Here's a video of Sam reading. If you get these posts in your email, go directly to http://camillataylor.blogspot.com to see the video.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Christmas Post
It was our first Christmas alone with just our little family, and we had a nice cozy holiday.
Here are some pictures of us acting out the Christmas story. Since there are only three of us, we had to enlist the help of Sam's toys.
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| We made cookies for friends, and Chris had to leave this note over the bowl so I wouldn't snitch the cookie dough. Great idea! It actually worked! |
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| Our first real Christmas tree. |
Here are some pictures of us acting out the Christmas story. Since there are only three of us, we had to enlist the help of Sam's toys.
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| I was Mary, and Sam's dog Zoe was Jesus. |
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| Chris, the bunny, and the lizard were the wise men. |
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| Sam was a shepherd, and his sheep were his trucks and his dog Zoe (who, if you recall, was previously Jesus). |
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| These are our Christmas jammies. |
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| Sam in his second pair of Christmas jammies. |
Here is a short video of Sam decorating cookies for Santa as well as bits of our Christmas morning opening presents.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Movie Recommendations
For those who like watching French films (or those who would like to try), here are a few I've watched in the last little while that I've really enjoyed.
Coco Before Chanel
I love Audrey Tautou! When I was student teaching, I had a student who looked just like her. Anyway, this is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. It chronicals her life from her early beginnings as a seamstress and singer to her entrance into the fashion world as she uses her talents making hats for France's high society. Rated PG-13.
MoliereI really loved this movie! This movie is loosely based on two of Moliere's plays, "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" and "Tartuffe." It was funny (actually made me laugh out loud) sad, and sweet. It's similar to the movie Shakespear in Love as it takes the playwright's life and weaves it into his work. Go put this on your Netflix queue. Rated PG-13.
Avenue Montaigne
Both of the two previous movies I mentioned were period pieces, but this one is set in modern day Paris. It's about a young woman out to discover Paris and life. She gets a job as a waitress and becomes aquainted with a professional pianist, a famous actress, an art collector, and others who introduce her to the luxerious life her grandma always told her about. It made me dream about one day going to Paris. Although I have lived in three different French speaking countries, I hate being a French teacher and who has never been to Paris (besides the airport). One day I'll get there... Rated PG-13.La Moustache
It has been years since I've seen this one, but I remember really liking it. It's about a man who decides to shave his moustache that he's had his whole adult life and waits to see if anyone says anything about it. When no one notices, he starts to get upset, so he approaches his wife about it who claims he has never had a moustache. It's a psychological drama a bit like the Twilight Zone. Not rated.Mr. Bean's Holiday
Now this one is not French--it's British. But most of it takes place in France as Mr. Bean travels to Cannes. It's fun, silly, and completely family friendly! Rated G.Sunday, January 02, 2011
Testimony of Dave Ramsey and Prayer
A few months ago I was telling my in-laws how blessed we have been in the past couple years that we have lived here. Money had been so extremely tight, and we were blessed in not having any expensive emergencies--none of us have been sick requiring a doctor visit and/or perscriptions, and neither of our cars have had any serious problems requiring expensive repair. They said that they have experienced similar situations. As soon as you come into a little bit more money, that's when the expensive emergencies arise.
Now that Chris has started his new job, we were able to put a portion of his first paycheck towards our emergency fund. For those of you not familiar with Dave Ramsey, I strongly suggest you get to know him. Whether you are in debt or not, following his Baby Steps will surely give you and your money direction in your personal finances. I have been a fan of his for probably the last five years, but not until a couple weeks ago have Chris and I become "gazelle intense" in becoming debt free. I'm so excited for Chris's next paycheck to begin knocking out our debt snowball. It brings so much peace to know that we have a plan to get ourselves out of our little hole the bakery left us with. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Anyway, the first Baby Step is to put away $1000 emergency fund. I am so glad that we were able to do that because not even a week and a half later, our poor little 1997 Jimmy started giving us trouble and we had to dig into that account. We have had that car since before we were married, and it has been good to us for the most part, but recently it started having problems.
Sam and I were driving the Jimmy running an errand to the credit union during my lunch break. When I tried to start the car again, it wouldn't go. I was so frustrated and didn't know what to do. Chris was in Olympia working so he couldn't help. I was on a strict time frame where I had to drop Sam off at a friend's house and get back to work since I was the only one running the office that day. Sam recognized my concern, and he started to get scared too. He started saying that we were going to be stuck there forever! A little dramatic, but for a little guy, he didn't know better. We had our hood up, and people kept passing us by ignoring or possibly just not hearing Sam's sweet little plea, "Please will you help us?" Sam suggested that we say a prayer so Heavenly Father could help us find someone to help us. What a sweet little guy! I recognized that this would be a good teaching moment, so we said a little prayer, and shortly after were blessed to find a nice person willing to help. It was a temporary fix that helped us get to where we needed, and with our emergency fund that we just put away, we were able to fix the problem (we hope!) without having to go into more debt.
For those unfamiliar with Dave Ramsey, please go check out his book from the library, The Total Money Makeover. You can also check out his radio show weekdays at KNRS 570 AM from 7-10pm (if you live in Utah) or KCIS 630 AM from 3-6pm (if you live in Seattle area). It will change your financial life by enabling you to support yourselves, bless your loved ones, and to become generous to to those in need.
Seriously, stop reading this and go check him out! Now! :)
Now that Chris has started his new job, we were able to put a portion of his first paycheck towards our emergency fund. For those of you not familiar with Dave Ramsey, I strongly suggest you get to know him. Whether you are in debt or not, following his Baby Steps will surely give you and your money direction in your personal finances. I have been a fan of his for probably the last five years, but not until a couple weeks ago have Chris and I become "gazelle intense" in becoming debt free. I'm so excited for Chris's next paycheck to begin knocking out our debt snowball. It brings so much peace to know that we have a plan to get ourselves out of our little hole the bakery left us with. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Anyway, the first Baby Step is to put away $1000 emergency fund. I am so glad that we were able to do that because not even a week and a half later, our poor little 1997 Jimmy started giving us trouble and we had to dig into that account. We have had that car since before we were married, and it has been good to us for the most part, but recently it started having problems.
Sam and I were driving the Jimmy running an errand to the credit union during my lunch break. When I tried to start the car again, it wouldn't go. I was so frustrated and didn't know what to do. Chris was in Olympia working so he couldn't help. I was on a strict time frame where I had to drop Sam off at a friend's house and get back to work since I was the only one running the office that day. Sam recognized my concern, and he started to get scared too. He started saying that we were going to be stuck there forever! A little dramatic, but for a little guy, he didn't know better. We had our hood up, and people kept passing us by ignoring or possibly just not hearing Sam's sweet little plea, "Please will you help us?" Sam suggested that we say a prayer so Heavenly Father could help us find someone to help us. What a sweet little guy! I recognized that this would be a good teaching moment, so we said a little prayer, and shortly after were blessed to find a nice person willing to help. It was a temporary fix that helped us get to where we needed, and with our emergency fund that we just put away, we were able to fix the problem (we hope!) without having to go into more debt.
For those unfamiliar with Dave Ramsey, please go check out his book from the library, The Total Money Makeover. You can also check out his radio show weekdays at KNRS 570 AM from 7-10pm (if you live in Utah) or KCIS 630 AM from 3-6pm (if you live in Seattle area). It will change your financial life by enabling you to support yourselves, bless your loved ones, and to become generous to to those in need.
Seriously, stop reading this and go check him out! Now! :)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Turkey Days
The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Glen and Julee (the previous GH owners) invited us to their "Turkey for a Turkey" dinner. It was party to celebrate Thanksgiving as well as Glen's birthday. We had a great time with them as well as several of our former employees!
On the real Thanksgiving day, we celebrated with just the three of us. It was our first time ever to do Thanksgiving alone, and it was really nice and relaxing. Christopher and I made the dinner together, though he did most of the turkey--I get extremely squeamish when it comes to sticking my hands inside a dead animal! Blegh! I'll get over it one day, I hope. We made all our family's traditional recipes and had an enjoyable day together!
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| Glen in his amazing costume! |
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| Good ol' Dandy |
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| Julee and her tasty green bean casserole |
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On the real Thanksgiving day, we celebrated with just the three of us. It was our first time ever to do Thanksgiving alone, and it was really nice and relaxing. Christopher and I made the dinner together, though he did most of the turkey--I get extremely squeamish when it comes to sticking my hands inside a dead animal! Blegh! I'll get over it one day, I hope. We made all our family's traditional recipes and had an enjoyable day together!
Trip to Utah
After we closed the bakery, we were in desperate need for a vacation, so we decided to spend Halloween with our families in Utah. We drove down in two separate cars--are Camry and a U-Haul--so we could deliver two of our big exterior Great Harvest signs to the Bountiful bakery who was purchasing them.
We left Everett around 6pm right after I finished work, and drove through the night. We stopped somewhere in Oregon to sleep for one hour, and then continued straight through till the next morning till we made it to Utah. It's just under 14 hours to get there by car. I have always been so concerned about Christopher driving through the night when he's tired since he's fallen asleep at the wheel once before (under extreme circumstances), but he did a fantastic job! I, on the other hand, got incredibly sleepy the last two hours or so. It's an easy trip if we can trade off driving, but since we both had a car, we did not have that luxury. Luckily we made it safely (as did the really expensive signs we were hauling, thank goodness!).
Anyway, we had such a fun time. I was able to stay for almost a whole week, but then had to fly home because I was out of vacation days at work, and Chris and Sam were able to stay longer.
Here is a video of Sam fishing with Papa (Go to www.camillataylor.blogspot.com to see the video if you get this in your email).
Here are some pictures of our trip in no particular order (pictures stolen from Mary's blog).
Let's see, what else did we do? We got to spend time with friends, we ate out a lot, Chris and I got massages, I went out with the Taylor girls for facials and dinner, we played games, and had fun being with our families.
After I flew home, Chris and Sam stayed awhile longer in Utah, enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner with his family, and then went on a roadtrip coming home. They went to California to visit our friend Jordan, up to Portland to visit several other friends, up to Olympia to check the status of the new bakery there, and then came home.
Sam received this cute dog from Grandma Valerie, which he named Zoe (he has two other stuffed dogs named Zoe, named after Chris's family's dog Zoe. Sam took the camera and insisted everyone pose with the dog.
After a week of being home alone, I was so happy to have them back! We had a great trip, and hope to make it down again soon (not sure when, though).
We left Everett around 6pm right after I finished work, and drove through the night. We stopped somewhere in Oregon to sleep for one hour, and then continued straight through till the next morning till we made it to Utah. It's just under 14 hours to get there by car. I have always been so concerned about Christopher driving through the night when he's tired since he's fallen asleep at the wheel once before (under extreme circumstances), but he did a fantastic job! I, on the other hand, got incredibly sleepy the last two hours or so. It's an easy trip if we can trade off driving, but since we both had a car, we did not have that luxury. Luckily we made it safely (as did the really expensive signs we were hauling, thank goodness!).
Anyway, we had such a fun time. I was able to stay for almost a whole week, but then had to fly home because I was out of vacation days at work, and Chris and Sam were able to stay longer.
Here is a video of Sam fishing with Papa (Go to www.camillataylor.blogspot.com to see the video if you get this in your email).
Here are some pictures of our trip in no particular order (pictures stolen from Mary's blog).
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| Girls night out at the Olive Garden |
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| Green Day! What?! The rest of the family didn't get the memo?! |
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| First ever family birthday brunch! |
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| Sam's costume--an astronaut |
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| Fishing for prizes at the Taylor's |
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| Halloween was wet and cold, so we didn't do much trick-or-treating. |
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| We went back to this place for some Belgian frites and waffles. |
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| Christopher and I celebrated our 6th anniversary in Park City. We had a tasty dinner at a French restaurant, and enjoyed relaxing. I took this picture as we were checking out to document that we had indeed been there. |
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| We visited Uncle Bruce. Sam loved his police car. |
Let's see, what else did we do? We got to spend time with friends, we ate out a lot, Chris and I got massages, I went out with the Taylor girls for facials and dinner, we played games, and had fun being with our families.
After I flew home, Chris and Sam stayed awhile longer in Utah, enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner with his family, and then went on a roadtrip coming home. They went to California to visit our friend Jordan, up to Portland to visit several other friends, up to Olympia to check the status of the new bakery there, and then came home.
After a week of being home alone, I was so happy to have them back! We had a great trip, and hope to make it down again soon (not sure when, though).
RIP Everett Great Harvest
Exactly two months ago today we closed our bakery. We drive passed it almost everyday, and yes, it is still vacant with big For Lease signs on the windows. If only the landlords would have agreed to give us a more reasonable rent price, it would still be occupied, they would have been making money, and we would still be in business.
We miss our employees, we miss our customers, we miss the fresh bread and tasty sweets; we do not, however, miss the stress. Boy do I ever not miss the stress! I don't think I am cut out to be a business owner. Christopher, on the other hand, has not been scarred for life like me, and would consider doing it again if the circumstances were right.
Here are a few pictures of our last day open.
Dixie works a couple stores down from the bakery at Big 5. She was the very first Everett Great Harvest customer when it first opened five years ago. She wanted to be the very last customer when we closed. The first time around she came in her pajamas, so she wanted to recreate that moment.
Our last month open was crazy busy as people were stocking up and freezing bread to last them awhile. Everyone was so supportive and understanding. I think I only cried a few times our last day open (which is better than I had anticipated).
Life post bakery has been pretty good. I have read more books in the past two months than I had read probably the entire time we owned the bakery. We eat dinner at a more reasonable hour every night. We get more sleep. We have more time to play with Sam and make fun memories together. We learned a lot in the past 2 1/2 years, but are definitely ready to move onto the next chapter in our lives.
Rest in peace, Everett Great Harvest.
We miss our employees, we miss our customers, we miss the fresh bread and tasty sweets; we do not, however, miss the stress. Boy do I ever not miss the stress! I don't think I am cut out to be a business owner. Christopher, on the other hand, has not been scarred for life like me, and would consider doing it again if the circumstances were right.
Here are a few pictures of our last day open.
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| Counting inventory and boxing up |
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| The lady in red on the left was one of my favorite customers. So super nice! |
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| Lisa & Megan |
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| Leah, Kierstie, & Ruben |
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| Me packing up the shelves |
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| Sam packing up himself |
Dixie works a couple stores down from the bakery at Big 5. She was the very first Everett Great Harvest customer when it first opened five years ago. She wanted to be the very last customer when we closed. The first time around she came in her pajamas, so she wanted to recreate that moment.
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| A picture of the first Everett Great Harvest customers |
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| We LOVE Dixie! She is such a fun person! |
Life post bakery has been pretty good. I have read more books in the past two months than I had read probably the entire time we owned the bakery. We eat dinner at a more reasonable hour every night. We get more sleep. We have more time to play with Sam and make fun memories together. We learned a lot in the past 2 1/2 years, but are definitely ready to move onto the next chapter in our lives.
Rest in peace, Everett Great Harvest.
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