A day in my shoes ...

We are just weird

2012-02-22T07:35:00.001-07:00

Two summers ago our cute little old man next door neighbor decided to put a camping trailer in his back yard outside out bedroom window. Not long after he let his son move in to that trailer for 4 months. His son tried to be respectful of our privacy. It didn't bother us much then because it was his son. It was weird, but hey it was summer. We live in our trailer during the summer too, usually surrounded by trees and giant hills. Fast forward 18 months later, it is the dead middle of winter. Cold, sometimes with snow, less daylight. One day a truck and trailer appear in front of our house. Then we start seeing boxes, garbage and a full size 5th wheel being moved to the backyard of our neighbor. Soon we start seeing lights on at night. Are they strays??? We are not for sure but we do know our neighbor very well and these are not people of relation, yet they are staying outside our bedroom window, in a trailer, in the middle of winter! Are we just weird or would that be really bothersome. Ok maybe that doesn't bother us near as bad as another trailer and truck parked right in front of our house that belongs to these people and hasn't moved not one inch since. Are we just weird or would this bother you?

Tag...?

2012-02-17T20:58:00.002-07:00

I only do 'tags' for people I love, so here is goes. I was tagged by my friend Rie Pie, the 'eleven tag'. I wont be tagging anyone else because 1. I don't think I have 11 friends. 2. I don't think many people will read my responses and 3. because I wont :) so here we go....

Here's what I have to do:

1. Post the rules
2. Share 11 random things about myself
3. Answer the 11 questions from the post in which I was tagged
4. Create 11 new questions for my tagees to answer
5. Tag 11 people

ok 11 random things about myself.
1. currently my hair is pulled up into a ponytail, covered in 'mud' and dust from sanding because we are renovating our house, I have already taken a shower and I don't plan to wash it. why? because in 12 short hours I am going to have dust covered hair again.
2. I just finished up a couple of days training some new people at our company from one of our other branches. I have not accomplish a. single. thing. AND next week we have another girl coming from our Mexico branch to be trained by the one and only me AND it will be just in time for a new hire to start in our branch at the end of next week that I will spend the next few weeks training AND the week after we will have another girl from our elko location come to get training AND after that I will have to train our afternoon receptionist for a job she may not even be doing (I didn't know it would be a choice - but oh well) AND after that is all done I have training myself for my new job position that I finally got!!!!!! Hopefully it wont end in my exploding in a huge pile of lifelessness. (don't you just love all of my AND's)
3.I'm tired. Its only 8:28
4. I feel completely, ridiculously proud of myself that I got to drive our company vehicle for the past two days and not use my own car or gas. It is a super nice SUV. I felt like I had a huge butt.
5. since I have been driving around the SUV, it makes me want to by my own even more now then ever. I am hooked! (big butt and all!)
6. By the end of next week my house will be repainted. Just in time for pay day. Just in time to blow my entire check on house decor.
7. I am secretly anxious and overly nervous about the changes that are happening in our company. I feel like any time I walk in to work I will have a panic/anxiety attack. I am ready for it all to be over with. time capsule anyone???
8. Summer is my friend and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the lack of snow mean an early summer for me!
9. I want a spa day
10. Some days I daydream about not having a job. About staying home all day. cooking all day and just doing things I love: Paint, scrapbook, cook, photoshop and many other things. After having a week of in January I learned very quickly that I have more than enough to do to keep me busy. I thought I was going to be bored after a day or two. I kept going the entire time and even ran out of time to get everything on my list completed.
11. I want my long hair back. I want my short short hair back. Last but not least, I am completely and hopelessly indecisive!

ok now to answer the questions Rie posted:

1. What are you naturally talented at? Hair, maybe not talented, maybe just lucky :)

2. What is the most embarrassing song you have on your ipod? the one I jam out to all the time, 'white wedding' by billy idol. :)

3. What book have you read over and over? the arianna series. I can read that one over and over again. Probably the only one too.

4. Who is your hero, and why?ok I know this is super cheesy but my brothers (sometimes one more than others). Some times we fight, some time we say things we don't mean, sometimes we say super cheesy things (like this???), and sometime we say things that truly catch each of us off guard. Most of all some times we say 'I love you.' and that is all we need to say. I have 5 men in my life that I look up to. Bryce, Darrell, Rob, Will and Greg. We might not always agree but they have heart and that is all that matters to me.

5. What song represents you? there are two. both by Christina Aguilera. 'Beautiful' and 'Fighter'. I love 'beautiful' because no matter what anyone says, I am my own person. You are your worst critic and you yourself is the only one that can destroy you. I could care less what people say it is up to me to make myself what I want to be. only I can change that. The music video to this song is powerful. Some may say that it is extreme but it pretty much sums up how I feel about myself. I love fighter because it is powerful. I refuse to let anyone destroy me like whats-his-bucket did so many years ago. When I thought I could never get away from him I would listen to that song and it would give me the strength to stand up for myself. "How could this man I thought I knew turn out to be unjust so cruel. Could only see the good in you pretend not to see the truth.You tried to hide your lies, disguise yourself through living in denial.But in the end you'll see, you wont stop me!"

6. What is something that can always make you laugh? 'Friends'. Love that show. I own all of the seasons and even when I am sick I cant help but smile when I listen to their quirky ways.

7. Who do you consider your best friend? Jessica. Always has been, always will be. The missing her doesn't go away. even after nearly 11 years.

8. What would you choose for your last meal? probably pizza hut stuffed crust pizza. It is an artery clogger in itself. We have a love hate relationship. Oh and cherry coke from Big H. Don't forget a tan hot chocolate from beans and brew. For dessert, pumpkin chocolate chip anything. Yep. that is what I would have.

9. What movie makes you cry, every time? I don't think I have movies that make me cry every single time. but those dumb movies that catch me off guard and make me cry the first time I watch them. Like 'A walk to rememeber' or 'the guardian' or 'the notebook'. Dumb movies. They are only dumb because they have me cry. Otherwise I love them!

10.What advise would you give yourself if you could go back in time? Keep doing what you are doing. You have come so far in life. Keep working hard because what you have years later is amazing. Don't change anything! Those heart break moments really do pay off.

11.What question do you wish I asked, and how would you answer it? Do you wish you had a fortune telling crystal ball? my answer would be YES!!! Suspense of the next few years is killing me!!!!!!

well that is it folks, hope you enjoyed the little update on me. I promise I will stop blogging on weekends :)

Would you like some cake with that?

2012-02-11T12:47:00.001-07:00

It is so much easier to blog on the weekends while I am 'attempting' to get things done: clean, laundry, finances, etc. The problem is, no one reads them! Oh well. The past few weeks have been extremely busy for me. I fell asleep on Thursday at 5:30 and didn't get up til the next morning. For 2 weeks straight I have been going non stop. One of the reason is because my Tuesday nights are out of the picture for the next few weeks. I have been taking cake decorating classes. Someone asked me at work yesterday, 'do you have like 5 jobs???' we both laughed. She knows I work with her, she knows I do hair, and now she knows I do cakes. She told me that I am really good at it - I feel differently. I never wanted to do this to make money but you never know when it will come in handy. I think I have done extremely well considering I like to grab a jar of store bought frosting to smother on to a cake, I have never made my own frosting until I took this class. Our first week we did cupcakes. We learned the different types of frosting, tips and how to use them to our advantage. Our second week we learned how to do roses and smooth out frosting on our cakes. The third week we learned airbrushing (Not my friend!) and put into effect the past two week in designing a cake of our choice (Tinkerbell). It has been fun, we have a few more weeks left and I am excited to see how far I progress and what i can learn. (sorry for the crappy pics, they are from my phone)

Really?

2012-02-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

Today I was searching through pictures to find some pictures to post on facebook for my nephew. I went through all of my pictures on my laptop and decided to come down and check if Bryce's computer held more pictures that maybe I forgot about. Holy Crap! He has alot. As I was searching I found a stash of picture of the house when Bryce first purchased it. It is completely amazing to see where things have come from to where they are. I am sorry that I don't have after pics all in on file, you will have to sort through my blog. It is truly amazing. Sorry for the picture overload. We will start with the upstairs living room and work our way around. I think those who have been in my house will truly be amazed.
Living Room:

The kitchen (who decided that pee yellow was ok to put into a house??? It kinda reminds me of carpet (see below):

The purple room that wasnt so purple:

The upstairs hallway:

The most disgusting bathroom that pretty much looks the same (New toilet though. GROSS!) soon to be demolished! (Yay!!!!)

Our now bedroom/master bedroom:

Ok that is the upstairs. Let me take you on a walk down the stairs to the basement:

Now here is the basement. In all the years that this house has been a 'house', not one owner did anything to the basement. As a matter of fact, the only room existing was our old bedroom (in which someone mysteriously 'forogt' to put instillation in. yep we found that out the hard way! Now we have to tear out 2 walls when we get the rest of the house finished.) . Since the house was purchased, we moved alot of the framing that kinda sorta existed and most of the plumbing. We wanted to create our own look.
here is our old bedroom:

ok now the remainder of the basement:

Last but not least: The exterior:

Alot of the work doesn't show through the pictures. The urine stained carpets and floorboards that had to be ripped out and replaces. Our kitchen cabinets that someone sloppily painted white (the cabinets were stripped, sanded and sealed, we wanted to keep the orginals). The sprinkling system that no one took care of that was cracked and broken, left for our pleasure to rip out and restart for the beginning.
We often tell our selves there is so much to do to this house and it become exhausting, but looking back at where it used to be and looking at where it is, it doesn't seem so tedious. I am extremely grateful for my home and anyone who knows me knows I am proud of our house. I know it is an average joe house but we have put alot of work and effort in to it that makes me love our house, love what it looks like, and wants people to come see it. This was a great walk back to memory lane. Now that it is over, I must go clean my awful messy house!

Response

2012-02-01T21:37:00.003-07:00

Can I say WOW??? Either I have people blowing smoke up my tooshie or people really are accepting of what I have to say. Time will tell. I have had an amazing response to the last blog post. I was honestly quite shocked. Maybe I shouldn't be but I am. It is not the response I was expecting. People seem to be 'ok' with the changes. I was worried. The whole post came after an anxiety filled day at work. Things I have been saying for months, I finally put to action. I have been working on these changes for a while. I knew that my clientele would go up or it would go down. So far no one has canceled so I guess that is a positive thing. Maybe this is just what I needed to get the ball rolling. More changes are coming.

I dont wanna....

2012-01-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is a post that has been a long time coming. This is something that is hard for me to discuss. I have decided this year, 2012, is a year that I am going to stick up for myself and take care of myself. For the longest time I just went with the flow. I work very hard for what I have and what I do. How do I even start with this post?
I love hair, It is my passion. There are so many reasons as to why I don't do hair full time, I want to but I don't. Maybe it is that I cant. It just isn't in my cards at the moment. When I started doing hair I always told myself that I would keep prices affordable. I wanted everyone to have the chance to feel as good as I do when I get my hair done, even on a budget! so lets just get to the point. I need to get some things out that are not easy to say. I don't want to point out one person in this situation but these things happen all.the.time.

First off I wanna say that there are no longer going to be 'family' or 'friend' discounts. The prices I will set will be the same all across the board for everyone.

I will also no longer do trade work. I don't want anyone feeling that they are getting the raw end of the deal including myself.

I will also now start charging a service fee for any product that one may need. It will be around $5 per item, the more you get, I will lower the service fee. I worked very hard to become certified in what I do and I don't want to be giving product out at my cost (I haven't ever charged for my time or gas).

I will now put into effect a cancellation fee. I get alot of cancellations and hour before appointments and those are impossible to fill. The cancellation fee will consists of the price of what you had scheduled (if it was a color and cut, it would be the price of that color and cut) You must cancel 24 hours prior to your appointment.

Payment is due at the time of service. I will no longer accept IOU's. I have too many people do that and I tend to forget with all of them. If you forget cash or check you will be required to run to the ATM or home to grab money. Please make sure you have money with you to pay for the services.

Because I work a full time job please allow 1 to 2 week to get scheduled, especially with color. Haircuts are a bit easier for me to fit in and don't always require as much time to schedule.

I try really hard to fit hair in on the week days (Monday - Thursday). I feel that I deserve the weekends off since I am working 60 plus hours a week. I appreciate all that my clients do for me and sticking it out with me all of this time.

So lets get to pricing:
Cuts

Men $5
Women $8
Shampoo and style with any cut $4

Color

All over 1 color $40
Half head weave one color $45

For every color added to half head weave will be an additional $5 (if you have 3 colors the total is $55)

Full head weave will be an additional $20. (If you have a full head weave with 2 colors that will be $70
Color corrections will be $100 an hour (color correction is applying the color - usually bleach - and washing the hair more than once. This is a tedious task and time consuming)

All of my colors include a cut.

Updos/down dos - starting at $45 (Contact me for high school proms. Those will be a tad bit lower for a high school budget)

Perm - call for details. It will depend on length and type of perm you want.

Wax

Lip $5
Eyebrow $5
Nose $5
Underarm $10
Arm half $10
Arm Full $15
Leg Half $15
Leg Full $20
Bikini $15
Back $10

*I will not be doing Brazilian wax at this time.
**If you don't see something on the list please ask! I may have forgotten some things.
*** bundling is accepted so please ask!
****Prices are subject to change.

Goals

2012-01-29T17:52:00.001-07:00

My month is coming to an end and I still have no idea what my goals are going to be. Most of the things I would say would be half-effort. Really they would. I am trying hard to figure out what my yearly goals would be but most of them dont just involve me and I cant make commitments for other, I can only make them for myself (i.e. change positions at work - I am SICK of the phones!). So I sit and ponder. What do I want for the year of 2012? Here is what I want...
I wanna go back down to the Paiute. That is already in the works
I wanna go to Island park. I have been talking about this for 2 years. This is already in the works. I have spent the majority of my day today and countless hours on Friday looking for an awesome cabin that we would call home for a few days.
I wanna do something different, fun and for myself. That is already ongoing (my cake decorating class)
I wanna get back to grocery shopping bi-weekly and doing night dinners... my week off accomplished that one.
As I said, half hearted? yes.. I think so. It is kind of the easy way out since I have put all of those to action. So again, I asked again what I would like to accomplish this year...??? and again I am BLANK!
So here is what I THINK I want to do. It may change in the next week but we will try:
I want to get back on weight watchers and lose 20 pounds. So pathetic but yes, 20 pounds. and I wanna keep it off.
With that one said I am going to do my ~~not-so-remembered~~ goal from last year of getting back to kick boxing. Not to lose weight but because it is something I truly enjoy and it gives me a sense of empowerment.
Again, another ~~not-so-remembered~~ goal from last year, wearing makeup at least once a week. I have some awesome makeup but I don't care to put it on for work. I rather get that extra 10 minutes of sleep. Now I am using a product called 'la lash' that gives me incredible eyelashes so I want to flaunt them!
one more goal for biogsphere. I want to start doing 'my favorite things' post. I don't want to put a restriction on how often because I never know when I am going to start this but just like Wednesday wonders, I wanna put out there things that are currently my favorites must haves or new tries.
The next two goals are purely selfish! the first one. Buy a cute pair of shoes (and take a picture) every other month. Yes that is 6 new pairs of shoes. No I am not telling Bryce :)
The second one, Try a new restaurant every month. Lately, I have tried some new amazing places that I would never think to try and I love them! I want to share them with everyone. This will be a little bit harder since Bryce is so sensitive we are apprehensive to go to new places but I am sure I can find someone to go with me. (Takers??? anyone???)

Now for our goal as a couple:
We are trying to go out on a 'date' once a month. Dress up, look nice and spend the entire night out together with no one else. We go out, but on a whim or we do a grab and go because we are both so busy. We spend alot of time with each other but it is doing other things. We put half effort and go to applebees or villiage inn. This will be a nicer place like the outback or cheesecake factory.

I think that should cover my goals for the next year. It looks like i have alot to accomplish, for now I will take it one at a time. Here is to 2012!!!

Wednesday wonder....

2012-01-25T09:32:00.001-07:00

I wonder why companies now feel the need to overstep boundaries when reminding you of an upcoming bill. I mean one call, text, email or letter is fine.. Sometime you forget. But what about the other 500 email, texts, and call I get BEFORE my bill is even due? I really get annoyed with those, I know my bill is due. I know that it is coming up. Call me when I past the 5 day grace period. It makes me not want to do business with them.

Simplify....

2012-01-22T11:58:00.004-07:00

I have had the last week off and it has been amazing! I have come to realize that I would NOT be bored if I didn't have a job. As a matter of fact I would still be just as busy as I am with working. This week was about refocusing for me. Not everything goes as planned but I tried very hard to refocus on more important things. Things I have let go of recently because I am too busy to do them (and people ask me when I am going to have kids!). Things I really enjoy.. but who has time for joy right? Anyways, I got alot on my list accomplished. There is so much more that I want to add. Yesterday, Bryce and I (and by that I mean mostly me - I still love him!) tried to tackle our bi-weekly menu and grocery shopping. I hate grocery shopping on Saturdays! I feel like a cow in a herd or something. This is where Bryce comes in - when he is with me I keep my sanity... If I was going to have to take on the burden of walmart, Sam's club, Costco and Harmon's on a Saturday Snowy afternoon, so was he. Before I left I mentioned to him that I wanted to simplify our meals. I have added a new thing to my schedules on Tuesday night (more on that to come) and that leaves 3 days to cram in hair if I want the weekend off. Things I love are becoming chores and I am getting to the point that I dread doing them. Like cooking for example. After working a long day at work, pulling in 10+ hours and then coming home for a 45 minute break of what is suppose to be making dinner and eating, then going back to work for 4+ hours is exhausting. Grab and go looks very enticing. Bryce tries so hard. He really does, but lets face it... chicken, rice and veggies is not something I wanna eat 4 nights a week. So here we are, on my getting back on track week off from work and work (hair), I decided I want to simplify more. How do I do this? Well here is how.... My list of bi-weekly meals consist of mainly this:
At least 2 beef meals, we eat alot of chicken in this household.
At least 2 crock pot meals
At least one meal that is a salad
At least 1 soup - if it is colder, I try to incorporate 2 soups
At least one meal has rice.
At least 1 meal a week is a new recipe
I plan 8 meals for 2 weeks. It gives us some freedom from not wasting food if we don't take some for lunch we can eat it for the next nights dinner or we go out to eat - stuff like that.
*If I have something like tacos - I will always have lettuce and tomato left over - I always try to incorporate another meal to use the left overs on... like a salad. If i do something like enchiladas, I will always have tortillas left over since I don't eat the corn and Bryce cant have the flour. So I will do another meal where I can use them: Breakfast burrito or fajitas. I am horrible at freezing tortillas and I try to use as much fresh as I can.
*I try to make fish for Bryce every now and then. I don't eat seafood so I will always keep a pizza or frozen meal in the freezer for myself. I am not a fan of cooking 2 meals but I will for fish, or I will go without.
*Last but not least, I always make enough to take to work the next day for both of us - so it eliminates us eating out.

It seems like alot already as I am writing down - it took me a while to get into the swing of things but it is possible and it saves me so much money, compared to running to the store here and there. before I get into my 'simplify' I thought I would give you my bi-weekly meal plan that I put together yesterday so you can see what I am talking about (we did 7 meals because Bryce really wants pizza. and thanks to my sister who gave us a gift card to a GF pizzeria, we are going out to eat instead of making it in home):
Enchiladas
Crock pot Italian chicken
Taco soup
White Chili
Taco Salad
Hawaiian haystacks
Peppered steak

*Peppered steak and Hawaiian haystacks are eaten with rice
* I made burritos a few days ago so I already have the tortillas - so we are doing enchiladas so we are not throwing away food.
* Taco soup and white chili are both soups.
* White chili and Italian chicken are both crock pots
* Taco salad is my salad and part of my at least 2 beefs (hamburger)
* peppered steak, taco salad and taco soup are my beefs
(no new recipe this week)

When I follow my 'rules', making the bi-weekly meals is a snap! I just make sure to change it up as to what kind of 'soups' or what kind of 'beef'. Simple... right? Ok now to 'simplify'. Those who know me know I am crazy busy. Right now I am working 10 hour days only to come home and do hair for 4-6 hours a night. NOW I have added a class on Tuesday nights that not only require taking up a couple of hours on Tues (no hair on Tuesdays) but also require some time from me on Mondays prepping for my Tuesday class. To work a full schedule at work, come home do hair and cooking dinner and clean up seems impossible. Even with Bryce's help. So we had a discussion yesterday. I see simple as crock pot: Who doesn't love shoving raw food into a pan and leaving it all day and come home to a yummy meal that smells delish! right? But how many crock pot recipes can you take in a row. To live off of a crock pot would be pretty amazing. I also buy my beef in large quantities and separate it, date it and throw it in the freezer. Dethawing is part of the cooking process and sometimes I just don't have time. So this thought occurred to me.... We eat so much chicken, most of which has to be pre-cooked before we add all other ingredients. I have boiling chicken because it is a pain. Crock pot chicken always turns out nice, moist, soft and shreds itself. Beef - it is a pain to dethaw, only to have to ground it up afterwards. I am already separating it and throwing it into the freezer. So my 'simply' is to throw at least 2 meals worth of chicken into the crock pot with any kind of sauce: Ranch dressing, Italian dressing ( I keep alot of dry packets in my food storage since we use them so much - throw one of those in with 2 cups of water and there you have your flavoring!) or even bullion. Let it cook all day and come home and throw one part into the fridge for the next meal and use the other part for the meal that night. Like enchiladas... pull it out, put it into the tortilla, add toppings, and repeat til done and throw it into the oven to bake. Saves the hassle of me cooking the chicken when I get home and shredding it. Next night: Hawaiian haystacks, the chicken was done in the crock pot the night before so I just have to pull it out, make some rice and chop up the fresh fruits and veggies to put on top and I am done! Saves me one again from having to cook chicken. This also gives me a whole night to throw the crock pot into the dishwasher and get it cleaned before I have to use it again. (we only run our dishwasher every other day or so because there is only 2 of us).
Now to beef. I am already prepackaging it all. Why not ground it before I throw it in the freezer? It saves me time from having to put it in cold water for hours to dethaw. If it is ground I can just pull it out and throw in in a pot/pan and continue on my way. Example taco soup - It already has to simmer for 30 minutes for best flavor. Throw in the frozen ground hamburger with the rest of the ingredients and I am done, instead of standing at the stove for 20 minutes while I ground it... not to mention waiting on it to dethaw.

I am sure that people are smarter than I am to come up with this idea. Scratch that! People have more time to sit around and come up with ideas like that. I think we already discussed how much time I DON'T have right now. I personally think it is a brilliant idea that I am going to put into action (even if someone came up with this years ago).

*If any of those recipes sound good or you have no idea what they are and would like to know, leave a comment and I will gladly email them to you. :)

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end...

2012-01-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you I hate new year resolutions. You make them, within in 3 weeks, or if you are good 4 weeks, you break them. I try to myself to not make them. Instead I make January 'goals'. Maybe it is a mind set that if I make them at the beginning of the year I can break them as fast as I make them and fall in that category along with the other billion Americans. So at the end of every January I make goals. Since I need to start thinking of new goals (as I eat this yummy piece of chocolate cake) I remind myself that I need to see how I did on last years goals. So here we go....
1. Wear some form of make up at least once a week to work. Preferably eye shadow. Since my alarm goes off at 5:30 I would rather sleep that extra 10 minutes than put on makeup. I guess I pass it off well :) but I really need to try harder to put effort into myself. Consider that a dud! I don't even think I got a week into that one without breaking it. oops... I am NOT off to a good start.
2. 2. No texting while driving. I know I did this last year but I really need to buckle down on it 100%. For those who are keeping track - I made this one the year before too. I remember saying that I did great until the end so I completed this 85%. Well this year I did a few time (GUILTY!!!!) but now that I have this new smart phone, it does everything for me when I tell it to... no longer a problem. I say I completed this 99%. I know it isn't 100 but 99 is pretty dang good!
3. I want to start back up kick boxing. You always here 'I wanna lose weight' that is not the case here. I felt like I could concur anything when I went to kick boxing. I felt like I could take on the world. It is not a matter of losing weight, it is a matter of feeling better about myself. Simple enough, right? uhhhhhh was I on some sort of drug when I wrote these???? Because I do not remember writing number one or three... oops! Maybe I should have a 6 month evaluations on these. FAIL!
4. no soda. period. I have taken to soda more than water in the month of December and I am done. I don't need it. I wrote this post on January 26th 2010. I am proud to say that as of January 17, 2010 I have not had soda!!! (Thank you Wendy's for having fresh lemonade. You are my hero!!!!). well I lied again. About a month ago we went to go get something to eat after a long exhausting day and no dinner. it was 11 at night. I got my food with of course a fresh lemonade (Do you now know who the screw up was???) I took a swig with instant burning.... How someone got root beer from lemonade is beyond my knowledge. I was pissed... one swallow ruined it all, or did it? I dumped the rest down the drain. I am still mad.
5. I have several bank accounts and one in particular is not suppose to be touched. I even have it at a different credit union for the purpose of not going there and not using it. I have failed miserably so as of Feb 1st there will be NO TOUCHING it at all. That is suppose to be my new car fund for when my car hits the crapper (which I hope isn't for at least another 5 years , at least!)
5 is a good round number... Can we skip this one too????

Last but not least... our couple's goal. I had this written down on one of my post but I think I deleted it. It was to get our food storage going... How did we do on this??? By the skin of our nose we have it ordered and on its way. We tried really hard to get a few things her and a few things there but things always get in the way. Luckily we got a killer deal right before Christmas (yes I am such a smart shopper) and it is ordered and on its way. I am very excited! As my SIL says - 'you know you are an adult when you get excited about food storage!'

Stay tuned for this years goals!

2011 wrap up

2011-12-31T13:54:00.002-07:00

There is so much that 2011 has brought. Good, bad, happy, and sad... and I am very glad that this year is on its way out the door. It wasn't a horrible year, but it wasn't my best. I am ready to bring in a new year with new hopes and new dreams, all to hopefully be fulfilled in 365 days. I thought I would talk about the good (and the bad) that 2011 has brought me.

January:
Although I feel asleep on new years eve at an early 10:00 I did wake up 30 minutes past midnight to kiss my lover farewell to another year and hello to a new year that lies ahead. By mid-January my year wasn't looking so bright as I spent a full week off work with a common cold... or so I thought, until I went to the doctor and found out it was the cold flu virus. But I hadn't thrown up.. until 45 minutes after I got home and spend the next 3 days doing just that with a stuffed nose, sore throat, and killer body aches. January wasn't much of anything for me :(

February:
When I wasn't down in January I was trying really hard to make my own creation. I know that it had been a couple months in coming but I finally completed the purple room. I love my purple room! I spent many night hanging out in there letting my creative juices flow.

March:
March was brought on by yet another photo shoot. I love Laine Images! March also brings the sense of summer coming in to our future... it starts off by the yearly world dutch oven competition. This has been a family tradition for years. This year was a first of not only 3 generations competing but of siblings, parents and grandparents competing against each other. My mom was on one team. My brother and his wife was on another, and my sister was my brothers son (nephew) were on another. Not to mention my brothers other son and my dad were runner and helpers in the competition. It was a fun time to see them all competing against each other.

April:
Hello Hollywood!!! Has that caught on yet? I had my 15 minutes of fame and that is what my dad now says to me. We had some amazing creatures at my work for 2 whole weeks. 'My what big eyes you have!'....

May:
With April bringing in good references to my work, May brought it a whole slew of bad! This month was one of my hardest months. One Saturday brought on a devastation to many in my company. It is still hard hearing bad words about the one person... even if is a small jab. Either way 2 families are hurting very very much. I was glad to see this month go!

June:
Ah! The summer months are here! Camping season began... although the farthest we took our trailer camping was to the back yard, our baby made her way down to the Paiute trail with us. This is the first time we went down there but it was we had an amazing time that I am for sure will be in our schedule for years to come. It was cold, warm, wet, snowey, and sunny while we were down there, We got all sorts of weather but it was still fun! Thanks Paiute!

July:
We had more riding... some new, some old. Mona Pole Trail was awesome.... soapstone was bug infested but if you kept on the move you did have a problem.... we also spent the first holiday with my family in a long time. Maybe because there was only a few there I was able to handle it. The 24th was fun, especially with kids. We cant forget to mention Red Butte gardens were a hit for my birthday!

August:
August lead us back to the Paiute with some family and friends. We had so much fun with lots of riding and some pretty amazing views in the morning. August I also started Wednesday wonders... I think they are a hit!

September:
This year for labor day we stayed back since both Bryce and I worked... but I decided to head out for some sister time that I hadn't had in a while. Our original plan was to take the kids swimming but we had a little accident and my niece broke her arm so we went to plan B - The zoo! I think the kids enjoyed themselves and I finally found my raspberry honey butter (the best!) that same day... YUM. 2 weeks after the zoo we had a new addition to my family. Welcome #17...

October:
October brought on a new store to me that is currently my favorite place. If you haven't checked this place out, I think you should... oh and make sure you have lots of money to spend! They rob me blind!!!! ok, I willingly give it to them.

November:
November brought me to Nablopomo... I failed miserably.... but at least I tried!

December:
December always brings me great happiness. I love this month and everything about it. December happens to be the month of Bryce's birthday. This year he turned 30 and thanks to some amazing friends and family I was able to pull of a surprise party for him. He really enjoyed himself.

Thanks to all of the people who are part of our lives. I don't think our year would be half as great without you. Now I better get going so I can say goodbye to this year and hello to a new one! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

I figured since I haven't really blogged lately that I would do a blog post on my house before I tear it all down next week.. and pack it away for another 11 months. I will start with my living room. I will tell you when and where I got it and around how much it cost. :)

This is on one of my end tables. I love how this turned out. I got this from the wood connections (all raw wood) and painted it myself.

I added this believe to it. I bought it last year at tai pan the day after Christmas for 50 cents or something. It is actually a tree ordiment. I took off the wire and used the wire for the bells on the shoes. The ends of the wire were already curled. I think they turned out so cute!

These I made just this year...

This joy I bought last year at Tai Pan. You cant see but it has a transparent glitter on it. I wanna say I paid 8.95 for this. I saw them again this year.

This year I bought this at Tai Pan. I bought it thinking that is came apart and was individual letters. I think it is really cute and was looking forward to stacking it in my purple room but to my surprise it is all connected! You can twist it to make it all funky looking. It was still cute and I wanted to keep it. I think it works perfect in front of the TV, even for the steep price of $12.99

This train Bryce has had since he was little. His grandma bought it for him when he was really little. There are lights that go with it but last year they broke, but I think it still looks cute in front of our TV

This sled I got raw - from wood connections. The total cost of it was $35... with the bell, ribbon and extras. I love it!

Here is the set up of our living room (kind of) with the TV, sled, train, believe and tree!

This Grinch I got this year from wood connections. I cant remember the exact price but I think it was around $17 plus $2 for the wire that I used on it.

Now on to the kitchen!

The manager I also got from the wood connections. With the star and everything it came to $15.95. You can see the brown runner in the pic but I picked that up at hobby lobby this year for $10. It has some pretty snow flakes stitched into it :)

Here is above one of our cabinets in our kitchen. I have had this present for a couple of years. I got it from hobby lobby for $5 It also opens up so it can hold all of your holiday cards. I just like it for decoration.

The blue bulb I got last year at Target the day after Christmas. It cost me a whole 50 cents!!! The Ho Ho Ho I have had for a few years. I got that from Tai Pan for $15

My candy canes (next to the HO Ho Ho). I big candy cane is HUGE. It stands about 3 feet tall. I saw this last year at Tai pan and I could not get over that thing! I kept thinking about it for over a week before I finally caved and went to get it. I think it cost me $10 which I had a hard time spending on a candy cane. I obviously wanted it that bad. The smaller one I got from Tai pan also. Cant just have one!

I have had this for a few years.. I got that from Tai pan too!

I got these from wood connections. I paid $10 for the set of 3. I bought these this year

The sled I got from Roberts 2 years ago. I got it for $7. RIP Roberts (sniff sniff)

These stars I picked up at Tai Pan. I got them last year and the big one was $7 and the smaller ones were $5. They had them again this year in all sorts of colors and sizes.

I had to show our stocking. I couldn't get our longer railing in the picture that has Bryce's dads, grandmas and grandpas stockings hanging up. Bryce's grandma made their stockings when he was little. I got mine from hobby lobby this year for $7! Can you see Bryce messing around in the picture?????

On to the purple room:

Here is my entire shelf!

I got this from hobby lobby this year! It was $5

Wood connections. I believe it was around $12 for the set of 3

I have had this since I was 16. My mom bought it for me. I find it really fun to bring things out from when I was younger.

I got this last year as a gift for Christmas from my SIL A.

I bought these for Bryce a couple of years ago from Kohl's. They say "You really jingle my bell! Merry Kiss mas!" and his tail jingles with the bell on it.

Here is the top of my shelf. All of these bulbs are different sizes. The giant ones (not picture but identical to the blue) I got at target last year. The red ones I got at albertsons for $3. The silver ones I got at smith's market place this year for $3 (they came with all sorts of colors, I just pulled out the silver ones, the rest are one our tree)

I got this Noel from wood connections. I paid around $10 for it... give or take, I cant remember one this one.

Well I hope you enjoyed the tour of my house at Christmas time. I wish everyone a fun, safe, great Christmas!

WW

2011-12-14T07:53:00.001-07:00

OK I have to set this up. I have noticed recently.. Ok mayb not notice just more irritated.. That I have people at work who are nosey. I normally don't mind people knowing about my life but this goes beyond that. I have a few people that reguardless if I an up front or in the back at work that 'snoop'. If I have anything on my desk they will go searching through it to see what daily goodies I have. If I got prep my breakfast or lunch to eat at my desk, I will always put a paper towel over it to prevent someone from sneezing or coughing all over my food. It is like they have radar and will hunt me down just to poke under the paper towel and get thiscose to my food that I no longer want to eat anymore because my lasagna met their nose. When I say everything I mean everything including my purse. I wonder why people feel it is their right to snoop through my lunch sacks, purse, food, and even unopened Christmas presents that I would like to open... They do have my name on it after all ...

What a weekend!

2011-12-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe we are into December. I am ready for the snow! If it is going to be cold, it might as well be pretty not ugly. This past weekend I had a surprise birthday party for Bryce! I cant believe I pulled it off. There is always a little bit of drama surrounding stuff like this but I pulled through and kept it a surprise. On Saturday I told him that we had reservations for dinner. When we got to dinner, I thought he was far enough away when I told him I didn't have reservations but he wasn't! He seemed a bit irritated so I told him I did have reservation but I didn't say where... so again I quickly lied and told him I reservation for dessert. Whew! only he didn't eat very much because he thought we were going out for dessert. Oops! After dinner we headed over to Keys on Main to meet up with a few friends and his family. We had a blast! He was surprised! We didn't get home until 2 am. He kept saying 'thank you' and 'I cant believe you did this for me!' I am glad I was able to pull off this one thing and that he had a great '30th' bday party (even though his bday isn't until tomorrow). Sunday we woke up around 9 and decided we were going to lounge around. We stayed in our pj's and only left to go get junk food and movies. We took naps and watched movies all day yesterday. My house was a complete disaster when I left for work this morning but I didn't care... It was one of the greatest weekends for us! I was so sad to see it come to end, but it had to. This weekend goes down in the history books for us.

nablopomo wrap up

2011-11-30T22:28:00.001-07:00

I failed! I failed miserably. I let one small thing snowball to make one big thing and made me one grumpy person. It is so hard to attempt to list what you are grateful for when you are just not in the mood. There is always next year! I didn't want to go out in a lame sort of fashion so I thought I would try to do a wrap up. I have alot to be grateful for and often I don't express it enough. I wanted to save the best for last. I have some amazing friends and some amazing family that pretty much sums up my life. between those two I have a huge list of joy that they bring in to my life. so for my last post I would like to show you what I am grateful for.

First is him:

I know I haven't been the best aunt growing up, maybe since he is now an adult it is too late, I don't know, but I have learned a thing or two from him (along with the others). I am grateful for the relationship that has been salvaged from my own teen years where I was... well... a teenager. We have had some good talks, simple mistakes, and some good laughs ( I swear I am buying this kid a calendar for Christmas so he wont forget his appts with me!) Here is to Chad... stop growing up.

Second is the guy:

He was premature, tiny and a fighter. I remember the first time he came home he literally slept in my bottom drawer from my dresser. He has been fighting his way through life since. He is small but tough. He is a kind of kid that everyone wants to be around because he can relate to everyone in some way. He is Bryce's mini me... heaven help me when they he stays at my house. I cant control either of them! Here is to Cam.... my mini Bryce.

Third is someone I cant post a picture of... sweet K. Someone that completes me! ok, in the girlish way that I have yearned for in a child that I don't have. She is simply a teenage girl. I love the little texts that I get in the morning. The calls when something exciting goes down. I can never have enough shopping trips with her! Maybe she could be a mini me in training???? no, I am too much of a devil :)

Fourth is also one that i cant post pictures of, T. I don't have alot in common with him but I have sat back and seen the once rambunctious child turn into one very tall, amazing, young man. He is one day going to make some girl very happy... but that is along way off. He ceases to amaze me in just saying 'hi' and turning it into to some random conversation. He is very smart... oh and he likes to annoy his sister. Just like my brothers. Just like his dad. Yep, he is a spitting image of his dad. Heaven help his sisters!

of course I hope you all have stuck with me for the last. The last is the best and most important! Him:

I love him. yep, I love him.

He is my life, my light, my reasons for breathing, thinking and living. He challenges me in ways I never thought someone could. He gives me thoughts to think about. He gives me time to myself. He lets me be selfish when I just wanna think all about me. He makes me laugh, smile and makes me want steal looks when I think he inst pay attention. He knows how and when to put me in my place. He lets me cry when I am having a bad day. When I least expect it, he pulls out surprises. He is my blond hair, blue eye, baby butt boy. Knight in shinning armor. He is my everything. and I. Love. Him.

Solutions

2011-11-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

I am very sorry about the rant I was on yesterday. I had to get that off of my mind. It has been a full day and my mind has been filled with possible solutions. The one that came up first was to simply delete those that I work with from facebook. Easy and simple. But there are people who I truly enjoy working with and I like having them in my life and they are my friends. Even then, How do I punish all for one person's big mouth when I am not for sure who was the one that open their mouth????? So tonight, when I came home I made a 'group' on facebook that is strictly people I work with. From here on out my posts are now blocked from them. All of them, except one. It makes me really sad that something was turned around into something it wasn't. It makes me sad that one person broke my trust. And it makes me sad that someone has nothing better to do with their lives that MY life consumes them enough to have a conversation about my facebook posts. Now we will get back to my regular scheduled program.

Taking a time out....

2011-11-21T12:15:00.001-07:00

I am taking a time out from my grateful month to say a few thing that are on my mind... Bryce and I were talking this weekend about protesting and Freedom of speech. I believe that everyone should be able to speak their mind but there is a time and place for that. Maybe there was a reason for that conversation at this particular point of my week. I had my manager approach me today about something he heard that was posted on facebook. This was not posted by myself but made to look like I posted it. Regardless, I laughed it off because there was nothing I could do about it but delete it. I wasn't mad.. Thing happen.. I do apologize if it offended anyone at all, it was not the intentions and it is not in my character to post something like that. However this is MY blog and it is MY Facebook page. I have never had ties to the company I work for on Facebook or my blog. I am very careful what I post and what I say. I also make sure my settings are under wraps for Facebook and I check my blog daily on who comes in. I don't post pics of certain people in my life out of RESPECT. I don't follow blogs because I want to maintain privacy for those who have blogs. With all of that said I think it is WRONG for people to say things that are not theirs to tell. It is very inappropriate for someone to bring my views/comments/posts to work when it isn't theirs to tell. These are MY things to share and no one has any right to drag my manager into especially when it had nothing to do with work. I respect all of my fellow bloggers and Facebook friends out there and I would hope they would do the same but I was obviously wrong. If anyone has a problem with what I put on here then don't read it... Plain and simple. Now it is time to go delete some people on Facebook. Trust no one. Again I am sorry if I have ever offended anyone but you bring that up with me... Not my family. Not with Bryce. And definitely not with my managers at work.. Especially when it has nothing to do with work. Period.

#18

2011-11-19T23:35:00.001-07:00

Today I am grateful for the Melting pot. Nothing like good food, good friends and good laughs!

#17

2011-11-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

Holy crap I am behind. Every day is getting busier and busier. If I don't post in the morning I tend to pass out on the couch before I make my post. so I will make 2 before tomorrow. I guess this one is technically yesterdays... I am grateful for twilight. I know that sounds really retarded to some but really that movie gives me more than I can ever tell you. I love everything about it. My favorite scene is in the last movie eclipse when they are hiding Bella from the newborns and they are up in the mountains with that huge snowstorm coming in. I love it when she is freezing and cant get warm so Jacob snuggles up next to her. We cannot forget the moments after that when Victoria shows up and Bella saves the day by cutting herself to distract Victoria. That is when they go in for the kill! That scene is the best in all of the movies (so far). Twilight is #17 on my grateful list!

#16

2011-11-17T07:41:00.001-07:00

I missed another day! I had a valid reason... I didn't get home from work until 9 last night. I hadn't had dinner and was very tired. My alarm goes off at 530 in the morning so yesterday was one long day. So today you get a two-for. For yesterday's post, I was going to post that I am grateful for sister time. I have missed out on that a lot the last couple of years and I am loving it now! So that is my thing for yesterday. Stay tuned for another post later...

#15

2011-11-15T17:14:00.001-07:00

Half way there! I can't believe it! Today I had a moment that almost made me bawl (wouldn't be the first time I have done that at work). I have people at work that cease to amaze me! Some in a bad way, and some - very very few - in a good way. And those few who do amaze me in a good way do it quietly and when you least expect it. I hardly doubt I will ever have this particular co-worker read my blog but for today I am grateful for him. Who almost brought me to tears....

#14

2011-11-14T21:40:00.001-07:00

I am grateful that this Monday is almost over. :)

#13

2011-11-13T21:24:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas lights, there is nothing more magical then a bunch of colored lights. That is what I am grateful for... Christmas lights.

#12

2011-11-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

well today has been a reflective day and it is only noon! I came home today from spending the night with my SIL and was in bed cuddling with Bryce. While I was laying there listening to his soft snores I couldn't help but let my mind wander. Sometimes that is a great thing. I have this great big tree just west of our window. The weather is changing, the wind is blowing, and a snow storm is expected to hit us a soon. As I was looking at this tree I began to reflect on this past year. I began to see myself in this tree. The seasons are changing and so is life. I have had to decided to make a few changes in my life recently to get back to the happy person I once was. I was letting things get to me. So I told myself that with the seasons changing so would I. I haven't voiced this to anyone but Bryce. I was thinking back to where I was a month ago, 3 months ago, 6 months ago and even a year ago. I am that tree! When I was born I was this beautiful tree with a few green leaves. as I learned to walk and talk, the leaves on MY tree were changing. They were bright and bold and I am sure everyone love to see me glow as my life season changed... just like my tree outside. Then that became old and the boldness and bright colors wore off. Being so young, I don't remember but I'm sure I felt bare and cold. skip a few years ahead... I am a child trying to figure out who I am and where I belong in the world. I was green again, growing, getting stronger, and I have more leaves. I am warming up to my surroundings, I am in 6th grade finding myself. My leaves are getting bold, strong, bright and they stand out.... then BAM! I hit Jr. high school and I lose myself once again. My life is cold and bare and I have to kick into survival mode, I have to learn to adapted. This continues through my life. Through high school, through the adult-but-I'm-still-a-teen-phase, through relationships, through work, through all of the different aspects of my life. As I get older and go through the seasons changing I get bigger and stronger with more leaves and finer details of aging but it is a beautiful process. We cant forget either that there are birds who try to wiggle their way into your beauty and may poop on you, but is that what you want?? Going through life letting something so small crap on what potential we can all be??? 6 months ago I was that tree. Showing another sign of aging, letting the wind rip through my bare branches wondering if I was going to make it or be broken in the process. The sun came out, I started to get my green back - not standing out, trying to figure out what to do from there. Today I am that bright bold tree again. I show lots of color: yellows, orange and reds. This is something I yearn for - even when I have it. I am sure the wind will torment me and I will loose my leaves. For now I will keep telling myself: 'The seasons are changing and so am I.'

Today I am grateful for this bright, bold beautiful tree that was put in our backyard many many many years ago to teach me this one lesson I learned today. I am grateful I am a tree.

#11

2011-11-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

Today you get two in one. I had every intention of post last night, figuring I would be up late. Around 830 I snuggled next to Bryce and boom! I was out. cold. So I didn't make my NaBoPoMo. I will keep going though... today I am grateful my phone did arrive! On Time! Oh FedEx how I love you!!!! I have been eagerly watching my little truck on the map... waiting and watching, don't forget refreshing every 10 seconds. 5 days without a phone is NOT fun.

I love my new phone (even though I don't have it in my hands YET, or I haven't used it at all!) I love FedEx and I love Verizon!!!!

Oh for all of you who have to work..... PFFFFFF :P I have it off! Now it is time to go pick up my phone and have a day of fun with me SIL....

#10

2011-11-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

I love a little nailtherapy! It does wonders. I am so glad this week is over and what a way to end it by hitting up the nail salon and having pretty fingernails. That is my love for today...

#9

2011-11-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

I spent the first two hours of work thinking that today was Thursday. Man when 8:30 rolled around I was in for a rude awakening. Usually I am a day behind - it is never good to be a day ahead. It kinda ruined my morning... I curse you Wednesdays!!!

Today I am glad that I have a new phone on the way... sad that I am still out of a phone. For those who don't have facebook - my phone company crapped out on me. I do not like tmobile. Then they delivered the bad news that they changed my bill date and 'forgot' to tell me causing all sort of havoc on not paying my bill on time. Them telling me that = one MAD Sam. It was not a fun picture. To top it all off, they hung up on me :( so now I am switching providers along with getting a new phone. Tmobile is going out of business and the last 6 months have not been fun ending in them losing one long time customer.. so for those who have called me or sent me a text - and I haven't responded... I am not ignoring you, although there are a few people I want to! My phone wont send any outgoing calls or text.. but I can receive incoming. so here is to a new phone! Can Friday come any faster???? PLEASE????

#8

2011-11-08T18:27:00.001-07:00

Man - today has been a rough day! The show must go on....

I am grateful for a place called wood connections. This place brightens my day and makes my wallet bare. oh how I wish I could go there today!

#7

2011-11-07T09:16:00.001-07:00

Waking up today I have to say that I am EXTREMELY grateful for a garage to park my car in. I have never had a car that I have been able to park in a covered area. until this year. Even before I had my own car I was always up in the cold and snow, bundled up, scrapping car windows. I no longer have to do that! Yay!

#6

2011-11-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye Halloween decor. Hello Christmas!!!

I can never have enough time with Christmas/winter decor up.... Its a guilty pleasure :)

NBPM #5

2011-11-05T09:26:00.000-06:00

I know some people are going to curse me when I say this... "LET IT SNOW!!!"

I am a huge fan of the snow! I love snow (I love summer more :)) I was like a kid in a candy shop this morning when I woke up and saw all of the snow! It makes me feel like the holidays really are upon us. It make me excited. I want to bake, cook, decorate, eat homemade soup, drink hot chocolate in my pajamas on the couch curled up next to Bryce while watching an awesome movie in the dark with the blinds open so we can see the big flakes coming down outside. I want it to snow 6 feet at once so we all get locked in our house for days. That about sums up how I feel about snow. Along with the snow, we have the upcoming holidays to think about. I am very excited for thanksgiving but even more excited for Christmas. I don't want to brush off Thanksgiving but Christmas is my holiday! I love shopping, I love buy gifts, I love putting together gifts in cute ways. can you see why I love Christmas so much?

This year I got an early start on Christmas... I have 2 very special projects on my hands. The first one I am 90% completed and the second one I am about 1% in (I will post more about it when I am more in to it). The first project: My next door neighbor is doing a tree for the festival of trees. I went over last week and it simply looked amazing! I love the color scheme they picked out (blue, silver, and white) and I love the theme: 'hope'. I cannot wait to see it all finished and set up. They have a story of hope to go with it. One of the things they needed for the 'tree' was a hat and a scarf. They also wanted a bunch of present to put under the tree that was going to be donated to PCMC for the kids. I ventured out a few days ago and found the perfect hat and scarf. I am very excited! I also picked up several toys along with wrapping paper to match the tree to wrap them up in. Today I will finishing up the details of the little adventure and taking them over to my neighbor. Doing stuff like this really gets me into the season, instead of focusing on the bad things that may come with the season. I am grateful that I have opportunities like these to keep my mind in perspective of what the holidays really are about.

#4

2011-11-04T22:15:00.001-06:00

A few nights ago Bryce and I took some time out to go and enjoy ourselves. Our schedules have been packed full so it was nice to just enjoy some time together. We really wanted to go see Real Steel for a while so it was nice that we had some time. This movie was awesome! It was a great clean movie! Anyone who wants to go see this movie, I would highly recommend it! If you want a good clean movie to take the kids to, pick this one. I hope those who choose to go see this enjoy it just as much as I do.

Day #3

2011-11-03T19:17:00.000-06:00

suddenly, he doesn't seem so small to me!

Here we are in November and I just realized that I complete forgot to make a post about my nephews senior tribute. Well maybe I did remember but I was still mad about certain events that took place on this night. Overall we had a fun filled night, Cam got to play, we stayed up really really really late and had a blast doing it. I appreciate my SIL taking the time to make room in her busy schedule to bring her kids, freeze her tooshy off with me, and drink hot chocolate. It was a great night! Tooele did not win their game but it is what you make of it. I am glad that I have the opportunity to make my nieces and nephews a priority in my life. I was not one who wanted to have kids young. I always said I did when I was younger but I only said it because I felt that was what I was suppose to do. Not having those kinds of responsibilities and a great job with awesome pay has allowed me to do whatever I want with them. These are memories that I can never replace and I am glad, even though I stay crazy busy, that I am able to go out and attend football games, prom dress shopping, prom pictures, paintball nights, sleep overs, scrapbook pig outs, and much more.

I had made 3 signs, The said 'Go Cam!' ' We <3 #34' and 'Proud owners of #34' I had the little kids hold up the signs and this is when he saw them. Kinda cheesy but I wanted to make him feel extra special.

Shaking hands with the coach

Ward trait! We sure do know how to stick out our tongues!

In respect of not completely embarrassing cam I made one exception to post a pic of him 'being sad'. In this one you cant see him but it shows that he is sad that this is it. After the game I talked with him and I told him 'if you are like this for a football game, I am scared to see what you are going to be like at graduation!' He kept saying... 'it is all over' and I told him 'nope, it is just the beginning.'

a few of the seniors after the game for one final pic. This is the exception... only because there is more than one crying :)

NBPM day 2

2011-11-02T20:53:00.001-06:00

My cute parents!

I am suppose to be working, but I know that if I wait to make a post I will for sure fall asleep in the middle of writing. I am fortunate enough to be able to bring some work home with me (did I really say fortunate enough to bring work home with me?!?!?!?). Well I am. It saves me about 2 hours of my day at work to get other, more pressing things done AND I get paid to sit at my table going over numbers. Who doesn't love working in their pajamas????? So... this will be quick. Last night I had my parents over for dinner for the first time since being on my own. We have gone out to dinner but they have never come to my place. They also got to see the house for the first time since Bryce's mom moved out and it has been (minimally) redone. What was suppose to be a 2 hours help-my-mom-and-have-dinner turned into a 4 hour sam-wants-to-swear deal. My computer was not working for me properly. Correction: My photoshop flat out refused to cut me a break. So for today - I grateful that my computer is working AND photoshop is behaving. Temporarily.

On another side note... after my parents left, the only thing bryce said was: "I really enjoy spending time with your dad. I like talking to him, he has great things to say and very interesting stories." (MELT MY HEART!!!!) There is many reasons why I love Bryce - and that is one of them. My dad is my life and so is Bryce.

nablopomo...????

2011-11-01T12:02:00.007-06:00

I actually remembered! I have seen nablopomo in the past years but as always I forget until the 3rd or 5th or 10th day. It doesnt work if you start late! well this year I remembered! Hallelujah! I can't believe I am acutally going to try to do this! Wish me luck!!!!

This is actually day 1 post... to tell you I am doing this. I would love to write an interesting story but I dont have one. I would love to post pictures but I dont have one. I am at work (shhhhh dont tell!) stay tuned for tomorrow!!!!

post note* just for all of you - I swiped this pic from my nephews facebook page just so I had a picture. I find it hilarious!

what have we been up to???

2011-10-16T19:49:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe Oct is over half way over. Lie has been a bit busy for us and I feel bad - I have only had the time to put up minimal WW. My weeks are going by faster and faster - I am dreading winter. I feel like they are going to go so slow. I have the attitude of, the faster it gets here the faster it will be gone and then it will be summer... maybe? This summer was way to short and I am already ready for it again. I didn't feel like I got one at all! Now here we are winterizing the house and getting last minute preps done on the house while it is still 'warm'. the past two months have been filled with work work and more work - oh and football. I have been working overtime (which I am grateful for!) but it really puts me late doing hair at nights. It seems like fast food has taken over my life Monday - Wednesdays. With the month of September came not only allergies but also football. Which also means fast food has taken over my life on Thursdays and Friday. I have been traveling as far as Ogden for tooele games. That brings us to Saturday and Sunday - my clean day and prep for the next week day. I haven't had much success lately. Thank goodness this is the last week of football! I love it and I love going out there but I haven't had much time with Bryce and I haven't had any me time. I thought I would post pics of his football games. I love that he is mainly the shortest kid on the entire team but he is a little go getter. He sure knows how to take a good beating. Sometimes when I am looking through my lense I just get antsy thinking this kid is going to get hurt - but he gets back up and does it again. I will post more later this week of his last game which is the senior appreciation week (still so disappointed in my family for NOT supporting him - I am still a bit upset with this, more on that later.)

Cam is right in front of #11. He made sure he got that tackle!

He is right in the middle holding his mask

If you look at the next 5 in in a row - they don't look as brutal as it was in real life. I was standing directly behind the ref and I still don't understand how he didn't see this. I am quite surprised that I even got these shots. As I was watching it I just kept thinking that he was going to be seriously hurt or his neck was going to break.

Helping an injured teammate.

Making another tackle!

he is always one of the first out onto the field

at the beginning of the game against Grantsville they had skydivers to start the game. Here is the first on wearing granstville's jersey

Here is the second skydiver - wearing Tooele's jersey

Here is the 3rd carrying the flag. They also had the kick off football to start the game :)

And my brother was making fun of me for saying it was 'cold'. I wasn't the one wrapped up in a blanket!

Can you see how short he is compared to his other teammates???

I know this picture is so blurry but he was hit pretty hard in this pic. I posted it because you can see how powerful it was - and yet he kept on running after this. he didn't let it get in the way!

Talking with the coach

This isn't cam but it was one of his teammates. This last game I went to - they were playing dirty! The team they were playing actually took out 3 tooele players. This one took over 20 minutes to clear off. They had to call in another ambulance to take him to the hospital. When we had left the game he couldn't move from the neck down. 3 hours later i did receive a text that he was ok and he did take a pretty hard head. He will be ok but he is out for the rest of the season (3 games). I am glad he is ok!

Wednesday Wonder

2011-10-12T10:30:00.003-06:00

Have you ever had a lunchable?? Like the one pictured below??? Well if you have you will know what I am talking about.

I wonder why the yellow cheese is so much smaller than the white cheese. Are they racist???? I can see a lawsuit happening over this. Yellow cheese sues Oscar Mayer.

Cheesy right????

Wednesday Wonder

2011-10-05T17:01:00.000-06:00

Let's just jump to it...

I wonder why men have buttons on the right side of their shirts while women have buttons on the left side of the shirt....

Makes ya wonder huh...

Purple Room

2011-10-02T20:47:00.000-06:00

I have finally got my purple room completed enough to get pictures! I have been working hard on the room but it never felt complete. It still isn't completed, but it is enough that I feel comfortable with post pictures. Everyone knows about the purple room and many are left wondering about the famous purple room. I will not make you wait any longer. Here it is! (sorry my Halloween decor is up. You will have to wait til Jan to see my 'normal' decor.) In between the pictures I will put where I got everything and for how much - just in case you are wondering....

This my closet/work area. On the left I have my portable bag (on the floor), my nail care and waxing on the second shelf. On the third shelf I have my baskets full of my implements (brushes, comb ect.) On the top is where I keep my things while I am working. On the right I have my waxing table and my towel (which were in the wash). On the very top I have my extra stuff like perm rods, foot bath, ect. ect. You can also see my chair on a mirror.

The baskets I got from hobby lobby ranging from $8-$12 (without coupon)


I like the idea of a panoramic view of the room so here is the corner towards the one wall with a ginormous window. I also have purple curtains.

The chair and the wax table I got from garage sales for $50 and $75. The purple curtains I got from hobby lobby for $20 for the set. They are the greatest!!! I am not a sewing person, you cut them to length and then iron them to themselves and they glue to themselves. no seam line.. anyone can cut a line and iron!

This is along the other side of the window and in to the corner.

It took me FOREVER to find a 'vase' that I liked. The only one I like was a whopping $170 - which at times I can see the need to splurge, but not on that. I was determined to find one under $50... this one at hobby lobby with a coupon was a whole $17! The purple room is brown and purple with a splash of pink - I have to make it me and that pink is me!

The vase I got from hobby lobby. The flower set I got from ross for $5 each (there are 3)

The is the other side of the room. This is my work station. This table is not the permanent table. My nephew is working on my real table which I cannot wait to get! It will be black to match the rest of the room and will be a few inches longer than this current table. Pics will come when he is done. The black thing is my paper tower for all of my scrapbooking paper. As you can see on my table I have a few projects that I am working on. I am hoping they will be done soon. I have my chair and garbage can under the table. Also that brown colorful thing you see under the table...??? that is my board I stick down when I paint so I don't get it all over the table - I am currently painting ALOT

The scrapbook stand I got from hobby lobby. It was pretty pricey but it is worth the $50 I paid (without coupon) and I would do it again. It has been worth my sanity! The chair I got for Christmas. The garbage can was at ikea for $5.

These are currently on my wall - The shelves I got at ross - I paid $5 for the set of 3! The perfume spritzer I got from hobby lobby for $10 and the shoe I also got from there for around $5. The dress I got from Ross for around $5


Here is my table. You can a pair of pants I have to sew, and LOTS of scrapbooking stuff - those are grandma's pictures that I am putting together for her :). You can see my cricut machine on a clothe - that doesnt match but it is actually so the table doesn't scratch my wall :) You can also see my pin board on my wall :)

here is my pin board. I have a picture of Bryce and I . I have some pictures of my new niece. I also have two post it notes with info on them so I don't forget things :)

The pin board I got from hobby lobby for $10 the pop can airplane - my uncle made for me - priceless (he has since passed and I have had this since I was a little girl!)

Here is my bookshelf. It is full of supplies. I have my scrapbooking and my painting supplies. I can never have enough :) The Halloween decor will be replaces with Christmas decor and in January will go back to my 'normal' decor. On the side of the book shelf I have my portable scrapbook carriers. They get used alot!

The bookshelf I got from ikea for $200 - but I REALLY wanted it. The scrapbook tote I got for Christmas (black) and the cricut tote I got on ebay for $49 but I sold my smaller one for the original cricut for $30. Not bad at all.

Here are just some of the things I keep on my shelf :)

I love this room! I cannot wait until I get the rest of the pictures to put up in there! :)

Wood connections

2011-09-30T17:51:00.001-06:00

I love this place.. really I do. You should check out my bank account - it will tell you that I do. Lately is has been my guilty pleasure. I feel completely guilty about it but I enjoy it. Guilty. Pleasure.

Wednesday Wonder

2011-09-28T19:39:00.001-06:00

I was in the store tonight and this happened. I just thought "Oh that would be a great Wednesday wonder". Too bad I already used it. Maybe I smell really good - either way it still irritates the crap outta me! so it deserves another recognition. Here is to Wednesday wonders!!!!

fall decor

2011-09-25T18:03:00.002-06:00

I have been meaning to post this all week but I have been too sick to really care... I know lame. but here is it. I have upgraded many things this year since I now have the whole house to decorate. I haven't decorated anything outside so those will come later. I love fall. I love Halloween so I try to get it out labor day weekend. This year I was on strike. I was hoping that if I waited I would get a little more taste of summer. Not the case... My allergies fought back hard by giving me an early dose. Anyways - her is my fall decorations.

My Kitchen:

My sister in law made this for me

My skeletons that I got at Robert's a couple of years ago. I love this little guy!

The 'fall' I got at tai pan a couple of years ago, The acorn I got just this year at tai pan

my cute pumpkin - Robert's

The boo I got from tai pan a couple of years ago

My mama spider (along with the baby) I got at Robert's

I have had this a couple of years too, I think i got think from Robert's

Here is my table. the spider material I got at tai pan just this year.

This is my normal centerpiece of my table. I just switched out what was in it. the leaves I have just had around, and the acorns I got this year from tai pan.

This is between my kitchen and living room:

this is my hanging witch. I got this from tai pan last year but I did see them again this year.

Glitter happy Halloween came from tai pan this year

Here is my living room. I would have taken a picture of the entire room and the set up but I was in the process of cleaning so I didn't want to show my messy room :)

One end table has these three pumpkins. I made these and I think they turned out fairly cute!

this is my other end table. I made these owls.


This is our our TV stand. the leaves I got from Robert's just this year and the boo I got from my friend Brit. they are really cute!

Here is the purple room. I decided to decorate this up since I will be having more people in my house/room since that is where I do hair. I think it turned our fairly cute!

I bought this last year or the year before but I am not for sure where. I forgot that I had it and this year when I went to tai pan I saw another cute door hanging and bought it. I cant just put up on and not the other sooooo I put it in the purple room and I think it fits well.

Here is my huge bookshelf in my room. Organize chaos! I couldn't even get the entire shelf into the picture. anyways, I took down my 'normal' things and filled it in with fall things.

my gobble I made this year. It is sitting on top of the shelf along with fall foliage. I got the foliage from Robert's this year.

my cute acorn! I got this from gardner villiage last year at witches night out.

My witches hat. I made this

This pumpkin is so my cutter in person. It is solid wood but not too heavy. I got this from tai pan this year - they had them in several colors - and it was by far the most expensive thing I have bought when it comes to my decor, but it was so worth the money!

My poison bottle. After I got everything done up I still had 4 gaps to fill. this was one of them but next year this little buddy will go into the kitchen. haha! (oh and I got it from Robert's this year)

my cute mummy - I made this

my witch - I made her too

My witches shoes. I made these too!


Throughout my house I have a few of these cute spiders. I saw them and couldn't resist (one is on the boo in my living room and the other is on my happy Halloween in between the living room and kitchen). I got these at Robert's this year.

Well there they all are - hopefully some of you will be able to see in person. I love how my house has just come together this year. Next will be Christmas - but I am already starting to get on top of it! :)

3 is better than 1

2011-09-09T19:16:00.002-06:00

I really needed to finish my August recap. I still have so much to blog about so you get a 3 in one (well I guess 2 technically happened in Sept but we will pretend they happened in August, that way I am not behind in September too!) On August 30th, I received a call at approximately 2:00 in the afternoon. A busy time at work for me. This is a call I had been expecting for just over 8 months. A new addition was added to our family! This is grand-baby #17 for my parents. Her name is Sydney Tayler. She is adorable and I completely disagree when people say she looks like her other siblings. She looks NOTHING like them. She had that new baby smell that I love! (No it does not make me baby hungry). I went to see her the day she came home to her 'new home'. My sister was kind enough to not only go with me but help me prepare dinner for them. It was fun to hold a new baby again. Too bad they grow too fast.

World's greatest aunt!!!!

I have to make them cry at least once!

Labor day weekend was a nice weekend to relax. I had made plans with 2 of my sisters and their children to go swimming. I was so excited! Only barely a day before we got a phone call that my cute niece E broke her arm. :( My sister said that it was ok and we could still go, her husband readily agreed to take E to a movie so we could still go. I wasn't having it though. We all agreed that we were going to go together so we came up with a back up plan that all of us would enjoy. We took some time to head up to hogle zoo. Boy was it hot! At the end of the day, we had so much fun and the kids were worn out! It was a great way to spend time together as a family without the family drama. I am glad I got to spend some much needed time with my sisters.

E,B and K

Chad and B

My Favorite animal. I love Rhinos!

B loved the monkeys. She would say MUN-KEEEEEEYS

This bird is almost identical to the one my mom has. My mom has a blue font and this is a yellow back (my brother has a yellow back and a red nape)

Baby zuri was cute! she was so fun to watch. She's a curious little bugger.

That was my ice cream. It didnt take long for a new owner to find it. I enjoyed sharing :)

Last but not least - every year I spend labor day weekend putting up fall decorations in my house. I must've been in denial and on strike against fall. I love fall but I was hoping by waiting, I would get just a little bit more of summer in there. My allergies have told me otherwise. Last month I spent some time searching for more decorations for our house. this year I will not only have just the kitchen but I also have the living room and the purple room to decorate. I love decorating. So I headed out to wood connections and got lots of cute things! I have just 2 finished but I am hoping that I will be able to finish the others in the next week or so. I also went to tai pan and bought some more adorable decorations. Those you will have to wait to see when I make my yearly blog post on my home decor (coming soon!)

August recap

2011-09-04T11:07:00.000-06:00

Wow! I can't believe that i only posted once in August. How lame am I??? I have been so busy at work that by the time I get home I don't wanna cook, clean, or do anything but snuggle up on the couch with Bryce. Even that was limited because we had so much going on. We did lots of camping and riding in august. We went to American Fork Canyon which I haven't been to since I was really little. We found some new riding spots. In the process we lost our camera (not the nice expensive one but our pocket one) and found it again. Only it had been run over by 2 rzr's and 2 jeeps. It was completely broken but at lease we got the pictures off of it. Now we have to look for a new one that will fit in our pocket. We also went to soap stone with Bryce's family. The only pictures I got were of Oakley. She has not been out camping before but did very well with it. She had a backyard full of sticks and could not be happier. She is a dog who doesn't stop and would go through each one of us to throw sticks until we were ready for bed. Literally.

The last week of August we went down to the Paiute again. We had alot of fun, although there were some minor things that came up before we left but all in all we made it down there. The first night we packed up and drove up one of the trails, found a place to camp and spent the night. That was the original trail we had plan, when we got down there, we were told that the continuing trail was closed due to landslides. so we pulled out the maps and revised our trails.

The next morning we headed over to the ghost town (mining town) to check it out. It was really cool. I love old buildings! We went back to camp finished packing up and headed over to another trail to find a place to camp. We had 2 more people coming up that night so we wanted to make sure we were far enough away from the main town but close enough to go back to get them. We stayed across from this beautiful little lake. We pitched camp, got comfy and my brother ran back to get his friends that were coming up. they made it back just before it got too dark. We talked around the campfire and called it a night.

The following morning we kind of had a late start. I like my sleep-ins :) some of the boys went down fishing while the rest of us got going for the morning. around 10 we finally loaded up the toys and got going. We went down into a few towns had lunch and continued riding around til our little hearts were content. We saw many deer and elk, passed many lakes, found dead ends, helped lost people find their way back and made it back to camp just before dark. We enjoyed the campfire as much as we could that night but riding takes alot out of you so by 11 we were all tucked in for the night.

The last morning we ho-hummed around. We got our stuff packed up and left. We headed back to the trucks and trailers and braced ourselves for the long drive home. We had mild temperatures. the nights were cool but not cold, we found snow and rain found us. It was a great weekend that I am ready to go back and do again. I am very excited to explore this trail more (1900 miles of trail!) but for now we had to say our goodbyes for this year. We will see you next year Paiute!

Wednesday Wonder 3

2011-08-10T08:15:00.004-06:00

Before I get into the whole "I wonder why" let me explain it first. Have any of you filled your own windshield wiper fluid in your car??? Alot of times it is standard with an oil change... well I have several times. There is nothing more irritating than buying a bottle of wiper fluid and filling up your 'tank' only to have about an inch left of fluid in the bottle. You want to be money savvy and not throw it away but why store it... there isn't much left and it wont get you very far so you will have to buy a new bottle... right?? Right!

so here is my WW... I wonder why they don't make your reserve tanks in your car just a few ounces bigger so you are not wasting money and you are not wasting space to store the left over... it kills me!

Comments... anyone????

Happy Hump Day to all!

24th of July Weekend

2011-07-31T20:20:00.009-06:00

For once we were in town on the 24th of July, this is a rare occasion! We are always gone. It was a fun filled weekend. We tried to do alot of relaxing. This year my parents along with some other siblings were away so my sister decided to have a dinner at her house. Normally we pass. I dont do holidays with my family but this year there was only a few of us and I knew it wouldn't be a 'bitchfest' I decided we would go. My sister had dinner with LOTS of yummy food and fireworks. If there is one thing that the wards know how to do it is bring enough food to feed an army. literally. If you go hungry it is your own fault because there is always enough food for several meals. I only got a few pics because I was busy cooking away in the kitchen (favorite past time!) so here is what I got (yes I know there are repeats of B but how could you not want to eat this girl?!?!??!)

Kaleb, Lolly and Emi

Chillin'
She was telling me to look up. B loved the aerials!

The next day, my brother asked us if we wanted to go riding. He is always so busy that it is a rare occasion that he goes out riding... I love spending time with my brother. I will let the pics tell you the rest of what our day was like...

Jen and Will

Jen and Lolly

Will
Bryce and Lolly
Nick
Cam
Away we go....
Bryce and I
Jen and Lolly
My dorky brother, Will
And we found mud!
Nick goes in first...
Funny story - Lolly was being a pansy and didn't want to get wet. So my brother caught her off guard, through her into the rzr and we took her through the water... I mean mud. She was so mad at us, but is was worth it.
Will and Jen
Will
Bryce and Cam
Look at their expressions.. they are NOT having fun at all, can you tell???
Will and Jen
More will and Jen
Bryce and Cam
Bryce and Cam

Bryce and Cam
Overall it was a fun weekend. A great way to end a weekend!

Wednesday Wonder #2

2011-07-27T08:23:00.005-06:00

Here is another one of my WW:

I wonder why people complain about their crappy situations about not having things and not being able to pay for things yet they go and buy crap (not small things) like trips, cars, toys, etc... Then complain more that they cant pay their bills.... and then repeat it again.

I am a firm believer in emotional money but go buy a candy bar that is significantly less!!! GOODNESS!

I love this girl!!!

2011-07-25T22:22:00.004-06:00

She isn't even mine and I cannot soak enough of her up!!!!!

that tongue... yeah I taught her to do that to her dad. That is what aunts are for!!!!

Something to celebrate for...

2011-07-24T21:40:00.009-06:00

I am behind on my blogging! it is crazy at how time just flies. a few weeks ago we had a really low key birthday and anniversary. Things have been crazy with work so I didn't feel the desired to do anything big. I was spoiled... just like always. I got lots of gift cards, jewelry and other wants that I had. I even gave myself a gift a week late... I got my chair for hair!!! I am very excited!
For my birthday Bryce got me a diamond bracelet to match the earrings and necklace that he had purchased for other 'events'. He also took me to red butte gardens. I have been there before but he hasn't. It was such a nice day! at one point it did get a little hot but it didn't last long when the clouds took over. We also went to dinner at a barbecue place in taylorsville. The next day we did what we do best, riding. We went on a new trail and it was lots of fun! You can never go wrong with riding. Overall the weekend turned out great even though I am NOT a birthday person.

Wednesday Wonders...

2011-07-20T17:59:00.003-06:00

For a while I have had the idea of doing Wednesday wonders. A thought process of "I wonder why..." so I thought I would start it - if you have some wonders... send them to me!!! I will definitely post them. Today WW is:
I wonder why people feel the need to crowd you while standing in line....??? ESPECIALLY when no one is behind them and they have 50 feet of space... you know, when they are in your 'don't enter my bubble' zone... you step forward, they step forward. Anyone know why... anyone??? That would be our first WW

Piaute

2011-07-07T21:41:00.010-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Bryce and I decided it was way past due for a vacation. I had been working way too hard at work and it has been kind of stressful since last November so I was on the bandwagon! Our original plans failed miserably so we had to make a mad rush to get ready for plan B. The only problem is that we didn't have a plan B. Bryce had seen some forms online about the Piaute ATV trail so we decided to give it a shot. I swear anything that could have gone wrong before we left did but after putting in all the effort that we did for this trip we were hell-bent on going. We left a little later than we wanted to but we made it safe and sound. We stayed in Marysvale since it was central and we had never been on the trail before. We stayed at this cute little KOA type place called Lizzie's and Charlies. We got down there on Thurs night just to set up camp and get dinner going. We went on one tiny ride since it was storming and cold. Friday morning we woke up to sunny and warm - although once we got going we found out that sunny and warm wasn't so sunny and warm. Before we got too far up the trail we headed back to camp for warmer clothes. After we bundled up we headed up some trails and ended up on the awesome trail that had us climbing through the river. Since we were so involved in water I did not want to pull out the camera so we didn't get pics. It was over all a fun day.

On Saturday we had this cute old retired guy come to us in camp and ask where we were going. since we did not have a plan he rambled off some trail numbers that he was taking and told us he would love to have us come with him. People there are so nice! I am amazed. Everyone hooks up with everyone and rides around for hours. Once again we bundled ourselves up for what turned out to be 10 hours of fun! We learned that this guy was retired and lost his wife 4 years ago to breast cancer. His granddaughter thought he was too stressed out and told him to go do something for himself so he bought himself a RZR and has spent the last 4 months riding to his little heart content.

Sunday is was storming like crazy so before it hit us we packed up the truck and left at 8 AM... just in time for the storm to come in and plaster everyone like they stepped in to the shower.

Some of the highlights:
We had all sorts of weather. Rain, snow, sun.

We got stuck in snow. Good think we were with retired guy - he pulled us out of the snow to safety.

We actually made it to the piaute loop. Several passes were closed with up to 30 feet of snow but we tried to go through.

We rode for 10 hours straight and it was awesome!!!

We had to drive in the middle of the river for over a mile. After that we weaved back and forth through the river 4 times.
One of those time the river actually came up and over our seat.

We met alot of new people. Everyone was so nice

We had the chance to use our new 2 pound sleeping bags. That is the moment I learned I can no longer use it. I am way too claustrophobic to use them. I ended up waking up far too many time dry heaving from not being able to breath. Awesome!!

We had a skunk sit out side out tent in the middle of the night. It smelled so bad!!!!!!

We used everything on the rzr except the spare tire.

A full size SUV got stuck in mud up to their door. We were able to use our jack to try to help them out. Once we got them high enough to get rocks under the tires another RZR came and winched it out.

Even though we were camping we manage to find and ice cream stand... YUM!

We found mud!!!!

We had problem after problem happen up until we left but one we got there everything went smooth!!!

Since we were bundled up we didn't have to use sun screen.... or so I thought...

Just a few of the highlights. I cannot wait to go back to this place. We only drove on 5% of the trails that they have down there. For us - we would recommend this place anytime to anyone. It is now a must on our list.

Favorite Camping Recipe!!!!

2011-07-01T07:37:00.006-06:00

Since it is the 4th of July this weekend I thought I would take some time to post my favorite camping recipe that is so easy that no one can resist!!! It is a great treat for anyone!!! First you need to have the cast iron sandwich makers that you can get almost anywhere in the camping section. Walmart has them for around $3.00. I like the single one but you could use the double one (around $5.00). We have a couple so we all can do it at the same time.

Make sure you spray the cast iron on the inside with cooking spray or it wont come out. Here is what you need for FIRE PIES:

Pancake Mix

Your favorite Fruit or your Favorite candy bar

Water

That is it!

Mix your pancake mix with water. We use the little disposable paper bowls to mix up the pancake mix, those size are perfect for two of these. Fill the cast iron maker half way. Put your favorite fruit or chocolate in the middle and then cover the top of the fruit/chocolate with a little more pancake mix. Now if you use fruit remember to mix it with some sugar. If not it is bitter - I may be speaking from experience and I may not. The pancake mix is not sweet enough to compensate for it :( Close up your cast Iron and put these bad boys on some hot coals from the fire. Watch them closely - They cook quick (4 mins or so) Make sure when you take it off to always check the middle. Carefully dump onto a plate and enjoy.. It is our favorite and we do these every single camping trip. YUMMY!!!!!

*For those who have gluten intolerance/gluten allergy/celiac, Kinnickinnick brand pancake mix is the best... I still use just water for it.

** wait for the cast irons cookers to cool down a little bit and wipe out with a damp cloth. If you use too much water, like anything cast iron, it will rust. In the morning when they are completely cook we wipe them down with oil or use cooking spray and put them away.

Our all time favorite 'gut' is Rollos!!! But close behind would be M&M's, twix, along with strawberries and raspberries mixed....

My new favorite...

2011-06-21T18:16:00.006-06:00

Wow I need to catch up on this blog. I have so much going on lately that it is impossible to catch up. I have been working some long hours lately so when I get home I just wanna relax.

I have spent many many many many hours researching photographers. Since the day I knew there was a chance that I could have got married I have researched them. My siblings have all gone through the same photographer for all of their wedding spreading apart over 17 years. I look at the pictures now and they are all the same! BORING!!!!! The photographer never updated her stuff - It happened to be the same photographer who did our family pictures year after year ... again - all the same - BORING! I knew from that time when I turned 19 that I did not want that same photographer. Period! Since then I have had this fascination with photographers. I never thought I was a beautiful person - I was just your average joe... Then I meet Laine Images - or Beckah, the master mind behind the camera. She changed my life forever. I am not saying this because she is my friend I am saying this because she made me believe in myself over simply taking a picture of me. I am HOT!!!!!! I know I have gushed over her time and again but she has some amazing potential, and she has a knack for photography. I adore her...

I know Chad's graduation has come and gone but before he got his first glimpse of reality I called up Laine Images to capture his childhood one last time (can you call it childhood??? Or simple sass teenage awkward years..???) I now have a new favorite photo from Laine Images...

AMAZING!!! that is all I can say. Thank you laine images for taking priceless photos that I will cherish for the rest of my life. You gave me something I didnt have before. Not just one thing.... Many.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

2011-06-13T17:56:00.003-06:00

These kind of remind me of Christmas!! Cafe Zupas has a salad called nuts about berries. Love the salad - hate the price. Since I fell in love with it I googled this recipe. Not only is it a great salad topper is is awesome for a snack, put on ice cream and it makes your house smell like Betty crocker or Martha Stewart paid a visit. If you want to impress visitors with your cooking skills and make your house smell delicious this would be the recipe. You can use almonds, cashews, pecans, peanuts - any nut you want (just not your husband nut!) I like to use the crushed up almonds for the salads. Hope you enjoy you as much as I do.

1 egg white
1 tsp cold water
4 cups of whole almonds (or crush or slivered.. hell through in cashews instead if you are adventurous!)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F . Lightly grease a 10x15 inch pan (I used a cookie sheet).
Lightly beat the egg white; add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. (I dump it into a ziplock bag - easy clean up!) Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.

Mmmm Good

2011-06-06T21:47:00.002-06:00

I want to make it more of a habit to post more recipes. I love not only getting ideas from other people but trying new recipes. I am convinced that you can never have enough recipes. Hopefully I can post a new recipe a week, so I am starting off with one of my favorite and easiest party snacks! I love Chex Muddy Buddy Mix (also called puppy chow.. don't know why but it is). I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

and now reality hits...

2011-05-31T16:42:00.020-06:00

I have so much that I want to blog about that I need to get going on it. I have pics of our cute yard that I have spent oobers amount of time working on, I want to update on my laser hair removal (best thing EVER!!!!), for now I want to update on a very special event that has happened. Of course it makes me feel like 20 years older than I am!!! My first nephew graduated! I am very excited to see where life is going to take him. It was fun to experience it all and actually understand what was going on. I was too young to care when my siblings graduated and I could have cared less when I did, I just wanted to get the heck out of there! I am glad that I am still young enough to not be so consumed with my own family and be able to support him. I loved watching him and comparing to my own experience and how I felt when I graduated. There is no wondering what is going to happen - reality has set in and he is doing... not dreaming... doing. I am not for sure what his plans hold in the next year or so but I am sure as summer is wrapping up we will have more of an idea. For now here is picture overload of his day (remember I ONLY took 506 pictures of the big day of his life - at this point)

This is the lei that I made for him...

A hug, a kiss and a see you later...

a Lei that his grandma (my mom) made him... 2 dollars bills are good luck!
Before graduation..

Before everything started, we were kinda bored!

Lets get this thing started! Receiving instructions

You can pick him out of a crowd! he is definitely loved by his family. On a side note: do you see the beach ball in the air??? One would appear and as soon as it was confiscated another one would appear. Don't be hatters but I thought it was funny. I know it is disrespectful for those who are speaking but they just wanted to go out with a bang, let them have a memorable graduation
Principle Goaches - I had a chance to talk to him on the phone during Chad's school year. I haven't dealt with him personally besides that one phone call but he really cares about his student. He took the time to talk to me about the issue that I had at that time and didnt not throw how I felt about some issues that had happened in the school year aside. He got an 'A' in my book for principles.
Just a couple of beach balls and other 'blow ups' that were confiscated
Getting ready to walk!
Chad Ward!!!!!
I know this pretty much the same pic as above but if you look right in front of chad between the girls legs you will see a pink thing on the ground. That my friends was a blow up doll that was taken away. Yes a real blow up doll.
"Now if you will join me in moving your tassel from right to left..."
Officially a high school graduate!!!!
That wasn't it! they stormed back in - they had forgotten the most important part!!! but first, they danced for all of us to Katy Perry's 'firework'

at the end the tradition of throwing the cap...

Outside after the graduation was over: I have no idea what he is doing to my dad but it sure is a funny pic!
Chad's family
The grandparents
Most of us who made it, some left before this pic was taken

All of the rest of these pics were taken by this cute 5 year old who had not a clue how to work a high tech camera! Can you see the Ward family resemblance???
There are sooooo many more pics that I wanted to post but I will spare you ALL 506 pictures. Thanks for sticking with me on this post!

repeat like a borken record....

2011-05-10T22:49:00.012-06:00

Ok so I made this whole big lost post about prom. again. I was going on and on how i love doing these type of things blah blah blah... and I posted the post and it was there for a whole 12 hours when blogger glitched and erased the whole post. I am SO MAD!!! I wasn't the only one who had this problem. Anyways, I love these pictures, I would love to tell you about it (again) but I will save it for another time. Enjoy! (dumb blogger!!!!!!!)

10 years and still missed!

2011-05-07T08:14:00.008-06:00

What a week I have had! It has been full of emotion and frustration and anger - every feeling a person can feel. I feel exhausted, my eyes hurt - I have a continuous headache for all of the endorphins running through my body.
Here we are Saturday May 7 - 10 years ago is swirling through my mind. I cant help but think that what I was going at this exact moment 10 years ago I am doing now. except I am not in high school anymore - I am a grown up. 10 years ago someone lost a child - today a child just buried a parent. I want to say I am done with all of these feeling but I am sure they are not done with me.
Every year I make a post on my best friend. The more the years go by the harder it gets! I made a post of facebook that say I still think about her every day, when making a decision I always ask myself "what would Jessica say to me or what would her response be?" I still have thoughts of calling her - even though her parents don't live in the same house and neither do I. I guess it is habit that will probably never go away, even when I am 80 years old!
Since today marks 10 years I wanted to do something big for her. Some may not think that it is big but for me it is. My hair is everything to me. It defines who I am and what I do. Everyone always thinks my hair is fake because I 'baby' my hair and it gets so long. For her - hair was a way to reinvent her - ok maybe not but she was always changing her hair - long, short, highlighted or virgin. She always had something new going on with her luscious red locks. there came a point where she didn't have any hair - but she still looked amazing bald! I remember after she passed - I went to the viewing services. We were late as a family but her parents knew we were going to show up towards the end so we could have a moment alone. I didn't want to go in to the viewing room. I know this may sound harsh but my sisters were prying my fingers from the door jam and forcing me in. I don't regret it! They were doing what they thought was best for me. Her parent were in there along with her brothers - I remember her dad taking me in his arms and hugging me. We both walked over to Jessi where he let me see her beautiful dress and shoes. He also wanted me to see something that I had not seen before she passed since she was always laying down. In the back of her head she had this short hair that was kinky curly! Her locks were back! and they were baby fine. No matter how she looked her hair was amazing!
There are millions of children without hair from diseases or cancer. I had heard my sisters talking about donating their hair so I asked them if they would donate with me on Jessica's 10th year (this was back in January) so we did! It was very hard for me to chop off all of my locks but they will grow back. there is a child out there who needs this hair more than I do and if God gave me a talent of growing amazing hair then it is something small to give back. I will be sending in all 3 ponytails in Jessica's name.
I miss you Baby J every single day!

Before:

During:

After:

Is it really happening?????

2011-05-06T19:45:00.002-06:00

Apparently so!

2011-05-05T09:27:00.003-06:00

For some moments in life there are no words.

This happened at one of our branches this week. Devastating. That is all I can say. I would try to express what I feel but it is just a jumbled mess and doesn't make sense. I couldn't put it down in words if I try. This can happen to anyone. it could have happened at my branch. We sound like a huge company but we aren't. We are just big enough to be well known but small enough to be a 'family'. Go home tonight and hug a light tighter, kiss a little harder, love a little longer and be grateful for what you have because tonight someone is missing their mom.

Beauty

2011-05-01T20:10:00.001-06:00

Such an amazing day to end in such tragedy. I pray for those who lost love ones yesterday.

Hello Hollywood!!!!!

2011-04-30T18:13:00.001-06:00

Grandma what big teeth you have!

Grandma what big eyes you have!

But grandma what big hands you have!!

Wolves Sighted In Salt Lake City Just Want To Go Back Home

Now my dad calls me "Hello hollywood". I think it's catchy!

Something we both enjoy....

2011-04-06T17:45:00.002-06:00

Bryce and I have had it with the weather. We were like bears in hibernation. I spent 90% of the winter bundled up... in blankets sitting on the 90 degree angle of our couch. I found a new love for netflixs and I didn't care to change it. I like mocking a bear. but now the bears are coming out of hibernation and I suppose I should too. It is not warm enough to hang out outside but it is time to accomplish SOMETHING. Bryce and I have decided to take a photography class. We love taking pictures and spending time together so what a better way that to take on together. We are already a few weeks in to our class and have learned so much, coming soon will hopefully be some great pictures but for now I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures/photographers....

Laine Images

Thomas D Mangelsen

D'Andrew International

Coming soon: Hardman wannabe's

Dutching some ovens, competition style!

2011-03-22T20:09:00.016-06:00

Every year in March (the 3rd weekend) it always booked out. It is something to expect. It is the Worlds dutch oven competition. (read about the past 2 years HERE and HERE) This year was a little different. Not only did Will and Jen compete but they were competing against my mom (and her partner) and a 3rd team of their son and my older sister Aimee. This was the first year that they have had a 3 generation competition in the finals. Chad was also the youngest competitor at the age of 17. The rules are that you have to be 18 to compete. Since chad is months shy of being 18 they agreed to let him compete as long as his partner was over the age of 18. His original partner had something come up and he was about to lose his place in the semi-finals when my sister willingly stepped up to help him out (never cooking in a dutch over herself!) It was a first for both and we were glad to hear that they made it to the finals on Saturday! They also have to have many helpers to have this event go down so my dad and my other nephew, Cam were one of the many to help. It is like a family event... soon we are going to take over the world! wink wink. Here are the teams:

Teams #1 (Placed 4th in the finals):
Main - Bacon Pork Loin
Bread - Orange Cranberry Nut
Dessert - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Team 2 (placed 5th in finals)
Main - Prime Rib
Bread - Citrus Twist bread (YUMMMMMMMMY!!!! take my word for it, I wont share!)
Dessert - Red velvet cheesecake

Team 3 (took 11th in finals)
Main - beef tenderloin
Bread - Cheese steak bread
Dessert - Peach mango craisin pie

Here are the rest of the pics, the tense breaking moments!

3 Generations!

I wanna know who's bright idea it was put put them all in a row, next to each other, with family rivalry!

Everything has to be done in a dutch oven - including something as small as melting butter!

Cameron - getting the coals ready for all of those dutch ovens!

Measure twice, cut once!

Island Park

2011-03-20T17:34:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we spent the day supports my family at the outdoor expo for the Worlds Dutch Oven Championship. I will get to that in another post here in the next week when I have pictures. While we were there we took some time to walk around and see all the booths. We even bought some cinnamon almonds and cashews (they are good but they are SOOOOO easy to make at home. Click HERE for the recipe I use). Alot of the booths were booths for far away trips. Not the kind you think of sitting out the beach. The kind where are are aiming the gun at some animal and using them for food (or a trophy mount, whatever floats your boat). There were a few other things there (Bear world, catch and release fishing, dog diving, etc.), we ran across a booth for Island park. I have awesome memories of that place and long to go there often. The only problem is: It is a long drive for a Friday-Sunday trip.

I was only 12 when my grandmother died. I was only a few months when my grandfather died (on my dad's side). My grandmother lived in a completely different state and with being the youngest of 8 children, it was very difficult for my parents to take us to go see her: Gas, food, packing all of us up, not to mention where would we stay to fit 10+ people? I love my grandma Stella. She was the best grandma I could ask for. I was devastated when she passed away. Island park is the place that i have the majority of the memories of her. We only got to see her once a year and it was always at our family reunion in Island park. My grandfather built a cabin there with my father. When my grandfather passed away the cabin went to my dad. Having a new born baby (that was me!), 7 other children and living 6 1/2 hours away my dad thought it would be impossible to take care of it properly. With much regret (now) my dad sold the cabin but every year we still went to island park. This is what I remember of it:
The best memory was heading to mack's Inn lodge. We would always go into the lodge and get candy and other goodies. We would also get tube rentals, my parents (usually my dad) would drive us up the river and drop us off. We would float down the river past the lodge and go under the bridge. We knew when we saw that bridge the adventure was over. My dad would be waiting on the bridge for us, waiting to pick us up and take us back to camp. We would do it all over the next day, and the next until it was time to pack up camp and make the long drive home. In 1989 the Lodge burnt down but the memories still remain the same, only instead of seeing the lodge, we saw the remains of the lodge: a brick fire place was the only thing that remained standing in that fire. Here is what Island park looks like now:

I have never been there during the winter but I hear it is amazing. All the pictures of the lake is the lake that we actually stayed by every time we went.

My dad had the opportunity to go back a year an a half ago to see the cabin he built with his own hands. The people who bought it from them still own it. They not only kept the original structure but they added on to it since then. My mom described my dad "like a kid in the candy store" when he saw the place. The couple was even kind enough to invite them in and in return they got information about the original structure they have been wondering about all these years straight from one of the two people who help build it.

I am hoping very soon that I will be able to take Bryce back to the place that has stolen my heart so many years ago....

Devil Princess????

2011-03-17T21:40:00.014-06:00

A few weeks ago, my friend Beckah asked me to help her out with a fun photo shoot. We had a blast. I was very excited to be able to help her out. It was very much out of my element but anyone who knows me, knows I like a challenge. I know these were posted on facebook but since I am in facebook-aholics-annonymous I thought I would post them here. My brother even said on facebook that I was a princess... ok ok - he was wondering if I turned into the devil princess. BUT a princess no less. Thanks Beckah for the amazing photos! If you would like more info you can contact her here.

Here are my favorites:

Here are the rest:

Simplify

2011-03-15T21:55:00.005-06:00

I think life has gotten out of hand lately. I laid in bed last night thinking of the million things going on in my life, The negative that I have in my life at the moment. I had a long discussion with Bryce while laying there, more like thinking out loud. I keep telling myself that next week will be better when in fact I just get more frustrated. It is time to simplify.

Simplify and focus.

I love nothing more than curling up in a blanket with Bryce on the couch. Sometimes saying nothing at all, sometimes talking until we literally both fall asleep. My focus should be on us. Lately there has been alot of bad following me around. I have spent the last 6 month in a torture chamber, at least that is what I feel like. I complain everyday to Bryce and ask why things don't get better, why I am left so disappointed. I cant get over hurt feelings, I feel disappointed by everyone and everything. I cant let go of the small things, I am holding grudge and anger. This isn't like me! I try to tell myself that I will let it go, roll it off the back, kill with kindness of those who hurt me but it doesn't work. I get more frustrated and hear bad things they say about me: What I am doing or the lack of what I am doing. I am trying to please everyone. Simplify.

I need to focus on Bryce and Myself. Focus on the GOOD relationships I have in my life. I don't need the bad anymore, I don't need the negative energy around me. Is this what a breaking point feels like??? Focus.

I have deactivated our facebook account. I feel like I am in high school all over again and I hated high school. I hate the mean jabbing comments on there. Maybe I will go back soon but for right now it is just one step to get the negative out of my life. I want to be a better person.

There are a few things that will be changing in my life. Don't mistake quietness for anger. Sometimes I am just soaking everything in. If I am upset you will know. This is not me being upset. Sometimes it just helps to write it all down. Maybe in the future when I look back and read this post I will see how far I have come in life. I am still learning, we all are.

I am extremely grateful for Bryce being in my life. I am grateful for spending time with my sister lately. As much as we haven't gotten along in the past, it seems to be going smooth right now. I appreciate those who make an effort to be my friend, the ones who invite us over for game night , or go out to a movies 'just the girls', and I am extremely grateful for the nieces and nephews who call me and ask me to help them. Help them with prom dresses, graduation announcement, support on the upcoming competition, or just call me to say hi. THOSE are the things I need to focus on....

Prom Dress Shopping

2011-03-13T09:00:00.004-06:00

Well we tend to lead boring lives during the winter... There hasn't been much to blog about lately but I cant completely abandon this place :) Yesterday I had the chance to take my niece prom dress shopping. She has been ecstatic since she got asked. I think I heard about the shopping every from the first day that she asked me to go with her. This is her first prom so we had to make a day out of it and we had to make it the best... something she wont forget!

We started our morning off early... earlier than I want to see day light on a Saturday but it was all in good fun. We stopped by a few malls here and there before going to place that carried 'her dress' she found on line. Like we thought, they were all a bust! Around 10 AM we headed down to the gateway. It was insane! I now know why I don't do shopping on Saturdays. We spent nearly 20 minutes just to get one block down there, what the heck was going on??? Next time I need to do my research because THIS was going on. Holy good crap it was busy and barely movable. We had to park the car, the underground was packed, no such luck. We pulled into an 'event parking' for $5.00, the only problem is that there was no more $5.00 parking. They wanted $6.00 for 'VIP parking'. Don't worry it was all in good fun of buying the dress. We finally make our way through the crowds to the store. When we get there, there are beautiful dresses everywhere. We start searching for dresses in her size, they tell us that if we don't see the dresses in her size to let them know and they will grab them from the back. The first 3 dresses I grab I strike out! They don't have her size, or anything close to her size. Luckily her and her mom were doing better at find something. The dress she was in love with was no longer available, they had sold the last one that morning and the order date to get it was late May. We didn't have that much time so we continued to look to find the perfect dress for her. We pulled as many dresses as we could find for her to try one. Would you believe every single dress we got did not come in her size and the order date was too long??? We were there 3 hours later when we found this beauty:

The problem: They didn't have her size (Really????) The solution: They did have 1 size bigger than her normal. We had her try it on anyways and it fit perfectly! Thank goodness for corset backs that lace up and not zippers. She looked amazing! after talking it over she decided that although this wasn't her 'dream dress' she found on line earlier it was pretty dang close and she wanted it. We bought the dress and went on our way. We hit up lunch, went shopping for shoes, a clutch and jewelry. We had a full day of fun. We laughed until we had tears down our face. It was an awesome day to spend with my niece and sister in law. In a few weeks I will be taking the day off to go out and help her get ready for the big event. My heart breaks that her dad has to work and wont be able to see his first born off to her first prom, but between her mom and me I think we will get enough picture that he will feel like her is there.

On a side not she got the blue one....

Brown alpaca meets Mr. Plum

2011-02-18T19:03:00.004-07:00

It has been a while since I last blogged so I thought I would give you all a sneak peak of what we have been up to. Now that Christmas is over we are working hard on transforming this house into our own. It is always a work in progress...

I am very excited about my 'purple room' and people hear me talk about it all the time so here are some sneak peaks....

These are right as you walk into the door way. The knobs are actually purple to match my wall and curtain but the pic makes them look black. I didn't want these just hanging by a nail or hook so I ventured off to hobby lobby to see what I can find. Did you know that they have a whole isle dedicated to different kinds of knobs??? Well they do and some are REALLY expensive. I spent a pretty penny on these but they match so well I couldn't pass them up!

This mirror was a nice oak color but I am NOT a fan of oak. Bryce loves it in the kitchen and that is the one place I will have it. I love black or redwood furniture. I decided instead of throwing this mirror out that I would paint it black and hang it on my wall for when I do cuts. I think it turned out well.

Mr plum meet Brown Alpaca, Brown alpaca meet Mr plum!
I was really scared when I put this purple on my wall. I am not a purple fan and when it was wet I was beginning to regret my decision but I plowed through and stuck with it (it always dries different...) When it dried it could not be any more perfect. The brown and purple go perfectly together!

Well there you have it! There is a little sneak peak. When it is completed I will give you a full tour. I hop you all like it!

A new beginning *Post note

2011-01-26T18:31:00.003-07:00

I cannot believe it is time to review how I did last year and set new goals for the year. I have mentioned before that I hate setting goals for 'new year's' so I use January as a month of reflecting on how I would like to better myself. So I guess it is time to write it all down but first lets review how I did last year. My first goal was to finish school: Check! I not only finished school but I made it legal by taking all of the state test for it. That was my second goal. 2 for 2! My 3rd goal was to not text while driving. I did awesome in the beginning. towards the end of the year I made more slip ups then I should have but I tried to resist. I could work harder to make that a no tolerance rule. As a couple we decided that we would not work on the house during the summer. I think we did pretty good at this. We did take time to finish the deck but we did not spend our whole summer doing that. I would say we made this a 85% complete. Overall not a bad year.
I have put alot of thought into what I would like to make as this year goals. I want something realistic and that is hard for me because I get all excited and when I don't do it I get really bummed and just quit all together. So here are some goals that I think are realistic:
1. Wear some form of make up at least once a week to work. Preferably eye shadow. Since my alarm goes off at 5:30 I would rather sleep that extra 10 minutes than put on makeup. I guess I pass it off well :) but I really need to try harder to put effort into myself.
2. No texting while driving. I know I did this last year but I really need to buckle down on it 100%.
3. I want to start back up kick boxing. You always here 'I wanna lose weight' that is not the case here. I felt like I could concur anything when I went to kick boxing. I felt like I could take on the world. It is not a matter of losing weight, it is a matter of feeling better about myself. Simple enough, right?
I may add more to the list but for right now I think those 3 are achievable but we cant stop there, we need to have a goal as a couple!
Our goal as a couple is this: We want all of our emergency supply by the end of the year, preferably by August. Each month we have a 'quota' of what we need to buy to make this goal. We have signed up for mailers so we know what is on sale and when to buy it. January went off well. We had made that goal by the 7th! WOO HOO!!!

I think 2010 went great so lets hope to an even better 2011!!!!!!

*Post note: I have 2 more that I forgot to add. They are small but I still want to do it.
4. no soda. period. I have taken to soda more than water in the month of December and I am done. I don't need it.
5. I have several bank accounts and one in particular is not suppose to be touched. I even have it at a different credit union for the purpose of not going there and not using it. I have failed miserably so as of Feb 1st there will be NO TOUCHING it at all. That is suppose to be my new car fund for when my car hits the crapper (which I hope isn't for at least another 5 years , at least!)
5 is a good round number...

A Give Away!

2011-01-18T20:03:00.002-07:00

Ok so my friend had these amazing pictures done for her bridals by Sassafrass photography. I love following different photographers work and she is truly gifted. Please go check her out and enter to win a give away from her! Good Luck!!!!!

http://www.sassafrassphoto.blogspot.com/