live well . laugh often . love much
Her first bath!
I love my daddy! 
And baby makes three!
Pretty in pink!
Look at those lips!
Thanks for all the cute pictures Lance! But you aren't off the hook yet... You still have to keep sending more!
Congratulations to Lance and Adri on their new arrival! Born today, March 28, 2008 at 12:40pm. Coming in at 7 lb 7 oz and 20 inches long! She is adorable and I can't wait to meet my newest niece! More pictures to come soon... (Thanks to Hailie for the cell phone picture!)
Already a daddy's girl! (look at all that hair!)I was deep in sleep, enjoying a great dream (I can’t remember what I was dreaming about, but it was good) when I was awoken at 3am by a very clear panicky robotic voice saying repeatedly… “Problem…Problem…Problem…Problem…” I was so out of it I couldn’t figure out what was going on. All I know was that my great dream turned to a very deep feeling of uneasiness (that’s a good way of saying I was scared). Then I realized that the repeated noise was coming from Mikelle. I asked her what she was talking about and she said she didn’t know. My wife has a tendency to talk in her sleep. This experience has taught me two very important things. One, I need to make sure I keep a bat by my bed, or some form of protection. And second, I’m a little scared of my wife. I think she might be a robot....
(Posted by Jeremy)
Tonight Jeremy came home with something special for me...
Beautiful flowers! There's nothing sweeter than opening the door and seeing the one you love holding a bouquet of flowers just for you...
Earlier this year Jeremy and I got new callings in our ward. (For those of you who aren’t LDS – it’s the responsibilities we have been called to perform in our church.) First, Jeremy received the calling of Elders Quorum Instructor (teaching the men in the ward). I did not envy him. For a few weeks I was off the hook until my calling came… Relief Society Instructor (teaching the women in the ward). I was terrified, to say the least. I even started crying. I had never taught anything besides nursery (the 1-3 year olds) so I didn’t feel qualified for this very important calling. Anyway, after a nervous breakdown before my first lesson, which went very well, and a successful second lesson, I’m feeling much better. It’s nice because we both teach the same lessons so we get to prepare for them together. However, he has to teach three times a month and I only have to teach once a month. Again, I don’t envy him. This week’s lesson is one that I don’t have to give but Jeremy went through his lesson with me and I loved this story so much that I just had to share it. The message is so wonderful! I hope you like it too!
“Years ago, when my brothers and I were boys, our mother had radical cancer surgery. She came very close to death. Much of the tissue in her neck and shoulder had to be removed, and for a long time it was very painful for her to use her right arm.
One morning about a year after the surgery, my father took Mother to an appliance store and asked the manager to show her how to use a machine he had for ironing clothes. The machine was called an Ironrite. It was operated from a chair by pressing pedals with one's knees to lower a padded roller against a heated metal surface and turn the roller, feeding in shirts, pants, dresses, and other articles. You can see that this would make ironing (of which there was a great deal in our family of five boys) much easier, especially for a woman with limited use of her arm. Mother was shocked when Dad told the manager they would buy the machine and then paid cash for it. Despite my father's good income as a veterinarian, Mother's surgery and medications had left them in a difficult financial situation.
On the way home, my mother was upset: "How can we afford it? Where did the money come from? How will we get along now?" Finally Dad told her that he had gone without lunches for nearly a year to save enough money. "Now when you iron," he said, "you won't have to stop and go into the bedroom and cry until the pain in your arm stops." She didn't know he knew about that. I was not aware of my father's sacrifice and act of love for my mother at the time, but now that I know, I say to myself, "There is a man."
This is taken from Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk Let Us Be Men from the October 2006 General Conference.
This evening Jeremy and I had a wonderful date night! First we headed to Fashion Island in Newport Beach for dinner and some shopping.
For dessert we went down the street to Sprinkles Cupcakes. Made popular by celebrities and talked about by many, we decided to check out what all the hype was about.
When we got there the line was out the door a
nd down the sidewalk. We were hoping these cupcakes were going to be as good as the 30 minute wait and the price - $3.25 each! We would soon find out... 
We decided to take the scenic route home down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and enjoyed the beautiful views...
Then we stopped in Laguna Beach and took a walk down the boardwalk while enjoying the sunset... Very romantic!
When we got home we finally got to try the much anticipated cupcakes.
I thought they were yummy but Jeremy was disappointed. He said mine are better! What a sweet hubby! Thanks for a fun and romantic date honey! I love you!
What is your husband’s name? Jeremy Britton Newman (hubby snacks, honey &/or babe with me!) Handsome, isn't he?
How long have you been together? A little over three and a half years.
How long did you date? 6 months before we got married, 4 months before we got engaged.
Who said I love you first? I did. His response? “I love… spending time with you.” After a long explanation he never even ended it with an I love you back. Rude, huh? I guess I had to earn his love.
Who is smarter? Depends on who you ask!
Who does the housework? We both do, however I have to admit that he does more of it. I need to work on that.
Who sleeps on the right? Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it. If you are standing at the foot of the bed, I do. If you are laying in the bed, Jeremy does.
Who pays the bills? Jeremy does, but he would like me to do it. I guess I just don’t have the desire… Shocking, I know.
Who cooks dinner? Both of us.
Who drives when you are together? Jeremy. But I always seem to get carsick… I wonder why that is?
Who is more stubborn? Me – but only because I’m always right and he just doesn’t know it yet.
Who kissed who first? Well, he tried to kiss me first but I denied him because it was only the first time we had spent time together. I ended up kissing him that night. :)
Who asked out who first? He got my number and called me but when he found out I was only 18 he tried to bail on me. Don’t worry though, I reeled him back in and he was hooked!
Who proposed? He proposed, but I inadvertently gave him the idea of how to do it. On our first date we went to the Christus in Temple Square and I told him it would be romantic to be proposed to there. I completely forgot that I said that and was reminded when he proposed there on December 11, 2004. He gets major props for remembering I said that. It was amazing.
Who has more siblings? I do – 7 to 4.
Who wears the pants? We say that we both have one leg in each pant leg. But we all know the truth. :) Love you honey!
As most of you know, yesterday was the big day! It was so awesome... better than I could have imagined! Everything fell into place and worked out great! The story is really long so I apologize in advance. (You may even have to take breaks!) Let's start from the beginning...
A long time ago I signed up online for American Idol tickets. I was put on a wait list and I completely forgot about it. On Thursday night, the 13th of March, I checked my email and there it was - tickets to American Idol!!! (And on the week that I had no school!) I was shocked and excited, to say the least. However, they weren't exactly tickets, they were vouchers. Which means it wasn't guaranteed that I would get in. That lead me to worry constantly (big shocker, right?) about what I needed to do to ensure I got admitted. So I desperately searched on the internet for tips and suggestions from anyone who had previously gone to an AI taping. That didn't really lead to much help, but it did lead me to finding a girl's blog who was going to AI on the same night as us (and who happened to be LDS!). So I introduced myself and we started talking. We decided to meet up while waiting in line for the show and this ended up being the key to our successful day of American Idol bliss. (Thanks Hilarry!) More on that later....
So after getting my vouchers I needed to find someone to go with. Jeremy didn't want to go with me so as I was going over other options (such as flying family out to Cali) I realized that Rachael was going to be in town for Spring Break with her family! It was perfect.
So after five LONG days of anticipation and worry, the day finally came! I was so excited the night before I couldn't sleep! I woke up on Wednesday at 6am with my stomach in knots, got ready and left to pick up Rachael in Anaheim. After about 20 minutes on the road I realized I had left all the directions and the tickets! It was the worst feeling ever. I knew there would be horrible traffic on the way up to LA and I wanted to pick up Rachael by 8. Things were not going according to plan. Luckily, the people at Rachael's hotel were willing to let us print the tickets and directions there. However, since I didn't have the directions to get to Rachael, I got really lost on the way and it took me forever to find the hotel. Fortunately, the traffic wasn't too bad and we got to LA a little after 10 am, which was when I wanted to be there. So after picking up some food we headed over to the studio and found a sweet parking spot just down the street. When we got in line there were only a few people ahead of us so we knew we were in!
Because I'm going to American Idol!!! That's right! Next Wednesday I'm going to the taping of the results show, so watch for us in the audience! I'm going with Rachael Clark (my best friend from high school) and her brother. (Surprisingly enough, Jeremy didn't want to go.)
We're going to be wearing bright colors and holding signs for our favorites - Brooke White and David Archuleta. I'm hoping this will be enough to get on TV!
Unfortunately there is a downside... Even though we have tickets, we're admitted on a first come, first serve basis. So we may not even get in. We're going to go super early to wait in line so I'm hoping that doesn't happen. Also, we can't take cameras or cell phones inside the studio so no pictures. Sorry!
Anyway, I was thinking that one option for Brooke's sign could be:
And he's even sweet enough to clean the places she can't get to...
Mikelle won’t say this because she is too humble, but I can say it because I am proud of her. Mikelle just took her final for Pediatrics and got and A!!! So far she has a perfect 4.0 in nursing school. Which just blows my mind given the competitive nature of these classes. Every student in that program is an A student and extremely bright. Despite that, she is consistently at the top of her class. She is a perfectionist and anything less then perfection is unacceptable to her. I don’t know about you, but if I’m in the hospital, this is the kind of nurse I want working for me. Way to go honey!
After several material threats from my wife to “get involved” with the blog, I want to state for the record that I was planning on “getting involved” before I was lovingly coerced into participation. With that said, I love you honey!
Most of my posts will probably focus on the economy and the financial aspects of life. For some weird reason I naturally gravitate to these subjects and can talk for hours about something most find extremely boring. So feel free to skip right over my posts, and enjoy Mikelle’s, she’s the one with the real writing talent.
As Mikelle can attest, I am somewhat obsessed with getting into a home. One of my favorite things to do is to just drive around and look at homes. I find it very relaxing and could spend hours on end just “window shopping”. I’m sure this tendency has nothing to do with the hours of regular Sunday drives my parents subjected me to when I was younger. By the way Mom and Dad, Mikelle can’t thank you enough for engraining this quality in me.
The good news is that for the time being I think we have focused our search on a little town called Ladera Ranch. This town is about 15 minutes southeast of where we currently live. As you can image, this will lengthen my commute to work, which is a huge negative, however the prices in Ladera are significantly more affordable then here in Aliso Viejo and especially as we get closer to Irvine, the epicenter of the business district for the O.C. Prices all over have fallen, but in Irvine the prices are still $350-north of $400 sq ft. As would be expected, these prices gradually taper off the farther we get from Irvine. Ladera Ranch, which has been hit particularly hard by the credit crunch and plunging home values currently range from $275 sq ft to an average of around $325 sq ft. These are deep discounts. There are certain homes in Ladera Ranch which have even begun to fall below the $275 sq ft range into the $250 sq ft range. For example, a typically 1,600 sq ft 3 br - 3 ba town home in Irvine would run about $640,000 ($400 sq ft), while the same 1,600 sq ft home in Ladera Ranch would run $440,000 ($275 sq ft). That is a $200,000 dollar discount. The cost of that kind of savings can be directly attributed to the 40-50 minute commute.
Prices here in the O.C. are rapidly falling. How low prices will actually go is anyone’s guess. My best guess is that the O.C. will see a price correction of around 30%. Most economists peg the peak of the housing bubble around the summer of 2005, with prices remaining flat in 2006 and ultimately the gradual decline which began in the summer of 2007 when the credit crunch really began to rear its ugly head. Fraudulent activity, loose lending standards, catastrophic failures from the rating agencies to correctly rate mortgage securities, very sketchy corporate accounting practices, and ultimately consumer greed fueled the major correction we are just beginning to see. Most “experts” have stated that this down turn will be short and soft. I will go on the record to say that we have not seen the worst of the credit crunch and the effects it will have on the economy and housing as a whole. So much fear and uncertainly still remain in the market and this fear will continue to cause irrational behavior and cause the capital markets to remain very volatile. I do not believe that we will see the bottom of the barrell, so to speak, until something catastrophic happens. Then and only then will investors’ mindsets begin to change and will people begin again to take rational steps. The impact of this will spill over into every industry. How long will this take? When will this happen? Good question. It is the one thing that stops us from buying a home right this minute. I don’t think anyone wants to buy a home, put down a down payment, and watch that hard earned equity evaporate. I am no different then most home buyers right now who are content to sit on the side lines and watch and wait. If a deal comes along that is a crazy steal, then we’ll pull the trigger. Otherwise, I’m afraid that we will have to be content to keep driving and “window shop.” Sorry Mikelle.
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Even though there are several hours left on the poll, I think it's safe to say we have a clear winner (especially since there haven't been any new votes recently). Nine of you like a music-playing blog and three don't (I'm not counting the 4th vote - it was Jeremy). So we're going to give the people what they want and we hope you enjoy it! Feel free to comment on the song selection... We don't want people to cringe every time they open our blog! Thanks to all who voted!
Yesterday was our third anniversary and we had so much fun! I surprised Jeremy with fondue and his new favorite cupcakes. He surprised me with a pair of Uggs which I've been wanting for a while but are impossible to find in my size and the style I want. He went above and beyond by calling about 40 different stores and finally finding the perfect pair! It was a great surprise! Plus, the third anniversary is leather which is a double bonus!
We had a fondue party! Since I had never done it before I called upon Megan (many times) for help and with all of her wonderful insight we had a delicious fondue experience filled with all kinds of vegetables, meat and dipping sauces! If you look close Jeremy gives it two thumbs up. Next on our list - chocolate fondue!
"Mmmm...mmmm...mmm...so good."Here's a small introduction to our family, for those of you who don't know us...
Jeremy and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary on March 5th. The three years have gone by fast but we both agree that it feels like it has been a lot longer than that. However, we're definitely excited for the many, many years to come!
Jeremy is starting his third year at SVN equities and is very happy. He recently got promoted from financial analyst to Director of Analytics, which we are very excited about. He enjoys his work and is great at what he does.
I just started my second and final year of nursing school. I can't wait to be done. I work as a nanny for 10 month old twin boys and I love it. They are so much fun and it kind of helps with my baby hunger. But not much.
Mr. Wilson and Lily Puff are our bunnies. Mr. Wilson is our first - we've had him for almost 2 years and we love him. We decided it was time for him to have a friend and that is where Lily Puff comes in. She is our latest edition to the family. We brought her home a couple months ago and she's a little princess - and not the good kind. But we love her anyway. Here's a couple videos of them. Mr. Wilson is eating his favorite - carrots. Lily Puff is so small she fits under out TV stand! She's pretty funny.
Hey everyone! We decided to start a family blog to keep all of our friends and family updated on what's new in the Newman family. We hope you enjoy our blogging as much as we do!
