogo...I promise that's the last time I'll bring that up:)


Two naps later (one for Devin and one for Sam), it was cake time.


Sam approved.


and then threw it on the floor...


Then we went on a birthday bike ride with this taped to the back of Sam's bike trailer.


Happy birthday, buddy. I hope you felt important today. If not, I'll try again at your party on Saturday :)

Pappa G

My dad made a comment last night about how he "never appears on my blog." Well, dear father, since I now know you are a dedicated reader, you will from now on be one of the regulars. Here are some dad pictures just to get the ball rolling.
my dad and Abbs last August

my dad with me & becca way back when in Georgia

dad & mom

dad trying to look as cute as Sam while sleeping

Parks & Ponies

Today the Barrys gathered at a park in Mesa for Nina's 7th birthday. There was a pony cart there which was pretty cool and funny at the same time. Devin drove Sam and I around in it once and I figured out I'm afriad of horses. They're just so big and powerful! Sam loved the pony, though, and was constantly watching him and trying to get near him (yes, the pony is a boy even though he was sporting a bow...Treslee's family said he needed to be dressed up for the party).
Gogo and Sam
Rich and Treslee
What do you know, Sam likes ice cream! (we did know that, actually, because someone named "Sam's daddy" has been giving it to him for a few months now).
Long hair is becoming an epidemic around our house.
cute Ashlyn.

It's Good to Be Back

Last night we went to the temple after not having been since Sam's birth. Treslee was so sweet and watched Sam for us while we were there. It was good to be back and to feel the Holy Spirit so strongly. It truly is the house of God.

Devin was nice and smiled for me in this picture. There were people around so I hurriedly flashed the picture before he took off. If you know Devin, you know he does not like to be the focus of attention (not in public, at least).