The Attitude of Gratitude

A Very Sick Me

2012-02-01T17:30:00.001-07:00

You know that I'm REALLY sick when I don't go to work. But, you REALLY know that I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sick when I go to Urgent Care and don't go to work for three days. Considering the weekend, I've been sick now for five days. I have severe bronchitis. I've been running a fever for four days now. I've done breathing treatments, taken antibiotics, and am faithfully using an inhaler. It doesn't seem to be getting much better though. I lay on the sofa or in bed the whole time. I have no energy to do anything more than get up to go to the bathroom. I've hardly eaten anything since Sunday. I just don't have the energy to make anything and Melon Man is sleeping all day so he can't make it for me. I sleep off and on...until the coughing wakes me up. I hope things will improve soon. I can only imagine how much work is waiting for me, but there is just no way I could even handle going in right now.

Another Room Update

2012-01-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

It seems that the only updates I've been posting lately are about the Scrapboffice. Well, that's because that and work are about the only things that are going on. Work has been really busy and so about the only thing I have time for in the off time IS the Scrapboffice. I can do little bits here and there in the short amounts of time I may have.

So far, I have installed both the sewing machine and CPU cabinets, 3 of the 5 five drawer cabinets, and both small countertops. Melon Man has put together all of the lower cabinets and one of the 9 drawer cabinets. He still has another 9 drawer cabinet, the 1x5, and the two 2x4 units to do. In order to put anymore countertops in right now, I have to unload one more cabinet and move it out of the room. It's got all of my 8-1/2x11 cardstock in it. That stuff will be going into the monster and. some of the monster stuff will be going into the 2x4s or 1x5. The cabinet will be going into guestroom. Once that cabinet is out of the scrapboffice, I can put in the final two lower cabinets and the rest of the countertops. Then, I can put the upper units in and then just finish organizing everything.

Too bad, though, that I have been sick all weekend. I haven't been able to accomplish anything else. I think I either have bronchitis or bronchial pneumonia. The hacking is horrible and when I breathe there is a horrible weazing sound on my left side. I don't have pain, but I am just exhausted. I slept until 11 on Sunday, then dozed off and on all afternoon and evening. This morning, I had every intention of going to work, but my body did not agree and I've been home all day in bed or on the sofa. My butt, hips, and back are all so sore from sitting or laying. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and can go to work. It's one thing to be off and be able to do things that need to be done...it's another when all you can do is just lay around and do nothing.

First Countertop and Cabinet are In!

2012-01-21T21:46:00.004-07:00

Today I made the curtain for the window in the new Scrapboffice. I tried stuffing it to give it some poof and I decided I didn't like it. So then, I took the stuffing out and I still did't like it. I think it had too much stuffing the first time, so I'll try it again with just a light amount of stuffing/poof and see how I like it then. I also got the first countertop installed and in place along with one of the 5 drawer cabinets. Melon Man put together the CPU cabinet for me today as well as the other cabinet like that one. I actually may change up the order of the cabinets again now and use that one for my sewing machine since it would be siting slightly under a corner and would be easier to get in and out of versus if I put a 5 drawer one there instead. I guess I'll decide this week sometime for sure.

No pictures today...too tired and still need to do my lesson and the bulletin. We're making progress though! I hope we can get it all put together and installed by next weekend!

More Progress on the Room

2012-01-16T01:53:00.001-07:00

Since today was a holiday, I got to stay home and work in the room! So, I had this grand plan and now it's changed. Remember the tilt bins? Remember....they were supposed to go to the right of the monster? Yeah, well, the more I thought about it, the more I came to the realization that they couldn't go there. With the countertops going in at that area, I would have to raise them higher than they already are to accommodate the countertops. That, then, would mean when reaching over the countertops to get something out of the bins, I wouldn't be able to reach anything near the top at all. So, plan B...swap the tilt bins and the peg board. It makes more sense anyway...I wanted to put my sewing stuff closer and within reach of the sewing machine and now I can put spools of thread on the peg board since it will be right there. Yay! So this is the way the room shaped up today:

I moved the peg board to its new home. I think I will really like it here. I then took down the tilt bins so I could move them to where the peg board was...on the diagonal wall as one enters the room. That was fun...not. There are 144 of them. Luckily, they all hook together and I had only screwed about 8 of them into the wall...but, I did have to take them apart into chunks of about 36 so it was easier to handle them and all the contents didn't fall out onto the floor. Plus, I was really smart when I put them up the first time...I put clear packing tape across them on the back to ensure they stayed together!

This is what the tilt bin wall looked like after I took them all down -
dust lines all over the wall. How on earth does that happen?
I mean, really, they just hung there. They have really
hardly been touched in what, 3+ years? How, how, how????
Luckily, I was smart on the choice of paint I used in this room and can
wash it off with a little soap and water or a magic eraser. Love those!

Next, I installed the tilt bins on the diagonal wall. I LOVE them here! They
only stick out about 2 inches, unlike the stuff that was/is on the peg board.
That should help with being able to not have to cut 12 inches off of the
countertop on this side of the room. After I got all of the bins installed,
I decided that I needed to reorganize them. When they were on the
other wall, they were 9 bins across. To fit on this wall, I had to make them
only 8 bins across, which then made the whole thing 2 rows longer.
That, then, through off the whole organization pattern. Yes, if you haven't
noticed yet, I like everything in rainbow order....cardstock, flowers and brads,
my clothes, everything. This part of the work today took FOR-EV-ER. One
other thing I did differently is the way the bottles of flowers on the top are
lined up. There were part of a "Flowers by the Month" series. In this picture,
they are organized by month. But previously, they were all organized by color -
again, rainbow order. I can't decide which way I like better. I'm leaning
toward rainbow order, I think...

So, this is what the room likes like now. Yes, a mess. I need to move all that remaining crap either out of the room or over to the other side of the room in front of the closet/monster so I can get in to take those curtains down and put the new ones up that I will be making.

And finally, this is what the hallway is looking like right now...Melon Man put 3
of the 5-drawer cabinets together today...with no potty words! I was proud of
him and happy with him for doing this for me. He's been really quite supportive
and helpful with this massive undertaking...except the cost part when we were at
Ikea. But, he ended up being okay with it (I think) because he knows we were
able to pay cash for all of it due to saving for it.

So, that is what progress we made on the room today. It's coming along, slowly because of limited time during the week to work on it, but it IS coming along. I hope to get to work on it this week, but I don't think that will happen - it will probably be a weekend project again. I have to still sew the new curtains and move all that stuff in front of the window before the major magic happens. I can't wait to move all the office stuff in there though and have both rooms in one. Then, we will finally get to work on turning the old office into an actual guest room again! I'm really excited for that one too. I plan on taking down the crappy chair rail I installed a few years back and putting in board and batten...like this...

I will paint over the red paint we have on the lower part of the wall and then install this, keeping the light yellow faux finish paint above. I think this will open up the room and make it feel larger and timeless. I can't wait to have a guest room again! Hint, hint, family...that means y'all can come see us again.

So, that's it for today's update on the room progress. We'll see what this week holds for getting more done...

The Demo Begins

2012-01-14T00:48:00.061-07:00

Well...it's begun! I started working on our new Scrapboffice this weekend - after another trip to Ikea on Saturday. Friday night I started thinking about the countertops and realized that I'd miscalculated something and gotten too short of a piece of countertop. Crap. I thought I was going to have to take back a short piece and just get a longer one, but then after some recalculations, I realized I needed a whole additional piece. Drat. Oh well. I also realized that by missing that piece, I now needed one additional lower drawer cabinet. So, after a quick breakfast at the Coral, off we went again to Ikea.

We knew right where to go this time so in we went, grabbed the goods, paid, loaded, and were on our way home. Melon Man helped by moving a lot of the stuff from the Scrapbook Room into the office, got the farmhouse table legs off the table so we could get it out of the room (we gave it to Derek and Bria), and then went to bed. I don't blame him - if I were a husband/guy too, I would have done the same thing. Don't get in the way when a woman is doing something like this. Just nod, say yes, and help by hauling/moving stuff. Keeps her happy, keeps him happy, and all is well with the world.

So, at that point, I went into the room and took everything off the "monster." Remember this picture? That's the monster - all 208 pounds of it - when EMPTY.

After I took everything off of it, I moved it to the other side of the room into its new home - all by myself. It was truly HEAVY. But, I did it. Then, I began the daunting task of putting everything back on it! Yeah, not fun. Sure, I know how to do rainbow order again for the cardstock, but everything else? Yeah, didn't remember how it was originally, didn't like how it was originally, and wanted to make it better. So, I spent time reorganizing it...fully knowing that once all the drawers are in the room, this surely could change again!

Here are pictures of how the room went down today...

The table is gone to a good, new home. All the stuff on it, around it, and under it is now in the office.

It is January...and I had the window open! I can barely wait to be able to sit in front of this window and just stare at the outside world! Look...not a whole lot of stuff left in here. The monster is still off to the right side of the room though - full.

See, a lot of the "stuff" was moved into the soon-to-be ex-office/new guest room.

Now the "monster" is gone ... moved to the other side of the room. The edges of
the carpet are so dusty and have dead bugs that need to be vacummed up. See
that clock - I made that for a Relief Society project some time in the last 7 years.
Why's it not hanging on the wall somewhere in the house? I don't know...just isn't.
I want to find a good spot for it now after seeing it again (it was on top of the monster).

Most of the "stuff" from the monster is now added to this pile.

And here is the monster shortly after I moved it and put a few things back on it.

Next up...relocating the tilt bins from the current wall to the wall just to the right of the monster - yes, I plan on moving them just about 2 to 3 feet from where they are currently. I know...lame-o. But, that's just the way it has to be to make everything work out right.

Cancer Sucks

2012-01-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

First, Taylor. Now, another family member. Cancer sucks and you don't realize how awful it is until it's part of your daily life and hits your own family. Luckily, and through the grace of our Heavenly Father, good doctors, and a spirit and fire that says "Cancer Fears Me", our Taylor is still with us and hopefully will be for many, many more years. However, the prognosis is not so good for a cousin's husband.

A couple weeks ago, I was reading the blog of a famous friend of mine who also happens to be the sister of the husband of my cousin. That small connection, along with an almost scary stalker-like addiction (not really, but Mr. Spock probably thought it was that bad), connected us to where this famous friend actually came to my home a few years ago and painted a saying on my kitchen wall for me and ate our family's famous tacos with us. Since then, we see each other here and there periodically around town, and I keep up on her blog to read her happy, inspiring thoughts and see what great things she has going on in her life. However, when I read her blog that one single day, she mentioned how busy life had gotten recently and how a close family member has Stage 4 colonrectal cancer. As she so eloquently put it....Stage stinking 4.

I know what Stage 4 means. It's not good. At all. She didn't mention who it was, but I had a pit in my stomach that I tried to turn away. It disappeared for a couple of days, but it kept drawing me back to look to see if she'd posted anything else. Nope. Just happy stuff. That's the way she is. But, then, last night, as I was laying in bed doing stuff on my iPad before falling off to sleep, I had a thought to go to Facebook for some reason - which, if anyone knows me, is not my thing. But I went there, and sure enough, there were posts from my cousins confirming that it was, indeed, my cousin's husband. What a horrible thing. At least with Taylor's cancer, the prognosis was fairly positive. But this one...again, it's stage stinking 4.

It's things like this that make me love my husband more, love my family more, forgive others for things they've done to me, make me apologize for things I've done, and just try to be happy with the good things I have in my life.

Four or Five Hours of Work for 15 Minutes of Hopeful Benefit

2012-01-08T20:38:00.064-07:00

Someone asked me a few months ago how much time I spend on my lessons each week for my Laurels class. I replied at least 4-5 hours, sometimes more, depending on the lesson. That's just reading the lesson, planning out how I want to present it, finding the right video or picture, sometimes creating a handout, or such, but mostly preparing exactly what I want to cover. They then commented about how they spend about 30 minutes or so for their lessons. It really made me think...is it really worth it to spend that much time on a lesson that is over and done with so quickly?

Today's lesson was really the kicker to that question. We've had some changes in Young Women lately which meant testimony time at the beginning and then Q&A from the girls, so I only ended up with about 15 minutes for my lesson that I'd spent at least 4 hours preparing for last night. It was on Jesus Christ, Our Savior and the importance of the Atonement in our lives. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get across to the girls the important things that I felt they needed to know from the lesson in such a short amount of time.

I pray every time I teach these girls that they will feel the Spirit touch their hearts and minds somehow - that they will feel the Savior's love for them, that they will feel my love for them, and that they will follow the commandments and make wise choices in their lives. I prayed this time that I would be able to get across to them in just 15 minutes, what the Savior did for us and that because of the Atonement, we can return to be with Him someday, that we do not need to feel alone in our trials in this life, that He is with us. It was a short lesson, but so worth it. I had the YW President read the following account by Orson F. Whitney:

“Then came a marvelous manifestation, an admonition from a higher Source, one impossible to ignore. It was a dream, or a vision in a dream, as I lay upon my bed in the little town of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

I then shared a few more thoughts with them and then we watched this video of the talk President Holland gave a couple of years ago during General Conference that fell on Easter and is one of my most absolute favorite talks EVER:

I was crying as it finished up. I could feel the Spirit very strongly and I think the girls did too. Their body language and demeanor had changed from their normal passive to more reverent and humble. I bore my testimony and closed the class with prayer. I've begun a new habit with the girls - I give each one of them a meaningful hug as they leave class - if they are interested - to let them know I love them and I wish them a good week. Today was the first day ALL of them opted for a hug. I was so pleasantly surprised. I walked out of the church today with a feeling that maybe, just maybe, something I said, did, or showed touched their hearts and will help them along their journey in this life. So, I guess the time I spent preparing yesterday, really was all worth it even though I only got 15 minutes to share it.

A Tale of Two Weddings

2012-01-07T20:37:00.085-07:00

Melon Man and I met Linda and Dave at The Place for breakfast this morning. Such good times with our friends...love being able to spend time with them in such a fun, new tradition.

After breakfast, Melon Man and I headed to Walmart to go order our new glasses. I ended up needing progressives again (I'd quit wearing them about 2 years ago) and unfortunately cost-wise, I needed new frames because the new lenses with the progressives would not fit into my current frames. However, I wasn't willing to pay what they cost at the eye doctor's place so we decided to try Wally's. While there, Melon Man decided he'd like separate sunglasses for when he drives, etc. rather than the transitions, so we got him some of those too. All told, $429 later, we were outta there. I thought that was actually pretty good for three pair of glasses, including new frames on two of them, with anti-glare, anti-scratch, progressives for both of us, and transitions for me.

Next, we headed to AutoZone for new windshield wipers for my truck...finally. Yes! My windshield actually gets clean now when I wipe it!

Finally, we headed home so I could do my lesson and the bulletin before we headed off to the wedding reception for the ~~boy~~ young man who ~~does~~ did (?) our yard. I can't believe the 15 year old who did our yard is now 21/22 and is married. Where did that time go? It was such a nice little reception and so many people there! Great snacky foods!

As I stood in line waiting to congratulate them, I reflected back on what else this day held. Today my baby sister got remarried. I don't know her husband at all. I've never met him. We weren't invited to the wedding. Nobody from our family was invited. She was married at the courthouse in Las Vegas. It was just so sad to me - all of it. Although I wasn't happy that they chose to be married by a judge rather than a leader in our church and of our faith who could give them counsel and guidance to help make their marriage work and last, it hurt even worse that they chose to exclude every single person in the family - both families. While her husband's family may be okay with that, our family just struggled to understand why. I even cancelled Holly from coming today and had a backup plan for church tomorrow just in case she called at the last minute and asked us to drive to Las Vegas to be with her. I would have done it in a heartbeat and I told her that yesterday when I called to wish her well. But, she never called. My heart has been so sad all day. It is an experience that we missed and will never get to share with them. I wonder if someone at least took a picture of them.

After the reception, we went and got some dinner then headed home. We went to bed pretty quickly and after some ....you know...., I was laying there thinking again about the events of the day. Here Melon Man and I had just....you know....and I was thinking about how Julie and Rich were probably .... you know.... and Derek and Bria were definitely.... you know..... all about the same time. I thought about how sweet, innocent, and tender it was for the young newlyweds since it likely was the first time for both of them. Then, I thought about how it was likely going for Julie and Rich - exploratory because it was hopefully new for them as well, but more passionate because they've both been with another before so they already knew what they were doing. Then, I thought about Melon Man and me and how it was more "routine" for us - still good, but routine, not the fire and spark of new romance.

It just made me think. And I was sad again that I couldn't share this special day (not night!) with my sister. Oh well. It's over. Move on.

Pet Peeves

2012-01-03T06:50:00.002-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about a couple of things that kind of "bug" me...

People not knowing the difference between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time designations
There are two time designations that we use in the U.S. - Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time. First, I'll just say...it is Daylight SAVING Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.

What really bugs me though is when people don't understand when to use the designations for Daylight Saving Time. So, here is a quick lesson. Let's say you live in New York. That is the Eastern time zone. In March, we change from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time. So, 4 p.m. goes from EST, which stands for Eastern Standard Time to EDT which is Eastern Daylight Time. The same thing happens across the other time zones in the U.S. In November, when we change from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard time, New York goes from EDT to EST. Now...here's a little monkey wrench to throw at you...here in Arizona, we don't observe Daylight Saving Time. So, since we're in the Mountain time zone, we are always MST (Mountain Standard Time). Other parts of the Mountain time zone, like Utah, do change to MDT in the summer, but we don't. So to avoid confusion with people who don't really understand time zone designations, often we in Arizona say we're on PDT - Pacific Daylight Time - because in the summer, Arizona is actually the same time as California and the other Pacific time zone states.

Using "I" instead of "me"
Let's say you're posting a picture of you and a friend. It's incorrect to say "Susie and I" as the caption. The appropriate caption is "Susie and me". Think of it this way...if you were just saying it was you in the picture, would you just say "I" as the caption? No, you'd say "Me". Now, if you want to say "Susie and I went to the store", that is fine because you would still say "I went to the store" if it was only you that went. Easy, huh!?

Using "she" vs "her" and "he" vs "him"
Same thing goes for this one...you should say "She and I went to the store" versus "Her and I went to the store." You wouldn't say "Her went to the store", but you would say "She went to the store".

Not knowing the difference between to, too, and two
To - usually part of a verb/action or a destination - I went to the store.
Too - in addition to something - He went to the store too.
Two - quantity - We bought two apples at the store.

Not knowing the difference between their, there, and they're
Their - possessive - Their dog barked.
There - location - We had never been there before.
They're - a contraction for they are - They're moving over there.

People who think they are above everyone else and use the carpool lane without a second person in the vehicle.
Seriously? What makes them better than you or me? Sure, if they have a special plate that allows them to drive in the carpool lane with only one person, then fine, I'm cool with that. But, if someone drives in the carpool lane just because they're in a hurry and the regular lanes are backed up - well, that is just wrong.

Okay, I got all of that off my chest. Whew...

Oh wait one more....it's Voila! Not wa-la. I hear this all the time! Makes my skin crawl.

Okay, done. Rant over.

New Year's Observation Day

2012-01-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

As I've been thinking about the new scrapboffice and the new layout, cubbies, and drawers, I realized I made a miscalculation on the countertops! Drat. Good thing they aren't cut to order! Actually, it wasn't a bad mistake at all. I just needed to go get another piece of countertop that was 6 feet long. It would have been perfect if they'd had 9 or 10 foot long pieces since I need a piece 9 feet long, but they only come in 4, 6, or 8 feet so it will just have to be a 4 foot piece and a 6 foot piece cut down to 5 feet. Oh well. So, off to Ikea we went again today. Also, since there needed to be really good support under that seam, we had to buy another 5 drawer set. So, we got those things, loaded up and headed back home so Melon Man could sleep before going to work tonight.

On the way home though, we stopped at a new burger place in our little town...Five Guys Burgers and Fries. HOLY MOLEY. Expensive! It was $28 for the two of us! I got a cheeseburger, Melon Man got a Bacon Cheeseburger, a regular Cajun fries, a large regular fries, and two large drinks. The burgers WERE really good. Not so keen on the fries though - and there were SO MANY - way too many fries. There were enough fries for like six people. We wished they'd had onion rings. Those would have been better.

The thing that really got my attention though was this soda machine...

It was AWESOME! It had something like 30 flavors in it and many in diet version. It even had 6 or 7 diet Fanta flavors! You just select one of the main buttons, then a new screen pops up and it shows you all the versions they have of that soda. We loved that they have diet Root Beer. The ONLY thing that would have made this machine better would have been if it would have ALSO had Pepsi products!

I could go there for just a drink...sit outside in the nice weather, read a book, drink multiple flavors of soda, call it good. Oh...and maybe try a hotdog. They have those too.

New Year's Day Doings

2012-01-01T20:27:00.002-07:00

Today is the first day of 2012. Got up, went to church. Don't like the new time - 11 a.m. Oh well. Came home, made a small prime rib roast and had a friend from church over for dinner. That was it. Nothing major. Off to bed.

The Last Day of 2011...

2011-12-31T20:31:00.001-07:00

Melon Man and I got out the door this morning about 8:45. We headed to The Coral for breakfast, then off to Tempe we went to go to Ikea ("Ikea: Swedish for Crap" --Melon Man) to get the stuff for the new scrapboffice (say it: scra-boff-iis).

We got a good parking spot - hallelujah - other wise it's a hike in and then back out again - and we proceeded inside. I knew I had a limited amount of time in the store before ornery Melon Man would rear his ugly head, so I tried to be prepared before we went. I knew exactly how many Expedit 2x4s and 1x5s we would need, along with how many Alex 5 and 9 drawer cabinets, and storage cabinets we would need. That would surely save some time, right? Wrong. Upon walking into the store, I immediately remembered why I really don't like GOING to Ikea...it's huge, they force you to walk every dang department by "flowing" you through the store, and you have to load everything onto your cart yourself and that stuff is HEAVY!

I told the girl at the entrance, "I know exactly what I want, just help me get to the spot where the boxes are." Well, she explained we'd need to go upstairs to the showroom first, find the items we were looking for, get the aisle and bin numbers, write them on the back of the "map", and then head down to the boxed items area. Great.

So, we headed upstairs. I found a couple of the items, in black and birch, not white, of course, which I needed, but I wrote the locations down anyway hoping the white wouldn't be far from the black or birch downstairs. Then, we mozied to find the restrooms and Melon Man wanted some swedish meatballs. So he went to their restaurant and got some and got me some water. We sat and talked, worked out some calculations for the countertops, I got up and went and actually looked at the countertops - glad I did - I would have ended up getting a different one that I wouldn't have liked as much if I hadn't. I decided against the table tops which were much cheaper than the countertops, but I really think the extra investment in the countertops will be worth it. I found the chairs I'm going to get for the room as well, but I knew it will take a while to get the room put together so I decided not to get them today.

Here's a storyboard of the actual items we'll be putting into the room:

At first, I was going to do the "metal effect" countertops, but once I saw it against the "mineral effect," I knew I had to change my mind. They just looked so much nicer!

So, we headed down and found all of our boxes, paid (with Melon Man asking how much all of this was costing - I'd already told him a couple days ago but without the cost of the countertops and tax), waited for the countertops to be pulled, and then Melon Man went to get the truck. The dudes at Ikea loaded everything into the truck for us, Melon Man tied it all down, and off we went, heading for home.

When we got home, I offered to pay some young men from the ward to unload it all for us, but Melon Man didn't want to fork out the money so we were going to do it all. Luckily, our neighbor pulled in just as we were getting started and she went and asked her hubby to help us. Lickety split, 1-2-3, Melon Man and Rosey were done. I carried the countertop legs. Big whoop, I know. Now, our living room looks like this:

So, now on Monday, I will begin the fun task of relocating a bunch of stuff from the scrapbook room into the office (um yeah, where?) so we can move the monster over to the other wall. Also...I have to take one of the countertop pieces back to Ikea on Monday - I should have gotten 2 large pieces and 1 small but I ended up getting the reverse - 2 small and 1 large. Drat.

I plan on working on the room a little each day so I can get it done as soon as possible. My goal, work and church calling needs dependent, is to get it all changed over by the end of January. Luckily, we have another holiday coming up soon so that will be a 3 day weekend and I think I'll take an extra day either Friday or Monday to make it a 4 day-er so I can get a lot done and meet the goal!

Today is New Year's Eve. Everyone in our "group" is doing their own thing. At first, I was sad that nobody wanted to come over to BBQ and play games like I'd suggested. But after everything today, I'm content just doing nothing. It's almost 8:30 p.m. and I'm going to go wake Melon Man up and suggest we go get pizza and wings. Then I'll do the program for church and go to bed.

Before I close out this year, I want to record our food storage progress again like I did the last couple of years. I feel so blessed for following the counsel of our leaders and being able to do this. This is what we were able to procure this year:

6 Grain Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Alta Artisan Unbleached Flour - 100 lb
Asian Beef Teriyaki - 1 #10 Can
Baking Soda - 1 - #10 Can
Banana Chips - 1 - #10 Can
Broccoli Cheese Soup - 1 - #10 Can
Buttermilk Biscuit Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Buttermilk Pancake Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Canned Chicken - 12 - 10 oz Cans
Chicken Fettucine Alfredo - 1 - #10 Can
Chili Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Corn Meal - 1 - #10 Can
Cream of Chicken Soup Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Creamy Potato Cheese Soup - 1 - #10 Can
Dehydrated Carrots - 1 - #10 Can
Deyhdrated Refried Beans - 2 - #10 Cans
Freeze-Dried Asparagus - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Bell Peppers - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Broccoli - 4 - #10 Cans
Freeze-Dried Celery - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Cheddar Cheese - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Corn - 3 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Monterrey Jack Cheese - 2 - #10 Cans
Freeze-Dried Mozzarella Cheese - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Mushrooms - 2 - #10 Cans
Freeze-Dried Strawberries - 1 - #10 Can
Freeze-Dried Zucchini - 2 - #10 Cans
Gelatin - Lime - 1 - #10 Can
Gelatin - Strawberry - 1 - #10 Can
Lawry's Seasoned Salt - 3 Large Bottles
Margarine Powder - 2 - #10 Cans
Mushrooms - 24 - 8 oz Cans
Mustard - 24 - Large Bottles
Orange Chicken Teriyaki - 1 - #10 Can
Peach Delight - 1 - #10 Can
Pepperoni - 1 - #10 Can
Pinto Beans - 1 - #10 Can
Potato Cheese Soup - 1 - #10 Can
Powdered Instant Milk - 5 - #10 Cans
Powdered Peanut Butter - 1- #10 Can
Powdered Shortening - 3 - #10 Cans
Ramen - 48 packages
Rancher Freeze-Dried Scrambled Eggs - 1 - #10 Can
SAF Instant Yeast - 2 - 1 lb Bags
Sausage TVP - 1 - #10 Can
Scone Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Scrambled Egg Mix - 3 - #10 Cans
Shirley J Pizza/Pasta Seasoning - 2 - 8 oz Containers
Shirley J Sourdough Bread Mix - 4 lb Bag
Small Can Freeze-Dried Blueberries
Sour Cream Powder - 1 - #10 Can
Sourdough Bread Mix - 1 - #10 Can
Sugar - 25 lbs
Tomato Powder - 3 - #10 Cans
TVP Beef Chunks - 1 - #10 Can
TVP Chicken Chunks - 1 - #10 Can
Water Barrel - 1 - 300 Gallons
Water Barrel - 2 - 100 Gallons Each
Whole Eggs - 5 - #10 Cans

It's been a LONG year. In one way, I'm glad it's over. In another, I can't believe it actually is over and another year is starting. Drat. Oh well. I have some ideas and plans for this year to make it better...not resolutions, but actual goals and plans, in no particular order:

Work less
Get the scrapboffice done
Get the guest room done
Sew the drapes for the living room
Spend quality time with Melon Man
Go to the temple often
Get back on Atkins or South Beach and lose weight
Spend time doing things we/I like to do
Go to San Diego for a mini-vaykay soon...sounds like a nice birthday trip
Be happy

Out with the old me, in with the new, happy me. In the words of President Monson...

Have a positive attitude
Believe in yourself
Face challenges with courage

I know 2012 CAN be a great year. It WILL be a great year. I just have to make changes to make it great!

Scrapbook/Office Update - Literally!

2011-12-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I have been wanting to 1) combine the office and scrapbook room into one room and 2) have a guest room again, for a long time! Since I stopped selling cardstock, etc. about 4 years ago (wow, has it really been that long? Where has the time gone?!?!), I've never gone back to having a guest room. And...we really do need one...for those once a year visits from long lost family you know...

Any who....

So, I've been farting around on Pinterest lately and found this picture (as well as on my friend's blog)...

...along with visiting that same friend's house a while back who has an awesome scrapbook room...see....

...and I've come up with a layout that I hope will work for my scrapbook/office. We'll move the "monster" with all of the cardstock on it to the left side of the room from the right side. That will be fun...not. Then, we'll install upper and lower Expedit and Alex brand cubbies and drawers like in the pictures above, along with the black countertops (black doesn't show stray marker lines, etc.!). I'll move my tilt bins to the location as shown and will have a dedicated section for my sewing machine so I can leave it out all the time! (The gray sections in this first picture are symbolizing the side view of the drawers and cubbies.

This next pic is the window wall view and you can see the cubbies and drawers straight on now. I am very excited to be able to sit and work now right in front of the window and see life happening!

And then, moving around to the right side of the room, more drawers, cubbies, etc., along with the "office" part of the space. In the upper cubbies, I've thought of displaying the old cameras that Melon Man has on shelves in the current office/future guest room, but now that I think about it, I think I'll actually display those on top of the 2x4 Expedit cubbies in the window picture.

I'm so excited to get started on this project! I've decided that 2012 is the year of "Us" and "Me" and not work like it has been for the last 6.5 years. Yes, I'll still be devoted to my company and my work, but not 10-16 hours a day anymore. I need to "find" the happy "Fatty Girl" in me again. She's in there...I can feel her trying to get out! So, off to Ikea we will be going soon to get all this stuff. I can't wait! After this is all done, we'll work on the guest room. Yay!

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T22:00:00.003-07:00

Melon Man and I have a tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve, rather than on Christmas morning. We just like the ambiance of all the soft lights and such. So, last night after all the company left, that's just what we did. We only had a few presents to open so it didn't take long and soon we were in bed...we were really tired.

This morning, we got up and went to church. It was only 70 minutes long and I was playing a piano solo - What Child is This. My first time ever to play in Sacrament meeting! I was so nervous. I really did not want to mess up! Linda came to support me and I was so appreciative of that! I sat there listening to President Ritman's talk and kept fidgeting with my hands. The joints between my finger base and my palm part of my hand have really been bothering me this week. I didn't want them to hurt so bad that I couldn't play so I made sure not to interlock my fingers as that seemed to agitate them. Then, I would want to hold Melon Man's hand, but I had to hold it flat-handed so it, too, did not hurt my fingers. Then, I would hold his hand palm-to-palm but then my hands and fingers would get sweaty and since I didn't want them to stick to the piano keys, that didn't work either. So, then, I wouldn't do anything with them and I was getting nervous so they started getting cold. Couldn't have that! So, I just did the best I could to keep them warm and pain free.

Soon, it was my turn and I walked up to the piano. I silently prayed all the way up there that I would play just fine and that I wouldn't make any mistakes. I sat down and started to play. I felt the nervousness leave my body and I just tried to play it as beautifully as I could. The whole time, I kept telling myself, don't rush, don't rush. When I rush, I make mistakes. I knew I needed to play it "heavier" at certain parts, but I didn't want it to be like pounding or anything. I think it turned out very nice. Yes, I made a couple very small mistakes, but nothing overly noticeable, I hope. Then, when I was done, I sat there while Bro. Baumann scooted on over to the organ bench. He played the introduction for Joy to the World which was our closing hymn and Sister Britton stood up to lead. We both watched her to start us and then all of a sudden, the sound poured forth from both the organ AND the piano and it was beautiful! It was such a special end to a beautiful Christmas Sacrament meeting! I was so honored that Bro. Baumann allowed me to play along with him. He told me he really enjoyed it too and that he'd like to do that again. I would as well! I already looked at the calendar for next Christmas hoping Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, but it doesn't - it's on Monday instead. Drat. Oh well, we can still do it on 12/23 and it will still be fun and lovely. Quite a few people told me how much they loved both my song and the closing hymn. That really meant a lot to me - I often need that self-assurance that comes from those types of comments.

After church was over, Melon Man and I went to Linda and Dave's for brunch. She made a really yummy Christmas morning sausage/egg casserole. I think it's almost like Jen's. It was really good, along with some fresh strawberries and blueberries. We visited for a small bit and then left to come home. We sat around for a bit, I tried setting up my new iPad and found out that it's an AT&T 3G service one instead of Verizon and will need to be taken back, and then we headed to Auntie's to teach her how to burn a CD. Then, it was off to Lisa's for Christmas Day dinner.

She baked her prime rib in her new Nesco roaster and it was super tender. Linda's deviled eggs were divine as were the twice baked potatoes. A bunch of us were not feeling well, so we ended the night early. As we got in the truck to come home, Melon Man noticed the odometer on the truck...

Wow...90,000 miles already. We've had this truck for 6 years - that's 15,000 miles a year. The time has flown by, along with the miles. Thirty-five more miles later we were home and crawling into bed.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a special Christmas Eve tradition that I do all on my own. Yes...I open a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider somewhere around 10 a.m. and start drinking. Not drinking to be "drinking" but drinking to celebrate this special day. I work through the entire bottle as the day goes on and then by evening, I'm so bloated from the gases in it, that I'm full of gas myself. Today was a little different. Because I have to play the piano tomorrow in church, I had to be up and out the door to the store by 7:30 to do our meat shopping, then drop it off at the house after picking up some breakfast for Melon Man too, and then I headed to the church to practice on the piano in the chapel. I was so parched by the time I left there that I stopped off at QT on the way to pick up the bread at the deli and got me a huge Diet Pepsi instead! So...sorry Martinelli...our tradition waned this year.

Another tradition I have is that I eat shrimp cocktail throughout the day as I'm prepping for the evening. It's a protein snack so it's not high in calories, they are tasty little critters, and they are just right for munching.

So this year, I thought I'd take some pictures of the prep work for the food for Christmas Eve. But, once I got done with the platters, I never did take any pictures of the prep work for the Clam Chowder! Oh well. So, here, we have the breads - fresh rye from the deli - it was still warm when I picked it up - and sourdough from the grocery store - it was the last loaf - at 7:30 a.m.! Also in this shot is the big 69 oz can of clams. I get these at ~~Fart and Smile~~ Smart and Final and you get a lot of clams for a lot less than buying individual clams. I think it is $9 or $10 for this can, versus $2 per can for the small cans. And, they are chopped versus minced, so the pieces are bigger, which I really like. (This picture amazingly makes the can look like a can of soup, but it's not)

Soon, it's time to get the meat and cheeses out to make the platters. I usually buy all of the cheese at the Fry's deli counter, along with all of the meat except the pepperoni and salami which I buy at Smart & Final. But this year, I decided to buy everything but the pastrami, roast beef, turkey, and ham at S&F. That was a mistake. The muenster was dry and sharp. The monterey jack was really good though as well as the provolone. The cheddar was just okay. The havarti was stuck together, even with the papers inbetween. Good thing I'd bought just a single pound of good havarti at Fry's for some odd reason. It came in handy when I just about threw the pre-packed stuff across the room in anger.

This was our little cheese platter. Usually I put out a lot more but then I have to put a lot back, so I thought I'd try this amount for the ~~nine~~ eight of us. It ended up being just right. Note to self: next year, just get the cheese at the deli and and get about 8-10 slices of each. Perfect.

This was our meat platter. Pocino brand pepperoni in the center, turkey on the left, then going clockwise, roast beef, Pocino salami, ham, more Pocino salami, and then pastrami. It was all delicious. Nothing like my grandfather's salami! Look at that Martinelli's sneaking into the picture like that...you'd think they were sad because they were left out of the Christmas Eve tradition this year!

So, after all the food platters were made, I made the chowder, showered, and got ready for our guests. Then, I went around and took pictures of everything. This wonderfully blurry picture is of the piano just as you walk in the front door. I still love my little nativity set that someone secretly gave me a couple years ago. It's so simple and perfect. The jar is a gift that a friend from the ward dropped by and has a brownie mix in it. Drat, I wish this picture hadn't turned out blurry. Oh well.

Of course, my little Christmas bird house and snowman. It stays out all year, but only gets the lights turned on at Christmas time. I often think about storing it away during the year, but then never know what to put in this space, so I just leave it there.

This is our new Salt Lake City village set. It's got the Church Administration building, the Lion House and Eagle Gate, the Salt Lake temple, the Tabernacle, and the Assembly Hall. I got it for a smokin' deal this year and couldn't pass it up. I also bought the trees at Michaels for 65% off and added strands of mini-mini Christmas lights to them so they would look like the trees on temple square. I really wanted to put our entire village out this year but 1) I never had time and 2) we had the piano tuned so I couldn't have done it anyway until after that was done. It's so much work that I decided it just wouldn't be out long enough to warrant the effort. So, we just got the downtown SLC village this year - and you know...I kinda really liked it that way.

And this is our lovely freakishly lit Christmas tree this year. Only half of the lights worked when Melon Man first put it up. Why? All of them worked when I put it in the box last year. Drat again. Oh well. After working to fix as many as I could, I finally said "screw it" and wove 2 strands of 100 lights on the tree in the dark areas. Looks like I ran a little short a little toward the top, I guess. Oh well, looks way better than it did.

And finally...the table. This year's "theme" was red, white, and silver. I loved all the candles on the mirror again, along with the light-up branches in the centerpiece I put together. But, I wasn't as thrilled with the overall result as I was last year with the blue, silver, and white. Oh well, this one felt like Christmas because of the red, whereas last year felt cold and wintery.

Everyone was supposed to arrive between 5:30 and 6:00 but folks got there between 6:15 and 6:30. I was fine with that. Gave me a few minutes to get last minute things together like mayonnaise, butter, mustard, bread, water, etc. We ate, visited, Linda kindly did the dishes for me, and then we moved to the living room for our program. Jim hadn't made it for dinner, but he arrived during the program. After the program was over, Melon Man gave every one of the guys their own "Christmas Story" shirt and he wore his Grinch shirt. They were perfect for all of the guys.

By about 11 p.m., everyone had left and Melon Man and I exchanged gifts as is our tradition. We like to do it by the glow of the lights and since we don't have kids that would inevitably get up while it was still dark on Christmas morning, we tend to sleep in and so it's light outside when we get up. So, we opened our gifts before heading to bed. I got Melon Man a kit full of tools and paints, along with a 1:700 scale model of the Edmund Fitzgerald and he got me an iPad2. I was so very excited!! We gave the dogs their gifts too and Dog took his rawhide bone and was running all over with it. Doodles, on the other hand, was mad because he didn't get a bone and he sulked and wouldn't play with any of his toys. Sounds like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning, doesn't it!

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

Today was cleaning day. Holly started around 9:15 or so and I took her home around 1:15. Always nice to have the dog hair and dust gone!

I dropped the Secret Santa gifts off at the Bishop's house on the way home and spent some time visiting with their family. Then, it was back home to stay on schedule. I thought about it today...during the month of December, I always keep a notebook of each day during the month and what has to happen on which days in order to make everything work (ward Christmas party, work, Christmas Eve, shopping, shipping, present making/buying, etc.). Then, as we approach Christmas Eve, the 24-48 hour countdown begins and things go from a daily basis to an hourly basis. As it stands now, I know what time I'll be out the door in the morning to go buy the meats for our Christmas Eve dinner, what time I'll pick up the bread, what time I'll shower, and what time we'll eat, along with a host of other "what time"s there will need to be to make it all go off okay. That's just the kind of freak I am - but it helps keep me on task and on schedule so I'm not exasperated when everyone gets here.

Over the years, I've also learned to make my Clam Chowder in the mid-afternoon rather than when folks are about to arrive or after they've arrived. It just works out better that way. People aren't sitting around waiting to eat, there is no stress of trying to hurry it along, and it actually cools down just enough that it thickens up nicely and doesn't burn your tongue when you attempt to eat it. Sure, I keep it hot enough that it's still safe, but this way works out so much better for me. I remember growing up, we ate so late because Mom usually had to work on Christmas Eve and then come home and make dinner. Even now, I think my family still eats quite late sometimes. We usually eat around 5:30 or 6 p.m. and that works for me.

So, after I dropped off the gifts, I came home and worked on cleaning off the kitchen table so I could set it. And...I made 6 dozen "suicide" cookies for Melon Man to take to work tonight to share. They are SO good. Here's the recipe......

MELON MAN'S SUICIDE COOKIES

1 c margarine or butter
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 c unsifted flour
1-1/3 c assorted chips (chocolate, mint chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, peppermint, toffee, white chocolate - you choose what chips you want - we like these, except maybe the peanut butter)

Blend the margarine and sugars together until creamy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix well. Add chips. Mix well.

Using a 1-1/4 inch round scoop (ice cream scoop, melon baller, whatever), spoon dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake at 375* for 8-10 minutes. Makes approximately 3-1/2 dozen cookies.

You can tell from this picture that this recipe is well used. These cookies taste SO good. The combination of flavors is incredible!

Melon Man was happy when he woke up that the cookies were done and he could take them to share with his friends at work.

I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Where has the time gone? I just barely got the tree decorated and the ladder taken out to the garage today!

Progress

2011-12-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Linda stopped by and did my dishes and cleaned my countertops. So grateful for a friend's help! I worked on the tree and the garlands. I had to string 200 more lights on the tree because I just couldn't quickly fix the other ones that are already on it. I had just started to decorate it when Jen called and reminded me that I forgot to do something I'd promised to help her with her Davis family and neighbor gifts. Drat. So, off I went to the other room to hurry and do that so I could overnight it to her. That was a pricey mistake on my part. Had I remembered to write that promise down on my Christmas To Do List like everything else, I could have just dropped those items in the big box that was going to her house for our family. But...somehow I totally forgot and thus, a package left from the UPS store versus from work and was 3x the cost of what I paid for the huge box the other day. Oh well. Lesson learned.

I got home from that errand and worked on some more decorating. Got the piano decorated with a lighted garland, my secret Santa nativity, and a "presence" plate. Simple, pretty. I still need to finish decorating the tree with all the ornaments. Will it be a tree with a light amount of ornaments this year or will I do all of them in the box so it looks as pretty as last year? We'll see...

In the evening, I put together part of my new Salt Lake City village. I'd had the pieces out on the bar area since I bought it two weeks ago, but I really didn't like it there. So, I went out to the garage to find some white lights and in doing so, found a box with all my village people. I decided to bring them in so I could add them to the village. But, I wasn't holding onto the box very well and part of it opened up and a bunch of my people fell out on the hard concrete floor and broke into pieces. I found 3 of the 5 heads and most of the other pieces, but overall, they were all a loss. Crud. I put the lights on the buffet in the living room, covered it with fluffy pillow filling since I can't find angel hair anywhere (not that I looked anywhere other than Michael's since I haven't had time), and started putting the pieces on. The thing I DON'T like about this set is that it's all battery operated - AND - it uses LED lights so the light inside the pieces is cold, not warm and inviting. But, hopefully the batteries will last a long time that way. I'd also bought some trees to put in the scene, along with some lights for them so it looked like Temple Square, so I unpackaged the trees and strung the lights on the trees, but then I fell asleep on the sofa. Around 3 a.m., I got up and went to bed. So, I guess I get to still to that today, along with finish decorating the tree and get all the crates back out to the garage.

I just ordered our loaf of rye bread from Archie's deli - so good - and tomorrow I will go to the store EARLY - like 6:30 a.m. - to get the final fresh items we need. Tomorrow I will also set the table and it's cleaning day tomorrow too so Holly will be here bright and early to get that done. Ugh...I have to mop the wood floors tomorrow. I detest doing that. It's no fun trying to make sure there are no streaks. That reminds me...I'd better wash down the walkway or all that work will be for naught when everyone arrives on Saturday evening.

I need to practice the piano some more - I'm playing a solo in Church on Sunday. I'm scared to death - but this is something I've wanted to do for a long time, so I've been practicing a lot and my fingers/joints actually hurt from it. I need to go over to the church and practice on the piano in the chapel too - the touch on that piano is very different than our piano here at home.

Somewhere I need to find time to watch "The Nativity Story" movie - it just reminds me so much of why we celebrate this holiday and puts me in the right frame of mind. Maybe late tonight after Melon Man leaves for work...

Another Weekend Update

2011-12-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

Worked a lot this week trying to get a lot done before being out for the holidays.

Still haven't decorated the tree. The lights are still burned out and Melon Man is threatening to decorate it with it the way it is. Can't have that, so I'll be putting a strand or two of regular lights on it to fill in the gaps for now.

Had a beautiful Ward Choir performance in Sacrament meeting today. The second song was sung a capella and it was so perfect. I need to write the choir director a note telling him how beautiful it was...

Finished up the gift for my co-worker. LOVE it. He's from Hawaii and I tried to make this capture very subtle waves in the background. I hope he and his family like it.

Finished all of the family gifts and got them all wrapped and boxed up to be shipped out. Taking them in to work tomorrow to ship.

Gave my lesson in YW today about the best Christmas Gift ever - our Savior. Felt rushed so I don't feel like it came off like I wanted it to.

Helped Linda with her Christmas card labels.

Did the ward bulletin for this week AND for next week.

Marked off a couple of Personal Progress items.

Played the piano - especially since I am playing in Sacrament meeting on Christmas day.

Finished getting the things I needed for Melon Man's gift.

Had lunch with Melon Man at China City. Love their garlic bread. Yes, I said garlic bread - at a Chinese restaurant. It's yum-o-la.

Wrapped Melon Man's gifts - except the one that still has not arrived. Fretting...

Wrapped the secret Santa gifts we have so far. Still have to go shopping for 3 more gifts for that and one other gift.

Didn't do laundry. Didn't do dishes. Didn't clean the house. Didn't get the tree decorated. But...I got a lot of other necessary things done, so that's good...at least it's good enough for now.

Weekend Update with Fatty Girl

2011-12-11T22:28:00.001-07:00

Got up early Saturday to get working on stuff. Cancelled Holly. Just not enough time to pick up around here so she could clean. Melon Man got home from work and made homemade biscuits and gravy - yum. Tree lights still not working. Started working on fixing them, burned my hand - yes - burned it on Christmas tree lights - um, yeah, something's not right there. Piano tuner guy came early. Couldn't do anything with noise while he was here, so came in the office and worked on the program for church. Then worked on my lesson. Melon Man went to bed. Piano guy left. Piano sounds awesome now - needs about $400 worth of action work done. Maybe in a few months. Just put $1000+ in new tires on the truck, had an alignment done, emissions test, and now registration is due. Plus Melon Man needs to have about $1500 worth of work done on his truck. Yay. Dropped into China City in the evening for a quick dinner on our way to chaperone the youth dance. Felt like we had to scarf it down so we could get to the dance. Drove out to the church. Nobody was there. Crap. Felt like inklings of our Mikado to Harrisville to Mikado to Harrisville to Mikado to Harrisville trip last year. Luckily, we found it at the Sarival building and so we went and guarded the hallways and exits for 3 hours. By the time we got home, it was almost midnight. I still had some work to do to finish preparing my lesson for today, so I was up until 2:30 a.m. Then, back up at 6 to wrap up one last thing and get ready. We headed off to church, then came home, ate some quesadillas, Melon Man went to bed, I nodded off at the computer while working on some Christmas present stuff, then Lisa called - thank goodness or else my head might still be bobbing - and I've been sitting here working on it all night. Almost done - hallelujah. Just waiting on something from someone and then have to send some things off to be done so I can pick them up tomorrow after my dentist appointment. Melon Man got up for about an hour and then went to bed again. Dealing with a residual migraine, I think. Yuck.

I'm feeling quite blue tonight. Everyone's doing fun things, enjoying their Christmas trees and decor, Christmas shopping, making goodies, visiting with family, and my house is dark, cold, dirty, and lonely. I don't know when I'm going to get the tree fixed but I'm not putting decorations on it with half lit lights. This week is the long week at work so I'll be working late those nights when I don't have other obligations. Oh let's see...Monday - dentist, Tuesday- work late, Wednesday - Young Women, Thursday - Laser appointment, then come back to work, Friday - maybe leave on time...maybe. So, maybe I can work on the tree more then. But honestly, why even bother putting up the tree and going to all the effort of decorating everything if it's all only going to be up a week? But then again, it probably will take me twice as long to get it down as it's taking me to get it up, so it will probably still be up in April. The grinch has arrived. Welcome. I wondered how long it would take for him to show up...

I'm Home from O-HI-O Again

2011-12-08T22:41:00.006-07:00

Quick update...seems like I have so much to blog and not enough time to do it. So, forgive my short sentences...at least this way I get my thoughts down...

Left on Monday to go to Ohio. Was gone three days for a 5 hour meeting. Two travel days, one meeting day. Sure, we had a short hour meeting also on Wednesday, but it was the 5 hour meeting that 28 of us came for. At first, I was quite not so happy to have to be gone for 3 whole days for a 5 hour meeting - I mean, it's December, it's Christmas, it's still busy at work. But, after the meeting was over, I decided that it was worth it. So, it's 90% all good. I'm still not happy that it was right before Christmas and my tree lights still don't work and I'm not sure when I'm going to finish fixing them and I don't have any presents ready to ship and my house is a mess and there's laundry everywhere and there are still Christmas crates all over in the dining area...but, hey, the meeting was good.

The weather was cold, gray, and incredibly rainy. I never realized how much "gray" affects me. I'm so used to sun now that I sit by windows at work that the 3 days of December gloom in Ohio really drained me. When we landed in Dallas yesterday and I could see and feel the sunshine, I felt new life in me. I feel for anyone that has seasonal depression. How awful!

Our flight landed about 20 minutes early in Dallas - which was good since we pulled into Gate C21 and we had to go to C31, then, when we got there, we found out we had to go to C17 now. As we were headed there, the gate assignment changed again and we had to go to C19. Then, back to C17. We get there and I go up to the counter to check to see if it's likely that I may get upgraded to first class and the dude says, sorry, don't think so, and oh...your gate's been changed. You're in D38. Yes, D, not C. That's a whole other freakin' terminal on the complete opposite side of the airport property. Good thing they have that skylink train thingamabob. So...six gates in about 20 minutes. We jumped on the train and about 5-7 minutes later we were there, then down the escalator, over 3 gates, and boom, finally. And then it was time to board. Nope, no first class. Oh well...guess I get to hang over into the aisle to avoid encroachment issues with the rude dude sitting next to me.

Weird...no window on our row. Couldn't see the absolutely gorgeous sunset that occurred...just heard about it from my co-worker who was sitting further back.

Melon Man picked me up. So glad to be back with him. Miss him. Don't see him enough.

Blog books arrived while I was gone. Look great. Will post pictures soon. Very heavy books - especially the blog one. Did you know that black ink weighs more than other colors? Yep, does. Since there's so much black ink in this book, it's pretty heavy.

Went to bed. Dog laid next to me all night - don't think he moved at all. Little dog slept in his laundry basket, content to be in the house instead of outside in the cold.

Melon Man did a lot of maintenance on my truck while I was gone - got the oil changed, got it washed, filled it up with gas, got the emissions test done, had new tires put on it, and got the alignment done. Now I get to fork out $200+ for the registration. Remind me to never buy a new vehicle during the holidays again...

Went tonight and got my hair chopped. Well, not chopped, but trimmed and colored. Love the color. Very natural, but with nice highlights, nothing drastic or dramatic. Growing my hair out, but got enough cut off to give it some body and shape.

Got a much needed pedicure. She did some reflexology on my feet. I was sitting in the pedi chair and my butt/tailbone were hurting a bit. I didn't tell her that, but as she was working on my foot, all of a sudden there was a pain in my foot that felt like a hot needle poking in it. I told her that hurt and she asked me if there was pain in my back or hips. Weird...because there was!

Melon Man put the lights up on the house last weekend. Thank you honey. That may be all that gets done this year! Not...but one never knows...

We had our ward Christmas Party last weekend and Melon Man filled in for Santa. He did a great job. Here are a couple pics...along with pics from other parts of the night...

Not only did I design the invitations for the party, I contributed to the food prep by preparing 36 boxes of Stove Top stuffing...

Took this picture of Brad and Kelly Brown...our YW President and her husband.

These were the sugar plum fairies dancing...

The reindeer that were heard up on the rooftop...

And then Santa arrived! Ho, ho, HO!

This little boy has to sit on Santa's lap every year!

This year, he brought his girlfriend...

And then they both sat on Santa's lap!

It was a fun night. It was a little sad though too. As I was sitting near Santa so I could take pictures of all the kids with him, I could hear him talking about family home evening and such with a little girl and I wondered what spurred that on. I later asked him and he told me that this little girl's only Christmas wish was for her family to be happy. My heart was so touched, yet incredibly sad. Little kids shouldn't have to think about things like that for Christmas.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Heading off to bed now. Ciao.

Kling Glockchen Kling

2011-12-03T17:29:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I was sitting in the office at home working on the computer, listening to Christmas music on my iTunes on the computer when Melon Man walked in and asked about the "bell song." I asked him what bell song he was referring to and he said, "I don't know...that German Christmas music song with the bells in it."

That sent me on a quest...I couldn't remember the name of the song he was referring to. I thought it was Kling Glockchen Kling-a-Ling-a-Ling, but when I played that one for him, he said that wasn't it. In fact, I then remembered which one he was thinking of...and no, I didn't have that one. So, I went in search of it on iTunes - even not knowing the name of it. Surely, I could find it! But...an hour later, no such luck. So, I called Auntie and asked her if she had the same Christmas albums my mom had had. Nope. Crud. So, then, I called my dad. Tracked him down at Kurt and Ang's house and he said he'd call when he got home... which he did...at 12:30 a.m.!

He'd pulled the albums out of the stereo and was calling me with the names and a description of each. As soon as he told me about the Gunter Kallman chorus one, I knew exactly which one he was talking about! Then, he described the Christmas in Germany one and I, again, knew which one it was! I was now on a hunt...a hunt of epic proportions!

I searched iTunes again...no such luck. I searched all over the internet and finally found these little lovelies on eBay...for just $6 each! One with free shipping, one for only $4 shipping, plus a free Heintje Christmas record! So, I put bids on them and I won both! I'm so excited! Last year I'd bought Melon Man an old-time looking radio thingamadoogie and inside of it is a turntable. I can't wait to listen to these!!! I'm sure it will bring back great childhood memories...and some tears missing my mom....she loved this time of year!

Another Temple Update

2011-11-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

This is the scene the day before Thanksgiving...so interesting to see it coming along finally and to watch how they dig the holes so deep that giant machinery looks like little toys. It sure is going to be a small temple though in comparison to those in Utah or the others here in Arizona. I am so happy though that it will be close so we can attend more frequently!

I'm Finished! FINALLY!

2011-11-25T19:07:00.004-07:00

I knew it was coming - the annual Blurb discount email. I was going to be happy with a 15% discount. But, when the email finally arrived like it does every November and it was for 20% off, I was elated! It spurred me on to working to get my 2009 blog book edited and ready for publication. So, since the beginning of November, I have been working through it page by page, making sure everything was just right. And then...what should happen a few days ago? I got another email that it was now 25% off! I was so glad that I decided to take this week off and relax - even if that meant working hard to get the book done, because now I had enough time to do a second book! As of Monday evening, I had only 28 pages left to do in my blog book, but I was just sick of it, so I decided to make our 2010 Michigan trip into its own book since I knew I had a ton of pictures that would take up ... oh, maybe 80-100 pages ... and I didn't want to put the whole trip into my 2010 blog book. So, I started working on that book on Tuesday morning. I worked and worked for hours and hours and by Wednesday evening, it was done and uploaded - all 276 pages of it! Then, I finished the additional 28 pages from the 2009 blog book. I just had a couple of updates to make after visiting with Auntie Sigie on Thanksgiving. That one ended up being 424 pages!

This morning, I came in, wrapped up those few changes, and then started sending it to Blurb. I came in just a little bit ago and it was finished uploading. So, I placed the order, paid, and both are now getting printed! Thank you, thank you, Blurb for that awesome discount! I saved $45! I really wish I could have gotten my 2010 book done too, but I'm burned out for now so I will load it in to the program and as the year goes by, I'll work on it here and there so it's not a marathon again to get it finished in time for another discount.

Now, I'm off to watch a movie, do some laundry, and clean up around here. But, as a sneak peek - here are the covers from the books I just finished!

Front Only

Back and Front

Front Only

Back and Front

Temple Progress

2011-11-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

I checked the Phoenix temple website again today and here are some new pictures on the progress:

Where the Heck Am I?

2011-11-18T22:38:00.005-07:00

Tonight I had to go to Mesa to pick up some "things" (i.e. Christmas gifts) so I left work and raced to get to the store before they closed. As I drove, I called Melon Man and chatted with him and then called Linda and chatted with her. Soon, I was getting off my third freeway and was at my destination. I ran in, picked up the items I'd already paid for, and got back in the truck to turn around and head home.

It was late enough (9:30) that I didn't dare call anyone to just chat all the way home, so I just listened to the radio. They started playing Christmas music on Monday and I have been LOVE-I-N-G it all week long! Businesses and homes are starting to put up Christmas decorations and I'm just feeling so FESTIVE already! So, I'm driving along in the big red sleigh and I have the radio on loud and proud and I am just singing along to every Christmas song that comes on, belting them out one after another, thinking about all the fun stuff I'm going to do and work on this week, just being off in la-la land. Then, it hits me...

WHERE THE HECK AM I?!?!?

I had no idea where I was! Nothing was familiar. It was dark so it made it that much harder, too.

Finally, signs! Okay, at least I know now that I'm still on the right freeway and going in the right direction! So, back to singing at the top of my lungs...until...

I, once again, had no idea where I was!

Thank goodness there are signs every so often. It wasn't until I got to the airport that I didn't have this keep happening. I guess I've been to the airport frequently enough that my brain recognizes it and from then on, I was good.

This whole thing made me realize just how much I have missed in the last 6 years. I made myself a commitment that I would try harder to get out of work on time. I am so looking forward to the next 9 days of peace and quiet...doing projects I've needed to do. Doing all the laundry. Putting up the Christmas tree. Sewing the drapes finally for the living room. Decorating the house. Working on Christmas presents. Re-setting the timer on the driveway lights. All that good stuff that just needs to get done but doesn't. Oh...and I am going to watch a ton of Christmas movies while I do it! Tonight....Elf....while I blog....

Look to Him and Live

2011-11-13T22:32:00.002-07:00

Today was our first Stake Conference for our new stake. And...it was WONDERFUL. It was probably the best stake conference I have ever been to.

I didn't really want to go today. I think Satan was really working on me. We skipped last night's adult session - I told Melon Man I was only going to go to one, not both. Why? I don't know, I just wanted to stay home, in my quiet place, I guess. So, since he hadn't slept yet by Saturday afternoon, we agreed we would just go to the Sunday session. I am so glad we went.

We got up about 7 and were out the door by 8 and at the church by 8:15. It didn't start until 10, but our chapel has a tendency to fill up early with all the elderly folk and then all the families end up having to sit in the overflow and it's loud and the chairs are hard. We didn't want to sit back there, so we made sure to get there early. In fact, we were the first ones there except the A/V guy. The chapel was still dark. I went and sat on "our" bench and Melon Man went to do some clerk work. I read an excellent talk from the Conference issue of the Ensign and then journaled about it for my Personal Progress project.

Around 8:45/9:00, folks started filtering in. At 10, the conference started. Our former bishop and current home teacher, now the second counselor in the Stake Presidency, gave a great talk about Love. Then, a new convert who is only 16 or 17 years old gave a talk, followed by the daughter of the lady that I worked with on Prom. Both youth talks were excellent. Such strong testimonies in such young people! There were a few more excellent talks - one by a young adult in a wheelchair, one from Brother Mabey in our ward who is soon leaving with his wife to go on a mission to the Marshall Islands, and then another lady who struggled with trials in her life. Essentially, the last three all talks about the different trials they had had in their lives, and how they left it up to God and he came through for them because of their faith and devotion to Him. Then, we sang a rest hymn and then the Phoenix mission president and his wife both spoke.

Then, President Thalman spoke. I really loved his talk. He started with a story about living in Utah growing up and each year, they would brand their calves and the calves would be marked for life. He then proceeded on to talk about how we "brand" ourselves. He talked about how the Cub Scouts have their motto and they repeat it each week. Then, how the Boy Scouts do the same. Then, he mentioned that the Young Women have a motto too that "brands" them and he asked all of the 12-18 year old young women and their leaders to stand. Then, he asked all of us to repeat the Young Women theme, which we did:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.

We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places

as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

FAITH - DIVINE NATURE - INDIVIDUAL WORTH - KNOWLEDGE - CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY - GOOD WORKS - INTEGRITY AND VIRTUE

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,

we will be prepared to strengthen home and family,

make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple,

and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

I stood proudly with these young women and repeated these words, happy that I had finally committed the theme to memory and was able to stand less than 15 feet away from our local leaders and share my commitment of these things with them with full conviction and testimony of them. Even Melon Man made a "good job, Honey" comment.

I'm proud to be "branded" with these values. I look at what society offers today and while those things may be what the rest of society deems "good", I know differently and am happy to follow these values instead.

After President Thalman's talk, President Rolfe, the Stake President, spoke. He talked a lot of looking to Christ and living. It was such an uplifting talk! I wish I had taken notes, but I was so focused on what he was saying, that I think I would missed a lot of what he said. He reminded us that there are certain things we must do to be able to return to our Heavenly Father - baptism, confirmation, follow the Holy Ghost, receive the ordinances of the temple, and there was one more...

Either way, it was an excellent talk. I don't think I've ever heard such a quiet large crowd before in my life. The children there were in excellent form and were ever so quiet. The only noise you might hear was an occasional baby crying and often that stopped quite quickly. It was just so solemn and peaceful. President Rolfe is an excellent speaker!

I hope that Melon Man and I will take into our lives the things which we learned and felt today. I know as we do, we will draw closer to Christ and someday return to be with him.

It's Blog Book Time!

2011-11-06T00:16:00.001-07:00

I spent Saturday doing something for me. No chores. No laundry. No YW lesson. Just a few errands and the bulletin. And...just something for me. I worked on my 2009 Blog book! It's coming along...slowly, but surely.

When I did my first blog book, I had only been blogging for 3 months, but I knew that I wanted each book to be a calendar year, so that book ended up only being about 80+ pages. I learned a lot doing that first book. I learned so much that my second book ended up being about 240-250 pages! Sure, it helped that I blogged for an entire year for the 2008 book, but still...I learned how to do more things graphically.

Now, I'm working on my 2009 book and boy, is it different! When I first "slurped" it into the bookmaking program, it was about 320 pages. But, now that I'm halfway through the year and I've edited it so it showcases certain pictures, etc., it's already up to about 380 pages...and like I said, I'm only about 1/2 way through the year! Argh! The maximum number of pages you can do in these books is 440, so I will probably end up having to do two books of similar size. I'm okay with that. I'd rather they not break because they are too big. I guess we'll see. I have only until the November 30th to get it done in order to get the 20% discount, so I need to keep crackin' at it.

The other thing that is so different this time is that I am doing white text on black pages instead of black text on white pages. I REALLY love the look and it really goes along with what I wrote in the preface. It's just more time consuming because I have to work in the regular view and then change the view to the white on black when I'm done reviewing the page. Just easier.

So...that's what I did yesterday. And, I loved it. And it was nice to get some "me" time for once finally. And I plan on doing that again soon...I hope.

They've Started Digging!

2011-11-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

Yes! They've finally started digging for our new temple! I just happened to check the website tonight to see if there was any news and there were actually pictures of huge dumptrucks barely sticking up into view from deep holes in the ground. The church has really tried to work with the neighbors on this temple. At first, it was just going to be a two story temple. Then, there were all kinds of problems with the neighbors so it's now a single story temple, but with two basement levels! Rock on...

It seems like the timeline has shifted out. The website now says 2013/2014 for it to be completed. Bummer. I was just working on my 2009 blog book and there are entries in there about how they were just announcing where it would be. It amazing that it's taken so long to get to this point finally...in the U.S....in a fairly LDS state compared to others. Oh well...I'm just glad to know it's finally underway and in about 2 years will be finished!

How Many Gallons to the Mile?

2011-11-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight I actually left work at 4:45 so I could go to my laser hair removal appointment and then on to Mutual. I made it just fine to the appointment. I left there promptly at 5:30. I stopped on my way at El Pollo Loco for a burrito to eat along the way since I hadn't had lunch or breakfast and knew it would be hours until I actually could eat if I didn't. I had plenty of time to get to the church...

...if only I had known that it would take me over an hour to go less than two miles!

It was awful. Everyone was stuck and nobody could really go anywhere except forward. That's just the way it is where I was. So, I texted Kelly to let her know I would be late - but I never even made it - it was 7:30 when I finally made it to Grand and since she'd essentially excused me, I continued on home.

What a night. I watched and watched as the gauge on the gas tank just kept moving slowly downward and I continued to just creep along. However, as I sat there moving about the pace of a snail on a sticky pad, I listened to a talk by President Eyring on faith as part of my Personal Progress program. Thank goodness for smartphones at a time like that! It was kind of hard to follow at first, but toward the end, I really liked it.

Essentially, he said that if we read The Book of Mormon with faith that we will find the answers we seek, we will find them. I always have struggled with reading in that I just don't like to read. I can read, I just don't find pleasure in it. It almost feels like I'm squandering my time. I know that people will disagree with me and tell me how much they love to read and I think it is great that they find enjoyment in it - I just don't and that's okay. Anyhow, I know that when I do read the Book of Mormon, if I really put my heart and effort into paying attention to what I'm reading, I WILL find the answers I seek. If anyone out there is reading this...I ask you to do the same so you will be able to know the truthfulness of this book like I do...

A Day at the Temple with the Young Women

2011-10-29T15:51:00.002-07:00

I have not been to the temple to do baptisms for the dead since I was a youth. I have been looking forward to today for weeks - since I found out our youth baptisms day was coming up. Satan did his usual tricks of trying to get me to stay home. He tried to cause a tiff between Melon Man and me. He even used discouragement to make me feel bad that only 2 of the 7 young women wanted to ride with us. But...he did not win.

We met at the old stake center and picked up the girls. We had the opportunity to take Kelsie and Nicole with us. They are two fairly new Beehive girls...one completely talkative, the other completely quiet. Fifty miles each way can seem like a really long drive when you have to drag conversation out of girls, but luckily that didn't happen too much.

We made good time and were able to get there before the other ward from our stake, so that meant our ward got to go first, which was REALLY good since we only had 7 girls there and the other ward had about 20! Sister Jarman and Sister Kapanak were the other leaders that went today and then Melon Man and Brother Wayas were the priesthood leaders that were there with us.

I made sure to take a picture of Kelsie since it was her first time to the temple. She is very shy and I think she was a little nervous, but I was so happy she came. I plan on getting this picture framed for her to help her remember this special day.

I went into the dressing room to change into my temple dress and one of the temple matrons showed me what my job would be that day. She had to leave for a second to get an answer to a question and she didn't come back so I went to find out what was going on. Instead of finding her, one of the men helpers in the baptistry chapel engaged me in conversation that went something like this....

"Sister, you play the organ, right?"
"No, I can only play the piano."
"Oh. Well, that will work. They're about the same."

Um...no not really, but okay. So, I got "roped" into playing the organ in the baptistry chapel. At first, I wasn't very happy about it because 1) I was caught off guard, 2) I hadn't played in months, 3) I had never played an organ for others, 4) I was nervous to play in front of all the baptistry people and all of the girls and leaders, 5) I was nervous, in general, and 6) I was completely petrified to play the organ in the temple.

I picked a song from the eligible song list - I didn't know they only can play specific hymns from the hymnbook in the temple - and sat down to practice. Soon, the girls started coming in and sitting down, so I ended up just staying up there playing hymns as the prelude music for the service.

Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, I was still nervous. And yes, I did not know how to play the organ. But, it all worked out. Why? Because I was in the Lord's house doing what the Lord had asked of me. I was there with 2 of my 5 Laurels. I so missed the other 3 (Samantha, Danika, and Becky) and wished they could have been there with us! I was there with my sweet husband. And, I was there serving in the house of the Lord by sharing a talent he had given me (that needs more effort in improving it). As I was playing one of the songs, I felt a comfort in my heart that I would do fine, but more so, I had a thought come to my mind that I will never forget. I felt the Spirit tell me that I had been given an opportunity to do something that most people will never get to say they have done - play the organ in the temple. I thought about that deeply as I continued to play. Really...how many people can actually say they've played the temple organ? Not a ton, I'm sure. I sat there playing and periodically I looked down at our girls sitting on the first two rows. They had a special light about them. I was so happy to be there with them in the Lord's house this day. It made me sad that others of our girls were not able to be there with us for whatever reasons there may have been. I want so much for all of our girls to draw closer to our Heavenly Father while they are at this age. It will help them as they go forward in their lives as adults someday. I wish I had been closer and more faithful when I was their age. Maybe I wouldn't have gone through some of the things I did.

As part of the service before the baptisms began, the temple president and his wife came and spoke to the girls. We learned some interesting things. First, we learned that they make time to talk to EVERY youth group that comes to the temple. The service is usually scheduled to start at specific times, but they essentially start when the temple president is able to get there from whatever other things he may be involved in at that time. But, it was awesome to learn that they make that effort with EVERY youth group. Second, we learned that a few years ago, President Monson decided that all names provided by the temple for baptism are only permitted to be worked by the youth - that they are held especially for them. Families can bring their own names and do those baptisms, but generally provided names can only be done by the youth - all over the world it is this way. How awesome!

After we were finished, we paused outside for a couple of pictures of the girls. They took a pretty one, then they decided to do a crazy picture as well...silly young girls! From left to right are Savannah, Katelyn, Haylei, Ashley, Madison, Nicole, and Kelsie.

Afterward, we went to Nielson's Frozen Custard for lunch. It was expensive, you didn't get much for what you paid, and it wasn't all that good, but it was a good time together anyway. We headed home and dropped Kelsie and Nicole off at their homes, then we went home so I could work on the program and my lesson for tomorrow.

As I was working on the program and my lesson, I decided to log on to the Personal Progress website and see what the girls were going through to get their Personal Progress awards. As leaders, we are also able to participate in the program, so I decided to start on the Faith value, experience #1. I had to read a number of scriptures about faith, which I completed. Then, I had to journal about that experience, which I completed. Now, I still have to read two conference talks on faith, journal about those, and build a habit of saying morning prayers (I'm bad at that, but have the evening ones down) while also journaling about it. At first, I didn't think I would want to do the Personal Progress program as a leader, but I feel now that it will help me draw closer to our girls as well as to my Heavenly Father. I look forward to working through each of the value experiences!

We later went to Firebirds for dinner and had yummy steaks. It was a great day!

This is One Reason I Like Working Late

2011-10-26T17:13:00.002-07:00

I had to leave around 4:30/5:00 today so I could make it to Mutual on time. As I got on the freeway, this is what I had to deal with....bumper to bumper traffic (I took this picture a few feet from stopping bumper to bumper so I wouldn't actually hit the person in front of me while taking it.). It's too bad I could not take the picture quick enough when I was on a higher spot in the road...you'd be able to see just how long this line of traffic is. It was horrendous...at least 3-5 miles long.

I do not like b-2-b traffic. I do not like rolling along a 65 miles per hour zone going 15 miles per hour. I do not like seeing people hauling butt down the carpool lane who either 1) do not have a second passenger in their vehicle, or 2) do not have special plates that allow them to be in the carpool lane without a second passenger. It irks me. I guess that people don't care about breaking the law. Sure...that empty lane over there on the left next to the block wall is empty, but that doesn't give them the right to drive in it and avoid having to sit in the traffic with the rest of us.

So...this is one reason I like working late...no traffic to deal with!

Finally! We're on Our Way

2011-10-20T15:54:00.001-07:00

They just came on and said we're almost ready to go. I'm so ready to be home. See ya soon, baby.

Really?

2011-10-20T15:20:00.003-07:00

This always happens to me...we're still sitting here...and will be for another 30 - 45 minutes. About 15 minutes ago, they told us the mechanical issue will take 45 minutes to an hour to fix.

I am squished into a seat that certainly does not feel like a choice seat. When we get up into the air, I hope this pilot hauls butt because by the time we get to Phoenix my butt and legs are likely going to have completely fallen asleep and I probably will be unable to walk.

Crap.

I'm Finally on My Way Home

2011-10-20T14:54:00.002-07:00

This is what it has been like here the last few days...rain, rain, and more rain. I have loved the rain, but I'm glad to be heading home now. More updates when I get there...for now, we're just sitting here waiting for some issue to be fixed. We're already almost 15 minutes late leaving...

Does He Come First?

2011-10-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of our meetings. We got some good updates and gained a lot of insight about Matt and Jen and what drives them, how they handle work and home life, etc. There were a couple of things I thought deeply about while I was sitting there listening to them...

One. What three words would I use to describe myself? This has always been a hard one for me - kind of like the question "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" I thought about it and there were two that came pretty quickly - Dedicated and Integrity. But, I couldn't really think of a third. Why? I don't know. I just couldn't. Maybe I will eventually.

Two. There was a point where Matt and Jen both talked about their families and how with their busy schedules, they try to show their families that they come first. I about lost it. I almost began crying. But...I fought it. It would not have been appropriate in that environment. I wrote this in my notebook..."Does [Melon Man] come first? No." My heart broke. For 6-1/2 years, I have put the man I love with all my heart, second behind my work. I felt horrible. I just stared at the words on the page. I need to make him come first. Him.

I thought about those things for quite a while, while others gave their presentations. I will work at making him come first. I will.

Soon it was time for lunch and then we headed out to Johnstown to go to Woodhaven Farm for our team building event. I'd been to Woodhaven a couple of years ago. It's always a fun experience. Today we made pita chips with a cheese dip, a boursin type cheese bruschetta with sauteed portabello mushroom, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, haricot vert with carmelized onions, and marinated rosemary chicken and pork tenderloin, along with a carmel apple bread pudding and 4 chocolate brownies for dessert. Very yummy.

After we were done, I headed back to the hotel, but first went to Archivers for my annual visit. I love that store! I miss scrapbooking so much. I need to do that for me more - to maintain some sanity. I found some glitter ribbon and some white iridescent envelopes..oh, and some clear and teal blue bling.

I decided I would make Christmas cards using the glitter ribbon and bling. Well, as I was walking back to the hotel, I met one of the girls from home who was also here for the meeting and she asked me what I'd bought. I showed her and explained what I was going to do and then all of a sudden I decided to go back to the store and get some scissors, cardstock, and adhesive and start working on them in my room - otherwise they may never get done! So, I headed back in and got the additional supplies then headed up to my room. I worked on TWO cards for almost TWO hours. What was I thinking?!? I'm not even sure I like them. It's not finished, but this is what one of the cards looks like. It's based on the colors we used for Christmas Eve last year.

I'm sure I'll figure out what else to do to make it better, but that's what I did tonight. Should have worked...but you know...sometimes I just need "me" time. It's 12:30 a.m. now and I've got to go to bed...

Ah, Newbies

2011-10-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those moments where you glimpse a picture of something or someone you want to be, wish you were, or are striving to be more like? Do you experience a moment where good pride feels your heart so fully that it feels like it's about to leap out of your chest? Do you just want to just up and put your arms around someone and tell them how great they are and thank them for what they've said?

Today was one of those days.

At church, a woman who has only been a member of the church for about 2 months now spoke in Sacrament meeting. She spoke about General Conference and how how it was wonderful that all of the members of the church were receiving the exact same instruction, from a modern-day prophet and apostles, no less. Her heart was full as she described her feelings and how she had been searching for this in her life and how she 100% knew it was true.

I kept thinking to myself about how the political arena continues to either question, doubt, or make fun of our faith, how some call it a cult during this extraordinary time when 2 LDS members are running for president of the United States. Seriously. How on earth can 14 million people claim Christ as their savior, feel his love, have such a strong devotion to family, try to be good people, try to love everyone, try to keep the bodies the Lord has given them clean and pure, yet be called a cult? Here was a woman who was going through her life, living like the other 2 billion people on the earth, just continuing along down a path to nowhere when one day she is introduced to the gospel through a friend. She chose to take the lessons and she chose to be baptized. She's chosen this way of life because it's GOOD. It's not a cult. We are a people who love Christ and choose to follow Him in all we do. Sure, some people say our way of life is hard. We disagree. It's easy to live this life - it's hard when you don't. I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with the effects of drugs and alcohol in my life. I'm glad that I have a husband who avoids pornography and the conflict it brings into a marriage and one's personal life. I'm glad that I believe in chastity and virtue and remaining chaste until marriage. And...I'm glad that because of Christ's atonement for us, that when we slip up and choose to follow the ways of the world, we can repent and be forgiven of our sins so we can feel pure again.

I watched in awe, with a large smile on my face, as this woman shared her thoughts and feelings in her talk about the change in her life and the joy she has found in this church. It was such a breath of fresh air.

Ah, those newbies...they always lift my spirit and remind me of feelings I've often long forgotten.

Morning with the Hubs

2011-10-15T23:48:00.003-07:00

I know I complain on this blog of mine a lot about how much I'm away from home working or travelling or what not. Don't get me wrong...I love my job and am very grateful for it. It's just that I also love my home and my husband and it feels like I just don't get to see either of them very much. So, when I AM able to be here in our home with Melon Man or even out and about with him, I'm very grateful for that time - no matter where it is.

Today we spent the morning at The Coral for breakfast. Just the two of us. Yes, we missed our breakfast buddies, Desert Dweller and Linda Lu, but it was also nice to be together - just us - since I haven't seen him much lately and I have to leave on a business trip on Monday. I think we like going to The Coral so much because we can get whatever we like. Melon Man is a sweet, breakfast kind of guy. Me...I'm a savory other time of the day food, kind of gal. Check out the difference in the types of food we each got:

We sat and talked and ate and talked some more. Then, just as we were about to start getting ready to head out, along came two fellow patrons that we saw the last time we went there with the buddies.

The last time we were there and saw these guys, we were, well, can I say, gagging? The greasy, stringy, long hair. The hiked up pants. The eating with their mouths open. Yes, how rude of us. I admit it. In fact, now, thinking about it, I'm embarassed that we acted that way.

These are just two guys that 1) probably have had a hard life financially, 2) have probably had a hard life emotionally, 3) probably came from a family that didn't have any pride in the way they look, 4) probably don't have a woman in their lives to help them, 5) or, they just don't care. Today, I saw them and at first I reacted the same way I did the last time. In fact, that's why I took the picture. I even shot it off to Desert Dweller and Linda Lu.

But...as the day has progressed, I've re-thought my actions. Is this a Christ-like attitude? No.

I am trying really hard to set a good example for others who may interact or come in contact with me and for the young women I lead. I want them to see the light of Christ in me, not someone who makes fun of others. I will try harder than ever to stand a little taller, to think before I act, and to emulate Christ in all I do.

After we were done with breakfast, we were going to go to Lowes to get a new sprinkler timer, a fridge filter, and some other miscellaneous stuff, but I just didn't feel like it. So, we just went to Tar-zhey to get some shower door spray, shoe laces, and mascara. Well, they didn't have the Tar-zhey brand shower spray anymore - drat! I LOVE that stuff! I'll have to check another Tar-zhey and see if they've completely done away with it or they were just out at our store. We got the other items - along with a bunch of other stuff that we sort of needed - and then headed home, but not before finding Melon Man in the hat section. Can you say Yooper?

It was a pretty lackadaisical day after that - just worked on my lesson for tomorrow and did the bulletin. We didn't even do anything for dinner!

Tacos and Tortillas Night

2011-10-12T05:39:00.026-07:00

Tonight we had Mutual at our house. I've been feeling the need to teach the girls skills that they will need as they grow up and move out on their own - life skills, etc. Yes, we teach them of gospel principles and such as church, but these mid-week activities are perfect for teaching them the skills they will need as they progress through life.

Tonight we made tacos and tortillas...our family fried tacos and homemade flour tortillas. The girls did a good job. They were a little slow - I think because they were talking so much - but we eventually got it done. Three of my girls came tonight - we missed the other two. Not sure why they didn't come, but, it's their choice.

We started off the night by making the flour tortilla dough. We made a bowl of dough for each of the girls. They would be able to make 8-10 tortillas each.

The recipe is very easy:

HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS

3-1/2 c flour

1 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

7 T shortening or lard

1 to 1-1/4 c very hot water

Put the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Add the shortening/lard and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. Once the shortening is well cut in and the flour is mixed in to the size of extremely small peas, add the very hot water. Mix and then knead the dough for 3 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water. You want a nice moist, but squishy dough. Put it in the bowl, cover it, and then let it rest for 15 minutes. (additional instructions at end of blog entry)

After we were done making the tortilla dough, we began dicing, slicing, and browning for the tacos. Sammy helped by grating the cheese for us with the salad shooter. Everyone thought that was pretty awesome to use to grate cheese! Fast and easy!

Becky was in charge of cutting up the lettuce. We all had a fun time giving her crap because 1) she didn't know how to cut it up and 2) she wasn't too sure that it was lettuce. I guess most people nowadays just know lettuce that comes pre-cut in bags! Anyhow, it was pretty funny!

Danika then helped brown the hamburger for the tacos.

I actually fried the tacos for them since they were a little nervous to do so. We were soon eating and enjoying our tacos. Before they left, we finished off the tortillas...

Separate the dough into 1.5 ounce portions. Form into small balls. Press the dough out with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Turn the dough 45 degrees clockwise and roll some more. Turn 45 degrees once again and roll until round. Heat up a cast iron frying pan or a non-stick pan on medium to medium-high. Place tortilla on hot pan. Watch for air bubbles to form and turn over quickly. Press any large bubbles down. Remove tortilla when slight brown spots begin to form. Place tortilla either in a tortilla warmer or between two paper towels on a plate and seal over the top with tin foil. This will help keep the tortillas warm, soft, and pliable.

Here is a short video showing the process:

It was a fun night. The girls all got to take home 8-10 tortillas and I think everyone enjoyed the evening, along with learning something new!

Prime Rib Chicken Rotini

2011-10-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

Last night I was in the mood for something yummy. I had taken some chicken breasts out of the freezer for dinner yesterday, but then we never ate them because we fell asleep mid-afternoon and then just never made dinner. So about 10:30, I decided to make some dinner with them. It was SO good. I was just experimenting, so I didn't take any pictures, but here's the recipe for my Prime Rib Chicken Rotini if you'd like to try it.

Prime Rib Chicken Rotini

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed
My Prime Rib rub mixture
Olive oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans mushrooms, undrained
1 box rotini

Start by heating up a dry frying pan. When hot, add about 1/4 c olive oil. Let it get hot. Pat dry any moisture on the chicken breasts. Sprinkle both sides with a nice amount of the prime rib rub and place in the hot oil to brown. Once browned, turn over the chicken and brown the other side. When browned on both sides, remove the chicken from the pan. Pour in the juice and mushrooms from both cans. Deglaze any stuck-on portions of the chicken from the bottom of the pan and swirl into the juice and mushrooms. Add both cans of soup. Stir until well mixed. Add the chicken back to the pan. Cover. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked and tender. When just about 10 minutes from being done, begin cooking the box of pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta when finished.

You can either serve by plating a chicken breast next to the pasta and then spooning sauce over the pasta or you can slice up the chicken breasts and mix in with the pasta and pour all of the sauce over the chicken and pasta, mixing well. Either way was delicious! It was almost like the poor version of prime rib but with chicken and pasta instead of beef and potatoes! YUM!

Gotta Love Missionaries Who Can Only Listen to Church Music...

2011-10-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

A Quick Shot

2011-10-08T05:38:00.010-07:00

As I was driving home from the church this afternoon, this is what I saw. The sun was hitting the power lines just right and it caused an incredible picture. It almost looks like a symphony made of light and wire. Isn't it interesting...the things God gives us to help us remember Him and His glory?

Mike and Ronda's "The Place"

2011-10-07T05:36:00.023-07:00

We ~~pretty much~~ always go to the same place for breakfast with Linda and Dave so today we decided to try somewhere new. We drove past "Mike and Ronda's 'The Place'" a few weeks ago in the late morning and there was a line outside so it had to be good, right? Well, today we decided to try it and....well, it was good, and pretty cheap too. Fast service. Good value for the money. We'll go there again.

This was my breakfast...chicken fried steak, eggs, and hashbrowns, plus it came with biscuits and gravy. The gravy was just a white pepper gravy, but it was good. And the biscuits...they were hefty. It was a lot of food for I think, nine bucks.

This was Linda's plate. She got an omelet and cottage fries, along with biscuits and gravy as well.

Melon Man got the steak. It was big (but thin) and yummy. He also got hashbrowns, maybe eggs too, ( I can't recall and don't see them here, and then pancakes. He didn't care for the pancakes compared to those at The Coral, but the steak was really good.

David got the kielbasa / sausage breakfast with cottage fries, and eggs with his black pepper. I think he got biscuits and gravy too.

We will definitely go there again...it's just a little farther away than we typically like to go for breakfast!

Uncle Ward's 80th Birthday Party

2011-09-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Today was the birthday celebration for Uncle Ward's 80th birthday. It was a fun time for all. There were over 60 people that attended! Cindy and her family all came out from California and there were lots of friends from the ward. I snapped this picture of Uncle Ward as I walked in the door. He looks very dashing with his goatee!

His age is starting to catch up with him a little, but he's still handsome as ever. Next, I took a picture of the yummy cake they ordered from Costco.

A few years ago, Cindy and Lisa put together a scrapbook for Uncle Ward with all of his letters and pictures and such from when he was in the military. People were fascinated with it.

Soon it was time to eat. They had ordered food from El Pollo Loco. I hadn't had their food for more than 15 years and back then, it wasn't all that. But this time, it was really good! Plus, Kiefer Evans made his famous salsa. Yum!

Ronda Reading and Linda Lu...

Melon Man and Desert Dweller having a good time with each other...

More friends of Uncle Ward's...I don't know their names though...

This is Bill and Cheri Allen. They were in my ward when I lived over by Lisa. I don't think Cheri recognized me though.

Janae (Natalie's sister-in-law), Natalie, Christine, and John. John was enjoying getting his picture taken!

Bishop Fuge and his family.

Soon, it was time for everyone to be called to dinner. Lisa stood on the stairs and thanked everyone for coming. She got a little veklempt, as did Mike when he blessed the food.

A little while later, it was time for cake. There were three cakes to choose from. Uncle Ward was still able to blow out all his candles!

Auntie gave him a big birthday kiss...

Then, it was time for presents...Josh and Meredith gave him a picture of their baby's ultrasound.

Then, he received a few Olive Garden gift cards. Everyone knows how much they love to go there for special occasions!

Someone gave him a kit of magnifying glasses. He thought that was pretty hilarious!

Linda and Dave gave him a Reyn Spooner shirt from the Seal Beach shirt store. It had all kinds of old Woodies on it. Uncle Ward loves those kinds of shirts.

Then, someone else gave him a BYU football vault with a book all about BYU football, etc.

We ended up having to leave early because I hadn't finished my lesson or the program for tomorrow, but it was a fun time while we were there. Happy 80th birthday, Uncle Ward!

What is This?

2011-09-23T18:56:00.001-07:00

Oh...I'd almost forgotten. It's the sun. Actually a sunset, but the sun nonetheless. I hadn't seen it in so long that when I left work at a decent time today, it kind of took me by surprise! I'm so glad I got to see it!

Colton's Wedding

2011-09-19T04:57:00.449-07:00

This weekend was the big wedding. Yes, my Colton baby got married. I couldn't believe he had gotten old enough to get married. Where on earth has the time gone? I remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday. Now, he's a husband. Oh. My. I. Am. O.L.D.

Melon Man wasn't able to go with me this time so I flew to Utah by myself. He did take me to the airport, however. I flew up on Friday and arrived in the early afternoon. I picked up my rental car, expecting to get a Malibu or Altima or something, but instead, I'd been upgraded to a Jeep Liberty. It wasn't the most comfortable vehicle, but it was nice to be up a little higher than in a regular car.

I had some "business" to do for work, so I headed to Gardner Village. The first place I went was to Sweet Afton's...the candy store. I just wanted to look around. No biggie.

However, they had pineapple gummies and that was all she wrote. I was in heaven! I found all kinds of goodies...goodies my body didn't really need, but tasted oh so good. I bought a huge bag of pineapple gummies and a bunch of other fun stuff and headed out to my destination...

Back in May when we went to Utah, Jen introduced me to The Bead Farm. I loved it. But...I wanted to use "my" credit card there and they didn't accept it. So, I talked to the owners and then worked with my contacts at work to get them accepting. Now, I had some follow-up work to do. So...I shopped. And I bought a bunch of fun beads to make some more watch bands. In doing that, I used my card and sure enough, they were good. Score! So happy!

As I walked out the door, I noticed the windows. It was the weekend of the big Utah-BYU football game. The Bead Farm was in on all the fun. They'd created fun window displays with jewelry they'd designed. Just had to capture them!

In addition to the fun candy store and the neat bead store, the village was decked out for Halloween. The stores were so cute. The village was darling. I sat a spell and just observed the place.

It was nice just having a day off of work and being able to do something other than clean the house, run errands, or do stuff for others. It was nice to just rest and do something for me for once. It started to drizzle so I jumped in the Jeep and headed down to my hotel.

I'd decided to stay at a hotel this time for a number of reasons. I could have stayed with any of my family, but mainly I decided to stay at a hotel so I could get some rest. I am so tired and worn down. I just wanted to sleep. I checked into the hotel, ate my lunch I'd picked up at Wendy's, and then laid down on my bed to take a nap. Jen called me just as I was falling asleep. It was 4:30. I told her I'd call her back when I woke up.

Two hours later, my phone was ringing. Jen asked what I was doing. I told her sleeping. I was so tired. She said Colton had been texting me about going out to dinner. After about 45 minutes of calls on speakerphone and texting people back and forth, we all finally agreed on Applebee's. I left and headed out. There was a small misunderstanding about exactly which Applebee's we were meeting at, but in the end, it all worked out. Unfortunately, Kurt's family had already eaten and Julie was in Ogden working, so it was just Jen's family, Kev's family, Dad, and me. We had a fun time eating and talking. I was bummed that this picture of Kev and Jodi turned out blurry. It's so cute! How I didn't get a picture of Ari, is beyond me. She had her hair in spiral rollers for the wedding the next day and looking so darling. The humidity certainly made my hair look lovely!

Taylor was looking so good. He'd slimmed down quite a bit since he'd finished radiation and his hair has grown in quite well. I was glad he was feeling good! We all soon parted ways and headed back to our homes to rest and prepare for the big day.

I tried to sleep in on Saturday morning...but my sweet husband called me on his way home from work and woke me up. We talked for a few minutes and I tried to go back to sleep. But, I couldn't. I laid in bed for a little bit, then got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. I came back upstairs, then crawled back into bed. I watch tv for a while, drifted in and out of sleep, and just laid there. I wished I could have slept deeply, but I couldn't. Oh well. Finally, around 2 p.m., it was time to get up and start getting ready for the wedding.

I headed out and arrived at the reception center. It was at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon and was called Millenial Falls. It was lovely. Jen and her family, Kev's family, and Dad had all just arrived. Ari was darling with her ringlets. She's gotten so grown up!

I wandered downstairs to the groom's room and captured a few pictures of Colton's last few minutes as a single man, along with his brother Jonah being assisted by their dad. It was kind of funny...the groom's room was in the basement and was dark and had a television with football on. I didn't make it up to the bride's room, but what I saw of it as the door opened and shut, looked like it was large, bright, and glistening!

I headed outside to look around. The grounds were beautiful. I took picture after picture. The waterfall was ginormous. I only wished I could have captured its size in a picture.

The foliage was so beautiful I saw this single branch of a plant that was red amongst all the green and I had to take its picture. The other flowers were simply beautiful as well.

It was approaching 4:30 and was almost time for the wedding to start. People started to gather in the benches. I continued to take pictures.

The music started and Colton and Bishop Floyd walked down the aisle. Then the moms came down. First, Shannon's mom, then Jen. As Jen was walking, Cole and Reagan Peterson, the kids of her former boss Stacie, came running up to her. They just love her. It was a sweet moment.

Jennifer looked stunning. I don't think I'd ever seen her so beautiful! I grabbed a few more pictures while we waited for Shannon to come down the aisle. First, Jennifer and Shane's parents, Craig and Kathy.

Then, Sally, Kevin and Jodi, and Dad.

And finally, Jennifer and Shane.

Bishop Floyd and Colton stood at the front waiting for the bride to arrive. Colton looked calm and happy. I was glad.

The best man and the maid of honor...

And a bridesmaid...

And Taylor, a groomsman, looking very dapper.

Then, the cutie pies came down the aisle...Jonah, the ring bearer and Ari, the flower girl.

Taylor and Jonah waiting for the bride to arrive...

I loved the look on Colton's face the moment he saw his bride...

I loved the things that Bishop Floyd counseled them to do. It was a beautiful ceremony. At one point though, I looked over at Ari. I guess it's kind of hard for a 6 year old to stay focused on things such as wedding vows...

After the wedding, I took some more family and fun pictures...Kurt's family...Holly just did not want her picture taken!

Scooter...

Ang and Holly. She finally was willing to have her picture taken when we offered her a piece of candy.

Ari showed me her purple fingernails...

Scooter and Peanut were practicing dancing. Look at them! Where'd they learn that?!?!

Peanut decided to teach Holly how to dance too...

Jen pulled off her shoes and was just taking in the scenes...

After Peanut was done practicing her dancing, she ever so gingerly drank out of a little goblet. Notice the raised pinky...

Dad...

The photographer finally brought Colton and Shannon back over by the waterfall for some of their pictures. I decided to tag along and take my own...

At this point, I went and called Melon Man from the gazebo and chatted with him for a bit. Then, it was time for the reception to start. I went and hung out inside. After a while, it was time to cut the cake and dance...

I caught this picture of Shane and Jen watching their son dance with his bride. The looks on their faces are priceless. I am so grateful that Shane married my sister. He has been a good dad and husband.

Tanner and Dylan looking on...

After the bride and groom danced their first dance, and Shannon and her dad danced, it was Jennifer and Colton's turn. They danced to the song, Find Your Wings by Mark Harris. The words were so poignant:

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold

The plans that heaven has for you

Will all too soon unfold

So many different prayers I'll pray

For all that you might do

But most of all I'll want to know

You're walking in the truth

And If I never told you

I want you to know

As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams

And that faith gives you the courage

To dare to do great things

I'm here for you whatever this life brings

So let my love give you roots

And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind

That leads you through your days

And may conviction keep you strong

Guide you on your way

May there be many moments

That make your life so sweet

Oh, but more than memories

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky

I'll have tears as you take off

But I'll cheer as you fly

Back behind everyone, I found this....Peanut dancing away...

Then, it was time for everyone else to dance. Peanut headed right out onto the dance floor. I couldn't ever catch her with her face toward me.

Scooter and Holly danced the night away too...

Next, Dylan and Peanut hit it...

Jake and Courtney worked it too...

Then Peanut and Scooter danced again. Oh, to have that kind of energy...

Soon it was time for the garter belt toss...all the eligible "men" lined up.

Colton went in for the goods...

Then, he shot it off behind him...

I didn't get a picture of the bouquet toss, but Courtney Floyd caught it and Dylan caught the garter.

Jen and Jonah dancing...what was she thinking? Was it "I can't believe my son is married now" or was it "only mere years and this baby of mine in my arms will be gone too"...

Auntie Julie danced with Scooter...

Uncle Coco danced with Peanut. Check it out...her feet are on top of his...

Kurt and Ang danced...

I loved this picture...it showed me how much Jodi really loves my brother...there is just something about the safety a woman feels in the arms of her husband when there is a deep, true love...

Peanut must have danced with all of the boys...here she is with Jonah.

He even dipped her!

Daddy and daughter...she's growing up so fast...

I was so happy to capture this sweet and tender moment...my dad hates to dance because he doesn't think he knows how. But, he did just fine and the look on Dolly's face is priceless. The fact that she was able to dance with her grandpa will be a memory she will treasure forever.

One thing I try to do when taking pictures is to try to capture special moments that others may not see because they are busy participating in the event. This was one such moment...dads holding their daughters close and dancing with them. I wondered what my little brothers were thinking while doing this. Were they thinking about how some day they would be dancing with these little girls again when they gave them to their someday husbands to love, honor, and cherish? Were they feeling very tender feelings inside about that future moment? Whether they were thinking about that day at all is inside of them, but it was a special moment to me when I saw it and I wanted to capture it - I am so proud of my brothers for the fathers they are to their children.

It was soon time for Shannon and Colton to leave. Everyone met them outside with bubbles.

After the newlyweds left and the evening was wrapped up, all of our family except Julie and her boys, grabbed some takeout and headed to my hotel's breakfast room. The kids finished watching the big football game and everyone was cheering because Utah won 54-10 over BYU. Now, I'm not a huge BYU fan even though I went there, but I'm still devoted to it over the U. It was a sad loss, but the better part was that I was able to see my family all engaged together in their devotion to a game (well, except Dad who hates sports).

Kevin and Jodi, Dad and I, and Kurt and Ang got La Frontera, while Jen and Shane got Taco Bell. The chile verde burritos were YUM.

Jen gave me "the look" because I took a picture of her eating...again. She hates that.

It was such a fun time being with my family. They soon left and I headed up to bed.

I was up early the next morning and off to the airport to head home. I was asleep before we even took off and I slept almost the entire way home. Melon Man picked me up and we headed home. We had some dinner and by 5 I had crashed to sleep on the sofa. He left and went to a church meeting around 6. When he got home at 8:30, I was still asleep. He turned off the tv and dragged me to bed. I slept all the way until 5 a.m. I guess I really needed it!

Belated Anniversary Celebration

2011-09-10T22:34:00.002-07:00

I got home yesterday around 6 p.m. and was SO TIRED that I told Melon Man I just needed to sit down for a minute and then we would go out for dinner. Um, yeah, didn't quite happen like that! I was completely and utterly asleep on the sofa by 6:15. At 7:30, Melon Man woke me up and said, "Come on, let's go to bed." So we did.

I slept all the way until about 8 this morning! I felt so bad that he had taken the day off so we could have the evening together and then I was too exhausted to even move or do anything. So, today, we spent the day together...sort of.

We first went to The Coral for breakfast. That was a lovely time. Then, we came home and Melon Man called Dave to see if he wanted to go to the gun show. Sure! So, they did. It was a bust and they were home fairly soon. Linda and I both had "stuff" to do and didn't feel like getting out and about so we just stayed in the peace and quiet of our homes. I worked on my lesson for Young Women tomorrow, the program for Sacrament Meeting, some handouts for the ward campout and then finished the temple bracelets the girls had made at Mutual.

When Melon Man got home, I saw his feet and about gagged at how long the toenails were. So...I cut them for him. See...long! Yuck!

We both showered and got gussied up and went to dinner at Firebirds. It was so good. We love that place. It was nice just being with my sweetheart in a sort of romantic setting, enjoying good food, and talking.

Once we were done, we headed home, but not before stopping at Fry's to buy some mouse traps and rice krispie treats to use for the object lesson in class tomorrow. I can't wait to see the girls' faces!

Happy 6th Anniversary!

2011-09-09T22:32:00.009-07:00

It has been a long day, night, day. I worked through the night last night and finally left at 5 pm today. I started working around 7 or 8 yesterday morning! I am exhausted.

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. Melon Man called me this morning as he was leaving work and told me to meet him outside in 20 minutes. When I did, this is what he gave me...

He doesn't like to "send" flowers because they cost so much so he just buys me lots of flowers from work. Today he bought me 3 dozen red roses...6 for each of the 6 years we've been married. What a sweetie! Love you honey!

It's a Party!

2011-08-27T22:26:00.011-07:00

Lisa asked me to help her design some invitations for her dad's 80th birthday party. I was glad to do so! I ended up getting up around 3:30 this morning to let Little Dog out and then I couldn't go back to sleep (my body had had it's normal 4 hours of sleep by then) so I came into the office to get a headstart on them. By 5 a.m., I was ready to go back to sleep, so I did.

Melon Man let me sleep for a while, then woke me up when the sausage gravy and biscuits were ready. Yum! He always does a good job at making that!

Lisa arrived around 9:30 or so and we began tweaking the invitations. Around 11:15, we sent them off to Sams Club to be printed. In the meantime, Dave and Linda surprised us and showed up. We continued to work on printing the envelopes and then Linda and Lisa headed out to Sams and I worked on the designing some other pieces of the invitation. Linda and Lisa came home and then Dave and Melon Man finally headed out to Cabela's to play.

I was the designer/printer and Lisa was the production staff. She would fold and stuff all the envelopes...

When we were just two envelopes from the end, Lisa noticed something was wrong.

When she had been stuffing the envelopes with the guts, she hadn't been matching up return envelopes to outgoing envelopes! So, everyone's return envelope has someone else's name on it! We opened my/our invitation and yep, sure enough...

We cracked up laughing like crazy! We couldn't stop. Here we'd tried so hard to make sure everything was perfect and then that happened - oh, along with having to change the time for the party on the invite AFTER they were already printed.

Oh well, we stuck a little label on the back of the envelope telling folks to just go ahead and send back their memory page in the envelope anyway. We hope people will get it and think it's as funny as we did.

Around 4, everyone left and I went to work on the bulletin for tomorrow. I printed it off and wouldn't you know...something just had to happen and it printed page 1 on both page 1 and page 2! Well, drat, can't use those copies! So, I had to print them again.

Next, I worked on my talk for tomorrow. Yes, I have to speak tomorrow. Not really the best week to have to do it, but oh well, whatcha gunna do? So, I worked on that until 1:30 in the morning, then I prepared my young women lesson. I crawled into bed around 3/3:30 and set my alarm for 6:30. We'll see how it goes....

Haboob #4

2011-08-26T05:38:00.002-07:00

This is the year of the haboob. We had another one today - #4 so far, I think! I was able to catch it on my camera while I was driving home. It was out over our town but I could see it from 20 miles away!

I Hope My Dog Loves Me Like This

2011-08-25T07:41:00.001-07:00

This picture was shared with me today. I had to hold back the tears - but that didn't last very long. I saw a video that was actually captured at this funeral for Navy Seal Jon Tumilson and then I lost it. This young man died serving our country last week. His body finally arrived home for his funeral. During the entire funeral, Jon's canine companion, a labrador like my Dog, laid on the floor in front of his casket...the entire time. To think that this dog loves his master so much that he knew he was gone, and that he, too, was sad like the other 1,500 people at this funeral, was so touching to me.

It's things like this that help me remember that dogs are not "just animals" but that they have a soul too and have feelings and emotions other than aggression and such. I grew up in a home where animals weren't really allowed - especially in the house. Sometimes a dog or cat would end up at our house (usually it was Aubie bringing it home) and our dad would tell us to get rid of it, but secretly, I think our mom would let us keep feeding it because she had a small affection for animals too. When the animal would die (or get accidentally stepped on by Dad and then die), Dad would, of course, go bury it in the yard somewhere for us, but that's about as much love toward animals that we experienced. Kevin/Aubie always has had the biggest heart for animals. Any stray he found would end up at our house. Even now, he raises ducks and chickens and what not. But, overall, I'm still the only one with a dog. Two, in fact, down from three. Yeah, I didn't WANT dogs, but I LOVE my dogs. They make me angry. They make me laugh. They make me cry. And, as hard as it will be if they die before me, I think it will be harder still to see a picture like this from heaven if I go before them.

Breakfast, Errands, and Talent

2011-08-20T17:23:00.042-07:00

We were up and out the door early this morning. We went to breakfast at Denny's at Arrowhead. We had a bunch of errands to run today and they were all in that area, so we decided to try somewhere different than our normal breakfast location. I had this yummy blue drink to go along with my food.

We finished breakfast and headed out. We went looking for something to use as my nightstand and a table for the living room first. We went to Razmataz. Nothing. We then went Lamps Plus to find a front porch light. Found this one...

I liked it because it has an old-world look and it's also only 4 inches deep so it will let the screen door open all the way now!

After the lamp store, we headed to HomeGoods. Melon Man found me a nightstand there! I didn't take a picture though. Oh well. I'll have to do that....

We rushed home and I began making "5 minute bread" bread dough. It was our ward talent night and they had asked for some "display" talents. I decided I was going to make 5 minute bread. I made 5 batches of dough! I made 5 big loaves, about 20 four-inch rolls, and tons of bite sizers. We made it there just as they were starting for the evening. The evening was fun. Melon Man ended getting called up onto stage to participate in an activity with two other High Priests. It was quite fumny - he had a cup tied around his waist and there was a ball on a string hanging from it. They had to swing their hips and legs and try to get the ball into the cup. It was quite the sight. He didn't win, but it was fun watching.

We came home and I finished up the bulletin for tomorrow, then worked on my lesson. Time for bed.

A Really Meaningful Day of Work

2011-08-18T06:00:00.024-07:00

We started today off with a team meeting. It was really good, really beneficial. Then, we had meetings with some of the other teams we work with but rarely get to interact with. It was so good to finally meet these people in person. We accomplished a LOT! It was too bad that we hadn't been able to spend more time with these people rather than the class we attended the last two days!

We headed for the airport, had some dinner at Chili's and then the Ohio folks and the Phoenix folks parted ways. Of course, my foot was killing me (my plantar fascaitis - sp? - is acting up a lot lately) and of course, my gate had to be one of the furthest away and they were getting ready to board. Drat.

When we finally get on the plane and go to back out, we're held up from backing out because a huge ol' 777 plane has had some trouble and is behind us so we can't move until it's fixed. Great. Melon Man is going to be mad if he ends up being late because I'm late getting in and he had to come get me...

We finally take off about 20 minutes later and then finally as we're approaching Phoenix, we are advised that there has been another haboob and severe storms have forced planes to have to land unexpectedly at Sky Harbor. So...we're going to have to hang out for a bit until we can land. Great. Melon Man is totally going to be ticked...

We finally get to land and then we're told that because so many planes had to land so quickly and it's so late at night, there aren't any gates open for us so we're going to have to sit in the penalty box until one opens. Wonderful...I can hear Melon Man seething already...

Not too long after that announcement, we're told that they're opening a gate for us, but because they're short staffed, there won't be anyone there yet to extend the jetway to the plane. Tick tock, tick tock...

Then, they tell us they've gotten someone to extend the jetway, but there won't be anyone to help at the gate if needed. Oh...and there isn't anyone to pull our luggage off the plane either and get it down to baggage...what?

So, I text Melon Man and let him know as much as I can via text what is going on. He is not happy. Long story short...it took over an hour to get my luggage. Melon Man was late to work. He wouldn't talk to me the whole way there. He didn't say goodbye when he got out of the truck. It was not a good night.

I guess had I not gone shopping while I was in Chicago, I could have just carried my bag on, but I had too much other crap to deal with too so I didn't. I can't help it when there are broken planes. I can't help it when there are sudden haboob storms that force tons of planes to land unexpectedly. I can't help it when an airport doesn't have enough staff to get all the bags off of all those planes right away. I guess I should have just arranged for an alternate way home. I did tell him to go ahead and go and I'd take a cab or shuttle home so he wouldn't be late, but he was a good hubby and stayed and waited for me...even if he was mad.

Second Day of Class

2011-08-17T05:59:00.028-07:00

What a waste of time today was. I missed out on real work time where I could have been accomplishing things that have to get done to be sitting in a class where the teacher is not observing that the students are completely lost and he needs to slow down. A few people asked questions that tried to get him to go back a few chapters so we all could better understand what he was teaching, but he either didn't want to or he just wanted to finish and be done with us. He was a horrible teacher. We were all glad when the class was over.

We left work and went to dinner as a team then headed downtown to Navy Pier for an outing. Since it was Wednesday, there were fireworks scheduled for Lake Michigan. We boarded our boat and went out into the harbor boating around for a bit until it was time for the fireworks to start. They were spectacular. I had never been so close to fireworks before. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced of a similar nature!

I will say, however, that it's hard to take good pictures of fireworks as it is, but it's even harder when you're on a moving boat! This is a picture of my co-worker here in Phoenix - Dustin.

And then David from Ohio

The Navy Pier ferris wheel

Me with Maria, also from Ohio

Most of our team - David, Super Fatty Girl, Maria, and Dustin. Gabriela was taking the picture and I don't know where Scott was...maybe buying our drinks?

Let the fireworks begin!

First Day of Class

2011-08-16T05:58:00.007-07:00

Today was our first day of Teradata training. It was interesting and I learned things I didn't know, but the teacher was just horrible. He wouldn't really let us put into practice what we were learning until we got a couple of chapters in. Then, we had some time to do the sample projects. Then, we'd do a few more chapters, then apply. It didn't work very well for a class of people who had never done any of this before.

After class was over, we all went back to our hotel rooms, ordered room service, and worked. We were giving up a lot of good work time being at this class and so the work had to be done sometime. It was about 1 a.m. when I crawled into bed. I guess that's not too bad considering it was 11 p.m. to my body. But, it sure isn't going to feel good when I go to get up at 6 a.m. tomorrow and my body thinks it's 4 a.m. still!

First (Work) Trip of the Year

2011-08-15T05:56:00.020-07:00

Well, I'm off to Chi-town for my first work trip of the year. I made it all the way to August without having to travel! Once again, I wanted some one-on-one time with the Melon-meister so I asked him to take me to the airport, which he agreed to do. I was very happy to have been upgraded to First Class. I like it so much better because the seats just fit me better and I don't feel like I'm impeding on anyone's space, nor do I have to be uncomfortable trying to avoid impeding on anyone.

When we arrived, I dropped my co-worker off at the hotel and I went off to Catherine's to find me some new work flip-flops since I'd broken mine on Saturday. Surely the store here would have some. I drove up to Vernon Hills and there were all kinds of signs in the window about huge discounts and such. Oh no, certainly my favorite Catherine's store wasn't closing, was it?!?! Yes, it was. Bummer. I walked in and was glad to see my pals Dehne (pronounced Denny) and Angie there working. I've spent quite a few hours with them over the years when I've traveled and shopped there. I asked what was going on and they told me that management was not renewing the lease because the landlord would not negotiate lower on the price. I was so bummed. They were always so friendly to me. I took a look around the store and they had a TON of good buys. I bought a "few" things (um, yeah, enough to have to buy another small suitcase), including THREE pair of flip flops!

It was sad to say goodbye to them but I needed to go back to my room and get working on some work stuff. I made it back, checked in, and ordered room service. I ate my dinner, watched Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef while I worked, then just left it on some boring show while I worked until 12:30 a.m.

Great...I hope I can actually sleep tonight...I never sleep well when traveling...guess I just miss my own bed, miss my Melon Man, miss my dogs, and am afraid the alarm will not go off in time...

Can It Get Any Hotter in Here?

2011-08-14T06:45:00.014-07:00

OH MY HECK.

It was so hot in the chapel and in the Young Women's rooms today. What is wrong with the A/C in our brand new building? I was literally sweating like crazy during class today. We kept checking the thermostat, and it was still set on cool, but it just was not cooling at all in there. I was so glad to head home when church was over.

Melon Man made dinner for us while I worked on a bridal shower banner for the shower she's throwing for Shannon. This picture doesn't really do it justice as to exactly how cute it turned out, but it really was darling. It had rhinestones on it and the vinyl lettering was classy but cute. I wish I'd taken a photo of the second part where it said Shannon & Colton, but I didn't. Oh well. I hope they like it!

Red is Awesome!

2011-08-13T06:22:00.089-07:00

The morning started off with breakfast at the Coral. Then we headed home and gave away our old sofa to a family in the ward who needed it. It was sad saying goodbye to it, but it was nice knowing that someone else could use it. It was essentially still in good condition - just needed some additional padding in the seats.

Soon, the new sofas arrived and all the concerns I'd had about them clashing with the floors and such quickly dissipated as soon as the delivery guys walked in with them! They are perfect. The color is perfect. I so love them!

I wanted to just sit and enjoy them, but it was cleaning day so back to work we went. Once we were done cleaning, we left to take Holly home and then we headed off to Lowes to get a new lamp to match the other two and new coach lights for the driveway. We're not used to having an open section in the corner between the sofas so definitely need a lamp and table there. We found the lamp to match the others, but now we just need to find another table as the one that used to be on the end of the sofa is just weird there. We need a round or oval table and it needs to be a little higher than normal because when we go to let Dog out, his tail hits the picture frame on the table and knocks it off. We went here and there, but couldn't find ANYTHING that was perfect that wasn't overly expensive. Oh well, we'll have to keep looking.

We did find new coach lights and they are really nice. I like them so much better than the old ones! Now we just need to find a new light for the front door area. We're looking for one that is quite flat so we can open the door more fully.

One last thing I want to write about...we got egged last night. Specifically, my truck got egged last night. I'd gotten home after Melon Man had left for work and it was quite late so I parked, came in, and went almost right to bed. It was around midnight. It was really, really quiet. I laid in bed with Dog, rubbing his head and I heard a noise. It sounded like something hitting something else, but I couldn't tell what it was. Then, I heard it again. Then, I heard girls laughing. Then nothing. I didn't think much more about it and I fell asleep.

Fast forward to this morning when we returned from breakfast. I came back around the end of the truck and there it was - dried on eggs. I was crushed. Who would do this to me? Why would someone do this to me (or us)? I searched my mind and could only think of one situation that had happened recently that would possibly lead to this. I didn't want to believe that any of those that it could be would be the ones that did it. But, I couldn't think of anyone else that it could have been. If it was one of those, that would be incredibly sad. Something came over me...it was a feeling of forgiveness. It wasn't that I was just going to ignore that it had happened, but that I forgave them for trespassing against me and I would just move on. It wouldn't do any good to harbor ill feelings - that would do me no good. So I decided to just forgive and go forward. I do hope, however, that whoever decided to do this will apologize and tell me why they did it.

And that...was our day.

The Firecracker Dance

2011-08-10T06:23:00.020-07:00

Went to Mutual tonight. It was "planning" night - where the girls plan the activities they want to do. We already had a lot of the activities planned, but apparently (since I'm new and don't know for sure yet), it works best if we let them plan some of them too. That way, they can't say they don't do anything fun since they're the ones who planned certain activities.

I think we came up with some fun things. They are going to learn to make and sew their own little cutesy aprons, learn how to make tortillas and then fry them up like our family does for tacos, and do a modesty scavenger hunt at a store that typically sells more immodest than modest stuff. They also planned the joint activity that the Laurels are hosting - they will be playing Just Dance in Sister Brown's backyard with it projected up on a sheet or on the back of the house, depending how it works out. It will be a competition with mixed teams. Should be a fun time!

After we were done planning activities, the girls all practiced the "Firecracker Dance" for the Ward Talent Show that's coming up on the 20th. It's a dance they made up at Girls Camp to Katy Perry's song, Firecracker. It is cute, just needs some more practice and some bigger movements. And, I'm going to edit the song for them so it shortens it to the length they need and can give them a better ending.

We ended the night right at 8 PM and sent the girls off to their homes. It's a little harder for me to feel comfortable not personally taking them home. The younger ones mainly have parents drop them off and pick them up, but the ones in my class can all drive and since our building is a bit further from home now, I can only really hope and pray they make it safe. We had a bit of a scare tonight regarding three of them, but they all arrived safely home - late, but safe.

Sometimes Your Body Just Needs Sleep

2011-08-07T22:23:00.006-07:00

Well, I guess I was just worn down and needed the rest. For the last four days, all I've done - really - is sleep. Sure, I've been awake here and there, but for the most part, I've just laid on the sofa and slept, watched a little tv, slept, watched a little tv, slept. I've hardly moved other than to go to sleep in my own bed. I guess I just needed it.

I'm still not feeling 100%, but at least I feel well enough to attempt work tomorrow.

It's Red and It's Lovely

2011-08-06T22:23:00.054-07:00

Melon Man came home today and let me sleep for "a bit." When I finally got up not too long after he arrived, we decided to go out to breakfast - just the two of us. Although we would have loved to invite our breakfast buddies, we needed some one-on-one time since we hadn't had much lately. Just as we were getting ready to head out the door, I spied what I thought was a gecko on the wall in the backyard. I didn't think a whole lot about it as it's pretty normal to see them in our yard. But this one...well, he was kind of different.

I grabbed the fancy pants camera so I could really zoom in on him and oh my! He was huge! He let me get a few pictures from inside the house and then he ran away. I think this is some sort of lizard rather than a regular gecko. His "skin" was different than a gecko and the coloring was too. I hope we'll see him 'round these here parts again!

We left and went to The Coral for breakfast. I had a yummy taco salad I made. I was just craving it. Then, we decided to head off to "The Dump" in Tempe. It's a furniture store. We have been talking about a new sofa for a while but have never felt like it was a "need," only more of a "want." Well, I guess we finally had decided it was more of a need since it was practically impossible sometimes to get out of the recliners because they were so old. I'd had that sofa for 12-13 years at least. So, I'd looked online at the store's website and had seen this beauty...

It was BIG. It would be perfect for our living room, along with a chair or two. It was a color and style that I finally liked. It appeared to have good support. I liked it. I really liked it. So...off we went.

We walked into the store and I was quite surprised by the place. It was nice! With a name like "The Dump," I'd expected it to be kind of dumpy, but it wasn't. We found a sales guy - well, actually, he found us - don't they always? - and we told him what we were looking for - the big giant sofa.

Why is it that they show stuff on their website that they no longer sell? I mean, dang, I was totally into that sofa! But, just as well, I guess...when they did have it, the sale price was $9,000! Um, no, don't need it that bad!

So, we continued to look around. I'm so picky. It has to be a certain color. It has to have built in pillowing, not individual pillows. It has to have recliners. It has to have great support. It has to be leather or leather-like vinyl. It has to be nicer than "family room" but not too fancy that we can't lounge in it. This and that, this and that. Picky, picky, picky.

Just when I was about to say okay, let's go, I still can't find anything, Melon Man pointed out another red sofa. Red? Really? I mean, let's face it, I LOVE RED. But, too much of a good thing ruins it. Right? And what if it clashes with the wood floors? Well, not this time. It was the perfect red. A sofa and a love seat - with FOUR recliners! We sat on it, we tested the recliners, we stared at the color, we checked out the price, and then we bought it. The price we paid was $1,500 less than the regular retail. I thought that was pretty awesome. It will arrive next Saturday. Too bad I was lame-o-la and forgot to take a picture! Oh well...I'll take one when it's in it's new home!

Things I've Been Doing Lately

2011-08-05T22:48:00.001-07:00

A summary of the events from July 18th to today:

Work
Work late
Work really late
Work REALLY late
Work REALLY late
Drive to Utah with a migraine from only 5 hours of sleep in 2 nights
Watch tons of Pioneer Day fireworks
Go to Cristobal's priesthood ordination
Have a wickedly awesome visit with my ENTIRE family
Hug my sisters and brothers
Tickle my nieces and nephews
Drive home from Utah completely sick and exhausted
Spend some one-on-one time with Melon Man
Help a ton of young women how to make greeting cards (thanks Jen for your help finishing the kits!)
Get REALLY sick with bronchitis
Lay on the sofa
Sleep
See Melon Man
Lay on the sofa
Cough
Sleep
See Melon Man
Lay on the sofa
Sleep
See Melon Man
Cough
Lay on the sofa
Sleep
Miss church
Lay on the sofa
Cough
See Melon Man
Sleep
Go to work, work late, don't see Melon Man, cough, sleep 4 hours
Work later, don't see Melon Man, cough, sleep 4 hours
Work a lot later, don't see Melon Man, cough, sleep 4 hours
Work really late, don't see Melon Man, cough, sleep 4 hours
See Melon Man for 5 minutes, go to work, cough up goo finally, yuck
Get off work at 4 pm!
Talk to the neighbor about fixing our broken drip system and saving our dying lawn and plants
Fall asleep in the chair in the office while checking email
Miss going out to dinner with Melon Man because I fell asleep in the chair and didn't wake him up early enough to go out to dinner
Spend 30 minutes with Melon Man
Send Melon Man off to work
Eat some dinner

Ah...time to go to bed for hopefully 8 hours. Cough. Cough.

NEW Items Added to Our Food Storage!

2011-08-04T22:58:00.001-07:00

Just before we left for Utah, I got an email from Honeyville about some new products. I asked Dad to go pick some up for us at the SLC store since I didn't have time to go all the way to Chandler to get them. We got 2 cans of Freeze Dried Monterey Jack cheese, 2 cans of dehyrated refried beans (I hope they are better than the cannery's!), and a can of powdered peanut butter.
It was quite expensive for those 5 cans - $87 - because of the cheese. But, I'm excited to try all of them.

I like peanut butter ONCE IN A WHILE and so I really can't keep a container of it without it going bad since I don't eat it all that often. This will hopefully help! I can take out a bit just when I need it, whip it up, and voila! Plus, the store said it really does taste like normal peanut butter!

I've seen on their blog that the cheese is really good too and reconstitutes well. I hope so for $30+ a can!

I've been on a refried beans kick lately. I think it's due to the yummy refried beans at Riva's Mexican restaurant. Mmmm, yum. That sounds really good right now. They are real homemade refried beans - which I usually don't like - I only like Rosarita refried beans from the can - but I really like Riva's. So, hopefully these will be just as good.

Yep, It Happened - I'm Sick

2011-07-28T19:53:00.007-07:00

I am freakishly sick. I have no voice. I am coughing like crazy. All I want to do is sleep. I knew this would happen once I "let go" and "relaxed" being away from the grind of work. All I've done today is sleep. Sleep in the bed, sleep on the sofa. Good thing I already took today off. I hope it doesn't last the rest of the time I'm off...that would definitely suck.

Gotta go back to sleep now...

Mutual - Greeting Card Night

2011-07-27T19:58:00.016-07:00

We drove home from Vegas and made it with about 90 minutes to spare before I had to leave for Mutual. Melon Man went and picked up Dog from the kennel and I finished pulling everything together for greeting card night.

I drove over to the church and got set up. It was a fun night. The girls enjoyed making their greeitng cards, I think. I'd made enough sets for 22 girls, but only about 15 showed up. That's okay, I guess...I'll have a few cards I can quickly pull together when needed in the future!

I was still not feeling well, so I was glad when it was over and could head home. I'm glad I have the rest of the week off too. I just need some rest and have a lot around the house that I'd like to get done.

On Our Way Home

2011-07-26T19:57:00.093-07:00

We left this morning around 10 a.m. to head home. We had decided to go through Vegas and spend the night there. I just wasn't feeling well at all and didn't think I could handle the whole ride home. We'd found a good deal on a beautiful room at The Venetian so I was looking forward to some rest there.

We jumped on I-15 and started on our way. It wasn't very long before the heavens opened up and it started pouring down tons of rain.

The clouds were hanging really low. It was neat to look at them...inbetween sleeping to try to feel better. I guess everything had just caught up with me. I was really sick.

As we came into St. George, there it was...the Wally World distribution center. Hey Melon Man...got melons?

Knowing how much I love to take pictures of the state line signs, Melon Man woke me up to take this picture as we crossed into Nevada.

By this time, I was finally awake. I still felt like garbage, but we were almost to our destination, so I stayed awake.

I thought this sign was so ironic...in a city where it seems Jesus could never be found, someone has tried to get people to remember him. Good for them!

Pretty soon, we were exiting the freeway and heading right to our hotel...The Venetian.

As we were sitting at a light waiting to turn to go to our hotel, we saw one of the mobile signs promoting Vegas sin. So many people think pornography and blatant sex are okay...to me, it's just not. This is part of why I don't care for Vegas.

The valet area was phenomenal. It was a well machined hub of activity. The ceilings gorgeous.

When we walked into the lobby to check in, there was a man there playing his accordian and singing. It felt like Italy. I loved it. The grand hall was so beautiful. The line moved pretty quickly and soon we were on our way to our room. I really wanted a view of the strip because it's so pretty at night, but I wasn't willing to pay another $45 for a view that I might not even see if I fell asleep early, so we just took a regular room with a view of the eastern mountains.

I wanted to stop and take a bunch of pictures of the grandeur of the hotel, but I was still really feeling awful, so I didn't. I really hoped that it wasn't a long walk to the elevators to get to our room because I couldn't breathe very well, but...it was. I barely made it. It was like I had pneumonia or something.

We lounged for a little bit and then we left and went to The Rio's Carnival Buffet. We'd seen it on some show on tv and they'd talked about how it was the best and biggest buffet in Vegas. Well...it was pretty big. But, it wasn't the best. They put us over in the far, far, far corner, next to....the salad bar. Who wants to eat salad at the biggest buffet place in town? Not me! I'd forgotten that this place was known for the all you can eat shrimp and crab legs. I didn't realize they had them until I saw somebody else come back with them. Then...I went in search of the shrimp. And...I found it...my dad would have been in heaven...

Had I known/remembered about it, that's ALL I would have eaten. It was so good. See.....?

We finished up and headed back to our hotel. Melon Man went "shopping" and I went up to our room. I had a special something planned for him. It was going to a special night....if I felt up to it...

He came back with a present from Brighton for me. The rest of the evening was very nice, romantic, and relaxing. I wish I'd taken pictures of the room, but I never did. I definitely want to stay there again though!

In the morning, we headed for home. I was quite nervous about the ride home because we were going to have to go across the new bridge they've built near Hoover Dam. Instead of going over the dam, you just drive over this big bridge instead. A while back I blogged about it...yeah, I was truly afraid...

This sign certainly did not help any...

I closed my eyes as we went over the bridge. I didn't open them again until the very end when I could finally take this picture!

Ah...back home...

A nice, grounded, road leading back to home.

We got home, picked up Dog and Little Dog, and then I went to Young Women's. I HAD to go - I was teaching a big project that night. I got home that evening and was glad I had scheduled the next two days off of work...I was feeling really sick again...

Card Kits and BBQs

2011-07-25T19:52:00.094-07:00

Jen and I were lazy this morning. We took our time getting up and then we just mozied along. Melon Man wanted to take Taylor and Kolby to Lagoon for the day, but Taylor was insistent that it was too generous and he felt it would be a waste of money if he ended up not feeling well and they had to come home. So, instead, they headed off to Trafalga to have some fun mini-golfing, bowling, go-cart racing, whatever they wanted to do. All the other kids had spent the night at other cousins' houses so it was just Jen and me in the house since Shane was also gone to work.

She helped me get all of my card kits finished and put together for Mutual on Wednesday night. I was so grateful! It would have taken me forever if she hadn't. I wish I'd taken pictures of all of them, but I am so lame lately at taking pictures of just the everyday stuff. Drat.

Soon, the boys came home and it was just about time to head to Aubie's for the BBQ. Before we left, the boys disappeared again (well, Taylor and Kolby anyway) and soon we discovered them coming down the walking path behind the house on scooters. It brought tears to my eyes that Tato was feeling well enough to be doing this!

We soon all piled in the truck and headed off. Neither Taylor or Kolby wanted me to take their pictures so they either looked away or just hid behind their sunglasses. Teenagers....and...teenagers with cancer. Enough pictures already. Geez....

Jen was busy knitting washcloths as we rode along. She always has to keep her hands busy. Me, not so much. We're different like that. But, I'm grateful she's like that. It usually means that once a year I get a basket full of new washcloths that rock.

On the way there, I caught this picture of the Oquirrh Mountain temple on the hill. I would love to live near this temple and see it all lit up at night. It's just simple and beautiful. Actually, I'd just love to have any temple nearby...well, closer than 100 miles roundtrip anyway...

When we arrived at Aubie's, Miss Peanut just had to show us that she could do the hula hoop now. It was a hoot watching her! I remember doing the hula hoop when I was young. Oh...to be young again...and have a waist....

Soon, a number of other people had to get in on the action...like Scooter and Jack.

Jennifer even got in on the action...but that picture has MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED from my camera! Drat.

The younger boy cousins had a blast jumping on the trampoline. I was sure concerned about that sucker in Tanner's hand though!

How many men does it take to grill up a bunch of hot dogs, steaks, chicken, and such? Apparently at least four when using a manly man's 65" grill. Yeah, Kev has one. Look at all of them, just standing there looking at it. (Yum. Meat. Grunt, grunt.)

I love pictures like this. All the little cousins sitting around on a picnic blanket eating. They just love each other. Doesn't matter what happens between the adults...they keep on loving each other and being so glad to see one another.

Peanut showed us her trampoline skills too...

Ah...and Aunt Jenn on the trampoline with Scooter...

Since Colton's birthday was coming up the following Sunday and we had everyone there, including Shannon's parents, we had a birthday party for him. There were a number of different desserts, so there was just this little birthday cake for him. Yes...he is turning 22. We didn't have enough of either kind of candle, so we created our own version of the number 22.

As everyone was waiting to sing Happy Birthday, I looked over and caught this picture of Peanut and Belle. They were really into some conversation and when Peanut saw the camera (again), she pulled this quite odd face. I love how Belle is holding up her foot/leg and don't you just love the multitude of nail polish colors on Peanut's toes?

Such cute pigtails...but again, no smile from my little Belle!

At one point, Kevin reached his foot over in front of Angie's face and she about died. Ew...gross, Kev!

Once it was dark (yeah, like 10:30 at night in Utah!), we all went outside and the fireworks show began again. The kids had fun with the sparklers, the parents had fun with the adult fireworks, and Ang watched from the backyard where apparently, the view of the aerials is better and less frightening! Maybe I should have gone back there too...maybe I'd have some pictures of the aerials!

We soon left since we needed to get packed and ready to go home the next day. What a fun time being with all the family. Makes us think about moving there someday.

Ordination/Pioneer Day

2011-07-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness Jen's church isn't until 1 p.m.! I did not sleep the majority of the night. I woke up with a sore throat, sore nasal passages, and a very sore body. I could barely move. What was wrong with me?
I somehow made it upstairs and we had some breakfast. Then, we got ready for church and headed out. It was so hard to believe that our little Cristobal was finally 12 and receiving the priesthood. Where has the time gone? I remember when that barely 5 pound little boy was born!

After classes were over, we went to wait in the foyer and the greatest thing happened. Our ENTIRE family was there! I was so happy! I wasn't quite sure what had happened to bring this about, but it was so wonderful that all I could do is just look at everyone and smile. Somewhere in the last two weeks, something had happened that had helped build a bridge between years of conflict. It's not to say that everything was likely perfect, but it was so nice to see everyone interact, see everyone talk, and to see all the kiddos play together.

We had a lovely little buffet lunch and sat around and visited all afternoon and into the evening. It was fun watching the kids interact with Uncle Melon Man and the "rat" he'd brought along with us...

Aunt Katherine, Uncle Gary, and Karl. Karl always cracks everyone up. He's so full of spirit and tries so hard to be just like everyone else.

Bishop and Stephanie Floyd...the Davis' best friends - always there to support them.

Shannon and Colton

Jonah opening his birthday presents

Julie and Tanner

Aunt Katherine, Jennifer, Angie, and Kurt all visiting. Somehow, I almost always catch Angie in a picture with her eyes closed!

Uncle Melon Man and his rat...

A cute picture of Kurt and Angie!

Little Miss Holly. I swear...this sweet thing just does not like me...she never will smile for me!

Dylan, Jonah, and Tanner...cute cousin boys having a great time!

Then, of course, Jodi and Kevin were there too!

And when I told them the first picture was kind of funky, this is what I got instead!

See, she smiles for her dad, but not for me directly!

Kevin - you're so funny....you pick that nose!

Another Julie picture.

Once it started getting dark, the fireworks started popping up all over the valley again. So, we all headed out to the front yard and began lining up to watch our own little fireworks display. While I didn't get the best pictures of the action, I captured the general idea!

I wasn't feeling very well still, so I headed inside after a bit and went to bed. I certainly wanted to try to head off getting really sick, if possible. What a good day this was!

Have Migraine, Will Travel

2011-07-23T19:50:00.040-07:00

I know...I've been missing in action on my blog lately. This week has been a killer. I worked 72 hours this week prepping for the fact that I will be gone next week on vacation.

I left work at 1:30 a.m. this morning, stopped off at Whataburger for some very late dinner, came home, started some laundry, finished the program for church, emailed it off to the bishop, packed up some of the stuff to go in the truck in the morning, and at 4 a.m. I was still waiting for some laundry to finish so I could hang it to dry and then go lay down for an hour or two before we headed out for Utah. It was about 5 a.m. when I went to lay down. I was supposed to leave at 6:30 to pick Melon Man up from work and drop off dog at the kennel, but since I didn't get off work in time to take him to work, he had to drive himself, and so we just had to leave from home instead of from his work.

Melon Man called shortly after I went to bed around 5 this morning. When I told him I'd just gone to bed, he said to just keep sleeping and we would finish packing when he got home. So, back off to la-la land I went.

About 7:45, he got home and he let me sleep just a little longer. Around 8:15, I got up, got in the shower, and I finished packing. By 9:15 we were on our way to drop Dog off at the Petshotel. By 10:00, we were on the highway and heading up the road. But, no sooner had we gotten on the highway, did I start to notice splotches in my vision. Yep, a migraine was on it's way. Dang. Just what I didn't need. I had meds, but no liquid to taken them with. We continued up the road, me closing my eyes and just trying to get it to go away. Finally, when we got to Cordes Junction, we pulled into McDonalds for some grub and beverage. Meds down the hatch and away.

Back on the freeway we went. I finished eating my breakfast and then covered my eyes with a napkin and my sunglasses. Melon Man thought it was quite funny looking and snapped a picture (which will NOT be showing up on this blog). Off to sleep, I went. Poor Mr. Melon Man...he had just worked all night and now he was having to drive the entire way to Utah without my help. I felt really bad, but the migraine just wouldn't go away. There was no way I would be able to drive with a migraine. I slept off and on the whole way. I felt so much like crap that I didn't even take any pictures the whole way!

We finally pulled into Jen's driveway around 8:30 p.m. They were just finishing gathering chairs for the party and arranging them in the backyard. We sat and visited, among the mosquitos, and watched the tons of fireworks that were going on all around us. In Utah, July 24th is Pioneer Day. It's almost as big a holiday as Independence Day. And this year, the people there are able to buy aerial fireworks for the first time so needless to say...there were a lot of them!

Soon, we went in and went to bed. Jen had prepared a nice space for us in the basement, so we headed down, got situated, got a fan blowing on us, and off we went to sleep.

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I am really tired. I am physically exhausted and worn out. I left it open that I may come in to work next Thursday and Friday, but I just don't think I will. I really need to get some rest or else I'm going to get sick.

EVERYTHING is Brand New!

2011-07-19T23:55:00.003-07:00

The hymnals have never been opened.

The linens on the sacrament table are pristine white and the sacrament trays have never had bread or water on them.

The cushions on the pews are firm and high because they've never been sat on.

The hymn board has the first hymn numbers on it ever.
The gym floor is super shiny and glossy. It's never been played on.

The chalkboards have never been written on.

The kitchen has never been cooked in.

The chapel has never been used yet for a Sacrament meeting.

And...it smells so nice and new.

This is what we experienced today. It was the first time our new Stake Center had been used for official Sabbath services and our ward got to be the very first ward to experience all of it. It was so wonderful. It was like Christmas for churches. Everyone sat in their usual row, but everyone looked at everything with a gleam in their eye. It was such a special day...something I've never experienced before in that way...I missed out on that experience when our first Stake Center here in Surprise was built because another ward went to church earlier than us so they got to experience it. This time, we did. We will be the only ones who got to experience that in that building. It was just really special.

I actually went over earlier in the week to turn in old keys and get keys to the new building. It was weird thinking about how when I first moved to this town 10 years ago, I had to drive 14 miles each direction to go to church. But, it was mostly on surface streets. When we got our first building out here, we were so excited because it was only 2-3 miles away and only took about 7 minutes to get there, rather than 35 minutes. Then, they built the first stake center just a mile away from us and it was a short 4 minutes to church. Then, we were switched to the Verde Vista building and it was just another mile or so from the stake center. However, now our new stake center is about 7 miles away and takes about 15 to 17 minutes to get there. This is the view on the way to our new building.

There's pretty much nothing on the way. Just dirt and road. But that's okay. We're just glad to have a nice, new building that's not crowded!

While there, I took a few pictures of some of the beautiful artwork inside. Love it. I was really touched by these. They are quite different than the standard artwork that we typically see in our chapels...

I LOVED this picture of the Savior. The colors are rich and vibrant.

I LOVED this picture of the 10 Virgins. Very dramatic.

But this one truly caught my breath. This is the one and only piece of artwork that is in the Young Women's room - specifically, the Laurels room - which is the group I teach. I love how she is reading, presumably, her scriptures. She has the "light" that she's not hiding under a bushel. And, she's looking to the light as well. I hope the girls in my class see the meaning in this picture and choose to walk in the same path.

It was a really neat day being in our new building. I loved it.