Those Funny Things Called Thoughts

S. Ann Thomas

2012-01-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I was never one to understand why people were so upset when their grandparents passed away. My father’s father passed away before I was born and Grandma Stout wanted to be with him since the day he died. My mother’s parents lived in California and we visited them every other or every year. My Linda-mom’s parents also lived in California. I never really knew the role grandparents could have in someone’s life. My mom’s grandfather, or “Papa” as he was known, had a stroke when I was about twelve and I remember mom crying and feeling so sad about it. But to me, he was just old. He had always been old. And that’s what happened to people when they get old.

Then, when I was 13, my step-dad Craig came into our lives and brought with him the best Grandparents a kid could ever ask for. Grandpa Hale would call us up and then swing by and take us to a movie. AND he would buy popcorn. Popcorn! He wrote us poems for our birthdays and made personalized cards. He made us feel like we had always been his grandkids. And he absolutely loved us. I came to understand what having grandparents meant. His health started rapidly declining when I was 20 and when I had been in the MTC for a month, he passed away. I cried. A lot. I still cry because I miss him so much.

My mother’s parents moved to Utah about 18 years ago, but I didn’t get to know my Gram until after my Grandfather passed away. I realized that she must be pretty lonely without him. I was pretty lonely without Anna. They passed away 8 ½ months apart. So once a week I started coming down to visit Grandma. I came to learn what a fun sassy lady she was. We became friends. She’d take me to dinner for my birthday and took me shopping for a gift. We would sit out on her porch and eat a popsicle and just talk for a while. I’d go with her to the monthly Macy’s one day sale to buy someone a wedding gift. She wrote me faithfully while I was a missionary and told me how proud she was of me. Since I moved back home with my mother, I went over at least once a week to visit her. She became my best friend.

She was taken to the hospital on September 10, 2011. For the 18 days she was in the hospital, I went before work, during lunch, and after work, even if she was just sleeping, just so I could be with her. It was hard to see her having such a hard time. She was then diagnosed with stomach cancer and sent home to recover from surgery. I went over every morning and we had breakfast together. She would always have a bowl and a spoon for the both of us sitting on the counter waiting for me. I also went over right after work. She would ask me what I had planned for the night and tell me how fun it sounded. Then I would come over the next morning and she would ask me how it went. She knew everything.

Right before Thanksgiving, she was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer. She decided against chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She started making pancakes, scones, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. When she started declining, I slept over at her house. It was a privilege, you know. No one was ever allowed to lie on her bed since it would flatten the feather tick and the down comforter and then it would take ten minutes to remake the entire bed. But I got to. And it felt like I was sleeping in a feather cacoon. And then I got to start taking care of her and making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. I remembered how I had thought my mom a little crazy for being so heartbroken when Papa started declining. But then I understood. Maybe people get old and things happen. But this is my old person. And it hurt like the dickens to realize that she was slipping away.

Grandma passed away last Thursday night. I was relieved she was finally able to leave and let go. But now I just feel empty and sad. I miss my friend. It’s not that I don’t know that I will see her again. It’s not that I don’t think she’s isn’t in pain anymore. It’s not that I don’t think she’s in a better place. I know all those things. It’s the pain of the sudden severance of association. That her house is empty now and the light isn’t on, waiting for me to come over. That the conversation between us is now just a bunch of memories that, with time, I will start to forget.

However, she has given me so much. She taught more about what it meant to be an adored granddaughter. And I am so thankful to have a Gram who was such a wonderful noble woman. A woman I will continue to honor. And one that I can never forget.

But...

2012-01-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I was hanging with Gram. She has been cracking me up. She recognized me when I first walked in but then someone left and I moved to the chair and this was our conversation:

Gram: “What is your name?”

Me: “Amanda”

Gram: “Elaina?”

Me: “Sure. I’m Elaina”

Gram: “Now, do you go to school?”

Me: “No, I have been done with school for a few years.”

Gram: “Did you graduate from the University of Utah?”

Me: “No, I went to BYU.”

Gram: “What did you study?”

Me: “I got my degree in Linguisitcs.”

Gram: “That’s VERY interesting! I have a granddaughter who got her degree in Linguistics from BYU as

well!”

Me: I thought I would have a little fun. “She must be pretty great.”

Gram: “Yes. She is really great. But….”

Me: What?! There’s a “but?!?”

Gram: “But she hasn’t found anyone to live with. It’s going to take a very VERY long time.”

She seriously is a crack up. I sure love her. But I hope it doesn’t take that long.

Family Portrait

2011-10-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

We give new meaning to the term "Sister Wives"

Entertainment

2011-10-04T15:54:00.000-06:00

I know you all missed me. Terribly. My grandma has taken a turn for poor health. I don’t know why older people do that. But they do. Punks. So I have spent lots of time before work (and during work) and also after work hanging out with her and making sure she has what she needs. And I have also been getting a lot of good entertainment.

Yesterday I went over to her house wearing some pants I haven’t worn for a while because they were a little… ahem… snug. I asked her if they looked ok. Of course she said they did, because hey, what else would she say? She's my nice sweet grandma. We went on with whatever we were doing. 9:00 rolled around so I said goodbye and started to leave.

I was halfway through the kitchen when she called, “Hey!”

So I spun around. “Yes?”

“You have a cute bum!”

LOTS of good entertainment :)

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

2011-09-07T11:41:00.001-06:00

Ralphie as Adult: Round One was over. heh heh. Parents one, kids, zip. I could feel the Christmas noose beginning to tighten. Maybe, what happened next, was inevitable.
Mother: Ralphie, what would you like for Christmas?
Ralphie as Adult: Horrified, I heard myself blurt it out!
Ralphie as Child: I want a Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle. Oooooooh!
Mother: No, you'll shoot your eye out.
Ralphie as Adult: Oh no! It was a classic, mother BB-gun block. "You'll shoot your eye out!" That deadly phrase honored many times by hundreds of mothers was not surmountable by any means known to Kid-dom, but such as my mania, my desire for a Red Ryder carbine, that I immediately began to rebuild the dike.

A Christmas Story: imdb.com

Christmas 2010 was magical. I got one of the best gifts I have ever received. In Relief Society the Sunday after, they asked us to stand up and tell everyone what our favorite gift we received was. Mine was by far the best that was shared: A 75^th anniversary edition Red Ryder BB Gun. I just love it so much. We have had a lot of good road trips and lots of fun in the back yard.

Monday was Labor Day so a few of my friends and I decided we wanted to be Americans. We made homemade pizza (what’s more American than pizza?!), apple pie, and shot bb guns. We were shooting there in the back yard for a while, two at a time since we had two guns. I’m not going to lie. I’m a pretty good shot. I hit one of the targets hanging in the tree and then heard the neighbor to the back say “HEY!” I put the safety on mine and ran inside. I don’t know who had the other one, but they all got in the house – fast. We were almost out of bbs anyway.

I went home and started reloading the guns in the family room as my mom was watching Yard Crashers. She just loves that HGTV.

I reached down to put the safety on the gun I hadn’t been shooting. The butt of the gun was down toward my feet and the barrel was about an inch from my shoulder. As I reached for the safety, I hit the trigger instead.

“Peee-ew!”

I had shot myself. In the shoulder. Idiot.

It didn’t even hurt really. It kinda felt like I got stabbed a little. But it didn’t even break the skin. My mom didn’t even know it had happened until I couldn’t stifle my laugh anymore. She was just glad I hadn’t shot my eye out. Now it just feels like I got a tetanus shot. In the front of my shoulder rather than the side. Hurty. But just a little bit hurty.

So dadgummit, now I am going to take that gun safety class sooner than later.

TV Men

2011-08-23T10:50:00.001-06:00

A while ago, I did a post about Movie Men. I think it's high time I did one for the TV Men I am in love with at the moment. And there are oh, so many. I don't watch tv all that often. But if there is a man in there that captures my fancy, I tend to get a little hooked. But I'm only going to post about three of these hunks. I apologize in advance to the two guys who follow my blog... Sorry guys. Love ya anyway.

Photo taken from here

Michael Weatherly playing Tony DiNozzo on CBS's NCIS. (The original not NCIS:LA, though there is a hottie on that. His name is LLCool J. You can't fault him for his name. He is cool. But he also picked it when he was a rapper. He can't be held responsible for being stupid back then. Rap does that to people). Anyway, back to Tony. He's a doofus. But he's a smart doofus. And a very attractive doofus. He's a good special agent and I just love him. And I love to look at his face. Plus, he almost dies sometimes so I naturally get emotionally involved. I watch this show with my mom. When the season is going she says, "Are my friends on tv?" And she's right, they really are her friends. And mine too.

Photo taken from here

Shemar Moor playing Derek Morgan on CBS's Criminal Minds. I know. You all know I just love great hair. And his head is always shaved. But look at that face. Oh, baby. And he's a tough FBI agent. I tell you what, if I was ever in trouble, I would want his to be the first face I saw. And then he could pick me up and carry me away. He's that strong. And, I know, it kind of looks like he is wearing lip gloss in this photo. I'm sure it's just the lighting.

Photo taken from here

Gabriel Macht playing Harvey Specter in the USA original series Suits. I don't know what it is about him. But watching the show has made me really, really like him. I have to admit, part of his appeal is his suit. He wears it so well. And, he's just dead sexy. My friend asked me this morning why we are drawn to "overconfident handsome men?" I replied, "Because handsome and confidence, not to mention great hair, are attractive." And boy howdy are they ever. This photo doesn't quite capture the greatness of his hair, but it is there. Boy is it ever.

Photo taken from here

Addendum: I have been informed that the photo I chose for Harvey, I mean Gabriel didn't do him justice. I kind of agree. So here is another. Here is his great hair. And his face looks better too. Don't you just melt looking at those chocolatey brown eyes?! I know I do. But the first photo is important for the suit. He is in a show called Suits, after all.

Anyway, that's just what I was thinking. You can call me crazy all you want. But that's my story and I'm stickin to it.

Shopping carts

2011-08-16T12:36:00.000-06:00

Imagine that went to Target the other night with your little brother to get the 5^th season of Psych. You just LOVE Psych. While you’re driving, he asks if there is a lot of dirt in the air.

You haven’t noticed but then you see a huge dust devil cross the street in front of you. There isn’t even a crosswalk! Yes, there is a lot of dirt in the air. And then you notice just how windy it is. It’s a dang hurricane, practically!

You turn in on Target street and see some poor sucker pulled over by a copper. You feel kinda bad for the po po for a split second because leaves are flyin around hitting him in the head and big, fat raindrops are pelting his blues (which is short for blue uniform) but then you think he is a real schmuck for pulling that sucker over.

You pull into the parking lot, just by Café Rio, when you see a man who appears to be in his mid-fifties with his arms loaded down with several Target bags staring in horror as his cart starts rolling away from him.

You stop short to see what will unfold. The wind rockets his cart past the stop sign and into the street. It’s on course to hit the curb when suddenly, for no reason at all, it makes a 45 degree turn and heads straight for the car that was pulled over.

The poor man who lost his cart widens his eyes to the size of dinner plates.

You and your brother stare in silence as the cart crashes right into the poor sucker’s car and bounces away and onto its side. And then you lose it.

You turn back to the bag-laden man. He lifts his shoulders in disbelief and can’t stop staring.

You still can’t drive and tears are streaming down your face. It’s just too much like a movie!

The bag man lets his bags drop to his sides and turns back to his car. There’s nothing for him to do now but leave.

Cars vs. Elephants

2011-08-08T15:34:00.000-06:00

I had text message conversation this morning with a guy I know. We aren’t super tight. We haven’t even hung out. But yesterday he grabbed my arm. He started squeezing it. I looked at him and said, “Are you feeling my muscles?” He said he was. I squirmed away muttering something like, “I haven’t worked out in a long time.” It really made me laugh. Here’s the exchange from today:

Guy: How much do you weigh?

Me: Why would I tell you that?!

Guy: Just answer.

Me: No way, Jose. Why would you ask that?

Guy: Just cuz. You’re like, way strong.

Me: Well, if I was like 90 pounds I would gladly tell you. But I have what I’ll call an “athletic” build and I definitely don’t weigh 90 pounds.

Guy: You can sugarcoat it all day long. I’m pretty sure you’re over 150 so there’s no hiding it.

Me: (I know I can’t really hide my weight. And I have always been one of the “strong” girls meaning I have never been dainty or slender, and… that I could beat the crap out of all the other girls if I had an aggressive tendency, which, fortunately, I don’t. I’m more of a squirrel retreating from any sign of danger. I feel like I look like a buffalo wallow woman, or an Amazonian , and there is just no hiding that. Not even with long sleeved shirts, which I was wearing yesterday. Darn him for touching me).

Me: I know. “Athletic” is sugarcoating it.

Guy: How much? (Throws out a number)

Me: I’m never telling!

Guy: I'll keep going up if you don’t spit it out.

Me: Whatever. You should know girls never like that question. I won’t tell.

I know you guys are all gasping in horror. You just have to know this kid. You never have to wonder what he is thinking (obviously) or where you stand with him because he’ll just tell you. He pretty much guessed my weight on the dot. Which is pretty annoying. How do people do that? I mean, I have absolutely no concept of what things weigh. And I don’t really care as long as I can lift it outta my way. How much does a car weigh? Probably like 500 pounds. Cuz I can’t lift it. How much does an elephant weigh? Probably like 600 pounds. Because it probably weighs a little more than a car. No concept. No concept at all.

Questions

2011-07-28T15:41:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I feel like a total lame-o. It mostly comes out when I am meeting new people. This is how it usually goes.

So are you in school… do you work? Oh, I graduated three years ago from BYU. I just work now. (I’m flattered they think I’m young enough to be getting my bachelor’s since that is what people mean when they ask if you are in school).
So what did you study? Um, I got a BA in Linguistics.
What is THAT? It’s the study of the different components of language. Like, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology. Stuff like that.
What do you DO with it? Go to more school.
So, what do you do for work? Oh, I surf the internet, cruise around facebook, and go online window shopping. I also answer the occasional phone call.
Well that’s cool. So, do you live by yourself… or with roommates? I live with my parents.
Wait, how old are you? I’m almost 28.
Oh. Ok. So, are you dating anybody? Well… no. And then I try to dress it up with something like, “my nephews are the most important men in my life.”

People! These are not good questions to ask! Good questions go something like this:

When was the last time you went skydiving?
Where did you take your last trip?
Would you rather have locked knees or locked elbows for the rest of your life?
Have you ever been attacked by a bear?

Things like that get you to really talk. And then the person answering doesn’t feel like a total loser. I do have one really good thing going for me: at least I’m not dating the renaissance pokemon master. But who ever asks that?

Breaking Up

2011-07-19T14:08:00.002-06:00

What's worse than breaking up with someone you have been dating, I ask you? Having to break up with someone you WEREN"T EVEN DATING!

The Lip Licker

2011-07-18T16:57:00.000-06:00

Imagine you are driving out to a Podunk little town in eastern Utah. You are with your mom in your dad’s little pick up. You have had a nice drive out. It has been about 2 ½ hours. You have enjoyed the amazingly beautiful farm land beauty.

You come up to Roosevelt Utah where the road curves into Main Street. Your one lane becomes a double lane and you come up even with another pick up.

You look at him. What? You want to see what he looks like.

You catch a glimpse of his curly locks and leather skin and stop looking.

You turn to your mom.

She was looking too.

Her jaw drops and she gasps.

“That man… that man was checking you out and licking his lips. Licking his lips!!”

Walmart and Biker Dudes

2011-06-28T13:42:00.001-06:00

The funniest things seem to happen to me, I mean you, at Walmart.

Imagine you go with your mom to Walmart to pick up some last minute things before you head up to girls camp. You tell her you need to go to the men's hat section to get a hat big enough to fit on your huge noggin. She says she'll be in the food section.

You find the hats. They are all for sports teams. You don't know anything about sports teams. Why would any team pick a pair of socks to be their mascot anyway? You stand there trying to find something that won't make you look like too much of a poser.

A short, stalky, bald biker looking dude with a long gnarly goatee comes up to the side of you.

He says, "The first thought that came to my mind was, 'this must be where all the beautiful people come.'"

You think to yourself, "Yes. They come to Walmart." But you say out loud, "Yep! They hang out in the men's hat section!"

He continues walking away and turns back flashing you a sly smile.

That was weird. You continue in your shopping. About five minutes pass by and you STILL haven't been able to make a decision.

The short, stalky, bald biker looking dude with the long gnarly goatee emerges from the mens socks aisle.

"I missed you," he says, barely above a whisper.

He melts back into the aisle.

"Mother!" you shriek in your mind and take off running. Seriously. You were running.

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus

2011-06-14T10:42:00.000-06:00

Imagine you are at a Salt Lake Bees game last night. You end up sitting by a boy who has some developmental problems. He’s hilarious. He keeps screaming, “Getcher head in the game!” and “Come on!” He knows more about the sport than you do.

He has a habit of telling every girl he talks to that she looks like Hannah Montana if she is blonde. Or she looks like Miley Cyrus if she is brunette.

You are a brunette, so he tells you that you would have the best of both worlds if you had a blonde wig, because then you could look like them both.

You don’t really like Miley Cyrus. She is a little crazy these days. So you tell him that you don’t look like her at all. You just look like yourself.

He responds, “You are right. You look just like yourself. And you have the right to remain FOXY!”

RIP Mailbox. You have been good to us.

2011-06-10T11:49:00.000-06:00

Imagine your house has a three car wide driveway. Your mom’s car is parked in the center spot. You have a cute happy-go-lucky little 16-year-old sister who is glad as can be to have her driver’s license. She is extremely responsible, so your mom trusts her with her car.

Your dad pulls up in his ginormous truck while she is trying to pull out.

Really, his truck is ginormous. And it’s blocking her vision.

She backs out and finds that the mailbox is somehow underneath the car and she is on the mow strip.

How did that even happen?

The mailbox lays there for a few days. But the best part is, the mail man keeps delivering your mail.

What a guy.

Dancing Bananas

2011-06-06T15:07:00.000-06:00

I have had a request to post a certain story. Here goes.

Imagine you are in your second semester of your freshman year of college. You go to a university that has 1.3 million students and about 10 parking spaces for said students. So you start your classes as early as possible so you can get a prime parking spot. Like 7.30. Yes. You ARE a smart freshman. After too many months of perfect attendance, you decide to skip your 7.30 math class so you won’t have to be on campus till 9.00. What you don’t realize is that EVERYONE thinks starting class at 9.00 is a good idea. You are no longer feeling like a smart freshman. You get off the freeway exit to find a gi-normous line of stop-and-crawl traffic. The roads are a little slick from the dust storms and rain the night before.

Your anxiety concerning being late starts making your stomach as tight as it’s ever been. At this rate, you are going to be late to class but you will have the buffest abs of your life. You finally reach a little shopping mall that means you are just about there. Traffic picks up. Your stomach relaxes a little.

And there you see them: two dancing bananas standing on the side of the road just before the traffic light.

You can’t peel your eyes off of them. They are just too weird. Dancing bananas? You let out a guffaw.

You turn back to traffic.

But it’s too late.

You slam on your brakes, but the road is slick and you were looking at the bananas for too long. Your car is a crumpled mess but still drive-able. You pull off to a side street where a young college student jumps out, takes a look at her bumper and says, “Wow, it didn’t do anything to my car! But let me get your information just in case. I have to go to class, I can’t miss it!”

You give her your info and she takes off. You stare at your car in disbelief. The hood is crunched up to where you can’t see over the top. The headlights have popped out and are swinging sadly off to the sides. You definitely are going to miss class now.

You have to get home. So you unlatch the hood and flatten it out as best as you can. The lights are gonna have to hang out where they’re at. The 1.3 million students are all heading toward the school. But traffic going the other direction is clear.

You start driving along and come to the first stop light.

As soon as you stop, the hood flies up.

You turn to the facing traffic and see fingers pointing straight at you and hear loud ringing laughter.

Yep, that really just happened.

Your ingenuity comes up with a solution to the problem. You take the drawstring of your hoodie and tie the hood down to the latch.

You make it home without further incident.

Turns out, your car is totaled.

You decide you really don’t care much for bananas.

Update on the Snickers

2011-05-27T14:02:00.000-06:00

So, remember the Snickers you ate yesterday? Well you go home and tell your mom that someone has been going through the fridge and eating half of her candy bars.

She looks at you and laughs.

"Where did you get it?" she asks, still giggling.

"In the fridge outside," you reply.

"Well, after the quad-stake Olympics on Saturday I went around and gathered the extra candy and snacks and that must have been in the bag."

You don't know who ate the other half of your Snickers, but that doesn't disappoint you as much as feeling like you got punked by getting a bite sized Snickers.

Snickers

2011-05-26T11:48:00.001-06:00

Imagine you are running late for work.

You rummage through the fridge to find something easy.

You grab a Snickers.

You get to work.

11:45 rolls around.

You get hungry. Why wait?

So you grab your Snickers.

Only to find out that it was already half eaten.

What was supposed to be your full size candy bar is now bite sized.

...And you're still hungry.

The Renaissance Pokemon Master

2011-05-24T09:46:00.003-06:00

Ok, imagine you get set up on another date. He gets your number from a source that will remain nameless. He calls you that afternoon. You chat for a bit and let him know you are leaving for Mexico on Friday. He asks if you can go out on Thursday night. You say, “Sure.” He adds you to facebook that day. This is all going very fast.

Thursday rolls around. He picks you up. “He seems very nice,” you think to yourself. You start chit chatting, when he reveals that he has some really interesting hobbies. “Ok,” you think to yourself, “I’ll bite.”

“What are your hobbies?”

“Well, I make chainmail.”

Instantly, the image of chain mail letters you get in your inbox from your 10 year old sisters saying that if you break the chain, you will be cursed with seven years of bad luck pops into your head.

“What exactly is chain mail?”

He whips something out of his pocket. A key chain he made. “You know that chain armor knights used to wear? That’s chain mail.”

“Oh, how very interesting,” you say.

He gives you a not so quick run-down (he’s a chatter box) on what is involved in making a shirt, for instance. Apparently it’s not very expensive, but very time intensive. You’ve got to hand it to him. It is an interesting hobby, who else do you know that makes chain mail? No one.

He then starts telling you about how he likes to wear the shirt he has made to Ren Fests. You quickly deduce that Ren Fests are Renaissance Festivals. Yes, he is one of those running around campus wielding a sword and speaking in gothic letters.

You say, “I like four wheeling.”

You get to the bowling alley. You cream him. But you couldn’t help it. He wasn’t very good and last year you were very seriously considering buying your own pair of bowling shoes to make your weekly outing more affordable.

He wants to go for ice cream. So you drive down State Street looking for a place to stop. He spots a Costco(never mind the Coldstone across the street. Not to be high maintenance or anything. But Costco?). You get some ice cream and get on the subject of your favorite job.

He chimes in, surprise. “My favorite job was when I was 15. I worked at a game shop. But since I wasn’t 16 they wouldn’t let me work the registers. So basically, I got paid to learn how to play the games and teach them to patrons. I loved it! But the best part was this: This was during the Pokemon craze. Every authorized Pokemon dealer had to have a Pokemon Master. And I got to be the Pokemon Master. “

Mondays

2011-05-23T16:40:00.000-06:00

Imagine you really want to leave work. You have 20 minutes left. You really really really want to leave. But you have to stay. It kinda sucks.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T12:34:00.000-06:00

Today I want you to imagine you were asked to speak in your parents' ward in honor of Mother's Day. They moved into the ward while you were in college, so you don't really know people there, though you have met several of them at various activities you have participated in. Your mom is the Young Women's president, and a real fixture in the ward. She has given many lessons and has had many, many meetings. Therefore, you know your status as a single is known amongst the members of the ward.

You start your talk.

"Good morning..." Your stomache feels like you are jumping on a really bouncy trampoline.

Then you launch into it. You explain that buying gifts for your mom is really hard for you. If she says she likes something, you file it away as a good gift idea, but the next thing you know she is strutting around the house wearing it, or serving food out of it, or whatever.

So you say this year you have a really good gift for her.

It's something she has wanted for several years.

She prays for it every day.

And she would be getting her spare bedroom back.

You look straight at your mom in the congregation and say, "Mom, I'm engaged."

She sits there stunned for a second. Her jaw drops.

The congregation gasps in delight.

And then you say, "Just kidding. I'm not. You know I'm not. I'm not even dating anyone. But happy mother's day."

Ok, stepping out of the scenario, it was a riot. Seriously. You should have heard the bishopric behind me, "Did you see the look on Malia's face?!" It was classic. I wish you all could have been there. Happy Mother's Day!

The last few weeks

2011-05-03T16:17:00.000-06:00

It’s been an incredible few weeks. I just love my family so much, and it all has to do with them. To start off, my little baby Chinese fatness sister Shawna graduated from BYU with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health. I can’t believe she’s old enough to have done that! I am so proud of her. She’s so ambitious and it makes me prouder than a peacock’s tail feathers.

After that, my sister-in-law Courtney went through the temple. I’m still emotional thinking about it. It was so wonderful. I love to go to the temple. It’s one of my favorite places. I’m so excited to have more family able to go, especially since it was in preparation for another person to be sealed to my family. I seriously have the greatest family! I am so happy for Courtney and that she got to go through the temple and that I was able to be a part of it. It helped me to feel closer to my family on both sides of the veil.

The following Thursday, Paul and Courtney were able to be sealed in the Draper temple. I am so proud of them! I am so happy for them. I really couldn’t be any happier! I am so excited that they are now sealed. It’s such a great blessing! Really, I have the greatest family!

Then this last weekend, I headed down to Hurricane on Friday night to watch Alana run a half marathon. I still get emotional thinking about this one too. Last year Alana was bed ridden and I was afraid I was going to lose another sister. It was a real possibility. Before she was hospitalized, she couldn’t even walk to her work a block away. To see her come running down the street at mile 12 this weekend was a real miracle to me. She ran it in 2 hours and 3 minutes, 12 minutes faster than her goal time. She did such a great job and worked so hard. I am so proud of her! I am so grateful that she has a healthier body and that she can do the things that she wants now.

Anyway, that’s pretty much what has been going on around here. Love ya.

Grave Hunting

2011-04-15T12:51:00.002-06:00

As always, this will be in scenario format.

Imagine your cute cousin is going to set you up on a date with her best friend’s husband’s brother.

He calls while you are watching 24 with your brother and sister-in-law, so of course you can’t answer.

You call him back the next day right after work.

You feel like an idiot during the whole conversation, but he asks you out anyway.

He picks you up the following Friday and you go downtown to do a little geo caching.

You look for the first one.

You can’t find it.

You give up.

You move on to the second.

It’s around temple square.

You can’t find that one either.

He decides he wants to do something else.

He asks you, “Do you know who Heber C. Kimball is?”

You say, “Of course I know who Heber C. Kimball is. What kind of Mormon do you think I am?!”

He says, “Jack. Definitely.”

You proceed to walk the short distance to Heber C. Kimball’s grave in a little memorial park behind some apartment buildings.

“This is cool,” you say.

He then asks you if you have ever been to Brigham Young’s grave.

He spares you the question if you know who he was.

You walk a block or so and come to yet another memorial park.

But this one has a spiky decorative fence and a lock on the gate.

There’s a sign that says “No Trespassing.”

He wants you to climb over it.

You say, “Are you serious?”

He says, “Are you?” then “I have more to lose on these spikes than you do.”

You can’t argue with that so you climb over the fence.

You see the grave and lots of other graves for his wives and some of his kids.

You wonder aloud why you have you have never seen this and where the heck are we?

He responds, “Salt Lake, Amanda.”

You say, “Thank you.”

Afterwards, you head back to the car. He asks if you have ever seen President Hinckley’s grave.

You say, “Why, no I haven’t.”

So he takes you to the Salt Lake Cemetery, where you see not only President Hinckley’s
grave, but also David O. McKay’s.

Your date of geo caching became a night of grave hunting.

Peeps

2011-04-13T16:58:00.000-06:00

I have become friends with my mission companion's little sister. She has Asperger’s syndrome which is a high functioning autism. She is very choosy about who she likes, but she L-O-V-E-S me. Her parents came to town last year and went to the family history library so she and I got to hang out for the day. That’s when she got my number. And that’s when I started getting the most hilarious texts from her. She thinks I am a complete dolt. And she loves it. Here’s a sample:

X: Hey, what are you doing? (This is how they all start)

Me: Oh, just cleaning my car. What’s up?

X: Guess what kind of pet I got?

Me: A snake?

X: No, it’s a bird. Just a hint.

Me: A bald eagle?

X: No, that would be illegal. Think smaller.

Me: A hummingbird?

X: No, think bigger. It’s like a quail. What does a quail do when it eats?

Me: Poop on the floor?

X: No, it scratches. What other animal scratches? It starts with ch.

Me: A chicken!

X: Yep. Guess what we named it?

Me: Little Red?

X: Nope. Peeps:

Me: Oh, well that’s cute!

X: Of course it’s cute. I’m potty training it.

Me: That must be fun. And you got her just in time for Easter.

X: I’ll get you for that!

Me: For what?

X: You said I should eat my chicken for Easter dinner!

I don’t know where she came up with that last part, but she just cracks me up. But just for the record, if I was going to have a pet, I would have a bald eagle.

Gaga Visit

2011-04-06T16:44:00.003-06:00

So, imagine you are the 3^rd counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. No, that is not a typo, you are the 3^rd counselor. As a member of the RS Presidency, though a superfluous one, you get the pleasure of visiting the girls in the ward in their homes.

You go visit a group of three roommates. They are perfect for each other. It just makes sense. They are very different girls, very intellectual. One lies down on the second row pew in the chapel during sacrament and will occasionally wake herself up with her snoring. One is extremely intelligent. The other loves different hobbies. You find out you LOVE these girls. They are hilarious, and you could sit around and listen to them talk for hours.

You get on the subject of Lady Gaga for some reason, because, she always just comes up. You start discussing the controversy over her meat dress and hobby girl tells you that Gaga’s Kermit the Frog dress was more controversial.

You tell her you didn’t hear about it.

She gets on her computer, googles it, and turns her laptop toward you while it’s loading.

You start blushing and wonder what exactly you are supposed to be looking at as very seductive looking women start appearing on the screen. You ask her which one it was.

She looks at the screen. A look of horror washes over her. She realizes that she hit the wrong link and sent you to a bad site instead of the Lady Gaga photo.

"So Much Joy"

2011-03-18T19:33:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again. The 19th seems to sneak up so quickly every year. This year, though, I haven't been sad at all. I have just been so ... grateful. I simply cannot believe how immeasureably blessed I am. How much Heavenly Father loves me. How much He has given me. My cup, truly, runneth over.

I miss my wonderful, beautiful, grumpy, brilliant, bossy, thoughtful, kind, strong little sister. I miss her showing me her art projects. I miss finding little notes from her telling me she looked up to me. I miss her commanding me to do something. I miss making breakfast in bed for her. I miss dressing up the little kids and doing their hair with her. I miss her correcting my speech. I miss sleeping in the same room. I miss surprising my mom by cleaning the house from top to bottom. I miss our late night talks. I miss girls camp with her. I miss the time I had to spend with her.

I am so thankful to have so many things to miss about her.I am thankful that she would show me her art projects and write me little notes. I am thankful she would have me do things for her and that she would sleep in late enough for me to make her breakfast in bed. I am thankful that she would help me get the kids ready. I'm not so thankful for the speech correcting. But I am so thankful that we shared a room, cleaned the house, had late night talks. I am so thankful for our growth at girls camp. I am just so thankful for the time Heavenly Father gave me to spend with her. Those short 15 years have blessed me eternally. They give me so much hope. So much joy.

Anna's funeral was one of the largest I have ever seen. People flew in from all over the western United States. Half of my high school and practically the whole staff of the elementary school was there. The middle school choir sat in the seats on the stand, as well as most of her classmates in the congregation. This girl brought so much joy to so many people. It brings me so much happiness to know that so many people cared about her, and about us.

Naturally, my mom spoke. She is an incredible speaker. Actually, she is an incredible person. I never once saw my mother get angry over the fact that her daughter was gone. Her heart was broken, of course. But she turned to the Savior instead of against Him. She turned her grief to Him so that He might comfort her. She wrote this poem and read it during her talk. And it continues to bring me joy.

Tonight I sit with you.

You seem so tired.

Your poor body exhausted in pain.

Soon my little one,

as you have asked, your pain will end.

But did you know how deeply mine would begin?

I hold your hand, and I remember…

So much joy, so much joy, so much joy!

Do you recall when you came to earth, such a short time ago.

My poor body then exhausted from pain,

In your sweet quiet way you looked into my soul,

and we rested with

so much joy, so much joy, so much joy.

Do you remember the night your sister was born?

Of course, you only two, could not remember details.

But you awoke and came to my side to comfort,

“Don’t cry mamma, our baby is here.

Look see our baby is here.”

Again, so much joy, so much joy, so much joy.

Your sweet deep gravely little voice,

The only child I intimately knew, to pitch a song in alto –

“Jesus said love everyone…”

Smart as a whip, memorizing your favorite stories

telling them with relish and embellishment.

So much joy in those memories, so much joy!

Sweet thoughts and memories run together, mesh and blend

Mom, I have a friend… This is the greatest day… an ‘A’ on a test

I love my Heavenly Father… I need a new dress… I have a job!

My brothers are so cool… I’m going crazy!

Will you help me with this?… What can I do?

We cleaned the closet!... That fireside was awesome

Spencer is my hero… I want to work at Primary Children’s

So much joy in you, so much joy, so much joy.

And now tonight, again, as you are leaving

you have given me a great and awesome gift…

Comfort, peace…

“Mom, your job with me is done.

There is so much joy, so much joy, so much joy.”

Malia Hale, March 2000

You have to see this

2011-03-16T09:27:00.001-06:00

You guys, this is my nephew and one of the cutest videos you'll see! Hop on over to my sister's blog!

CSFTDBMS: Installment 3

2011-03-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Imagine you just turned 16.
You take your 15 and 13 year old sisters to the library to study.
Because it is just cooler to study at the library than it is at home.
You were a shy little 16-year-old, you didn't talk to boys. Not that you didn't like them, but you were just scared of them.
You find a table that has a lot of foot traffic next to it so lots of people keep walking by.,
So you are sitting there with your sisters just studying away.
You get really into your history assignment reading about JP Morgan and his millions
When all of a sudden, the ugliest boy you have ever seen is right in your face trying to kiss you.
You extend your arms pushing him away.
His ugly face is very close, so you turn away.
He backs away and looks at you with a slight tilt of his head.
You don't make a sound.
He comes in again.
Again you extend your arms in an attempt to ward him off.
He tries and tries to kiss you.
But your arms are just long enough.
Finally he gives up and pulls back.
He shrugs his shoulders and says, "Well, thanks a lot. See you later." He turns and walks away.
You stare at your sisters with a look of horror.
"We thought you knew him!" they say in unison.
"I have never seen that ugly boy in my life!"

CSFTDBMS: Installment 2

2011-03-03T12:36:00.001-07:00

Today, I want you to imagine you are working for a developing company that builds custom homes.
You deal with subcontractors all day long. You are just nice and pleasant with them because that's the way things should be.
Imagine that one of them who does, say, masonry comes in a lot.
He calls and is very nice. Starting to be overly nice.
You aren't concerned though because his wife comes in all the time too. You know he is absolutely married.
And she is awesome.
Well, imagine he comes in one day and asks why you aren't married and you tell him, oh I don't know, whatever you want.
Then he proceeds to tell you that he just doesn't understand and that he will leave his wife for you.
You tell him he is crazy
He responds with "Crazy for you."
Later that day, he calls and you are uncomfortable because he is a creep.
You ask him to hold.
He says, "I will wait forever for you."
You tell your boss.
He tells him he doesn't have any more masonry work left to do.
He doesn't call for a long time
Your company starts a new house, and he starts coming around again. Great.

Chicken Soup for the Deadbeat Magnet's Soul: Installment 1

2011-02-22T15:53:00.003-07:00

My friend and I are into these "scenarios." They may or may not have happened in real life. I send her these "scenarios" throughout the day. After I gave her a few doses, she said that I should write a book entitled "Chicken Soup for the Deadbeat's Soul." There will be a few installments. Book: yea or nay? :)

Imagine you are 18.
Your dad owns a roofing company.
His workers are a bit shady.
He needs something from the house, so he asks you to run it down to him. He's desperate.
You say, “sure thing dad, be down in a jiff”
It's around lunch time, your brothers are working along with your dad.
You hang with them for a bit and are having a good time.
The workers are starting to break for lunch.
Creepy long haired long time worker comes over and says, "Hey, want to go for some lunch? We're going to the shelter. It's free."

Scenario

2011-02-11T10:53:00.001-07:00

Imagine you have been itching to get a gym membership since yours expired last summer and it's too cold to run outside. So you go to the gym across the way, on Tuesday. It's amazing. It's huge. And there is no contract. You become enchanted with the thought of a whirlpool and a steam room. And the free towel service. There are rows and rows of equipment. You get a tour from some guy, who points out the locker rooms. The doorway looks nice. You know this is the gym for you. You sign up that day. The gym is that great.

You go to work out on Wednesday. Running is tough. You go on Thursday, walking is easier. You sweat a little bit and the thought of driving home with sweaty hands makes you cringe a little bit. So you make your way to the nice looking doorway. Your ipod is thowing a hissy fit, so you walk into the locker room a little distracted. You look up. There is a man in boxer briefs standing in front of the mirror flexing. He's pretty tan.

"What is this man doing in the women's locker room?!" you ask yourself in horror. You blush, turn on your heel, and run from the room.

Since when are the women's locker rooms on the left and not the right?! Aren't they usually on the right?! Note to self: get the full tour next time. And don't listen to your ipod when you need to wash your hands.

I LOVE PREDCTIVE TEXT

2011-01-20T22:03:00.002-07:00

As most of you know, I am terrible at spell checking my text messages. It gets me in some trouble sometimes, but mostly it just confuses people. I was the confused one by someone's mistake tonight. Here is a little back story. My friend Dan came to Institute tonight. He was sitting in the back by himself and I headed to sit by the girl I visit teach with my other friend. He pretended he was a little mad that I didn't come sit by him so I called him a "back row B student" and said he should come sit by us. Well, he sat behind us for a second and then said he was out of there. So I thought maybe my comment had offended him. Enter text:

Me: I hope I didn't offend you!

Dan: Oh no. I have singles and decided to head back home.

Me: Dan! You can't be bitter!

Dan: What do you mean I can't be bitter?

Me: You can't hate singles!

Dan: No. I have shingles. The virus infection. Ha!

You guys. I really like texting. It gives me a daily chuckle.

Mehico for Thanksgiving

2011-01-05T13:36:00.006-07:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It gets me all geared up for Christmas buy counting all the many many things I am thankful to have in my life. And then for Christmas I get to celebrate the greatest gift. I wanted to go on another humanitarian trip so I went back to Mexico. It really made me more thankful for what I have been given. I am so spoiled and loved.

This is the cutest little girl in the world. Her name is Carmen. We went down to build her house. She was really shy and quiet at first but always had a smile on that cute little face. Then on Thanksgiving, FAI (the nonprofit organization we work with) threw a big party for us. Well, I think we were just and excuse. But the directors of FAI came as well as the mayor with his crew and lots of news reporters. After dinner, we had a big dance party and Carmen was the belle of the ball. Of course we ended up in a circle, so she was in the middle and would pull us one by one to dance with her until she was done with us. She didn't end up going home till around 11:00 or so and when we went to her house the next morning, she hadn't gone to school. She told her mom, "I was dancing all night. I will go to school on Monday!" So that's what happens when you let your kids dance the night away. She woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed when we got there and was so sweet to all of us. She went into her little house and brought each of the girls a little treasure to keep. I love mine, even though I don't really believe in worshipping Mary. But I love Carmen. It was a wonderful trip, and gave me another sweet little girl that I am so thankful I met.

Babysitting

2011-01-02T00:17:00.002-07:00

My mom was babysitting the little Mr. aka Gabe aka the baby tonight. He is 6 months old. He was getting a little fussy so my mom told Craig to turn on the tv. Gabe loves to watch it apparently. And guess what Craig made him watch? Rambo.

I'm too sexy

2010-10-25T15:19:00.002-06:00

Saturday was the monthly One Day Sale at Macy's. My grandma LOVES Macy's one day sales. So we went. Grandma started telling me how much she loves shopping at Macy's and saving all that money. And then she said. "Everything I am wearing right now is from Macy's." Then she started singing, "I'm too sexy for my pants. Too sexy for my shorts. I'm SO SEXY."

A Real Life Adventure

2010-09-24T10:33:00.002-06:00

To preface this, my older sister has the most adventurous life. She's been to Morrocco and ridden camels. Worked in Athens during the Grecian Olympics. Worked at the Edinburgh festival. Gone to small New Year's gatherings with Hugh Jackman. Yes, she leads a glamorous life. So when the opportunity to sail to France with some hottie Frenchmen on a 44 foot sail boat, of course she took it. LIttle did she know it was a little more adventure than she bargained for! This is the email I received from my Linda-mom yesterday describing what happened.

"Before you read ahead, the good news is that Marilyn is safe.

She's had an adventure. I got a call at midnight, two weeks sooner than I expected to hear from her, so I knew something was wrong. She was on a satellite phone and could only talk for about 30 seconds, just long enough to give me some sketchy details. Their ship, the one she assured me was ' tight like unto a dish,' got in the path of a hurricane and either sank or was sinking. They set off a flare and were rescued by a Portuguese fishing boat. Most of my information came later when John called the Nova Scotia coast guard. The Portuguese boat is the 74-meter France Mort or something like that, but if so, the name is hilariously ironic, meaning the death of France and Marilyn's poor little French friend's sailboat. They were ploughing through 20 foot seas, which is pretty high for a 44-foot boat. High winds, rough seas, and hurricane season were just too much for them, and the sailboat was taking on water. The coast guard isn't going to meet up with the fishing boat for several days, and at that point they'll take her back to Nova Scotia. So we probably won't hear from her for another week when she gets to land. "

Can you believe that? Pretty crazy things. But my sister can add "surviving the sinking of a ship in the Atlantic" to her list of amazing life experiences.

This is so much more than she bargained for -- a daring midnight rescue at sea and a glimpse of life on a foreign fishing boat. I'm just glad I didn't ever watch " A Perfect Storm." Stay tuned for more details as they become available -- Linda/Mom

Movie Men

2010-09-22T16:45:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I have been watching a lot of older movies and have realized that I have a crush on a lot of actors from back in the day. Holy cow. And now they are pretty old but are still pretty attractive for their age. That’s not to say that there aren’t any attractive men these days, because there are (Can you say Cory Monteith from Glee?! Whoa baby). And these aren't including the classics like Carey Grant, Elvis, James Dean and Paul Newman types. But a little later. Except Jeff Richards...

Here are a few that I was thinking about in no particular order:

Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones era. I mean, just look at him. I love his scruff. He's an archeologist AND a man's man.

Tom Skerrit. I saw him in Parent Trap 2. I know, way cheesy and I can’t believe I admitted to watching it, but I was curious… I couldn't find a picture of him when he was younger, but still, he was pretty attractive in his middle age.

Val Kilmer: Top Gun. Wow. Ignore his sweaty body and he still has a great face. He has a had a rougher aging process, but there is no denying he was a hottie.

Jeff Richards (Benjamin Pontipee from the 1954 version of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers). I really think he was the best looking of the brothers. I am so jealous of Dorkus. Even with a weirdo name she got a hunk of a man.

Dennis Quaid: 1979. This is from the movie Breaking Away. The group I went to Mexico with got mesmerized at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and this is what was playing on the big screen. Call me crazy, but he really did have great hair, though the late 70's took their toll on it...

Tom Selleck: Yeah. Just look at him. He is just the epitome of a man's man. He's got great hair and gorgeous eyes. And he played a guy named Quigley. Who lived down under.

So that's what I was thinking. All out men. I'm sure there are more on the list. Feel free to add your two cents :)

Wedding Wishes

2010-08-09T15:12:00.001-06:00

I went to a few weddings in the past few weeks and they all have those things where you write a little message or whatever. I never know what to say. But my little cousin sure knew what (or what NOT) to say on Alana's thingy: "Good luck while it lasts."

Mehico Day 2

2010-07-30T16:47:00.003-06:00

Wednesday 26 May 2010

AMAZING DAY! Had another Mehican breakfast – which is WAY too much food – but I feel like I have to eat it because they dish it for me. Then Erik from Manos Unidas (the orphanage) came to pick us up. We ran a few errands including going to see their ranch – where they had just killed and plucked a chicken who once had lovely feathers. A dog ran off with its intestines. Excuse me, it was a rooster who ran off with the entrails.
We got to the orphanage and to be honest, I was pretty nervous. At lnch I ended up sitting next to a girl who was all by herself. She was about 14. Then another came - and they spoke so fast. i couldn't understand a word! I just know they were talking about me though.
Ramon came over after and we played outside for a bit. We broke out the bubbles which were a huge hit. Ramon's little sister Paulina snuggled right up. Oh my. She is a little doll. I love her. There are about 25 kids liveing there and the "parents" are absolutely amazing. Just incredible people..
Anway, they have a bounce house which creates AMAZING amounts of fun. At one point, i clamored up to the top where I sat for a second when someone bumped me from behind and I went tumbling over and in the process karate kicked, in slow motion, a fellow VIDA member in the head sending her in slow motion sprawing on her back. Great moment.
We played a lot with the kids and boy, did they wear us out. I was definitely ready to go home. When we did, we got cleaned up and I took a lot of flack for blow drying my hair. Yes, I brought a blow dryer. Then we drove through town to find some amazing hot dogs. I didn't eat one - my tummy has been crammed with co-mida since I got here. i just got a true Mehican coke and let me just say its a bazillion times better in Mehico.
Then we went to the fair. The first thing i did was get a fake tattoo - right on my arm. It's a Chinese character that says "love," but I keep telling people it means "mother." It just sounds better.
We went on three different rides - all of which looked extremely dangerous. I was to chicken to go on the horror train ride. Apparently the horror of it was that there were a bunch of kids touching you when you went by. Let me tell you, all the girls were screaming at the guy sitting next to them to stop touching them. We met back up with everyone and I saw a bunch of lucha dora masks. I had to have one. So I found one that looked like Nacho Libre's and bought it. It's hilarious. I had it on and could not stop laughing. I bought an ice cream cone right before and wanted to take some pictures. When I was done I put my camera in my purse and mashed my ice cream cone in my purse right along with it. Nice.

Mehico

2010-07-29T15:31:00.004-06:00

I realize I didn't post anything about my trip to Obregon. It was a blast. I had such a great time I'm going back over Thanksgiving. The good news is that my mom won't shoot me either because her family is coming to town the next week so that is when we'll have the real Thanksgiving. I kept a pretty good journal for most of it...

23 May 2010
I really feel like I lost a full day yesterday. Lindsey was a crazy driver and most of us got kind of sick. We finlally made it to Tuscon around 7:30 and hopped on a bus to take us to Obregon around 10:00 or so. I got to sleep on the bus pretty well and then when we got to Nogales (border town), we all had to get off and push a button. Randomly the light would turn red instead of green and they would go through your bags. Luckily mine was green because my bags were chuck full and I didnt' want everything to spill out. I needed to use the bathroom (surprise) and discoverd two toilets - side by side - with no divider, no screen - nothing. And NO toilet paper. Good thing Kristen had tissues in her pocket and gave me some when it was my turn or I would have had issues.
I got on the bus and slept most of the rest of the trip which ended at about 8:30 or 9:00 (a.m. Yeah, it was a long drive). We got here and drove to the FAI headwuarters, ate some breakfast, and then headed off to either the orphanage or to the job site. I went to build the house and got fried crispy.
Anyway, we are building a house for a family with three boys and a baby firl. - Jesus, Rafael, Christian, and America. Their house now is unbelievable. It's made of crates, a sheet, some scrap wood, sheet metal, and cardboard. They have a dirt floor. What's even worse, some of their neighbors live in even more terrible conditions. Breaks my heart.
We are building a house out of adobe bricks and mortar. It's a tiny house, but is much more stable and has a bathroom connected. The floor is concrete. It costs only $4800 to build this house. It makes me realize how much I take for granted.
We worked for a while and went to another FAI office where they prepared us a lunch and then we put together some puzzle mats so we could take a siesta. I couldn't sleep. The floor was so hard. Everyone else woke up and we headed back to the jobsite. We finished four walls and we start the cement supports in the morning. Mixing cement is tough.

A Swallow Does Not a Summer Make

2010-07-16T16:06:00.001-06:00

So, these random Chinese people keep posting on my blog. And one of the few that has written in English wrote that. What does it even mean?

The Bumbler

2010-07-06T12:51:00.002-06:00

Alana told me I had to post this, and sometimes I listen when she bosses me around. So we had to take Lanny to the hospital yesterday because her blood pressure was so high. They admitted her and they are taking great care of her. A LOT better care than I could give her apparently. Hence the post. Anyway, she is doing fine they just want to monitor some things. And I think they want to monitor with me out of the room. I came into the room and was holding little Baby Gabe. The nurse walked in so while I was trying to get out of the way, I turned the faucet on which scared the crap out of me. Apparently the faucet turns on by way of foot pedal thingies. Right after that, I bumped my head on the light. I gave the baby back to my mom. I think she was a little nervous. Anyway, so Alana had to pump, but then her blood pressure cuff started going so she had to straighten out her arm while the pump was still going. Well, she got this look on her face and instinctively I reached up to, you know, help her out so things weren't coming undone and falling off and such. Apparently, I made things worse and helped the undoing and falling off. So she decided that she didn't need any more "help" from me, especially becasue her laughing was making her blood pressure higher. Somehow, I got the baby back from my mom and went to give him to Alana and I guess I tried to yank her little finger clip off. That's when I decided that I would keep my hands to myself and not try to help her anymore. I think she had had enough bumbling for one night.

Ick

2010-07-02T15:04:00.000-06:00

I just killed a fly with my bare naked hand. Have a happy fourth of July.

Baby Gabe

2010-06-30T13:34:00.006-06:00

Little baby Gabe was born last Thursday. He is the cutest little guy. He was 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long. He has the longest little toes! I am just so in love with him. It's so weird that my little sister is a mom! She is doing great and I love to see all that she is already doing for the lil tyke. Steve is a great dad too! He is just love struck with him as well. How could you not be?! And now I really can't wait to have my own dang kids.

Maggie Baby

2010-06-21T14:07:00.002-06:00

I have a new niece. I guess she isn't totally new, she is five weeks old, but she is the newest addition to my family. I got to see her on Saturday and she melted my little heart. Actually, she made my heart grow. Kind of like on The Grinch, how his heart grows however many sizes. Everyone was outside eating lunch and I just sat in the lovesac and held the little Mags. She just snuggled right up to me and fell asleep. It was great because there weren't a thousand fingers poking her face and waking her up. And I just got to see her and what a beautiful little baby she is.

I know no guys that I know read this blog so this won't freak any of them out, but I can't wait to have my own kids.

Missin mission letters...

2010-06-17T12:23:00.000-06:00

Okay, so while I was going through mission stuff, I found some letters from my sister Alana. Seriously, she is just so hilarious. She tries to blame it on her pregnant brain, but I think it’s always been like this.
September 26, 2004
“Oh boy, on Wednesday at work, I had a fruit loop necklace on and this little rascal turd face named Diego, runs up to me and bites my necklace off! And the fruit loops go flying! So I get on my hands and knees to pick them up and he starts pulling my pants down! And he kept calling me “a little nerd” in his cute little Latino accent. I really like this job – it is way easy and the kids really are so adorable.
“Anyway, so ya, on Friday I asked this kid named Brett Miller to MORP (a high school dance) – You know how dad has like a million hot dogs in the freezer? Well we got 32 hot dogs, defrosted them, and put them all over his porch and said “HOT DOG! Let’s go to Morp!” Ha ha. I thought it was funny cuz I made it up. Oh and I put my name on a toothpick and shoved it in one end of a hot dog. So me and Shawna went and delivered the lovely little mess – as we were laying out the dogs, a black cat walks right up and kifes one of the hot dogs! Then it looked at us, kind of snarled, and ran off! Crazy lunatic cat I tell ya. “
Can you see why I really miss getting letters!?

Missin the Mish

2010-06-16T16:34:00.005-06:00

Last night after I got home late, I found a bunch of things from my mission. Letters I never got sorted out, some pictures, my going home Dobra Strona (newsletter), you know, that kind of thing. I went through it, and I got really home sick. I won't lie, I even cried a bit. I am such a home body, I love to be with my family, but I miss the people who became my family when I was a missionary.
I don’t miss tracting. Or the cold weather. Or being yelled at. Or not being able to pick up the phone to chat with my friends and family. Or being able to take naps. Or my long skirts and button up shirts. But I miss having a sense of purpose. Living for others. Knowing what I was supposed to be doing with my life. My friends who have all moved on to another stage of life. Speaking Polish. Not having to impress boys. Companions. Writing letters. Receiving letters. Helping people make life changing decisions. I miss my mission president and his cute wife. Sharing my testimony a gazillion times a day. The food. Feeling like a rock star when people actually knew who we were. Train rides. Sleepovers at zone conference. People praying for me daily to find people searching for the gospel (and not a husband haha). I just plain miss being a missionary.
I am so glad I went. And that I have such a wonderful part of my life to look back on. And miss.

This is part of my MTC groupat a zone conference in Katowice. Some of these people I miss the most. From left: Starszi Cragun, Patterson, Dyer, Siostry Spainhower, Jensen, and me.

Grammy-Cakes

2010-05-20T12:12:00.002-06:00

My grandma is the coolest rockin-est grandma. Here is why:
1. She is the best cook. She lost her sniffing senses a while back, but she still makes the best smelling and most delcious tasting food. She is the go-to-girl when anybody needs something catered. Ever tried her cinammon rolls? If not, you are missing out.
2. She wrote me lots of letters while I was a missionary. This is how they started: "Dear Pooh,..." It was awesome.
3. I was helping her cater a very busy job one time. I was running from kitchen to table and back and getting a little bit frazzled when she grabbed my arm and pulled me down so she could say, "Guess what? I love you."
4. She cracks me up. If I tease her she will say, "Come over her so I can smack you."
5. She takes care of other people. She makes dinner for little old ladies in her ward.
6. She is very thoughtful. She makes and gives gifts to my brothers and sisters that are not her grandkids. They feel like she is their grandma too.
7. She goes walking every morning. She is a mall-walker. She picks up her 92 year old friend Anna and they go walking. Cute little ladies!
8. If someone speaks for too long or their talk is too boring in church, she'll leave. And if a hymn is too annoying (Can we say, "There is Sunshine in my Soul?), she won't sing it. I am totally like that too.
9. Grandma has the best yard with the greenest grass and a little creek running along in back. There are ducks back there a lot of times and quail love it on her lot. Her flowers are gorgeous and weed free and she loves working out in the yard.
10. I just love her.

So, it was kind of tough this last Saturday when I got a phone call from my mom telling me Grandma was having an emergency appendectomy. It had perforated a while ago apparently without her knowing it, so it did some damage, but they were able to care of it for the most part. Grandma was a champ though and has had a pretty good recovery. I was able to spend some time with her in the hospital a few of the days. She had to go for walks and on one of them, she wanted to find the elevator and bust out of there. That was the only time I heard her say something about how she didn't want to be there. She just doesn't complain. She got home yesterday and has been getting up on her own and doing everything by herself. It's great! I went to see her this morning and asked her what she had planned for the day. She said "Rollerblading." I think she is going to be just fine. :)

D.A.R.E.

2010-05-18T13:29:00.003-06:00

I mentioned before that Emma graduated from the D.A.R.E program which is taught in schools to help kids learn how to say no to drugs and alcohol. It had been a while since I had been in my stomping grounds and everything looked miniaturized. The adults all sat in folding chairs and the pint sized kids came filing in from outside. I think they have even gotten smaller. I mean I used to be a "big fifth grader" too. Anyway, the officer told us some of the things they have been learning and then three kids got up and read their essays. The first girl was so cute. You remember that one girl who got 100% on everything and always had the right answer but wasn't annoying about it like that other girl. Her mom definitely helped her on her essay. The second kid, oh the second kid was a riot! He was the class clown, but smart too. He had me giggling to the point I had to cover my mouth because all the kids started looking at me. He definitely wrote his essay all by himself especially becasue it was torn out of a three ring binder and had all the edges still connected. The next kid was the stereotypical smart Asian. His essay was over three pages long. It was typed. And I'm pretty sure he didn't write a word of it. Pretty sure his mom did it all. Anyway, then they did the D.A. R.E. song. The actions just kill me. "I will respect myself."

Anyway, I was pretty proud of that little Emma D. She's such a good kid, and you know she will always be one of those kids that parents are glad their kids are friends with. Oh, and she didn't have sunglasses becasue she loaned her pair to someone who forgot them. What a little sweetie!

Old

2010-05-18T13:21:00.004-06:00

I am going to Mehico on Sunday with a non-profit organization. I'm way excited. We had our final meeting last night and a few new people showed up. One kid walked up and I was like, "Whoa." He sat down and people started asking him about himself. He mentioned that his dad was the Bishop of a single's ward in Salt Lake but that he definitley wouldn't be going there. Without realizing he probably meant that he wouldn't because his dad was the Bishop, I asked why. He actually said that it's because everyone in the ward is so old. Like 25. Come to find out, he's only 19. I guess was that naive once, but 25 is NOT old, thank you very much. Especially because I'm 26.

Those Poor Frying People!

2010-05-14T15:25:00.004-06:00

My dad and Linda-mom have been out of town since last Saturday, so I have been playing mom again. Inevitably when they go out of town, there is something going on over at the elementary school so i take a little time off of work and go watch a program or whatever it is. Today Emma had her D.A.R.E. Graduation. More on that later. I took an early lunch to go see the graduation, and not only did I get to see the graduation, but also the state fair. Every year the fifth graders do a report on a state and it's a big to do and they have to do a tri-fold back drop and everything. Then I guess they put them on display. Emma picked Nebraska. And I learned something I didn't know before: Nebraska has peculiar weather. This is her back drop: And this is what I learned:

Empathy

2010-05-05T14:21:00.001-06:00

I am one of the most sympathetic people I know. Seriously. I can just feel what people are feeling. I mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that need comfort. People just tug at my heart strings. I think that is one of my greatest strengths. But then there is empathy. Empathy is something that endows a gift of charity. It obliterates every judgment, every grudge, every misunderstanding. It helps us truly understand a person, all guards down, because we know where they have been. We have been there too. It forges a different kind of bond with people. You don’t just feel their pain, you know and experience it too. I look at my closest friends and reflect on what has made us so close: it’s empathy.
Every time a big storm blows into town, I can feel it in my right hand. It aches and I hate straightening out my last two fingers. I tend to think I have arthritis in those joints but only feel it when the pressure drastically changes, though I haven’t seen a doctor. Two weeks ago, a big storm rolled in. I realized that’s why my hand was hurting. The pain was acute and lasted for about a week. I started worrying that it wouldn’t go away and all the implications that would involve: like having scary fingers and having to learn to write with my left hand. I complained about it to my mom and then realized what a wimp I was. Alana had been practically bed ridden for months last year because of that kind of pain all over her body. My heart hurt so much for her during that time and I wished there was something I could do for her. I was filled with that sympathy. As I whined to my mom, I realized that now I had a taste of what it was like. And then I realized that not only did Alana experience the physical pain that arthritis brings, but she also had to deal with a lot of fear.
I had been expressing wimpathy. I don’t think I could handle that! And I am grateful that she is so strong and able to handle such a difficult trial. But now I can look at it differently. Because although I don’t have a clue what it would feel like to have sore and stiff joints all over my body, I have had a little taste of the pain it involves. I have developed a little bit of empathy, and my respect and love for my little sister has grown by leaps and bounds.
I think it is empathy which draws us closer to the Savior. He understands our pain because he experienced it. And because he understands, it draws out a different kind of love and trust from us. It sort of binds us closer. At times, he will let us have a glimmer of understanding what he has gone through, that is when we are humbled and our love and gratitude for Him become more solidified. When He does that, He gives us the gift of empathy, and with it, charity.

Chicago 6 of 6: Easter time!

2010-04-30T09:39:00.004-06:00

Boy am I a slacker. Looks like I might have run out of steam. Either that or I got busy. I think I’ll stick with the second one. Anyway, I rolled out of bed again around 8. I just couldn’t get up! Annalisa had made a delicious breakfast of amazing French toast. If you want a delicious breakfast, you should make it. Yum. I felt like a bit of a skunk because they were all dressed up in their Sunday clothes (it being Sunday, and all). But since it was Conference, I didn’t bring a dress of any sort. So I was just in jeans. Oh well.
We dyed eggs. So fun! I haven’t done that in years! I made a upper cool swirly egg. Actually, that’s the only egg I dyed. But it was fun watching Addie and Greg do it together. She is just the sweetest little girl and Greg and Annalisa are just so sweet with her. I loved seeing their family together.

Well, then conference was starting so we all gathered around the internet. It was nice that we didn’t have to go to the church or something to watch it. The internet really makes life so much easier! Anyway, that session was amazing! And Addie was so good. I was impressed by that little one ;)
Then I had to go upstairs and get ready so I didn’t have buffalo wallow woman hair, and Addie came up with me so the easter bunny could come. She seriously is such a crack up. She loved getting into my stuff. Anyway, when they were ready, we went outside. The Easter bunny had left me a basket too! Complete with Zac Efron erasers. All of my dreams came true. She was so darn cute. Anyway, we went on a hunt to find everything. Addie got hung up on putting rocks in her basket. It was awesome.

Then, when I dumped those out for her, every time she found an egg, she would open it and start shoving all the candy into her mouth. Hilarious! The hunt was taking way too long so we started making little piles of eggs so she wouldn’t have to stop so many times to open the eggs. Well it didn’t really seem to help because even though she couldn’t eat the candy anymore, she had to open all the eggs anyway. Then Greg made me find the hardest egg. It fell down in the wheel well. He just likes to see me get confused and exasperated. I’m sure I would laugh at myself too if I saw it. Anyway, I did find it, thanks to Annalisa’s subtle hints :)

When the hunt was over, we did a little bit of a photo shoot. It was fun to play with a real camera and I got a little bit jealous. Maybe one day, I will get a nice big camera with different lenses and take some nice photos. But for now, I will let other people take those pictures… which is what I let Annalisa do the whole trip. So most of the pictures, in fact, all but two, were taken by the BFF and her awesome camera. Then we went inside and watched another hour of conference and it was time for me to go. So sad! I really didn’t want to leave! I seriously had so much fun and it wasn’t like on most other trips when you are ready to go home. I wanted to be able to stay longer. Wah.
So we piled in the car and drove to the airport. We said goodbye and I lugged my 34 pound suitcase around.

I started reading and looked outside and it was pouring. Chicago was crying that I was leaving. It just loved me being in its city limits. So I boarded the plane. An hour later we took off. I get kind of mad when that happens, but I was mostly ok because I had a great book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The BFF loaned it to. I absolutely loved it!! It was so cute and I couldn’t put it down. So I was actually kind of gladd I had more time on the plane to read it. That is, until the guy behind be started sneezing. The first time he did it, I flew out of my seat it scared me so badly. You guys, I can’t even tell you how loud it was! It was like he was shooting a potato gun. The guy next to me found it more entertaining that I was flying out of my seat every time I did it. But then the sneezer started blowing his nose. He sounded like a fog horn! How can you blow your nose as loud as a blow horn? I don’t know, because I can’t even YELL that loudly. Well, so I decided to put on my headphones to try and drown that guy out, but I was still jumping out of my seat every five minutes. I almost turned around and yelled at the guy nfor being so inconsiderate and sneezing every five minutes. That’s what happens when I get frustrated with the noises people are making. Luckily, the white and peacemakery part of my personality was there to reign me in and I didn’t say anything. But man I was glad to get off that plane. I read all but 20 pages of my book. And then I finished in peace at my own house.

Chicago 5 of 6: Museum and more Museum

2010-04-09T14:06:00.007-06:00

I know I have said this about all the days, but Saturday was so much fun. I woke up to the sound of rain and a train outside my window and the blossoms exploding on the trees. It was lovely. I think we just had cereal for breakfast and got ready for the day. We were going to take the train down town. Then we walked outside with the stroller and got everything all situated. Addie’s pants were soaked through by the time we decided it was a bad idea and we decided to drive. Even though I really love riding trains, I was so glad we decided to drive. I didn’t bring waterproof shoes and I hate having wet feet.
We had picked up a free admission into the National Hellenic museum. I was totally excited to go. I have wanted to go to Greece since 6th grade. We did a big unit on it and dressed in togas and everything. We found free parking which was awesome because we ended up paying $23 to park to see the play… Anyway, we got soaked on the way to museum. We rang the door bell and they buzzed us in. I thought it was kind of weird that we had to go to the fourth floor. I mean, if this is a NATIONAL museum, I was thinking it would at least be its own building. I had visions of ancient artifacts and lots of cool things to read about ancient Greece. Well, my imagination ran away with me and left me in the dust. It turned out to be a bunch of modern art (of which I am not a fan) by Greeks. It had a little bit of historical information dating as far back as 1974 when there was the women’s walk in Cyprus. Addie had fun running around and there was no way of losing her because we could hear her from every part of the small office space turned museum. It was still pouring after the forty minutes we spent in there, though I can hardly believe we were there that long: there was nothing really to see.

This one totally cracks me up. That is a statue of Dedalus after his wax wings melt when he flies too closely to the sun. Oh, and Addie eith pulling him down or pushing him up... I love her little crooked smile. And I am a weirdo.
We decided to get some Greek food and wait out the weather. We went to a little place called Greek Islands. It was so cute! When we were seated the BFF said she felt like we were in Mamma Mia. And we totally did! It was so cute with great ambiance. Well, I forgot that Annalisa doesn’t like lamb (she has had multiple bad experiences, which is too bad because lamb can be really good) and that is mostly in every dish that was on the menu. She found a chicken gyro and ordered it, but the waiter said that they were out of it. What luck! So she got a chicken kabob. I got a combination plate so I could have lots of different things. I loved it - Annalisa – not so much. But she was a good sport for going with me. I just love Greek food.
It stopped raining and since that museum had been a bust, we decided to go to the Field Museum. AWESOME. It was absolutely enormous! I love going to museums. I love that there is so much to see and read and learn about. And this museum was humungous. We made it to only three exhibits and there were lots more! We didn’t even go upstairs. They have the largest t-rex skeleton. Her name is Sue.

We first went to the Ancient American exhibit. I love that kind of stuff. I went to Chichen Itza when I was 12 and I fell in love with those ancient ruins. So that was a cool exhibit.

Then we went to the animal exhibit. They had practically every animal known to man, and unknown to me. Addie had so much fun when we finally let her out of her stroller. It was just so busy that she could get lost so easily. It was so fun to watch her get so excited about all the animals.

Rhino bum

Belle and I are mammals
Then we went to the Egyptian exhibit. I have wanted to go to Egypt since I was in 6th grade. Yep, we did a big unit on it too. It was crammed with people but we got to see some mummies and some other things. And we got to lie down like mummies too, which Addie liked. Annalisa abstained. But not me, somehow, I still think I am just a little kid sometimes.

We drove home and had thin crust barbecue Hawaiian pizza from Aurelio’s. Ok, I was a bit skeptical at first, but holy moly was it awesome. I highly recommend it. Greg got home from Priesthood session and we watched Stardust. They had never seen it before and it is one of my favorites. They loved it which was a relief. I always hate that I recommend things so highly because there is always a chance that people will hate it. But seriously, it’s so funny and romantic. It was fun to be able to hang out with Gregamous a little more too. Then we hit the sack. It was way too late.

Chicago 4 of 6: Naperbille and the Tivoli

2010-04-08T16:07:00.003-06:00

So Friday was a wonderful day. Again I rolled out of bed a little after 8. Time changes always take a toll on me. And I had been eating a ton of food, so rolling out of bed makes a lot of sense. I think both the BFF and I were a little tuckered out so we lounged around for a bit downstairs. We watched more episodes of Psych. Seriously, I am a Psych convert. Love it. We went to Wal-mart to exchange a movie I brought for the BFF. I made a huge gamble on whether she had bought it or not. Good thing I’m not a real gambler. I think I would be in trouble. In trouble and very destitute.

Anyway, while the BFF was getting ready, I decided to do little Addie’s hair in French braids. She was a dream to work with. Seriously. She just sat there and let me do it. My mom fusses more when I do her than Addie did. So there we were, her in her little rocking chair that the BFF had just bought from TJ Maxx (She is very proud of the purchase, which she should be, because it is adorable. And she apparently really likes TJ Maxx (you know I had to put that in there)) and I was doing her hair in little piggies. I loved it. I loved how cute she looked afterward. I loved how she said “Thang you.” I fell even more in love with that little doll.

About twenty or so minutes from Downer’s Grove, the BFF’s neighborhood, is another suburb called Naperville. Or, as pronounced by Miss Addie, “Naperbille.” I wish you could hear her voice when she says it. So darling. We drove down there to walk around. Talk about a place dripping in charm! We walked across the bridge which reminded me so much of the bridge in Anne of Green Gables. I love that book. And then Annalisa confessed that she had finally watched the movies. (“How could you have been friends for so long and you hadn’t made her watch it?!” Greg wanted to know. BFFs are sometimes flawed).
Then we walked around the cute quaint little downtown. Seriously. It reminded me a little bit of Gilmore Girls. And Annalisa and I used to watch Gilmore Girls together. So it was doubly fun. We ate a pizzeria and got deep dish pizza. Talk about delicious. I love cheese. And I love bread. So it is a perfect combination. Besides, isn’t deep dish pizza a Chicago tradition? I know the picture makes it look not delicious, but believe you me, it really is.

Then, as we all know I ALWAYS have room for ice cream. So we went and got gelato. I can’t believe I thought I was living before I tried that gelato. I had it before, but I must have forgotten about it. If you have never had gelato, you haven’t really lived. And I would hate to waste my life. So I will be eating more gelato. We walked around a bit more and after Addie decided that she was ready to go home, we went.

We puttered around a bit more at home and then headed off to Trader Joe’s. Seriously, why can’t we have a Trader Joe’s here? Probably because I would waste all my take home pay on chocolaty things I would probably scarf down while I was reading and not really enjoy it… That’s why.

The whole time I was in Chicago, Addie had a fascination with looking through all my things. I was tired after Trader Joe’s (or was it before? I don’t remember…), so I decided to lie on my bed and supervise while she was going through it all. Then Annalisa came in and we started talking. Addie decided that coming up on the bed with us was more fun so she grabbed a book and came on up. She has become a regular parrot repeating everything she hears. Annalisa said something to which I replied, “Whatever.” Still looking at her book Addie just said, “Whatebber.” I love little kid lisps! And I think that became a catchphrase for the rest of the trip. Probably the rest of my life. Oh and just one more funny thing about Addie. She was wearing the cutest little dress. Annalisa had to change her diaper and before she could get the new one on her, Addie jumped up and ran away with her dress tucked up in her little cheeks. I am laughing about that as I type. It just reminded me of Calvin and Hobbs.

So, have I mentioned that the BFF is a magnificent cook? Well she is. And she made dinner again. It was a delicious crock pot roast on sandwiches. I couldn’t find the recipe on the cooking blog, but there are tons of other ones on there. And by the way, they are having a giveaway, so you will want to go on over there anyway. Mcconkiemenu.blogspot.com. It was heavenly. And filling too.

Greggamous put lil’ Addie to bed and Annalisa and I headed over to the Tivoli movie theater. Oh. My. Heck. This is not your run of the mill mega-plex folks. This is a real old fashioned movie theater with one screen. It has the chandeliers and the medallions on the ceiling and red velvet curtains and red velvet seats. How I love red velvet seats! It makes for a real movie experience! Even if we hadn’t seen a show and just went and sat there for an hour and a half, I would have loved it. But we did see a movie: Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. Now I know I have said that I am a sucker for a series, but I have not yet read Percy Jackson. Which I think is a good thing because then I had nothing to compare the movie to. It was entertaining but really had a lot of holes, but if you are looking for an entertaining ‘tween fantasy, then by all means you should watch it!

Chicago 3 of 6: Polish Food and Cantigny Gardens

2010-04-07T11:16:00.004-06:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that I got about a million phone calls regarding the sale of Beyonce posted on KSL. Mean April Fool’s joke. Alana and Steve will get theirs. We all have a year to plan it. They put up my brother’s, two of my sisters’ and my car for sale, another brother’s pugs, another brother’s dog, and my dad’s chickens for sale. The chickens got the most calls…

Anyway, I rolled out of bed around 8:00, which felt like 7:00, which is earlier than I get up on regular days. I was sleepy. But the BFF and little Addi-kins had been up for a long time. We fancied a work out so we went to the local YMCA. It’s actually a gym. Did you know that? I didn’t. I thought it was a place where they hold scrabble tournaments and other such things. But no, a gym it is. And a gym with state of the art equipment. I couldn’t figure out how to get my treadmill to start because there were so many colors and buttons to push, but I think I preferred it to my own gym… As I was walking (I blame it on a bum knee that I can’t run, but maybe I just hate it?), I read more of The Hunger Games. Seriously, this book had me all wrapped around it’s little pages. Now reading and walking is not dangerous like eating and reading, well, as long as it’s on a treadmill and not actually walking anywhere…

We got done at the YMCA and headed home, got cleaned up,and headed off to a store called Michaels. Guess what they had? Polish stuff! I was so excited! I grabbed a bunch of Kubus, zurek soup, milka chocolate bars, princessa bars, pierniczki, delicji, and some other things. I seriously was a kid in the candy store. I have the best BFF for taking me there. Oh and by the way, today is the four year anniversary of my being back from Poland. Anyway, then we went and got some delicious sandwiches from a sub shop. I can’t remember what it’s called but boy howdy they were delicious! We met Greg (the hub) at his school and ate with him. He likes to hassle me. Addie was so cute running around and playing with him and I realized that the BFF has the cutest little family I have ever seen. She and the hub really are a perfect match. They just complement each other perfectly. And they are such great parents. That kid will always know how much they love her, and each other at that.

Anyway, Greggy-Pants had to go to class so we went to Target to find a sweater of Annalisa’s that I coveted. Didn’t find the sweater but I walked away with a different sweater, a hat, shirt, and Sherlock Holmes (I love that movie!). I tend to buy a lot of stuff when I’m on vacation… But it was in my budget!

Well, then we drove out to Cantigny Gardens. Um, hello! It was so beautiful! It was the estate of Robert McCormick who was an editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. He left his estate as a public garden and museum so everyone could enjoy it. Nothing was blooming, but there were trees everywhere and the grass was so green. Gorgeous. Addie had a great time too. We let her out of the stroller and she sat down on the path and started making piles of rocks. She’s such a hilarious little kid.
We walked after a bit around a little pond. Addie was standing on the ledge when Annalisa told her to get down. Then the BFF picked up a stick and walked over to what looked like a mushroom growing in the water with pond scum skirting it. She started poking it and I leaned in from the path to get a better look. It was pretty squishy and I really wanted to know what it was. So I told her to flip it over. As she was trying to turn it, she realized it was a dead animal. So disgusting! I screamed and beat feet out of there with Annalisa and Addie trailing behind me. I have never been an animal lover…

Well, we were getting tired and it was time to head out. Addie was plumb worn out. See?

We got home and made dinner. Sweet and sour chicken. Divine! We had a really fun time at dinner, put Addie to bed, and Greg went downstairs to study. So of course the BFF and I HAD to go get ice cream at the parlor around the block. I ALWAYS have room for ice cream! Besides, we had to walk there, so that cancels out the bad things, right? We came back to the house and watched a few episodes of Psych. This is one of my new favorite shows. It is just perfect for me! I love crime shows, I love slap stick humor, and I love Shawn and Gus. Besides, they have about a million movie references so it’s a perfect fit. If you haven’t watched it, watch it. You just might love it. I was really tired so of course I fell asleep. And then I woke up telling Annalisa that I, in fact, was not sleeping, to which she replied that she never accused me of sleeping. I incriminated myself. So we decided it was time to go to bed. We got ready for bed, I shut my door pretty loudly apparently because it woke up Addie. Sorry Annalisa and Greg! But then I was wide awake after that, so I read the rest of The Hunger Games. I was gripped till the very end. And then I had really weird and gory dreams. But reading the book was worth it.

Chicago 2 of 6: Walking and the Theatuh

2010-04-06T10:53:00.004-06:00

Wednesday morning I woke up to my alarm clock set for eight. Annalisa had been up for quite a while. I felt like what I would imagine hangover would feel like. Me no likey. But the sun was shining. It was such a gorgeous day! So I went downstairs where Addie was laying on the couch watching her “show.” She was shy. And she was scared of me at first. The BFF was busying herself in the kitchen making the most delicious German Pancakes. It was like eating fluffy heaven. The BFF and her family have a cooking blog: McConkie Menu. The homemade stuff she made while I was there is all on there. If you want to spice things up in your dinner and food and dessert life, you should go there. She is an amazing cook. I practically had to be rolled out of her house when she was taking me back to the airport…

Well, The BFF, and her name is Annalisa for those of you who don’t know that, had an appointment that morning so we decided to walk. Seriously, the weather was absolutely perfect. And the neighborhoods we walked through were downright charming. They weren’t the cookie cutter neighborhoods we get out here. Each house has its own unique character. It made me want to keep walking and walking. Not only that, we got some great conversation in, and that made me want to keep on walking.

Everyone knows I’m a bit of a klutz. I tripped over a huge tree limb, okay it was a good size branch that went catapulting into Annalisa’s ankle when I was done with it. Don’t worry. She could still walk, though I think it left a good sized bruise. But she forgave me, it’s just her nature. Which is good, because it is my nature to be clumsy and hurt people.

Addie started warming up to me after the appointment. She even held my hand while she was sitting in the stroller while I was walking beside it. It made my heart melt. She wasn’t shy after that. We went to the library and then passed by a donut shop. How can you walk past a donut shop? I can’t. So we went in. And we got fresh donuts. I honestly don’t know what is better than a freshly made donut.

We got home and were pretty tired. We had stayed up way too late and we had just taken a really lovely long walk. So we collapsed on the couches and Addie kept poking the BFF in the eyes. “Don’t close your eyes! Don’t go to sleep mommy!” We put on one of her shows and she snuggled up with me on the couch so The BFF could take a bit of a nap. She deserved it. Plus, I love Anastasia. Who doesn’t love that Demetrie? I know I do. Then Addie kept poking me in the eyes. “Manda. Don’t close your eyes. No sleeping.” But I was tired. And everyone knows what happens when I watch movies…

We got cleaned up and dropped Miss Addie off at a friend’s and we headed downtown. Chicago is such a cool city! I loved it!

We ate dinner at a place called Corner Bakery. Oodallaly. Delicious sandwich and great salad. I love both of those two things and I love it when they are sold together. It really makes for a perfect combo. Then we passed by Garret’s Popcorn. Oh. My. Heck. If I could marry any popcorn, I would marry that popcorn. It was amazing. I got the caramel macadamia nut. That was like eating sweet crunchy heaven. We continued walking and finally came to H&M. I absolutely am in love with H&M. I would marry that store too. Sad thing was, I wasn’t really feeling the shopping spirit. But it was so fun to look around, even if I wasn’t going to buy anything. I miss H&M. Darn Utah won’t be getting one anytime soon I don’t think.

Then we went to the Theater District and stopped on the way to get some more popcorn to take home. So many theaters! It was so fun! And I loved all the hustle and bustle of people walking around and looking around too. I might like it in a big city for a little while sometime in my life. It just seems so fabulous and different from my slower paced suburban life. And then we were there, The Cadillac Palace Theater.

I had my hands full. One with an empty water bottle and the tickets, the other with my empty popcorn bag (I was walking and eating. That’s dangerous too). Anyway, I emptied one hand and then realized I had thrown the tickets away. “Oh no! Oh no!” Then the BFF realized what happened. So typically me. Hil-arious. I started rummaging through the trash, which was hard, because when I laugh really hard, I close my eyes. Going through the garbage with your eyes closed isn’t the best idea. Gross. I finally found one of them but the other had vanished. And then some genius reached around me and threw some trash in the can. HELLO! Can’t you see I’m digging around in here?! I finally found it. It was relatively clean, as clean as it could be after being chucked in a trash can.

So we headed for the bathroom and I looked around and saw just how beautiful the theater was. It was amazing! Chandeliers and medallions on the ceiling. Lovely gold leafing and amazing plaster work all over. Red Velvet chairs. I loved it.

I washed my hands and we took our seats. I was giddy as a school girl. I love the Theatuh. Beauty and the Beast started playing. It was great! I can’t believe the talent some people have. Oh, to be able to sing. What would I give? We thoroughly enjoyed the play. The music and dancing were great, though I was rather disappointed at some of the sexuality they sneaked in there. I mean really? Beauty and The Beast sells itself. It doesn’t need the “help” of sex appeal.

The play ended and we headed back to the car. It’s a good thing the BFF isn’t directionally challenged like I am. Or we might still be looking for the car. We drove around the city and looked at some of downtown. We saw the huge fountain and Lake Michigan and some famous buildings and Millenium Park. We tried to find Oprah’s house, but we didn’t try very hard.

Since Annalisa left on her mission, we have compared ourselves to Oprah and her BFF Gayle. Annalisa is Oprah because she is fabulous and can pull of great parties and things. She has this great sense of style and what is glamorous. And I am Gayle, the awesome loyal BFF. And we do awesome things together, like drive around Chicago and go to the Theatuh. And that is why I said something about Oprah.

Then we drove home from the city and talked some more. Somehow, we never run out of things to say. That’s what is so great about the BFF. I just have so much to tell her. I’m pretty lucky that the BFF is my BFF. Not everybody is lucky enough to have that kind of relationship with someone. It gets me though a lot. She gets me through a lot. We kept talking and went to bed late again. But I think it was worth it, I didn’t want to run out of time to tell her everything I wanted, or hear everything she wanted to tell me.

Chicago 1 of 6: The Flight and First Night

2010-04-05T11:14:00.004-06:00

My highly anticipated trip to Chicago came and went so quickly. Truly, I would have to say that is was one of the best trips on record. And I realize that is a lot of trips. It was the perfect mix of lounging around and running around. And there is just something about spending time with the BFF. She is the best. Instead of trying to cram everything we did in one measly little post, I will do one post for each day I was there. It really was just the best vacation. And I want to relive every moment. If you don’t want to relive it, I wanted to warn you. :)

I went to work on Tuesday, my flight didn't leave till 4:57, so I had to go to work. Working when you have the anticipation of something super awesome ahead of you is the pits. I was so excited. My legs were shaking I wanted to leave so badly. Finally 2:30 rolled around and I bolted out the door. I drove home and realized I hadn’t eaten lunch and I didn’t want to buy anything at the airport since it is legalized robbery to purchase anything there. So I packed myself a little lunch/dinner “snack.”

This is what was in my purse:
A baggie chock full of strawberries
A peeled orange
A baggie of pretzels
A baggie of cheese to eat with the pretzels
A baggie chock full of grapes
A peanut butter and jam sandwich
And probably some more stuff that I don’t remember

I know. That is a lot of food. It was like a stinking buffet. And my purse isn’t that big. It was overflowing. I couldn’t even zip it up. I have always wondered what women put in their huge hand bags. Now I know. They put food in there.

Craig took me to the airport. He’s a good chap. My duffel was packed pretty tightly. It must have weighed over twenty five pounds. But dang anyone who would try to make me pay $25 to check it. So I hauled it to the gate. And guess what? They didn’t make me check it. They put a lovely pink tag on it and carried it down to the belly of the metal plane for me. Nice. I had a bit of time to kill so I started reading the book that has been recommended to me time and time again. I decided to take a sabbatical from my reading sabbatical and started reading “The Hunger Games.” All of a sudden I heard someone speaking another language. It sounded very slurred. And then I heard a word I recognized. And then another. It was Polish. I stopped reading and started listening. Polish is dang hard, I decided. I could understand everything he was saying, but there was no way I would be able to carry on any sort of conversation with him. He saw that I was eavesdropping and asked me where I learned Polish. He asked me in English. So I told him, in English. It was a nice little missionary moment.

We boarded the plane. It was tiny and squishy. Luckily, I had a small little Asian person sitting next to me. He looked like he was about 12. But he was studying, like, chemical engineering stuff, so he must have been in his twenties. I cracked open my book again and I couldn’t put it down. I was so engrossed that we landed in Chicago before I knew it. And guess what else? My purse was empty. Yeah, I ate ALL of that food. I’m just glad it was mostly healthy things. I was stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. But I was reading so I wasn’t paying attention! So I learned not to read and eat. It's dangerous.

Well anyway, I waited for my pink tagged bag that really probably should have been checked. I had to walk a lot farther in this airport and my arms were getting tired. I stood by the curb and the BFF said that she would be there in a minute. I was little cold so I put on a little zip up hoodie. Then I saw her, face forward, driving right passed me. I picked up my bag, started running after her, and dialing her up. She thought I was in terminal three. I was in terminal two. She pulled over and I said I could run to catch up. I looked like a crazy person and I was running out of breath. Plus, it was getting hot. The hoodie was a bad idea. She said she was right in front of the yellow Hertz bus. I saw the back of a bus and stopped running. My legs were wobbly like jello jigglers. I love Jello. And then I saw that there were five buses all lined up. And the Hertz bus was the first in line. Needless to say, I was dripping sweat by the time I caught up to the car. And there she was laughing at us both. But I was laughing too. We drove home and we were like two hens just clucking away. We just talk so much. And then we got home and talked some more. We didn’t go to bed till 1:30. I felt bad because she has little Addie that gets up early as can be. But we just had so much to say! I hit the pillow and slept like a rock. It was a pretty good first day. And it was funny.

Baptism

2010-03-25T15:53:00.002-06:00

I get in reading kicks every so often. I read and read and read some more. And then I get sick of it and won't read for a really long time. Like one summer I read all of Harry Potter and The Anne of Green Gables Series(1-4) and The Work and the Glory Series (1-6). Apparently, I really like seriesess (how do you make that plural?!). And then I didn't pick up another book until the next summer. Well, I am in one of my reading sabbaticals. I have a total of six books at work, but I haven't cracked one of them open since November. Just like reading, I go on journal writing kicks. Which I am glad I do, because it provides me with some great entertainment.

So when I am on my book fasts and feel guilty not reading, I go through my journals. And I find the most hilarious things, like this little gem:

2 August 2005
So today we had a downright successful day. We taught four lessons before lunch. We were feeling pretty good. And then Sister Michaelson got bit by a dog. It was a fetching horse!... We taught Tadeusz and it was so amazingly funny!! We invited him to Tomek and Benjamin's baptism on Saturday and he asked if they were going to be naked. So we told him of course not which he challenged with, "Why not?! Jesus was!"

So there you go folks, Jesus was naked when he was baptized. I hope that's not too sacriligious...

And by the way, I know I always give too much back information. You really didn't need to read about my reading habits. But that's just kind of what popped out!

Anna Marie

2010-03-18T13:51:00.005-06:00

This might be a bit of a sad post, so if you are feeling a bit emotional and in a public place, you might want to hold off and read it another time. Today is the ten year anniversary of my sweet sister Anna's passing. She was 15. It is amazing how much time flies and life changes, but stays the same. Sometimes it feels so recently that we were putting a masking tape line down the center of our room to keep mark our territory. And then it feels like a whole life time has passed without my friend.

I remember exactly what I was doing ten years ago this weekend. The 18th was a Saturday, the day of my junior prom. Bubba Bollinger, the zany kid, asked me to go with him. We were pretty good friends and he was way fun to goof around with. That week we had been moving to our new house. Anna was so excited and had been pushing to get everything moved in. The nice weather helped with the move too. She came home sick from school with what we thought was a bad cold on Thursday and had been lounging in bed since then. Saturday morning, I walked into her room to ask if I could use her red fleece vest and I knew she would say yes because she was kind of sleepy. And she did say yes. And then she asked me to get her some chapstick because her lips were so dry. I got it for her, told her thanks and ran out. I didn't realize that would be the last time I would see her in a conscious state.

I went to the day activity and dance and had a great time. Such a great time, in fact, that I didn't get home till around 1:30. I walked into the house where amazingly, everyone was still up. Spencer had three of his friends over and they were all just chilling talking to Alana and Craig. They asked me how it was and if I had a good time. Then Craig told me that Anna was in the hospital so I needed to get changed so we could head over to Primary Children's. I ran upstairs and put on my blue polo with some fleece moose pajama pants my mom had made. Spencer's friends left, we got in the truck and started driving. Craig was pretty somber and then he told us that Anna was in a coma. I didn't recognize the seriousness of what he had said until he said "People die from comas." I started to panic and started crying a little bit. We got to the hospital and I walked as fast as I could through the halls. I remember specifically feeling like Sally Field in Steel Magnolias when she rushes to the hopsital after Shelby is taken in. We weren't able to go see her right away. She was in the ICU and only a few visitors are allowed in the room at a time. We had our own little room to wait in which was a really good thing because she had two sets of parents, my grandparents, and Spencer, Alana and me all there. I got to go in and see her. I was so scared. I still didn't understand what was going on though. She had an iv and a respirator and all sorts of tubes everywhere. But she was so still. So still. I kissed her and left so someone else could have a turn. I went back into the room they had for us and we waited.

Then came in the social worker. I was so mad. I didn't want that woman there! What was a stranger doing in our room?! Then Dr. Bohnzack, Anna's specialist for years, came in with another doctor and sat down by the door next to the social worker. He was hesitant, but said finally, "There is nothing we can do." Pure chaos broke out in the room. People were yelling. people were crying, but the worst of it was seeing my mom collapse into Craig's shoulder. I can't imagine the pain she felt. I pretty much just melted in to the corner in a silent daze. I just could not believe it.

Anna had a disease called Lupus which is a disease that destroys the immune system among other things. She had been diagnosed when she was in 2 grade, I think. Many times it affects just the joints, or just the organs, but it affected both for Anna. She had rheumatoid arthritis that badly affected her knees and hands and she had had a condition called water on the heart which weakened it as well. I didn't realize how painful things were for her. I had always been healthy. She had been hopsitalized twice before for different things. I figured that this time was kind of like the last times. But it wasn't.

It turns out she didn't have a cold after all. She had pneumococcal meningitis. As I understand it, she had a severe chest infection which sent infection throughout her body. With her lupus, her immune system was working against her. The infection made her brain stem swell and cut off circulation to her brain sending her into a coma.

The rest of my siblings came to the hospital. We huddled together on the floor outside our waiting room crying, and fell asleep. I remember waking up with two of my sisters laying on me and seeing my new bishopric. The chaos seemed to lessen. They were such a source of support, love and strength and I knew things were going to be all right.

Different extended family members came and went as well as close friends. Everyone was in a state of disbelief. Heck, sometimes I still can't believe it happened. The doctors kept running test after test. They were wonderfully patient with us. I remember her cute little pregnant nurse. She was so nice and just wanted to help us get through this. Sometime in the afternoon, they got all the sisters and both of the moms to help wash her hair. They had a tube running out of skull so there was some blood. I was glad I got to help.

They ran a final test around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon to see if she could breathe on her own. She couldn't. They brought my entire family in to have a few minutes with her. They all crowded around her touching her, but I couldn't do it. I just sat in a chair toward the foot of her bed and watched. The automatic doors kept opening and closing, opening and closing. And all I could do was sit there in silence. She was prounced dead at 4:58.

Craig took us home and it started to snow. Kind of like it did last night. My mom said she thought the weather was fitting, that it was right that people weren't outside playing while we were hurting so much. I tend to agree.

The following week was filled with visitors bringing comfort and expressing love and support for my wonderful family. I watched moves. A lot of movies. And Alana and I started sleeping together. The viewing was held the following Thursday. It went for an hour and a half longer than it was supposed to, but people just kept coming. I felt like my family were the ones giving comfort this time. The funeral was the next day. The church was packed and even the stage was filled. It was nice to see that so many people loved her and honored her by coming. I was glad that that week was finally over.

I often used to try to think of the things that Anna would be doing if she were alive. Like, "Oh, she would probably be at BYU right now." And "She would probably be serving a mission right now." But none of those things make sense. She was never meant to do those things. She left this life at the perfect time in hers. At the funeral, my mom read a poem she wrote called "So Much Joy." In it, she thanked Heavenly Father for the time she was given to spend with this wonderful girl. She didn't curse God and ask why. She simply thanked Him for the time.

So this weekend, we are remembering the life of my sweet sister. We celebrate the life she lived and the time we had to share with her. But that is not all we are celebrating. That week in our lives brought my family closer together than any other time. We started telling each other "I love you" whenever we saw each other. We hugged each other every time we left the house. We spent more time with one another. And we definitely loved one another more.

So if you ever wonder why I am so obsessed with my family and am so adimant about spending time with them, you know that it's because I understand that family is what it is all about. That time is so fleeting, and building relationships with family is the most important part of this life. Relationships and knowledge are the only things we take with us. So I hope you all take a minute to realize how blessed you are to have the family that you have, and tell them each how much you love them. And that you thank our Heavenly Father for the time we have together.

Jordy Pants and MJ

2010-03-12T13:18:00.002-07:00

Jordan and Miranda are flying out to their new home in Brazil today. I'm way excited for him to have this great opportunity, but I have to say that I am going to miss him so much! It was tough when he did his study abroad in Argentina last year, but that only lasted for three or four months. This time he will be gone for three years. Talking to people on a web cam is a lot different. But that is better than not talking at all.
Jordo is pretty lucky. He has gotten to tick off lots of the things he has really wanted to do in the last little bit. When I was 15 or 16, we took a cousins trip to California and ended up at Point Lobos one of the days. He decided back then that he was going to propose to whomever he would marry there. And he did it last August.
He has wanted to get married for a while, and he did that in November.
He has also always wanted to live abroad for the first few years of married life but was worried that most girls wouldn't like that. Good thing Miranda-Jayne is so adventurous, cuz he got his wish!

Jordan is a total stud and a great friend. It will be fun to hear about his adventures in Brazil Who knows, maybe I will have to go on down there and see what it's all about. Besides, Brazillian men are H-O-T. This was the last time I saw Jordo in the flesh. Flesh is such a weird word.

Groupie

2010-03-08T11:16:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I am totally feeling like a groupie. I went to another Vocal Point concert on Saturday. And somehow we ended up with front row tickets... Loved it. And I am still in love...

Saturday

2010-03-01T16:11:00.004-07:00

Alana is five and a half months pregnant and things don't sit well with her right after she eats. Or gets in the car. Or walks around. Or ever. Well, we got in Beyonce to head to a baby shower for a family friend. We got on the freeway and were just cruising down the road, when all of a sudden, she got a sour expression on her face and started to roll down the window.

"Don't. Do. It." I said.

But did she listen? No. Luckily it wasn't very much. But poor, poor Beyonce.

We got to the shower. And you all know how baby showers are. Everyone talks about when they were pregnant and the things that happened to them. Boy did I get an earful. Things I never knew...

Usually there are little toddlers toddling around and this was no exception. The cutest little chunk of a toddler wandered over while I was chatting with her mom with a half eaten chocolate covered strawberry in her mouth. I didn't get one of those... Dang. Anyway, her mom looked down at her and said, "I thought we were out of those! Wait, where did you get that? Did you get that out of the garbage?" The mom looked at me, cracked up, and said, "You know, I'm just not the kind of mom who tells her kids 'Don't eat out of the garbage!'"

I was cracking up so hard. This will have the healthiest immune system known to man. Man, I haven't been so entertained in a long time. But Beyonce still needs a shower of her own.

Snowboarding

2010-02-25T12:37:00.001-07:00

My sister Alana is amazing at snowboarding. She used to be sponsored. I don't really know how that works, but she practically has a retail store full of gear. She gave me a board for my birthday a year and a half ago. It is sweet! It has what I like to call Ninja Turtle bindings. They are bright green and yellow. They are awesome. Well, I went for the first time about a month and half ago. I stunk it up, man. I still can't kneel because the bruising was so bad. Hurty. I kept catapulting forward. Like cartoon catapulting. Way hurty. On my final run down the mountain, I flipped forward so hard that I hit that lower bone. The one where it makes you want to throw up if you hit it hard enough. So I just lay there in the snow. And I cried. And then I was done.

I went again on Monday night. They have a great deal for night skiing on Mondays: half price. Which is great. Because full price for night skiing in negative bazillion degrees would not be worth it for the beginner that I am. My legs got really tired and my fingers were like little otter pops. But they didn't taste good like otter pops. I got a lot better though and went down the mountain only falling twice on my last run. One of the spills was great. I supermanned it but ended up on my back, which means I did a full somersault. Hurty, I know. I wish I could have seen it. I love slapstick humor. Must be all Three Stooges I watched with my dad as a kid. Who knows. Anyway, I really had a good time. I think snowboarding is something I could really like. Especially on half price Mondays.

Hurricane: Pronounced "her-ih-cun"

2010-02-19T11:26:00.002-07:00

This last weekend we went down to the old homestead. And by old homestead, I mean my dad's hometown in Southern Utah. Not like everyone who reads my blog has never heard of it, I mean, it's like my favorite place in the world. Anyway, we had a ball. My cousin Bryce got home from his mission so that was a great excuse for us to head on down. We went out to the "Flat" and saw some of my uncle's animals. He and his sons are really the only ones left that do any farming. And they love it.
Here are some of the cows. I just think cows are so cute. Just look at them! And they don't smell nearly as badly as pigs or chickens. Now those are animals that can put out a stench.

This is Uncle Wynn's turkey named Obama. I don't really know why he is called that. Maybe because he is brown? He is vicious though, apparently. He chases ya around. And being chased by a giant turkey is never fun.

We did a little shooting. I was super excited to bring my Red Ryder down, but since I was rushed getting out of town, I forgot him. Sad sad day. But I got to shoot the .22 anyway. And I keept hitting the target. Then my cousin's hub who is big into hunting said I had good shooting form. Yeah, my head got a little bigger

Jordy's birthday is on Valentime's day but we celebrated it the night before. Mostly because Sunday was for Bryce's homecoming glory, at least that is what I am thinking anyway. Which, I didn't get a picture of. I'm not great about photo documentation... But I love the kid. Fresh off the mish kids are the best. And he did a fantastic job. Oh to be recently returned once again rather than almost expired!

We also did some ball tag on the four wheelers and Bryce was on his little motorcycle. We had a blast!

Thanks to all the Hurricane-ites who made it such a great time!

Udder Paradise

2010-02-17T09:20:00.003-07:00

If I was a cow, this is where I would want to live. Wouldn't you? This is my uncle's place down in Hurricane, Utah. Just look at that view!

Nicole

2010-02-11T10:20:00.004-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is catch up with old friends. I just like to know what is going on and how their life is turning out so far. I went to visit my friend Nicole on Tuesday night. I have known her forever. She moved into the ward when she was 10 and I was 9, but we didn't become friends until I was 12 and in young women's.We became best friends. I remember nights when we woudl be talking on the phone and, of course, I would fall asleep while she was talking to me. I know, big surprise, right? I still do that... Anyway, it was fun to hang out with her for a number of reasons, one being that her older sisters would let us tag along. In fact, when I was 13 or 14, one of them took us to drag State Street. Yeah, I got in trouble for getting home so late, but it was fun. And so grown up. But now that I think about it, dragging State is just plain weird. Anyway, we would always go for drives as soon as she turned 16. And we did a lot of talking. We just got to know eachother really well during pivotal times in our lives. And these days, she tends to remember a lot more about my teenage years than I do. And let me tell you, it can be embarassing... She was great to pal around with. I moved out of that ward when I was 16 but we maintained contact. She got married and moved to Oregon while I got busy with school and went on a mission. We lost touch there for a while, but she found me again and I saw her at Alana's wedding last year. Since then we have gotten together a few times. I now know what she is up to and a lot of what has happened in her life. She has four kids and lives in a cute little house in Spanish Fork wher her hub is a successful lawyer. It's so cute to see how proud she is of him. She is a great mom and her kids are absolutely darling. She is as gorgeous as ever, totally happy, and so much fun to talk with. What is so great about it is that when we do see eachother, we are able to just pick up where we left off. No awkwardness or feeling like there is nothing to talk about. That's what I love about long time friends. They already know so much about you aand you can continue to build on that foundation from all those years ago. So, I thank all my wonderful friends! I love you all!

Nicole is the one in the green sweatshirt. And I'm in the middle.

Averi

2010-02-10T09:31:00.002-07:00

So after the play, I hung out with my little cousin Averi. She is Craig's sister's daughter. She just cracks me up. A few weeks ago, I took her to see Where The Wild Things Are, thinking that since it was drawn from one of the most beloved children's books of all time, it would be great for kids. Wrong-o! It was so depressing and I didn't really like it at all. It was just plain weird and more adult themed than anything else. That will teach me to not read reviews before I take kids to movies again. Anyway, this time, she wanted to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks so I watched it, kind of, while she wandered off and did something else until she started a big pillow fight. I still don't know what happened to Uncle Ian... But anyway, after that, I dashed off and got together with some friends that night. And that is the end of my overly extended Saturday.

More Vegas

2010-02-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who would like to see more pics and good times from Viva Las Vegas, check out my sister Alana's blog. I would have to say that my favorite one is of the midget Elvis and Yoda together.

Twi-Lite: I Was a Teenage Vampire

2010-02-09T10:01:00.005-07:00

I had a very busy weekend. For my lil' sister's birthday, I decided that I wanted to take her to the Desert Star Theater in Murray. Her birthday was two weeks ago. That's how on top of things I am... Anyway, they do parodies on different things and seeing as she is Team Edward, I thought she might enjoy this one. Our flight left Viva Las Vegas at 8:30 so I got tickets for the 11:30 show thinking we would have plenty of time to get there. Being the forgetful girl I sometimes am, I forgot about the hour time difference and that our flight wouldn't land until 10:45. We were supposed to be at the theater at 11:00. So I raced home, changed my clothes, and raced off to the theater. We got there just in time. And it was just delightful! We were laughing so hard and it was just fun to hang out with Rumblina. She is such a sweetheart and I love spending time with her one on one. But I hope I have learned my lesson on over booking myself as a result of this last weekend. Because that wasn't my only overextension of myself.

Viva Las Vegas!

2010-02-08T09:53:00.004-07:00

Vegas was such a ball! We had so much fun! Our flight left at 6:35 in the a.m. which made us all tired. But we got there and my aunt's brother took us to breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Delicious! It was a lot of fun to meet him and eat delicious food. We then went to the hotel, dropped off all of our stuff and hit the road. We spent quite a lot of time in the Bellagio an dhten went to the M&M store. I met my man Elvis there! Actaully, i met my man Elvis on almost every street corner. But this was the only one I wanted a picture with. He's such a hunk. Then we went to the Coca Cola store. There were these guys with a ton of different flavors of coke and I really wanted to try it. It was called "Tastes From around the World." Umm, most of it was disgusting and didn't taste like real Coke products. I am glad I live in America where our sodas don't taste like crap.

In front of Serendipity's

We ate at the buffet at Treasure Island. It was oodalally delicious. On the weekends tehy have prime rib, shrimp, and crab. The only crab I remember ever having was canned or something like that, which sounds absolutely disgusting right now. Anyway, I just had to try it. It's such a pain to shell. But so good.
They have a wax museum at theVenetian. So I stopped to get a picture with the Rock. He is so dreamy.. He looks so much smaller in real life... But I was still intimidated as you can see I couldn't get too close to him.

Then we got pictures in front of the Phantom ad. We were just so excited!! And this picture is great because my mom has her eyes open. Sometimes, I think Rachel and Emma get that trait from her...

Then came Phantom. It was phenomenal! I was so amazed the entire time. It was definitely worth going down to see.

After the show, we actually saw Elder Holland! He was just so nice. My aunt Mel saw him and told me to get his attention. So I grabbed his arm and said hello. He turned and said "What is this? The Relief Society?" And then went on about how fantastic the show was as he shook all of our hands. It was a great way to end the show!

We all wanted to see the fountains at the Bellagio afterwards, but Grammy and preggo Alana were just too beat so they went back to the hotel. So mom, Mel, Taylor and I went out and saw them. So gorgeous!

My battery was dying thw whole trip so she has all the pictures with all of us in them. It was a fantastic trip and we had a ball! I can't wait to do something like this again soon!

Travel

2010-02-04T12:57:00.009-07:00

I am getting the travel bug. I LOVE to travel. Sometimes I think to myself, "I haven't really been anywhere." And then I stop again and realize that I have been lots of places. I have been pretty lucky. Anyway, one of my friends just invited me to go to Germany and Poland. Wroclaw Rynek
I want to go so badly! I need to go back. I love this place. But, with Beyonce's repairs, practically zero tax return (thanks for nothin!!), and my car insurance premium due, I just won't be able to go. For a split second, I thought about selling my beloved. But then I thought, "How dare you even consider it! You love her!" Bah! So that is not even an option. I would feel like Benedict Arnold. Oh and I also bought this.
Not the guy on it, he's my cousin. And besides, you can't buy people. The four wheeler! My sister asked me why I did that, and I just told her "Because I wanted it." And I did. I really wanted it. So with all those things, I have drained my excess cash.

So, I have planned a few smaller trips that will keep my travel appetite under control. I can't even wait. I am going to Vegas tomorrow to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I hear it is fantastic!! We got round trip airfare for $50, and flying makes travel so much easier. So we bought them, booked a hotel, and got some Phantom tickets. Did I mention I can't wait?!

Then, a few days ago, I consorted with the BFF and I am headed out to Chicago at the end of March. Can. Not. Wait. "[Chicago] is so diverting!" Tons of stuff to do, but mostly, I am super excited to hang with the BFF, her little doll, and her hub. Oh, and we are going to see Beauty and the Beast. I just love going to the theatuh! And that is one of my favorite Disney movies, so it's a win-win all around! And since Chicago has the second largest Polish speaking population (second only to Warsaw), maybe I will be able to score me some Polish goodies. We'll see :) That will have to satiate my Poland hunger for now.

Beyonce

2010-02-04T11:46:00.007-07:00

Meet Beyonce. She is a total Babe. Sometimes I like to refer to her as "Sasha Fierce," but only when she is particularly sassy. Beyonce/Sasha is, for right now, the love of my life. I love her color, I love that she is pretty new, and I like that I bought her myself.

She came into my life last June. I had been wanting to buy a car for a while. My little college car, the white 2002 Chevy Prizm had served me well. But it was my college car. It had a crazy bent up fender on the front passenger side and a funky black bumper. I felt like at 25 I should buy myself something nice. So I was looking into the Scion Tc, a VW Jetta, and a Mazda 3. I wasn't planning on buying it for a little while longer, but after my bf dumped me the night before my little brother's wedding, I felt like I needed something to care about. And something that made me feel cute. So ten days later I walked off the lot with this sexy little thing. And, as a side note, anyone who says money can't buy happiness, never bought a snazzy new car after a break up!
Well, anyway, on January 19, I walked out to the Babe and saw a huge branch lying next to it. Then I reached for the handle and to my horror, there was a huge dent mangling her sleek lines! She needed surgery, so I took her in for some estimates. Turns out there was a lot of damage (over $700!) So I filed a claim and now my baby is as good as new.
What did I drive while Beyonce was under the knife, you ask? Well, my boss has an old Mercedes and told me to take it for the night. I have the best boss. And man, that Benz has some pick up on it! Such a nice ride. One day, I will have something with more than a 4 cylinder engine. But for now, I am so happy in love with Beyonce. She is the best. Ever.

Collective Soul

2010-01-25T11:36:00.004-07:00

Thursday night, I went with Paul and Courtney to the Collective Soul Concert. Awesome. I love them. I went nine years ago with the BFF too. In fact, I got into a lot of trouble the next morning because I skipped some of my classes the next day. The mother wasn't happy. But I'm pretty sure Annalisa didn't go to all of her classes either. Anyway, like I said, these guys are awesome. he just has such a cool voice and I love the guitar!

Cannibal

2010-01-19T16:17:00.002-07:00

While I was watching the kids, Angela bit Emma's head. And left a tooth mark. It was funny enough to make up for the hysterical crying after the incident. Oh yeah, and it was an accident. Angela, your name is cleared.

Playing mom continued... and done

2010-01-14T11:27:00.003-07:00

I don't know how my mom does it! I was tired as can be and I didn't even have to run the business and I didn't wash any of the kids' clothes, just towels. There were just the four kids and they can all do everything for themselves. Maybe I'm just a weiner. Anyway, we went to Princess and the Frog on Monday night. Umm, so being the single girl that I am, I didn't take into consideration that fact that these kids go to bed around 9:30 or so. The movie started at 8:35 and we didn't get home til 10:30! What was I thinking? I wasn't. We had a pretty good time though. Then the next night we watched back to the Future, another of the movies I wanted them to see. I can't get away from, "Hey, butthead!" But the Newsies singing continues. No matter what I do, I can't excape it! (That 'x' is for you, toots). The next night, or last night we went down to Orem and had tacos with Alana and Steve. It was so fun to see them on their turf. I like their turf. The kids put in Patch Adams. One of my favorite movies.

As I am writing this and going over the week of what we did, I fear for my own future children. They will probably be more movie literate than I am. Poor little dears. People will always be asking them if they came up with that last sentence or if it's a quote from a movie. They won't have an original bone in their bodies. Their lives will be totally scripted. Meh, it's not that bad.

Anyway, we never did have the dance party. Rachel read that last post too soon :). Never fear (Brooklyn is here!) we will do it soon.

Playing Mom

2010-01-11T14:18:00.005-07:00

My parents are out of town. They get a free trip every year with their supply company. I wish I was with them in sunny Cancun. But I'm not. I'm stuck in the most polluted city in the US. It's true. Salt Lake City was ranked number one today for the worst air quality. At least that is what people are saying on facebook. Ha ha. Anyway, every time they leave town, I get to watch the kids that still live at home. It's always a party. It's always a lot of fun. It's also exhausting. I mean they get up at, like, 6:30! That is a bit early, I say. But I love doing it because we get to spend some quality time together and make some pretty great memories. Take this weekend for instance. We planned to go to see Princess and the Frog. We bought lots of treats and loaded our purses. We finally found a parking spot and, lo and behold, it had sold out. Not happy, Bob. Luckily, I brought over some movies I wanted them to see. One in particular. Newsies. Best boy musical ever. Emma and Rachel wanted to watch Prince Caspian but since I was the boss, I won and we watched Newsies. The next night, Mason wanted to watch it too and the girls were all over that. There are cute boys in the movie, you know. Now I can't go five minutes without hearing a song or a quote from it. And it makes me laugh. We are also going to have our traditional "dance party when the parents are out of town." It's usually pretty spontaneous. But as long as Rachel hasn't read this post yet, that's what we'll do.

The Red Ryder

2010-01-06T14:36:00.003-07:00

I got a Red Ryder bb gun fpr Christmas. Best thing ever! Except I haven't shot it yet because it is dark by the time I get home from work and the days I have been home, I have been to cold to go outside. I'm a wienie. I know. Well, two nights ago I had a dream that I was running around shooting people in the back of the head, laughing like a maniac, and running away so I wouldn't get hit with snowballs. I'm just thinking out loud here, but if I got shot in the back of the head with a bb gun, I might retaliate with something more than a snowball.

Lunch

2009-12-29T14:25:00.001-07:00

I took my little sisters to lunch today. Emma is the youngest. She is ten. We all ate A LOT of food. She turned to me and said, "I now know what adults mean when they say they are too full to go jump on the trampoline."

Stout Christmas Party

2009-12-28T11:41:00.002-07:00

I did a post for my family blog with a play by play of the family talent show we had on the 21. It was so fun! If you want to see it, go here.

Grammy-cakes' Christmas Present

2009-12-28T09:33:00.004-07:00

Each year, my mom's family all goes over to my grandma's (Grammy-cakes as I more often call her) for Christmas dinner. She is a fabulous cook. She is so good in fact that she spend a lot of her time catering. She is quite renowned for a lot of things, actually. Like cinnamon rolls. And eclairs. And scones. And lots of other things. Anyway, after dinner, we open gifts. Last year, I watched as all the grand-kids openned their piles of gifts. All she handed me was an envelope. I was a little bit confused but she didn't let me open it until all the gift openning was done. I have a really hard time waiting to open things that are addressed to me, so it was a chore to wait, let me tell you. Well, I opened the card (which was what my mom and two aunts also received) and inside was an invitation to join her at 6:00 a.m. for the Macy's day after Christmas sale and for breakfast! I felt like a snot because I was the only grandkid that got invited to go, but that wasn't going to stop me from going! It was such a fun morning. Not only were there absolutely fabulous sales, but I got to go shopping with my grandma, my mom, and my aunts. They can be so crazy! I have never seen three women shopping so furiously in my life!
This year, we got the same invitation, except my sister and cousin got to come. That made it even more fun! Alana wandered around with only a pair of shorts for the first hour. I hadn't really noticed because I had turned crazy like my mom and aunts. But then I went around and helped her get all caught up, mostly because she liked a lot of what I got so I just ran back and got some for her. It was such a fun morning. I felt kind of bad for the sales associates because she had to call for back-up and it still took forever to ring everything up. The aunts still went crazy, though my mom seemed to reign things in this year. But I guess it's not hard to be going nuts wehn evrything you like is only $5! I love Macy's!

Surprise Call

2009-12-17T09:42:00.002-07:00

So yesterday I got into the office and I had six, yes SIX!, phone messages! That never happens! Most of the time, I have one, maybe two, or none. Anyway, one of them was from one of the bosses asking me to check on the status of an order. So I naturally called the company with receipt in hand. They picked up after the first ring, which is unusual. "Hmm," I thought to myself. Then a recording of a woman's sultry voice came on. "Whoa!" I thought yelled to myself. I had misdialed and reached an escort service! That will teach ME to start paying attention when I am dialing!

Ice Cream Cones

2009-12-15T16:07:00.001-07:00

I always wondered how ice cream cones were made. Now I know... I must give credit to the BFF. She sent this to me in 2003. I jsut haven't been able to get rid of it.

Dear Santa

2009-12-11T14:53:00.002-07:00

Dear Santa,

I ask for nothing for myself. I just ask that you give my mother a son-in-law.

Sincerely,

Amanda

Red Sweat Pants

2009-12-09T12:57:00.002-07:00

I wear a red fleece blanket (thanks Katie!) wrapped around my waist at work. That way, when I walk around the office, I am still wearing my blanket. It's like a fleecy skirt. I get super cold. It keeps me snuggly warm. Well today, a kid from high school came into the office. You know, one of those really good looking guys that never even knew you existed back then. But then they recognize you later and you think "What in the heck? You DID know I existed!" Well, we chat every now and again these days. He does business with the boss. Anyway, he spotted my red lower half. I stood up and he let out a sigh of relief. Then he said "Oh good! I thought those were red sweat pants and I was thinking 'Wow! You are really just letting yourself go!'" Red sweat pants? Really? I have never owned a pair of red sweat pants.

Coldy Woldy

2009-12-08T11:39:00.002-07:00

I have never been one to enjoy cold weather. And yet, I have lived my whole life in places that have frigid temperatures in the winter time. Utah: the best snow on earth. That is, if you like to ski. I used to love to ski. My dad took us up almost every weekend when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I was a little hot dogger. Then I didn't go again until I was a junior in high school. This boy asked me on a date and we went to Alta (he was a big time skier). While he was going down black diamonds, the wind was blowing me over while I was standing in line to get up the bunny hill. No longer a hot dogger. I never did like hot dogs... I decided I would no longer embarass myself by going skiing. Then I went to Poland. Freezing cold Poland. It was negative a million degrees for six whole months. I would sometimes wear five layers of clothing. And I was still freezing. I think that is where my hatred blowy cold weather was solidified. Sometimes I will walk outside and freeze - not from the cold weather - but from fear that I will have to go tracting. Don't get me wrong, I loved tracting. My trainer somehow tricked me into liking it, which was a good thing because we spent a lot of time doing it. But tracting meant that we had to spend a lot of time outside. And this was a real problem. You see, I was told that I should buy boots in Poland because they would make them especially for their climate. Well, that was really good advice...for people who don't have sasquatch feet! My feet were too big, so my ankles were exposed for the duration of the winters. Also, three months before I went home, the zipper on my heavy coat broke. So, rather than buying a new one, I used my spring coat. Bad idea. So I guess it really is my own fault I don't like cold weather. But I guess we are in for the long haul. I suppose I should buy some boots this year since Americans make allowances for sasquatch people among them. I just hope I don't have too many more terrifying moments where I think I have to go knock doors...

Festival of Trees

2009-12-07T14:48:00.005-07:00

Thursday last week, I dragged Mason to The Festival of Trees. I never seem to hear about things that are going on in the community. I suppose that is the result of "hermitage" but we'll never know. Anyway, my friend informed me that there was a tree donated in honor of his brother. So, I really wanted to see it. I just have to say that I cannot believe that I have never been to the Festival of Trees! I went once when my sister played the piano but I didn't really know what the event was for. All of the trees are donated, decorated, and then sold. Entry to the festival is $4. All proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital. I was an emotional basket case. I couldn't help but cry when I saw pictures of those for whom the trees were donated. Mostly they were or had been patients of the hospital. I love Primary Children's. I love the statues and the art. I love that it is a place especially for kids.

This was my favorite tree. It was called "On the Reef" or something like that. It is made of rocks with sticks connecting it. It was so amazing! It would have been even cooler if they had turned it into a fountain... But I think that would have been going a little overboard.
Mason was scared of the Grinch tree with the large Grinch. I told him it wasn't real, but sometimes there is no convincing that boy of anything. I tell you what.

I am grateful that there are so many people who are willing to volunteer their time and donate to such a wonderful cause. I think next year I will have to venture out and figure out where to sign up to volunteer.

From the Brink of Death

2009-12-03T10:53:00.005-07:00

This is my office plant. I inherited it when I started working here a year and one month ago today. Thats the longest I have consecutively held the same job. But never fear, I was a student before then and a meanderer moving from place to place. So I had a reason. Anyway, this first picture is of one of the three depraved nubs that made up the office plant when I arrived. As you can see, this one hasn't really recovered. It keeps growing more little nubs. I found it dry as a bone and on "the brink of death."
I'm a little bit weird. I feel bad for plants. When trees are cut down, it makes me sad. (We have a fake Christmas tree). I really hate forest fires because all the plants die.
So when I saw the condition of my poor little inherited office plant, I had to start operation plant revival. Ok, so all I did was water it and set it by the window so it could enjoy the limited sunlight. But look at it now! It's a little champ! AND it has four blossoms. Blossoms! It's nice to know that my plant revival and the recyling I am doing at work is making my office a little more green. And now we won't be labeled office plant killers.

I'm not sure how to make it stop leaning so much. "Lucy, is this guy bothering you? It looks like he is leaning." I rotate it so the sun hits different parts. Meh, I dunno.

The Shunning

2009-12-03T09:08:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago, my bishop got up to make an announcement. He started off by talking about how when the ward went to Nauvoo last year, they also visited Amish country. Apparently, they have a custom of "shunning" when someone has done something wrong. That person is singled out in the congregation and everyone else is to "shun" them until punishment is satisfactory. Well, he and his wife had been in the airport returning home when his wife picked her sunglasses up off the register counter and put them in her purse. When she arrived home, she realized that said sunglasses were, in fact, mistakenly stolen. His announcement was that we all needed to shun her until the meeting was over.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T14:37:00.002-07:00

I blew out of town on Wednesday last week and didn't do a proper Thanksgiving post. So I will do it now. I am thankful for:

My relationship with my Father in Heaven, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
My parents. All four of them. I have four of the best role models I could ever ask for.
My brothers and sisters. I have the most fun with them and some of the most important experiences with them.
Temples. I love going to the temple every week.
My friends. I have AMAZING friends.
The memories I have of my mission. The experiences I had and the people I met there have changed me forever.
My health. I didn't realize before this year how thankful I am to be healthy as a horse!
That I have a job.
My car, Beyonce.
Bandaids.
Duct tape.

Jordan and Miranda's Wedding

2009-11-24T13:20:00.008-07:00

Jordan and Miranda-Jayne got married on Saturday, November 21. Talk about a gorgeous day! The weather was absolutely perfect. We had tons of family in from all over the western states. Jordan has always been one who focuses on his relationships with people. Especially family. He jsut cares so much about family.

Jordan joined me at BYU for my last semester. We had always been close, but he really became my best friend during that time. Since then, we have stayed super tight. I am so happy that he has met his sweetheart and has started his own family.

The wedding was beautiful. They were sealed in the east sealing room in the Saint George temple. He is the fourth generation to get married in that room. It was packed. There were 100 people in all. It was the coolest. Although it was squishy, it was nice to see so many people there whom I love, and with whom Jordan has kept in close contact. It was what I want heaven to be like. Jordan and MJ looked so happy. Perfectly happy.

Coming out of the temple. They looked absolutely amazing.

The parents of the newlyweds

With Jordan's family

Perfectly candid shots just tickle my funny bone. So many great things about this picture.

With my best bud Jordy-Pants.

The luncheon was delicious, the reception was beautiful, and it was a great party. Congratulations you guys!!

Ice Age III

2009-11-24T13:14:00.003-07:00

I promised my little sister I would spend Monday evening with her watching a movie. We ended up going to the sticky shoe, more commonly known as the dollar theater, to see Harry Potter VI(which I loved). Well, we waltzed into the theater and realized that it had started at 6:10 and not 7:15 as it was listed on the internet. Sad! So we went to see what else was playing. Since Ice Age was the only movie playing that was really suitable for kids, we went to that one. Worst movie ever. I think it ranks up there with Land Before Time XIV. Yeah. I think my sisters enjoyed it though, so I guess it was worth it. But don't go see it!

New Moon

2009-11-24T13:13:00.005-07:00

So here is another post where I admit I joined the club and was one of the crazy women in America. I went to see New Moon. The 12:01 showing. The night it came out. I just have to say that it was awesome. So much better than Twilight. And it made me waffle from Team Edward. I mean, that Jacob guy is just so freakin cute. There is the cougar in me coming out again... But seriously. Hottie. Movies will always better when they are made with more money and a director that can actually direct. Sure the acting still isn't great, but at least the effects are better. And I will have to add pictures later. For some reason my computer is throwing a tantrum and won't let me do it right now.

Bloggity blog

2009-11-12T11:12:00.003-07:00

I have been told that my blog is ugly and that it needs revamping. Well not ugly, persay, but un-interesting looking. This post is just to say that I am too lazy to change it. So there.

A Scene From a Holiday Commercial

2009-11-12T11:06:00.004-07:00

I drove down to my brother's house in Cedar Hills last night. When I walked up to the door, I saw the sweetest thing in the world. It was like there should have been a camera crew on this room. Picture this. Alan was sitting on the couch talking to my sister Marilyn. Jenny was sitting on the couch just opposite with my little buddy sitting in her lap and she was reading to him. It just melted my little heart! After taking in the scene I tapped on the glass and Jared jumped down from Jenny's lap and ran over to see me through the window. He had the biggest grin on his little face. When Jenny or Alan ask him who loves him, he answers "Amahnda" (I love how he says my name). I love being the favorite Aunt ;)

Hobbies

2009-11-10T13:40:00.004-07:00

I had my brother as a captive conversationalist on Saturday on our way to a top secret photo shoot to surprise my un-surprise-able mother. My Mamo is one of those people who will tell you she likes something, like she is hinting that you should get it for her for her upcoming birthday, or Christmas, or Mother's Day, and the next thing you know, it's sitting in her front room complete with lighting and placard. She's a difficult woman to shop for. So, I decided that we kids could update the photos she has up on her wall. So, I got one of my high school besties, Lesley to take some photos of us. You can find her work here. She's fantastic, really. I really love her style. I couldn't stop laughing while we were with her, except for when she told me not to, because I am good at doing what I am told. Anyway, I thought it was a really thoughtful gift, and a good idea for you people out there who have un-surprise-able people in your life. And if you use my idea, you should use Lesley too. You will love her.

Anyway, back to the captive. We were talking about hobbies. It seems like everybody has a "thing." Like music, or photography, or skiing, or soccer, or cooking, or gaming, or Bunko, or book clubs, or myriads of other "things." We were trying to figure out what our "things" were. Turns out, we don't have one. When people ask us what we like to do, it's hard to say. We like games occasionally. We like sports events occasionally. We like hiking occasionally. But what we really love is doing things with people we love. It doesn't really matter what it is - watching basketball, doing crafts, sitting there doing nothing. Doesn't matter. We thrive on our time with people we love. That's our "thing," I guess. And it's a little weird and can be maddening for some people. But that is just who we are. I'm glad Spencer is like that. I think that is why we have gotten along so well for our whole lives. I'm glad that is something he can't really change in himself either. I wouldn't want him to change it for all the rice in China. And there is a lot of rice in China!

The Chickens are Restless

2009-11-09T11:32:00.003-07:00

I realize I didn't post anything from Halloween. But we had a great time. Check out Alana's blog for details. It was by far our best party and photo-op ever. You will find it here. And you all have Lauren to thank to have just a word to click on and not the whole link! Thanks Lauren!!

Bangs.

2009-11-06T10:56:00.003-07:00

I got my hair cut by my fabulous hair dresser sister Alana. I just got a trim but then added some layers so I wouldn't have hippie hair anymore. Umm, pretty sure my hair feels super short. Like pixie short. But it is still like ten feet long. Weird. And I got my bangs trimmed. I decided that I am a girl who definitely needs bangs. I feel like a new woman.