4187

Today was a long day, in a very good way. First things first, we went to SLC in sleet/ice/snow/rain/wind to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert featuring Natalie Cole and David McCullough as narrator. But first, we saw Music and The Spoken Word. It was their 4187th broadcast. Wow. First time for me though!

The music, the singers, the dancers, the bells (oh how I loved the bells!), the organ (I loved the organ even more than the bells), the mood.

Finally, finally I can say I felt the Spirit of Christmas. Thanks W&A for the invite and the terrific company in the most dreadful weather ever! So glad you have 4-wheel drive.

We went to the last hour of church and I was so tired I was dozing during the lesson about the martyrom of Joseph Smith. Too bad, because I love the subject of Joseph Smith.

Today, as we waited for the activities at the conference center to start suddenly everyone rose and was on their feet and the crowd went completely silent as our prophet Thomas S. Monsen entered to take his seat. Such reverence and love. I felt the spirit and thought, one day I will meet the Savior and I cannot even imagine the love and reverence I will feel for him. But today I got a small taste of it and I liked it. I will also feel a similar feeling on the day that I meet Joseph Smith.

Then we had made dinner for a local family and they had to cancel at the last minute so we invited my parents and sister's family to dinner. I was so happy they came!

As we finished up dinner prep I put on the DVD Joy to the World. As the MoTab sang there were images of baby Jesus and Mary.

Then I thought, I cannot believe the Savior of the world came to the earth as a small, beautiful, perfect infant who had to have his every need filled by his mother....just like every other baby that comes to this earth.

Jesus Christ is my Savior. And, I am grateful that the Spirit of His birth finally got to my core today.

Then we got to meet with our bishop, the annual trek to settle up and declare ourselves. Again, a peaceful, grateful spirit entered my heart.

I am blessed, truly, truly blessed.

Extinction

Our microwave died this week. It was a dinosaur that my parents bought for us the first week of our marriage. It was huge and took up tons of counter space. It was brown and black. I think it was one of the first models to have a button for popcorn popping.

When it died I didn't even cry. I didn't mourn its loss. I just figured, hey, we'll live without it. It's gone to a better place, microwave heaven.

Then one night my eldest said {very loudly}, "I can't believe we don't have a microwave, this is so stupid!"

I only needed it once, last Sunday, for softening butter that had come directly from the freezer. But, I figured out how to live my butter-softening life without it. I used time. That's right, I was patient.

So the big beast was taken away. H. told me he was going to put it directly into our garbage can. I thought for sure the microwave would be stashed into some dusty corner of the garage until a trip to the dump arouse. But, no.

So this morning I get a call. "I forgot to take out the garbage."

"The one with the BIG FAT MICROWAVE in it?"

"Yep, that's the one."

Me, in my best Napolean Dynamite voice, "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, can you bring me some chapstick?"

"Just ask the nurse, she's got like five sticks in her drawer."

"Sick!"

So I got up from my chair, wearing PJs and slippers and threw on a big yellow and green jacket we inherited from a friend years ago, thinking this would be enough to keep me warm in subzero temps (close enough).

I used the shovel to remove the snow from our driveway to the garbage. Then I saw what I knew was going to happen one week ago but decided to promptly forget and deny, that our garbage was spilling out of the can for our neighbors to see. Then I used the shovel to remove the snow from the top of the garbage can. Then I started trying to move that dang thing. Then my hands were frozen from gripping the handle with snow on it. Then there was snow in my slippers. Then I reached inside the jacket and used the endy bits to cover my hands and tried again.

Then I finally got the can up onto the top of the driveway. Then I fixed the can so that I could basically steer it from the front as I let gravity bring the can down our half icy driveway. (The top half is snow/ice free, but the bottom half is a mess.)

Then I prayed I wouldn't fall and break anything because that would really Scrooge me out and I've been feeling pretty scroogey already.

Then I got down to the end of the drive and parked the can directly behind my car so when I pull out I need to remember NOT to hit the can.

Then I trudged inside, muttering under my breath, "You're welcome!"

Then I remembered all the bajillion times my dear husband does these things and I never have to think about it. And then I thought,

"Thanks honey, you're the best!"

The Birfday Post

It's time for my birfday post. To honor our 40th birthday, H. and I went to Henderson, NV to celebrate. We stayed at the Green Valley Ranch Resort. Oh how I wish I had hundreds of dollars to spend here. They had a terrific spa that smelled Dee-vine. (We had to walk through the spa to get to the work out room, yes we worked out [once] while we were there.) They also had a hair salon. Mani, pedi, massage....maybe for my 50th?


This is the view from our window. Sorry about the blur, I blame our camera. The lights at the top left are Vegas in the distance. The pool had a sand bottom and the blue beds are exactly that....beds! You can totally lounge at the pool! Nice!


Another view out our window.

Bathroom shot. The glass shower door swung both ways, in the most innocent sense.

Sweet King Bed.

Me, weeping at the computer the morning of check out. Ok, really it's me checking the weather before we left.


Now on to Halloween! We spent Friday night at my parents house. We had a family dinner. Carrie and her family as well as Brittany W. came to town and we had a fun dinner. The funniest thing that happened was that I had requested that my mother make a white cake with holes poked into it and jello poured in it. Then you put whip cream on top (or Cool whip, whatever). Anyway, it came time for the cake and out comes an 8 inch round chocolate cake with a pumpkin drawn on top. Hmm....ok...not what I asked for, but I assumed they were just bringing out this little guy for candle blowing purposes. After I blew out the big 4 and the big 0 my SIL Britty asks if this was the cake I had been telling her about. I said, no. My sis Carrie explains that there was a problem with my requested cake and that this little chocolate guy was "it." I was like, What? Then I said, and I quote, "This is the worst birthday ever!" Everyone laughed and left to go cut the stupid little cake. I almost started to cry, for real. I had been looking forward to my yummy lemon cake for a while. Then all of a sudden the REAL cake comes out and my family starts laughing. They thought it would be funny to play a trick on the 40-year-old. NOT FUNNY PEOPLE! My dad thought I was 100% ridiculous for having declared this the worst birthday ever over a CAKE! But, my dad doesn't worship food the way the rest of our family does. I think everyone else completely understood.


My kids and my sister's children as well. So great to hang with the sistas on my bday.

S. the ninja. Yes, she hand made the stars attached to her ninja belt.

My cowboy.

Thanks to our old bishop for BEING a real cowboy and having the goods for our son to use for dress up!

My BIL Justin, he dresses up every year. I respect any adult who does this and Justin rocks!


I stole this one from Britty's blog but for some reason I don't have any pics of Britty on my camera. Britty shared our birthday weekend with us and it was sweet! Thanks for coming B.

Me and the sistas under the big witch hat. (Holy cow, I was looking at this post and realized that we all 3 look a TON alike.....crazy. Maybe triplets? Ok, my little sisters won't appreciate that comment, seeing that they are YEARS younger than I.....but I don't care....I think we look strikingly similar here.)

The birfday girl. I had a terrific week with my man and a terrific weekend with tons of family and a lot of candy! :) And yes, 40 does look this good!!!

They Say It's Your Birthday Dear Lima

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to H. Yes, 40 does sound weird.

But, we have a LOT of fun, exciting things to look forward to in the years to come and I'm glad we'll be doing it together!

I love you.

My Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

I hope that before the world ends and computers everywhere crash I will one day print off all my entries and therefore have a sweet, sweet journal for posterity. And, since this is MY journal, my latest entry involves my daughter.


Last night we saw said daughter in a concert choir performance. This year she is in the Chamber Choir, choir level III, the only choir in the junior high for which participants had to try out. She sings soprano.


We watched choir I as they sang and then choir II. Then in her beautiful, black, floor length gown here comes choir III and my gorgeous daughter.


They sang The Voice, Feed the Birds, and Concertschtick. The Voice and Concertschtick were my favorites.


As a mother, I was in fine form last night. I couldn't help it, as I watch my daughter (she is beautiful by the way, but not just face-pretty, she glows!) sing her heart out and do something she loves to do......my heart grew three sizes. There aren't that many times in my life I can actually feel my heart (there is the occasional chest twinge that makes me think of what my dad said long ago about how every time he feels a chest pain he thinks to himself "this is it, this is the pain that's gonna take me down."), but last night I felt my heart grow. And I bawled. Wow, I love my daughter.


For more information on the Joy of Motherhood, read here.

I'm Not a Witch, I'm Your Wife!

Yes, Halloween approacheth. I'm dressing up this year. Believe it or not. I may be only sporting a witches hat, but I might have more to my costume. You'll have to trick-or-treat in our zip code to find out (or I might post pictures, ok, who am I fooling, of course I'll post pictures). But, if you DO come here, I'll make sure I give you some of my chocolate. We bought two 150 piece ALL CHOCOLATE bags of candy at Costco. I'm tired of skimping every year. Buying a few bags of yummy and throwing in dollar store candy to make our stash look bigger. Then I spend all night trying to figure out if I know the cute trick-or-treaters, because if I KNOW them, I give them chocolate. If I don't know them, they get dollar store pixie stix. But hey, maybe those little unknown treaters like pixie stix....what kid doesn't? So, maybe I should just get all kinds of candy and let the kids choose. Wait, I can't do that either because if I put the bowl (I typed bowel there first, medical transcriptionist fingers sometimes go to autopilot) out at the kids, they inevitably grab a whole chubby fistful of goodies, and at that point they don't CARE if it's chocolate or what!

I'm still a tad worried that 300 pieces isn't enough. I just cannot stand the thought of running out. There are those of you out there who buy just enough and then basically say, first come-first serve! and then let the drifters come upon your darkened house and be ever-so-disappointed.

Not me, Halloween is all about one big, fat party....full of candy ALL NIGHT LONG at EVERY SINGLE HOUSE! I refuse to party poop on the best day of the year!

***It should also be noted, I have NOT opened either bag of candy. Only 11 days to go...

Harold's Opinion on my Poll

I agree that we should NOT post the pictures. No one wants to see them. If you want people to visit your blog, posting the pictures would be a massive deterrent. No one would ever visit again. It wouldn't ruin your marriage or cause any strife. It would ruin your friendships and would cause unhappy feelings.

That's my opinion.

H.

OK PEOPLE, do you agree??

Fall Table Top Quilts

I have had these table topper quilts in the works for YEARS. When my old ward started a table topper quilt night, I was in. But, when I saw these Halloween babies, I was all over it! I love Halloween, as you know. I love pumpkins and I love Fall.

Here is the larger specimen with the fun pumpkin faces:


Here is a closer view:


Corner shot:


I love this shot. This shows off the fun fabric I chose for the back and the stripey fun binding fabric. Also if you look close you can see the quilt pattern, the fun leaves (click on the pic for a better view):


This was the first one I started on, more of a fall pattern, not necessarily Halloween:


This is the full view:


And this one shows the fun fabric on the back and the stripey (love the stripes) border print. On this shot you can also see the pumpkin pattern quilting. Don't forget to click for a great quilt view:


Isn't it spooky how I actually got these done? Go ahead, admire me.

Poll

How bad would it be to post pictures of my husband before and after 9 weeks on Body for Life?

And by "bad" I mean, would posting the pics cause major marital issues? What do you think?

While The Sun Shines

Do you ever wonder why when we look at someone else's life that is so hard, we seem to appreciate our life much more? Why is that? Why does it take a tragedy to bring us to our senses?

And how does the person whose life is so difficult feel about me, whose life is not that hard? Does that person get irritated that I have finally seen the light? Does that person feel glad in their heart that their tragedy has brought others clarity?

I read the Nie Nie Dialogues and I get inspired every single day by Stephanie. I don't know her other than through her blog. She will be on Oprah today. She was beautiful before the plane crash, not just her physical beauty which is very, very apparent, but her spirit was beautiful. She shined from the inside. And now, since the crash, her light shines just as bright. I am humbled by her.

Life is too short to complain and to wish our circumstances were different, don't you think?

Hope

I could not say this better, never in a million years. But, I want anyone who reads this to know our Heavenly Father loves us all and I know the Son of God is my Savior.

Pleasantly Confused

Since I don't have a great story to tell or a major fault to admit to today.....here are a few things I've been thinking about:

I like when a doc calls a patient pleasantly confused. I hope that when I get older and my memory fails me that this is what I become. Who wants a confused jerk for a grandmother anyway?

Ever heard the word myriad? By definition it means "a large indefinite number." I see this word a lot in written form, books I read. But here is how it is used.

I felt I had myriad choices. Um.....don't you mean "an indefinite number OF choices"? Where is the preposition? If you leave it out, what is left? "An indefinite number choices."

People....don't forget your prepositions or nice pleasantly confused me will become mean and irritable!

Here is another I've seen: "This book inspires me no end." Again with the missing preposition. "This book inspires me TO no end." Enough already, enough I say!

How about something a bit deeper. Do you feel that accepting life's circumstances without judgment is a way of bringing peace to your soul? I've been hearing a lot of this lately. Just wondering.

I like horchata. I've been thinking about it now for 23 hours, I might be replacing my lack of soda for AN ENTIRE YEAR with a sugary rice drink from Mexico.

Do you think writing to an uber rich person like Bill Gates and asking for a handout is wrong when you are not living in Africa and fearing for your life every day? (Ok, just writing that out seems super shallow.) The handout would be spread around, it isn't just for me. (Ok, I don't think that makes me less shallow.)

I need more time for cooking/baking.

I need some time for sewing.

I need to stop feeling ok about 50 pounds lost and start feeling disgusted that I still have 75 to go.

Addicted to Reality

Hello, my name is Jeanna, and I'm addicted to reality shows. It all started with Survivor. Richard Hatch bore his bottom, Susan Hawk trash talked, and Rudy was the surliest ex-Navy SEAL ever. May 31, 2000. D-day for my addiction.

My addiction wouldn't have been so bad if I had just stuck with Surivor, but since season one I have branched out.

Here is the most comprehensive list I have ever compiled of all the reality shows I have either watched faithfully from season 1 episode 1, or I have watched a few episodes or at least a portion of one episode. If I've only seen a few minutes of the program, I'll mark it with a (*).

Survivor
Amazing Race
The Mole
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
More to Love
Hell's Kitchen
Top Chef
Inked
Tattoo Highway
The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Orange County, New York City, New Jersey
Househusbands of Hollywood
Big Brother
The Apprentice
Celebrity Apprentice
Dancing With the Stars*
Fear Factor*
Project Runway*
Wife Swap
The Osbournes
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here*
Miami Ink*
The Biggest Loser
Making the Band
Reinventing Bonnaduce
Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover Home Edition
What Not to Wear
Kitchen Nightmares
Trading Spaces
MTV's Cribs
Secret Millionaire
Punk'd*
Deadliest Catch
America's Toughest Job*
The Real World, too many seasons

Yes, there are 39 shows listed here. Should I blame Survivor or did it all start with Star Search?

Now the big question is this: Can I quit reality TV? Some of these shows are no longer on the air. Some of these shows are in their 20th season. I didn't even list the prime time non-reality shows I like to watch.

Holy Crap. This post started out with me just thinking it was funny how addicted I am to reality. Now I can see that I have a serious problem. I have GOT to do something more productive with my time.

I could blame eight of my nine year addiction on work. I work so much it seems that when I have down time I relax by watching the boob tube. I do like to read and if I listed the books I've read I'd have a pretty sweet, long list. (Unfortunately, wikipedia doesn't have my personal book list as an entry, because I forget most of the books I've read.)

I also have a house at the moment that could use some serious deep, deep cleaning. Baseboards, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, etc.

Help!! This all ties in to a talk I have to give on Sunday and has made me really think about how I spend my time. I need a do-over. I need 9 years of my life back.

ADDENDUM:
Dating in the Dark
American Idol

Making the grand total 41.

And p.s. I haven't had TV reception for at least 5-6 years. I watch all these shows online with approximately 2.5 minutes of commercials during each show. It isn't the commercials I am regretting, its the 22-44 minutes of time I spend on the stupid shows!!!

ADDENDUM (2):
Ace of Cakes
Cake Boss
Jon and Kate Plus 8
18 Kids and Counting
Small People, Big World

New Total: 46

I Am So Sorry!

Wouldn't it be awful to actually be "in labor" on Labor Day? Ick! I wasn't in labor, but Harold did dream I was pregnant this weekend.

The only labor we partook of the past three days was driving to and from Denver. We had a great visit with the Nichols clan. We talked a lot, played a game, I read a whole book, went swimming, out to eat....all in all a great weekend.

Now I'm glad to be home.

Anyone who has known me for a long, long time knows that for YEARS I dissed Utah. I couldn't help it, I am a California girl at heart and I felt the need to tell everyone who would listen how superior California was to Utah, ok CA is better than most places, but because I had "relocated" to Utah, I was particularly harsh on the Beehive State.

But officially I have now lived in Utah for 19 years of my life. If you count the 18 months I spent in Scotland for my mission, that means I have now lived in Utah for half of my life and almost my entire adulthood.

And....I love it here. It's home. I still feel "at home" in CA, but I don't think I would enjoy living there anymore. My home is now a little town in Utah. I love the Wasatch Mountains, I love the spring and fall in here, I love my little po-dunk town. I just plain love it.

So, for all the times I was rude and disrespectful to you my fair state, I wholeheartedly and sincerely apologize. Utah is a blissful place for me and it is my home!

Deep Thoughts Friday

I dreamed last night that we had inadvertently traded in my parents Toyota to get our new Hyundai. Oops. Had to tell my parents, who then told me we had to take our new car back and give them their Toyota. I was devastated. Apparently that whole giving back the new car thing that happened over a month ago really got to me.

Sav got the first goal of the season last night, but her team still lost. The goalie for the other side was amazing....Oh, and I didn't see the goal, despite trying very hard to watch the entire time. I got distracted by I don't know what. Ugh! Mack played his fourth game, the first one where he did not score and the first that his team lost. My parents came to watch and didn't get to see Mack make a goal and they left before Sav got hers. Again, ugh!

I was asked by my mom and sister to fix my sister's blessing dress. Carrie is blessing baby Daisy this weekend and wanted to use the dress she was blessed in. I am not a seamstress, but I am the sister who has sewn more than anyone else in the family, so I got the job. The elastic on the sleeves was gone, so I just needed to replace it. Harder than it looks. I got the job done, but I didn't love the end product. I was hoping for more pucker in those tiny sleeves.

I ran out of my off brand Slim Fast yesterday morning. I ended up having to use the chocolate protein powder we have on hand. Not the best, but it worked. I am apparently addicted to my morning chocolate-banana Slim Fast shake. Mmmmmmmm.......

I ran to the store in the middle of the day for white thread (blessing dress), bananas (I also used my last frozen banana yesterday), Slim Fast (the real deal, it does taste better even if it costs more), cookies (because I ate the last few that were to go into today's lunches), and Wasa crackers (my new lunch love, with cheese of course).

Yesterday I watched two women I know riding bikes. They've been riding together for months in an effort to get fit and lose weight. They both get up early to ride as they have children at home and husbands that have to go to work. I don't know how far they ride each morning. I know they have gradually been increasing their distance. About a month ago they did a long ride on a Saturday and their husbands and children went to the middle of their route and held up posters, cheering their wives/mothers on. They are committed. They are both looking gorgeous and beautiful. And they did it all on beater Wal-Mart bikes. I'm just saying.

Soccer Season

I know I've complained in the past about the soccer schedule. My brain feels like it is going to explode when I think about weeknights for the next 6 weeks as we go to soccer game after soccer game.

But, I LOVE this sport, love it. I love how I can sit right on the field and watch my child run around, exercise their body, and sweat profusely. I love seeing them so happy and embracing something so good for them. They both LOVE to play and they are both quite good, in my opinion. Will they play professional soccer, no, but I don't care. I prefer the small field, the small crowd, the general comraderie among the kids and parents.

Last night's game was particularly fun because as I sat watching the game the moon was coming up. I wish I had a sweet camera to capture what I saw. Beautiful child, beautiful earth.

For the next little while you can find me at the field, on my camping chair, probably some hand sewing to be done, relaxing in the night air, enjoying the game, and feeling blessed.

Highlights, Lowlights

Wow, my blogging record has been less than desirable lately and since I can't think of any great story to tell, I'll just bore you with the highlights.

Highlight: The new car is great!
Lowlight: Last Saturday, going northbound I-15 we were traveling near a truck with large rocks...yep, one came loose and hit our windshield. Nice new crack. Thankfully it doesn't obscure our vision and we are leaving it for up to 2 years until our next state-mandated safety check before we replace it.

Highlight: Harold is rocking the house on his new diet/lifestyle change. He looks terrific and feels really good, too.
Lowlight: I'm holding steady because I have had such an affinity for ice cream lately.....

Highlight: Kids started school.
Lowlight: Soccer started as well. I love watching the kids play, but the schedule makes my brain wanna explode!

Highlight: Our summer was fantastic! Our trip to Oregon is still making me happy to think about.
Lowlight: There is none! Fall is bringing about some big birthdays and a celebratory mood pervails!

Highlight: I was released as Primary Pianist and called to serve as the Compassionate Service Leader.
Lowlight: Does this mean I have to be compassionate? Ok, I'm only slightly kidding. I love the CSL calling, I've done it before and I look forward to serving. I have been doing a lot of introspection on this subject and I'm looking foward to some spiritual fine tuning. (Not exactly a lowlight, is it?) The release from primary also puts me on the list to substitute as the RS pianist occasionally. This will also help me hone the piano skills!! Yay!

Highlight: Harold "fixed" our camera by replacing the batteries.
Lowlight: For real, I replaced the batteries right before it konked out! What the???

Highlight: Tonight is date night.
Lowlight: I have to work. Take out and a DVD!

New Car? Yes, yes, yes!

One week after turning over our little black car, we picked up our brand new (14 miles on it) charcoal gray Hyundai Elantra.


Yay, 2 working cars in the garage make me happy!

Having said that, our Sonata has to go into the dealer to get some recalls fixed. I hope after the two recall fixits that our two cars will be smooth riding for a very long time.

New Car? Nope.

Because I am so terribly sad about the car I owned for a 60 hours going back to the dealership, here is the story in short:

We made the deal for the new car based on getting 4500 in rebate from the government. You can only get the full 4500 if your car had a median MPG of 18 or below, ours was 18. The new car had to get 28+ median MPG. The new car, we thought, had 28. Nope, government said it was 27.

The car went back today.

I had to remove the pic from the post below, sorry, too painful.

Breaking News

We took the '99 Mercury Villager in to a Nissan dealership yesterday, traded it in, and got this little baby!

XXXXXX

Yay!!! It's a 2009 Nissan Versa, seats 5, is a tiny bit of a thing, but super roomy inside (for real!) and we got a smoking deal, thanks for Cash for Clunkers. Buh-bye old van. We loved you, but for the past two years you have become an albatross around our proverbial necks. C-YA later 160,000+ miles, hello 113! Yes, you read that right. Unbelievable.

Yep, I did it!

I finally did it, I've lost 50 pounds since my surgery last year. Yay! I feel semi-pathetic that it has taken me this long, but I seriously don't care right now. When I got on the scale, all I felt was happy, happy, happy!

Only 75 to go! I didn't just say 75, did I?

Vacay

Here is a photographic journal of our trip to Portland. For some reason I didn't break out the camera while we were in Boise. That was dumb! We had a great time visiting our Idaho relations and seeing our new niece! (My apologies for the small sized pics. Just click to enlarge, I started making them bigger towards the end.)

This is mi familia, ready for a ragin' good time!


This is me, self portraits are my obvious favorite, although I'm not sure why, they aren't the most flattering, are they?


This was one of my favorite roses, we went on a tour of the International Test Rose Garden in Portland. They try out new rose plants. This one was called Abbaye De Cluny. (We also went to Powell's Books on this day which is the biggest bookstore in the world, they claim, and we hiked 3 miles in a beautiful arboretum, but my batteries had given out at this point.)


On Tuesday we drove to Astoria. This is the Astoria Column. Apparently a bunch of memorials (twenty-something) were built across the country in honor of the explorers/pioneers that came west.


The column had a sweet, sweet view, which we had to enjoy for only a brief second because after hiking 164 steps to the top, standing on a small little balcony of sorts, we were freaked:


If you didn't know, Astoria has had a few movies filmed there, including a movie called Goonies. Our car was not allowed to go up the little pebble drive and this is the sign informing us of that. The next two pics are for my SIL Julie:


Behind the bushes on the left there is a very large Greek flag that I didn't catch in the picture. Apparently a very Greek family lives there now. No Sean Astin :(


On Wednesday we drove to Kings Valley to visit the Jillicious bakery and its owner, Jill (and Jeff of course). We ordered a couple of items from Jill, but she went WAY out of her way to make sure we were super taken care of. I'll let the pictures do the talking (but let me just say that I didn't even get a picture of the brownies or the yummy lunch):




At Jill's place she has a sweet pond where the kids spent HOURS frog hunting:



Sweet lily pads:


H., me, Jeff and Jill:


Then we ventured to the coast (again) and saw Cannon Beach (where we made pigs of ourselves at Pig 'N Pancake) and saw Haystack Rock:




Then we went on a super mini hike just off the highway and saw salmon berries. These look good, right? Brittany confirmed that though they are edible, they are extremely tart. Thanks B. for taking a hit for the team!


Proof that B. was there!


This is how H. and I look while on vacation, rested and happy!


Tour of Tillamook where we (I) had too many cheese samples and bought yummy ice cream:



Sav asleep, B., and Mack (who was faking it!):


Proof that B. actually has a husband. Poor Wyat was super busy with a crazy chemistry class so we didn't see him much, but thanks W. for allowing us to crash at your pad!


We also went to Voo Doo donuts (picture stolen from B's blog):


We spent money on gas and food (obviously) but only $1 at the column (for a whole year's worth of parking on site) and $10 for clothing rental at the Portland temple. We were super happy to find so many wonderful things to do in Portland without having to spend money on entrance fees and such. Who wouldn't prefer to spend their hard-earned dough on food anyway? We also hit up two different french bakeries while in Lake Oswego (we went to one of them twice and the other three times). The kids, H. and B. also floated the Clackamas River, courtesy of W.'s family and their "fun tires." Despite H. thinking he was going to miss the "get out point" and freaking out to the point of almost drowning (thanks B. for saving your big bro's life), they enjoyed the river float a ton.

Thanks to B., W., Jill, and Jeff. Also thanks to the unknown owners of the beach house we stayed at (unknown to me, but not to B.).

And, thanks to Miss Georgia, who assured me that this would be money well spent. Miss Georgia, you were right!

I told H. that this was our best vacation yet and that includes the freebie we had last year at Disneyland.

Wheeeeeee...........

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on H.'s bike. His bike has been hanging in our garage for a while, needing new tubes. I bought some tubes, got the bike down, and with the help of my two willing and able children, we replaced the tubes. So, I've been toodling around on the bike for the past few days, but yesterday I got serious. Ok, not really serious, because I know what a serious biker looks like and I'm not that person. But I did ride for about 8 miles total. I know, that doesn't sound like much, but will you tell my bum bones that? Ouch!

We rode down to our old bishop's car lot because our van is giving us trouble....I know, you're in shock, right? And we are trying to decide if we should fix the van, again, or get a small car/truck and a small payment to go with it.

I thought it was pretty funny that we went riding up on a bike to tell our old bishop that we need a car.

Anyway, so we rode down (which had a lot of downhill time as it turns out) and then back (which means we were going uphill a lot). It seems like on a bike ride you really should put in the work during the first half of the trip so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor during the last half.

But, either way, both legs of the trip were super, super fun! The weather was nice and cloudy, a little cool, and at one point I was super squinting because raindrops were piercing my cornea going downhill! But I totally loved it! Talk about cross training! But since we only have 1 working adult bike in the house we need to get another one. I'm thinking maybe a new bike for me? and then H. can have our one working car. We'll see.

I felt like a little kid because I really did feel pure joy while riding that bike. There were sweaty times, times when I had to shift down to the lowest gear available, and then there were exhilarating, high speed, wind on my face and through my hair times. I loved it!

Now onto today's business:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! As I get older I can see every single day how much good father's sacrifice for their wives and children. I am so grateful today for my dad and for H. I am truly, truly blessed to have had such good men in my life.

Dad, H.: You deserve all the happiness and joy that Heavenly Father can give to you. Big hugs and kisses and a day filled with good fun, good presents, and good food to you both! I know a lot of other good men out there, father's and fathers to be. To you all: Enjoy your day, you deserve it!

Why I Love Psych Reports:

The patient states that he does believe he is "the prophet." He states that his white beard serves as evidence of this. He then laughs bizarrely.

Can You Read My Mind? (Lois Lane Theme)

It's 8:12 in the morning on Saturday. I'm waiting for H. to wake up to go on our walk/run this morning. (We're supposed to run, but we'll see.) I'm dressed, the house is quiet except for the happy lull of the washing machine, and I'm wasting time at the computer....waiting....waiting....

Can you guess what I'm thinking about? I bet you can't. Twenty-four hours ago I couldn't have guessed what I would be thinking about. So, here is a major clue:



My mom has had these bad boys in her cupboard for SIX WHOLE MONTHS...untouched I might add. They have been tucked away, unopened, still fresh inside their happily sealed package. Every time I come to my mother's house I take a longing look at this package and then instead of opening the box, I walk away. I make a comment every third visit or so about how it would be great to have some Candy Cane Jojo's. My mom usually ignores my comments. Ok, she probably doesn't hear me because I'm usually talking to myself. So the last time I was at her house I said, "When are we going to open these up?" My mom tells me I can open then right then if I want. "No," I say, "let's wait until I come next time." Next time was to be one week later. Fast forward to last night.

H., the kids, and I come back from H.'s work party at the zoo (fun I might add and I will super try to download a pic from my cell phone of the kids), and I am hankering for something yummy. (We stayed at my parents house last night.) My mom and I go to the pantry and she points out all the yummy cookie/brownie/cake mixes she has. But, I'm not feeling invested in baking AT ALL. Then I see the brightly striped red/white package of joy. "Hey, can I open these?" Sure, says my mother who just rejoined Weight Watchers the night before. (To her credit, I think she had 1 cookie...that woman is a ROCK!)

I tried to be ginger about opening the package, but I failed, after a few attempts I just got desperate and ripped the dang thing. I then proceeded to pour myself a glass of milk. And I ate. Mmmmmmmmm......I had 5 cookies and they were worth it!! 150 calories for 2, so that means 375 calories of cookies at 10 p.m. at night. Nice call, right?

Addendum: Magic, part 2

This morning I knew I would be "cross training." My run yesterday made me feel like I could just cruise on a nice walk this morning (and be completely justified in doing so). I was cruising all right, like an 80-year-old with a front-wheeled walker!

Ouch, ouch, ouch! Things hurt today. I couldn't even do a decent paced walk for goodness sake.

After my slower-than-snails walk, I sat down at the computer to work for a while. H. called me up for family prayer and for S. to get a father's blessing pre-girls camp and as I stood up, holy-moly....everything was screaming! Then kneeling down for the prayer was horrible....but nothing compared to trying to get up from kneeling! I had to call H. over to assist! Then he says, hey, let's say our prayer. UGH, really? So I get back down....and have to have him help me up again.

Maybe H. should feel grateful that I'm giving him a peak into our future life together.

Do You Believe In Magic?

H. was feeling sick yesterday so I knew he wouldn't be exercising with me today. I geared up with S.'s iPod and took to the streets on my own. I did a route that does not have the hill of death included, its a route that basically runs around my house and the trail along the creek. It is 0.75 miles around and if you go around 4x, you've gone 3 miles.

After a quick little walk to warm up, I started my usual trot. Since the hill of death wasn't on my route today I thought I might just be able to run the entire 3 miles. And....yesiree.....I did it! I even made myself pass my house on my fourth time around to go to the place where I actually started to run, so that I could KNOW of a surety that I ran an entire 3 miles.

For the last 1.5 laps I was S.T.R.U.G.G.L.I.N.G. The 2 songs that were playing towards the end were "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and "Do You Believe in Magic?" Appropriate, no?

This is how long it took me to run and how long it took me to STOP sweating once I had finished (in minutes):


This is what my face looked like until just a few moments ago:


I really wanted to get a pic of myself so you could see just how bad it was, but my camera batteries are dead at the moment. Here is what I found online:


And, just as a fair warning, DO NOT Google "fat girl running" and expect completely benign pictures. Ick. Also, I don't wear ANYTHING that exposes my midriff while running...or ever! And my stride is about half of what is pictured here.

So, do you believe in magic? I know I do. June 1, 2009 will forever live in my own personal history. A day that started with the sweep of a wand and the determination of a fat girl and POOF....MAGIC!