One of my all-time favorite movies

I finally bought this movie. I remember watching it when I was younger and loving it. It has all the classic concepts: 80s clothes, cheesy ending song, a mad scientist who changes his heart, and of course a young Tom Hanks.

If you haven't seen it - go rent it, if you have - go rent it again!

A little information: Disney created Touchstone studios because of this movie - they didn't want to be putting a PG film on the Disney studio name - oh how things have changed.

my baby's got lungs

I'll miss you Greg

Greg A. Wynn
(December 22, 1964 - June 2, 2008)

Send Private Condolences

Morgan- Greg A. Wynn, age 43, passed away after a short and courageous battle with cancer surrounded by his loving family on June 2, 2008.
He was born on December 22, 1964 to Bob and Sue Wynn. He was raised in Morgan and graduated from Morgan High School.

Greg married Stacy Sessions on June 8, 1984 in Morgan. Greg had a very tender heart. He cared and loved his family and friends, and he is loved and cherished by them all. Greg did many things; he retired from Hill Air Force Base where he worked as a sheet metal mechanic. He then attended Salt Lake Community College and graduated from the Police Academy. He became a police officer for Morgan County where he was instrumental in starting the K-9 program. At the time of his death he was employed with Rhodes Excavation.

Greg enjoyed camping and riding ATV's with his family, watching NASCAR, Dallas Cowboys and the Utah Jazz.

Greg is survived by his wife, Stacy; three children: Trista (T.J. O'Leary), Kiley and Trevor of Morgan; Sisters: Doreen Wynn, Salt Lake City; and Noreen Wynn, Ogden. Brother: Robert (Kathy) Wynn, Honeyville. Mother-in-law, Pat Ericksen, West Point; Father-in-law, Gary Sessions, Peterson; Brother-in-laws: Kelly (Chris) Sessions and Dustin Sessions, Clearfield; Sister-in-Law: Sacha (Greg) Despain, Salt Lake City. He is also survived by many family and friends.

We would like to acknowledge Greg’s special friends, Kim Green and Brett Ertmann.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and mother-in-law Karen Sessions. The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the Enterprise Ward, Dr. Carl Gray and his staff, Dr. Robert Harris and the staff at Ogden Regional Cancer Treatment Center; and the staff at Ogden Regional Medical Center for their kindness and loving care.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at the Enterprise Ward, 2755 W. Old Highway Road, Morgan, Utah. Friends may call on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Walker Mortuary in Morgan and Friday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the church.

Interment, Peterson Cemetery.

Send condolences to the family at www.walker-mortuary.com

In lieu of flowers please make donations to Bank of Utah in Greg Wynn’s name.

Cancer sucks

Late last night my cousin, Greg, lost his fight with lung cancer. It wasn't that long ago that he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer - by the time they found it, it was too late. Greg was like an uncle to me because he was a lot older than me. In high school he let me borrow is Eddie Bower edition Expedition to drive. I remember how cool that was because he trusted me, a teenager, with his really cool car.
Greg was always giving and willing to help out. When I had major knee surgery, I borrowed his CD collection so that I wouldn't be so bored. He had a love of country music, just like me.
I'm going to miss seeing him at our family parties - but I know that I will see him again. I am thankful for that knowledge. Families Can Be Together Forever!

Our adventures under the sea

Jenna's dance recital was last night...and as an unbiased parent - she was the best of them all. And the cutest too. She danced to Under the Sea, Much More Friendly With Pooh (Winnie the Pooh), and then a finale with everyone called Girls on Minnie Street.

Here are a couple pics from the night. Jenna is the 4th from the right

Thoughts for Thursday

I've seen a couple shows about the new group of employees entering the work force for the first time. What bothers me is that they expect their bosses and others to let them come in late, wear what they want - they expect praise and rewards and you aren't allowed to tell them when they are doing something wrong. I don't get this - I'm not that much older than these people - by just a few years (5 or so years). I was trained to come in when your are assigned to come in, follow the rules, accept criticism and do what I need to do to correct any problems. Call me crazy - but isn't this how it is supposed to be?

Sure, I would love to be able to come into work in my pj's, listen to my ipod, and do what I want when I want - and expect to get paid not only monetarily, but also with prizes - like a new ipod or a wii.

They talked about the reason for this - every child, they say, expects a trophy and only words of encouragement. They say that adults are building this society...not this adult.

I don't expect Jenna's teachers to only say positive things to her, I want her to learn and grow - to become a responsible adult (not that I'm looking forward for her to grow up).

I have taken classes in communication techniques in the workplace - and yes, when I started working 10 years ago - things had changed from the time when my parents started working, but there has to be a stop or the American economy, in my opinion, will continue to fail.

What do you think? Are children being babied too much? Would you only want your child to be praised and rewards?

Thoughts for Thursday

I don't really have any deep thoughts today, but I do have a lot of friends who don't know the full extend of what is going on in my family's life right now - so I am going to talk about that instead.

Many of you know about my niece, Alia, and all of her medical problems. She was released from the hospital earlier this week, only to have to return again last night. She has a very fast moving "cousin" of tuberculosis growing inside what is left of her left lung. Today she is going to have surgery to have a port put in where they can directly administer antibiotics and draw blood. They are hoping this will help and will make it so that they will not have to remove the remainder of her left lung. The incision from the surgery over a month ago reopened and the doctors have called it "interesting" and "amazing" - coming from dr's who have people coming from across the US for their help, it's not quite what you want to hear.

Poor Landon, Alia's 8 year old brother, gets shuttled back and forth from grandma's, aunts, neighbors as Suzanne, my sister is living in a 1979 winnebago in the parking lot of the hospital. My brother-in-law tries to divide his time between Landon, the hospital, and work. Thankfully the hospital is only about a 40 min drive away.

Needless to say, it's been quite hard on our whole family.

Then, about the same time as Alia's major surgery (a little over a month ago) - my cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer has spread throughout his body and they are treating him as much as they can but of course, that's a lot of setbacks. His blood sugar went screwy and he was hospitalized for that. Now, my cousin is about 15 years older than me, and he's always been so good to me. He let me borrow his car when I was still in HS so that we could get up on base to go shopping. He's always a happy cheerful guy.

My dad is also going to be going in for neck surgery this summer because of an accident that happened over 20 years ago. He's had different surgeries to help as things come up, and this one is no exception. He keeps losing feeling because his nerves get pinched and other times he hurts so bad.

If I could only stay in a little bubble that only included Jason, Jenna and I - life would be great. But, I would miss out on all of my family. We are close knit and love each other so much. When one family member hurts, we all do. I am truly thankful for the family I have - with all the chaos that it brings and wouldn't change our relationships.

The question has been asked - how much can 1 family take - I guess the only answer comes from the scriptures where it says that our Heavenly Father will only give us as much as we can handle. Guess He has more faith in us than we do of ourselves.

Thank you for all your kind words and support - it means the world to me and to my family.

My preschool graduation

I can't believe Jenna is now a preschool graduate! I'm not one of those crying moms, but seriously, I was almost in tears. Here are some pictures from graduation. The one of her on the playground is of her and her boyfriend, Davis. She said that he would run away if she went by him. She cracks me up

Taking it from her daddy

now where do you suppose Jenna got this artistic side from?

yet another blog quiz

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

my name

What Michelle Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I'd say for me it's 75% accurate

Jenna says....

ok, here are some of my favorite things Jenna has said recently.

"mom, I drew you a picture. It's on the TV in the dust"

"did you ask to work there (New York and Company) or did they say that you looked pretty and they wanted you to work there?"

"Just be patient" said in her most stern voice.

I love my little girl - she brings me such happiness and reminds me what life is really about.

My future unfolding!!!

I have officially been hired at my current elementary school as a 5th grade teacher next year!!! I am so excited!

Thoughts for Thursday - insurance companies

It's Thursday, right? I'm so confused on my days right now...yeah, I'm pretty sure I have tomorrow off from school - so that would mean today is Thursday. OK.

Guess what? My ditziness is directly related to my TfT today - I have been playing, "yes I do need my medication" with the insurance over the past 3 weeks. They for some odd reason feel that heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and blacking out is not a good enough reason for me to switch medicines. There are only 2 medicines on the market that can deal with depression and also work as a pain reliever. Option 1 - the cheaper one - has caused all of the above symptoms. I tried it, but I just don't want to black out while I'm driving or to have a heart attack. Call me weird.
So, option #2 is the other choice and I got some samples from the dr while they got the preapproval for the medication. I was denied - they say that I should be on option #1. In the meantime I have run out of samples and my whole body is reacting. I'm sick, can't think, getting migraines. Good ole withdrawal. I did get another month's worth of samples picked up today...but here's my question....shouldn't doctors get to say what is best for their patients, they are the ones that see the tests, sit down and talk with the patients, etc.

I understand the insurance is there to make money, they are a business - but at what expense? I'm not at a life or death point here, but it is a matter of a good quality of life. I believe that doctors should have the say. I understand that insurance companies need to ask questions, but when the pharmacy says, oh this insurance pretty much denies all medicine at first. That concerns me. They are making money at the expense of peoples health. They would rather treat a heart attack than to treat the precursers. They will put a pregnant woman on bedrest, but will not pay for disability if the baby ends up going full-term, only if the baby still comes early.

Do I make sense? If not, I guess there is just one more casualty in my war on the health insurance company.

9 years, 4 months, 13 days.

Nine years ago today I married my soul mate. Yes, 9 years ago! I can't believe it's been that long. I thought I would share our story with all of you out there who may not know it...

I moved home from college after Fall semester 1998. I had been praying and felt that even though I hadn't quite finished my associates I needed to move home. I had many different reasons as to why I thought I was being prompted to move home, but none of them included Jason. In fact, I didn't even know Jason.

I didn't want to go back to my regular ward and found that a returned missionary I really liked was going to a singles ward. So, I went there. Jason says he came up and introduced himself the first time I was there - I don't remember that. Sorry, but he didn't make any kind of impression on me - and really, I was there to follow the returned missionary. I didn't need a guy, right?

On December 31st I received a phone call, a guy named Jason was wanting me to go on a date with him. I've been taught by my oldest sister that free food is free food, so go and enjoy it even if you don't end up liking the guy. He had left me a message saying he met me in the singles ward and since he worked with the records he got my phone number. I asked my sister if she knew who he was, since he graduated the same year she did. She said she didn't know him that well, but knew he was a good guy. Apparently he was really close friends with our next door neighbor. So, I called him back and said yes.

We went on our first date on January 1, 1999. When he came to pick me up he had a bouquet of wild flowers - not roses. So right there, I was impressed. He later told me his mom always told them to take flowers to their dates on their first date. Good thinking mom! We went to Hard Rock - my first time ever. I don't remember what I ate, but I do remember what I wore. I still have the fleece sweater - wish I still fit in the pants. After we went mini golfing and talked about Murphy's law. We talked about how we were both believers in it. Odd, I know - but hey.

After the date I knew I liked him, and he was cute - but there weren't any "love" feelings. He asked me out again and we went and rented movies to watch at his house. We had digiorno pizza - another first for me (how sheltered am I?). I remember when we were renting the movies we ran into someone he knew - a girl - and he introduced me. We also held hands for the first time that night too.

between a few days of talking on the phone and him coming over one night to share poetry, I fell in love. Seems like a long time, but in all actuality, it was only about a week since our first date. He invited me to come to his house while his brother was having a b-day party - I said sure. I was friends with a lot of his brother's friends. I also found out that Jason gave the best bear hugs in the history of man kind.

We talked about marriage and decided to pray about it. We both got the same answer, but I told him to wait until my parents got back from a cruise they had been planning. Especially since we'd only known each other a week.

We started taking a religion class together at the local University and the first night we went early and walked around campus and talked. Then as he was driving over to the class he stopped at a parking lot that over looks the Ogden valley - there he proposed. He had flowers in the backseat the whole time and I didn't know it! This was January 13th. Do the math - 13 days is all!

After class we went to our ward skating party where we told a couple people, before we knew it it was announced over the loud speaker - so we had to book it home before someone called my parents.

I woke up my mom and dad while Jason was downstairs and told them the news. They acted happy for me, but I could tell they were concerned, afterall I had only known the guy for 13 days. They came downstairs and I went up stairs to tell Crystal, who had become my best friend since I had been home. She screamed, "no, you can't marry him" of course Jason heard this. I also told my little brother, who said, "what about Nick?" (the missionary I had send off a few months earlier). Yeah, my family was pretty funny about it.

I'm sure my dad did a background check and I'm guessing Jason passed. My parents did have some sit down talks with me about if I was sure he was the one, I know they were worried, but it sure annoyed me then.

4 months and 13 days after we first met we were married for time and all eternity in the Bountiful Temple. It hasn't been the easiest 9 years, but we have worked together and he has been so understanding of all my medical issues and schooling. I love him with all of my heart and can't imagine life without him. He has given me such strength and hope. He is my best friend.

I love you Jason and always will. I'm glad you agreed that I could keep you forever.

What good is a college degree when you can't pick out the right shoes?

I think somewhere along the line there should be a course required for all men and women about appropriate wear for all types of jobs. Sure, I learned what to wear to interviews and what is considered professional attire, but whatever happened to the real-lief lessons such as "shoes you should wear for your first day of standing and walking around up for 8 hours straight"
Either I missed this class - totally possible since I did miss some class, ok a lot - or they never taught it. I tend to think they never taught it.
OK, now rewind to Saturday morning. I have 3 outfits layed out on my bed. What outfit shall I wear for my first real day at my new job? I have some cute business-looking type shorts with a nice white top - something I could wear some reasonable shoes with, some pants with a nice button up shirt - again something I could wear good shoes with. Or wait, I have an idea - I have a cute dress that if I put a white shirt under it I can wear these:



yup, you guessed it - know what won? The cute outfit with the way cute shoes. I wanna look cute for my first day at work. What's the worst that could happen? Again, had I had the above mentioned class, I would've known. I was taught crisis management, not how to avert a crisis.

Walking into the mall I get the first sign that I look cute and therefore chose the right outfit. A car of teenage boys drives by and they whistle at me!!! Wahoo!

I get in and I'm assigned to the dressing room and I'm thankful, I can check out the clothes and I can handle it.

Well, by hour 4 my feet are asking my brain what it was thinking and why brain didn't ask feet about this grand idea. Of course brain was trying to ignore feet. So, feet decided if brain wasn't going to listen they may as well go numb. Well, actually only toes decided to go numb.

Fast forward to today - almost 4 days later - toes are still on strike and have yet to communicate with brain that they are still attached.

And the moral to this story...I don't have one because I figure now that feet are going to be used to said shoes and I will probably wear them again - because hey I got a whistle from some teenage boys.

For Misty - my favorite cat lover

I think most know how I feel about cats, not my favorite animal. This cracks me up and if it didn't cost $15 I would so get one for Misty. Since I know you all need a laugh, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xntzFMzzE

Thoughts for Thursday

ok, my thoughts this Thursday are about stealing from work.

I started a new job today and my favorite clothing store, New York and Company. Most my close friends know that when I get a new outfit, that's where I got it from. They usually just assume that's where I got anything from. So, part of training today was about employee theft and it got me thinking...why would you want to steal and why would you want to steal from the place that is paying your bills?

I've never gotten this. In the name of full disclosure, I have stolen once in my life, but it was an accident and I still feel guilty. I was in elementary school and we had a gas station by us named Big Verns. I walked there one day and picked out my dollar's worth of candy, but then I couldn't find where I put some of it, so I figured I put it down and got some more. Later that day my mom and I were at KMart (you know I feel guilty because I still remember this 20 years later), I reached into my jacket pocket and low and behold, there was the air head that I thought I had put back. When the store closed a few years later, I swore that it was because I accidently stole that 10 cent piece of candy.

OK, now I get back to my point - why do some people ruin it for everyone? I understand why I have to have everything checked at the front of the store whenever I get ready to leave - because someone ruined it for everyone else. Where are the values of these people who think it's ok to steal for one reason or another. I don't see how someone can say that they deserve what they stole.

So, here's the question - if you knew that you could steal anything from work and know you wouldn't be caught, would you?

got the proverbial gun out to be polished

No, we don't own a real gun in the house, but even with Jenna only being 5, I think Jason is seriously considering getting one for when she starts to date. This was Jenna's conversation last night with her Grandma Mary. Names have been changed to protect the innocent little boys involoved. I only heard one side of the conversation since she was on the phone.

Grandma, Matt kissed me today....YES, on the lips (she says in her most exhasperated, annoyed voice). I thought he liked Jayci, but then he kissed ME. I don't know why. I guess he likes me. No, Davis is my boyfriend, not Matt. No, he didn't get mad. I said (she's sounding annoyed) I thought he liked Jayci and Jayci is my friend.

So, there you have it, you would think listening to her she was going through the problems of the teenage years, but no, this child does not believe that boys have cooties. She doesn't know where babies come from, but she has apparently had 2. (I must admit she looks really good for a 5 year old who just gave birth to 2 babies). It's only going to be a matter of time before she's playing kissing tag with all the boys and running slow so that they catch up to her. (I don't have an idea where she gets this from).

When I told Jason last night he just laughed, but I could tell, he was nervous about what's going to happen 10 years from now. She's a diva already and she's proud of it.

Our adventurous day!

Wow! I scheduled a day off and well, I still spent half a day at school. I'm in charge of a really cool thing that's going to take place at my school tomorrow. It's called the junior engineering fair and it's a whole day of hand's on projects for the entire school! Last night I had to come in and make sure that the modules arrived and delivered them to the teacher's classrooms. Today, I wanted to go in to make sure that the teachers checked their boxes before Monday morning in case there was anything missing. I also wanted to watch the 6th graders do their Olympics.
So, since I didn't want to pay for day care, I took Jenna with me. She loves going to school and loves my students (and my students love her). We watched the Olympics for a while and then the students went in for lunch. I ate my first school lunch in over 10 years today! It was a chicken sandwich, Trix yogurt, a half an apple, french fries....and kiwi! (oh and of course a chocolate milk). It wasn't too bad. Jenna thought it was cool to get to eat in the cafeteria and the 5th grade students I sat by were so excited that I was going to sit by them for lunch (I love the rewards of being a teacher - especially since right now I'm one of the cool teachers).
After we ate, Jenna went out and played with one of my 5th grade students (one of my favorite students), Elizabeth. They went down the slide so many times and just had fun on the big toy. Jenna was so sad when the bell rang and Elizabeth had to go back to class.

After the adventure at school, we ran home and I took a quick shower. Then, off we went again. I dropped Jenna off at daycare so that she could play with a friend that only comes on Fridays and I had a job interview at my all time favorite store - New York and Company. . I really liked the manager that interviewed me, it didn't really feel like an interview. I'm just looking for a PT job, especially since I won't be working for the school during the summer - we need the income. The manager said I should hear from her today or tomorrow - she just needed to contact my references.

I ran home to change out of the interview clothes and checked the mail and guess what was in there....I was approved for the Alternate Routes to Licensure program!!! What does this mean? You ask...well, in short - I can start working as a full-time teacher in the fall! I just have to take about 6 classes in the next 3 years to get my official teaching license!!! I'm so excited. I now have to send the approval to my school district and then they will interview me to make sure I'll be good (ummmm, they already hired me to be a part-time teacher, so I hope I'm good enough). Then my principal can actually offer me a position. I already talked to him about it - and he couldn't guarantee a spot for me, but I know that there are a lot of teachers leaving this year for different reasons.

So, I quickly called a couple people to share in my excitement and then went and picked up Jenna from daycare. I watched the daycare kids for a few minutes while the babysitter (the best babysitter in the world) ran next door to do something. Then I took Jenna to register for kindergarten. My baby is going to be in kindergarten! So weird.

Well, I believe that is all!
Have a great weekend!

Alia is having a good day!

I figured instead of trying to email my friends Alia's updates, I would just post them here.

April 11, 2008 at 01:29 PM MDT
Alia has had a good day. She has been in pretty good spirits and playing this morning. She is now down for a nap (hopefully we can get her schedule turned around). They are still doing some different tests to try and figure out her lung status. We are letting her rest but she will need to be poked to have some blood drawn when she wakes up. She HATES this!! It takes 3-4 people to get blood out of her.

We were able to pull one of her chest tubes. Hopefully this will help with her comfort level. She hasn't wanted to put on her duck mask this morning so we will try again later when Jared gets here.

Thank you all!

I want to publicly thank everyone who has been keeping me and my family in their prayers and sending good thoughts our way. Alia's surgery went well, but she still has the long recovery ahead. She's been very uncomfortable and has had trouble sleeping.

Thoughts for Thursday- trials

I've always believed that our Heavenly Father knows where are weaknesses and strengths are and He tries us to where he sees we need improvement, but also keeping in mind of where our strengths are. I believe there are 3 types of trials: physical, mental, and spiritual. For me, I've always been strong spiritually, but physically my body is a mess and mentally - I have clinical depression. So, Heavenly Father knows that I can rely on my spiritual strength when trials come that are mental or physical.
With all the trials going on in my family's life, I am so thankful that we are spiritually strong. That peace and comfort helps when nothing else can.

Now, I believe that our strengths and weaknesses can change throughout life. And you grow and at sometimes may be strong in all 3 areas, while other times you feel that you are failing in all 3.

What do you think are your strength and weaknesses are?

Dating and Texting

oh yes, my little Jenna is texting her boyfriend, Davis, right now to see if he wants to go on a date tonight. Yup, she has her princess play cell phone and is quite upset that he isn't answering.
So, I have a talk with her about how she doesn't get to go on a date with anyone but mommy and daddy until she is 16. In her words, "Oh man"
I am in so much trouble with this little princess. She knows too much already and she was quite upset when she lost her cell phone.
What happened to my baby?

Thoughts for Thursday

How thankful are you for being home? What is home to you?

I ask this question because with my niece being in the hospital so much over the past few months she really appreciates being in her own bed and in her home. It's not the things that my sister and brother-in-law buy that make it a home, but the feelings that are there. Alia is allowed to roam free and not be in a sterile environment. One time when they were leaving the hospital, as the wind hit her face, Alia leaned back and put her arms straight out as if to say, "I'm free".

I love my house, it is my home; but for some reason, I love being at my parents house. I love to sit there and just be with them. Especially on nights when Jason isn't home. There's something about watching TV with my parents or reading the newspaper - anything in their home. I wonder if Jenna feels that way about our home. Is there just something about it that makes it comfortable?

Am I just completely rambling? Probably - but I hope that you understand what I mean. What makes a home and home? Where are you most comfortable? Are you truly grateful for your home?

tagged by Misty

OK Misty, now I have to say is I have to think of 7 things about myself...sorry no pics

1 - I would love to live in the Avenues in Salt Lake City - it is such an eclectic area and I love watching all the people there. It's a more liberal area and people are more artsy there. I also love the houses there.

2 - I was anorexic in high school. It was never severe, but really scared me. No one really knew about it except one teacher, who helped me through it.

3 - I love watching the kids movies over and over again with Jenna. Now, I'm not saying like Dora, but the Disney ones. I say I buy them for her, but really - it's all for me.

4 - I love to watch the Game Show Network when I'm at my parent's house - we don't have satellite here

5 - I'll admit that I have too many clothes, but I still love to buy more

6 - I got left behind in Yellowstone at the hot pots when I was little. My parents and their friends were at the next stop when they noticed that I was missin.

7 - My lucky number is 13

I know, these are pretty lame, but right now I'm too tired.

I don't know who to tag, so if you read this, I'm tagging you

Happy Birthday Jenna

Yesterday we gave Jenna the presents from us, books and 2 movies. Then we took her to "applebeast" (applebees) because "they have Tarzan coloring books and they clap when it's your birthday". After Jason and I took her to Build-A-Bear as a surprise, she didn't know where she was going until we got there. She kept saying, "awesome!" It was really cute. She picked out a white and pink poodle and put her in ice skates. She also got a red wig for the poodle. Because as we all know, every poodle needs a wig.

Well, I sure am glad it's over, but it was a blast. We ended up with 19 kids coming (we had it in our church gym). They were invited to a Pajama Ball. I had gone to Walmart before and gotten a bag of 100 play gym balls (the plastic ones), 3 dodge balls, ping pong balls, buckets, and 2 hula hoops. We had ordered a 36" beach ball from Oriental Trading too. We played bounce the ping pong balls into the buckets, Keep the ball off the ground with the big ball, raced to see how fast the kids could get the play ground balls into the 3 buckets, and some other games. None of which Jenna would play, she cried saying they were too hard for her (the kids younger than her did fine with it). We then had a pinata that we filled with over 100 3/4" bouncy balls, some tattoos, and sticky hands. It was so cool to see all the bouncy balls go bouncing out of the pinata and the kids trying to get them.

We then had pink and purple pancakes (the purple looked gross, but tasted the same). I had got 4 types of drinks for the kids (and adults). After they ate, we opened presents...and Jenna got a ton.
4 Barbies, 1 Hannah Montana doll and surf shop, littlest pet shop, polly pocket with actual fabric clothes, a littlest pet shop scrapbook (yay! Jenna can SB her own stuff while I am doing mine), hop scotch game, princess rubbing plates (where you rub the black crayon over the plates and the princess shows up and you can change the top or bottom)...and a whole lot more.

5 years ago right now...

I was trying to go to sleep after a long day of going to the midwife and having a NST done to see how things were moving along. I wasn't due until April 19th, but was already having NST's 3-4 times a week due to complications. No contractions on the test and everything looked good (other than the complications we already knew about).
I had just gotten out of the tub and had some funky things going on so I called my midwife (thankfully she was the one on call) - she said since the NST showed no signs of anything happening to go to bed and come see her in the AM. So, off to bed I went. I think at this time I was getting to sleep.
1 hour from now 5 years ago my water broke. It wasn't even enough to get my sheets wet. Before waking up DH, I called my mom b/c she would know more about this than him. Of course she tells me to wake him up and off to the hospital we go. We check in around midnight and the nurse checks, sure enough, my water had broken - yet still no contractions.
They ask me if I want to have the c-section then or if I wanted to wait until the AM. I tell them I don't care either way to check with my midwife. She of course says let's do it now b/c she doesn't want me to have any contractions and cause problems since Jenna is breech and had not lowered.
We call our parents and by the time they get to the hospital they are wheeling me in for surgery. Thankfully, being a scrapbooker I reminded DH to run and get the camera out of the car before he gets all sanitized.
At 1:08 AM I hear the dr say, "where's her foot, I can't see her foot" which sent me into a fright, I know I saw 2 feet on the ultrasounds. At 1:10 the dr officially announces the birth of a 6lb 6oz little girl!
At 1:15 AM DH asks for a cot as he has seen too much blood and needs to lie down, thankfully we had pre-warned the dr about this and they had one ready for him in the hall while they cleaned up Jenna and stitched me up.
I am truly grateful to be her mom and want to say Happy 5th Birthday to my little girl, my angel, mommies best friend.

my challenge for thursday

I am probably the laziest mom known to man-kind. I try not to be and I hope that Jenna knows that I love her - but some days she comes to me in bed to play.

So, anyway, I am trying harder to make the difference in Jenna's life. This week I got off my butt and danced with Jenna. We practiced to a song from High School Musical 2 and then after practicing for a while, we performed it for Jason and the family video camera. It's good exercise and we were laughing hysterically. Jenna will remember that.

So, this is my challenge for each of my readers, and really - myself. Do one thing today that your child will remember that you did with them. Or if you do not have children, do something that someone you love will remember doing with you.

(as for the video, I swear I would share it with all of you if only our camcorder would upload to our computer)

thoughts for thursday part 1

I had 2 thoughts this past week that I think are equally important - so here's #1

If you knew that the date and time that you were going to die, what would you do in your life today? I mean, if you knew that there was a high possibility that you would die tomorrow - what would you do today? You can't change the fact that you are going to die.

For me, I definitely would not be working. I would call the school and tell them I wanted to see my students and give them all hugs, but then I would go. I would want to take Jenna to lay out on the lawn and listen to the sounds going on around us. The lawnmowers, the dogs barking, the wind. I want her to appreciate the sounds, the music that nature makes. I would write letters to DH and Jenna and hide them in different places throughout the house. I would want my friends and family to be there for a huge party - not to say goodbye, but to say I'll see you soon.

Now, here's where I have the dilemma, I would want real time with Jason and Jenna. But, would I want someone to watch Jenna for a little bit while Jason and I have our time? I wouldn't want to leave Jenna's sight though KWIM?

I'm glad that I know that my family is eternal - it makes what happens in the next week and month a little less hard. If something were to happen to Alia, I know that I will see her again and I know that we are an eternal family. Families have no boundaries in heaven. What an amazing blessing to know that. It has given me comfort over the last couple of weeks. Sure, it still means that I need to do what I can today, but it makes sure that my family will be there for me after this life.

My pretty princess

I had the hardest time finding Jenna an Easter Dress - I finally found this one at Children's Place and then they didn't have her size. I went online and actually paid to have this 2 day aired to me. I'm so glad I did - it is so cute on her.
The flowers are from her cousin, Landon. He's 8 year's old and he picked these out for Jenna and then a different bunch out for Alia.

Life attacks hard

Probably anyone who reads this has probably received an email or seen this...but just in case here's the scoop

My 6 year old niece, Alia, and her family are in need of some major prayers. Alia is medically fragile and over the past few months her health has gotten worse. This coming Thursday she is going in to surgery to have her left lung removed. It is a very dangerous surgery, but there isn't another option really.

Please pray for her, send good thoughts, anything.

Jenna doesn't know much, but that Alia is sick. But, I know she can feel the sadness and heartache in the house. She's up in her room crying right now and she doesn't know why. I've tried to comfort her, but she just cries.

What's your accent?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I Was Tagged...My day in pictures

First, I will say I tried, but I know I left some stuff out - but well...here's what I got. If you put your mouse over the bottom of the picture the caption will come up.

So, since I'm supposed to tag someone....I'll tag Kerstin and Stacy (uber)

My thoughts for Thursday

I have so many blessing, but my most favorite blessings are my family. With Alia being so sick I've really looked at how I spend my time, how I show others I care for them, and how I take things for granted. We never know when it's time to go and I for one don't want to regret not doing something or spending time doing things that won't matter in the long run. This week I've cried for sadness, desperation, happiness, sheer joy, laughter, and so many other emotions...yet, there was one constance - my tears. I guess you can say I can always count on them. I don't cry a lot, but lately I have the water works going. So, here's my thoughts for Thursday...

simply - where are your priorities? I know mine weren't in the right place and I am in the works of putting them back to where they belong. My family and my faith should be my #1 priorities and I will get back there.



With that, here's what happened today that truly was amazing and I am so grateful for the people who worked behind the scenes to put this all together:

I've been so emotional this past week. So much going on and I haven't had a chance to breathe. Tonight, for Jenna's birthday, we went to Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes. My dad and g-ma had a HIGE surprise for us when we got there. There were 6 of us that went: my mom, dad, me, Jenna, my sister and her daughter, Alia (she's the one with the severe medical problems).
Anyway. we got there when the doors open and we go to our seats and my dad takes the girls to get a prize. When they got back our surprise began...a man from Disney on Ice came up to us and said that he needed 2 little princesses to participate in the program tonight and 1 mom to be there too. At first Jenna and Alia said no, they were too afraid, but we told him yes because we knew that they would love it. He took us down to the front row in the front of the ice and said those were our seats.
When Mickey and Minnie came out at the beginning, Minnie asked all the princes and princesses to stand up and wave - the camera guy put Jenna on the jumbo-tron showing her waving at them.
We kinda knew something was up and we had brought DH's SLR and my sister's camcorder - so we got it all on tape and got lots of pics (I think 133 to be exact)
Alia and Jenna were so cute on the boat - waving to everyone and when Flounder and Sebastian came to give them high fives Alia grabbed them and they gave her big hugs. You could truly tell they were having the time of their lives. I was almost in tears (ok I am now just thinking about it). To have these memories are more than I can ever say thank you enough for. Jenna and Alia fit each other so well - Jenna is the talker while Alia is so animated about everything.
When they got off the boat Alia sat there and kept signing "more". They were the big stars and people came up and told them what a great job they did.

My shopping adventure...

There is not much I can say I enjoyed about my old job...but I made an amazing friend in Misty. When she first met me she later told me she thought I was a priss. Little did she know I'm pretty close to the opposite. Even when I quit that job 1 1/2 years ago we continued to be friends and hang out. Her birthday is 5 days before me...making her OLDER than me! Hehehe
We mesh well together. And she makes me laugh whenever I drive because she sucks at giving directions. Both times she's told me how to get somewhere....we've gotten lost. But, we've laughed the whole time. She truly is a wonderful friend and I'm so thankful that I got that job for that reason alone.
We scrapbook together (she designs for a company and does an amazing job - I must say). So, for our birthdays we decided to take a short road trip to Archivers (a little over an hour away). We had a blast going through the store and finding lots of goodies and for once, I didn't spend more than her.
After, we went to find another mall to see if they had the Easter dress I wanted for Jenna - guess what? Yup, we got lost even though she swore she knew where it was. We called Jason and he looked up where it was at and we made it there right before it closed. The dress wasn't there. But, we decided to stop and eat at Romano's.
We got home around 11:00 that night and I can't say how much fun I had. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

So, anyway, here's the loot I got at Archivers - I can't wait to play with it all this weekend. Especially the felt cut-outs from Fancy Pants and the rub-on rollers from Daisy D's.

Wonderful present from an awesome friend!

Jason called me Tuesday afternoon at work and said I had a present left for me - I asked him what it was and he said it was one of those Incredible Edibles fruit things. Of course I asked him to open the card and he read it to me - it's from one of the most wonderful friends Mary Lou - we've never met, but I still consider her one of the most kind and understanding people I know. She has really helped me through a lot. Along with the bouquet was a small balloon that said Happy Birthday on it - Jenna snatched that right up and took it as her own. She loves balloons.
Thank you so much Mary - you made my day! Tuesday was an extremely stressful and emotional day with me being in charge of my school's Tool Day (think Career Day where the whole school rotates every 15 minutes to listen to 4 different speakers). It worked out wonderfully and as I was winding down from it - that is when Jason called me with the wonderful news.

Where were you when...

your car turned 100,000 miles?
Does anyone else remember that commercial? I think it was for Chevy and I was amazed a car would "live through" that many miles. Well, last Thursday my 2002 Mitsubishi Galant did!!! I'd been watching the odometer since I saw it rolled to 99,000. I thought it would be a fun layout to do and I could write all the things that happened in that car.
-We drove to the hospital at 11pm one night and Jenna was born shortly after
-It was Jenna's first car ride
-We drove to Disneyland in it
-It has driven me to school and was there when I graduated college

Call me lame, but I actually remember when I first drove it. I was having major problems with the car I had bought about a year previous and the dealership had finally agreed to sell us another car at cost and return our lemon (we did lose some money there, but at that point I didn't care). Jason and I saw that this car was at the dealership so I asked the sales manager to bring it out to my work to try out. I liked the way it drove and it only had 12,000 miles on it - so I called Jason and said that I wanted the car...and well, the rest is history

So, here's to you my Mitsubishi Galant - thanks for everything and here's to another 100,000 miles!

My baby girl's first school picture!

Can you believe it? She is old enough to have her first school picture. I wanted everything to be perfect (of course, I'm a scrapbooker). I had my mom do Jenna's hair that morning just because I don't trust my hair doing skills.
So, here ya go...Jenna's first school picture!

Medical News

As many of you know I have a niece who is medically fragile. She was admitted to the children's hospital here for pneumonia that will not go away. She has been there since Tuesday and they have done biopsies to see what is going on in her lungs and why she can't breathe well enough.

My dad will also be going in for neck and back surgery in the next few months to fix something that happened over 20 years ago that has been made worse with time.

My little sister is going in for surgery next week to help with some problems - hopefully she'll heal quickly and they won't have to do it again.

As for me - I possibly have fibromyalgia and started taking medicine for that and I have an undiagnosed pain in my side that has made me miss some work.

You want drama? Welcome to my life and our medical problems.

Thoughts for Thursday

I've been thinking the last week - who am I? What do I stand for? Well, I've come to some conclusions and I'll be changing my life because of it.

I've been reminded that everything you say and do on the internet can be seen by all. I cannot remember ever doing anything bad on the world wide web - as I'm not that type of person, but I wonder...am I guilty by association? I wonder this because my family is trying to adopt a baby. Any tech-savy birthmom could find me on the web and what if she just sees where I claim to be my internet home? What if she doesn't go inside and see what I participate in? What if she just sees the whole and not the one (namely me). It would look horrible and I could lose a child over it. I'm not saying I'm giving a hair flip or deleting any accounts, I'm just saying - I don't want to lose something so important to me over people who I will most likely never meet (save a few). I want a prospective birth mom to see me for me, not by who I associate with - but in the real world it doesn't work that way and I'm afraid it will not work on the internet as well.

So, this is where I stand - I do not like dirty jokes (though unfortunately I have laughed at some), I do not swear, I do not drink or smoke or use drugs (other than prescription as prescribed). I like to say I wear my halo well and hope that I have not marred it in any way because when I die - I don't want to have to be reminded of some stupid stuff I pulled on the internet or in life. It's just not worth it.

I love my friends and my family and they truly know who I am and what I stand for. I'm tired of being told to turn off what I don't want to see or hear. Or don't look - I don't turn to HBO and wonder how come what I'm viewing isn't up to my standards, but I know I can turn to PBS and trust that I will be ok. I need to chose for myself and this is the choice I've made.

Thoughts for Thursday

I have been talking to my Leadership classes about different forms of communication and I have found some things very interesting. Most of what I found interesting has to do with written communication - as in - handwritten. My students didn't even think of this one. They listed IM, chat, texting, cell phones, MySpace, Facebook, picture chat, etc - but nope, no good 'ol handwritten communication.

Has this form of communication had it's turn? Is it obsolete? When was the last time you received a hand-written letter? When was the last time you wrote one? I have one friend that I hand-write letters to - he doesn't have email though. I also will send cards with a little hand-written note in it.

I asked my students how many of them enjoyed getting mail and they all rose their hands. I too enjoy getting what I call real mail - not junk or bills - but actual mail.

I also find, at least in my life, that face to face conversation has gone by the wayside. I communicate more with my husband and friends by email, phone, and texting than face to face. I've even fallen into the trap of accidently hurting a friends feelings because she didn't know my text was sarcastic, something that she would've easily been able to tell had we been face to face.

Thoughts For Thursday

I was challenged by a friend to write my thoughts on anything each Thursday - I'll try to keep it up. This is something that has been on my mind - so I'm just going to get it out there.

When my prophet, Gordon B Hinckley, died people complained about the flag being to half-staff. Some people complained saying he was not a head of state or a government official. They are right on both points, he was, however, a very important person not only to the community here in UT, but around the world. The humanitarian aid he provided, through the members of the LDS church, reached throughout the world.

Now, I'm not here to argue if it is illegal or legal. I don't know the rules and regulations and laws of the proper use of the US flag. I know my students who put the flag up were honored to be able to put it at half-staff as an honor to President Hinckley. They did so at the order of our governor.

Here's my thought though - yes, I'm getting to a point. Last week, there was a tragedy at a university in another state. Innocent people died and my heart goes out to them. Honestly. The governor in that state ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff. I don't live in that state and maybe there was this discussion, but did people complain that these innocent people were not government officials or heads of state? Did they openly question the legality of it? Or did they understand that it was an honor a way for those who were mourning to understand there were others out there mourning? To know that they were not alone?

This is what I see the flag at half-staff standing for. A recognition that we are all in something together. That we are not alone. I may not have known Pres Hinckley personally, but I drew comfort in knowing that others were recognizing and honoring him. This, I am sure, is the same comfort I'm sure those who were affected by the tragedy at that school feel. I know that not every influential person who dies or tragedy that happens is going to have the honor of having the flag at half-staff. I doubt when I die I will have this honor, but I hope that when we do see the flag at half-staff we stop to think and honor those who have served us in our lives and touched our life for the better.

I have been told

that I need to update this blog.
Sorry, life has been so hectic. Jenna got RSV and we spent one late night getting x-rays and making sure she didn't have pneumonia. She now has pink eye. Guess she's catching anything that anyone wants to give her.
My life has been pretty busy too. I had to get a new student council picked and trained. I was also in charge of our school's science fair (with the science implementer at our school). I worked almost 10hrs that day - which doesn't seem like a lot, but when I'm allowed 19.5 hrs per week you see how busy I was. We didn't have enough judges come, so thankfully my mom came over and helped. She is the best mom in the world. My little brother, Adam, was the lead judge. He's applying for pharmacy school and he's very smart.
Jason got a new car at the beginning of January. Some call it a pet hearse. It's a Scion XB aka the box car. He loves it and that is all that really matters. It has great gas mileage and wasn't very expensive.

So, here's the short update.
We've had lots of snow and we're expecting more. It's been a wonderful winter. I don't think I've seen the brown grass at all since it started snowing.

Christmas Morning

My family Christmas party

Every year my family gets together to eat a nice dinner, exchange gifts, and get our annual Christmas PJ's from my mom. This was even more special because we didn't know if Alia would make it to the party. Three days before, she was in the hospital with severe pneumonia and they didn't think she would be released in time. Alia blessed the food as we all watched (she signs), it was truly a miracle.

We all had such a blast. My mom and dad bought the kids (3 grandkids) these cool scooters. They are the ones that when you swivel the handlebar back and forth they move. They're kind of like the "Turtles" I had when I was a kid, but these have a place for your feet and are much more sturdy. Funny thing, my parents got 4 - guess who the 4th one was for? My dad. He said it was his police scooter. He's such a little kid.

As part of the party, we take our annual family Christmas pictures. We do the traditional ones with the family and then we get to be ourselves. This year, the boys (and Crystal) got gym shorts for their PJ's and they all hiked them up (this also happens to be a tradition). We got some great pictures and even better memories. Probably the funniest moment of the night involves Jenna. We were taking her picture and she wouldn't smile and kept giving us these looks. She told me she wanted to look like a Bratz doll. We don't even own any and she knows she won't get any, but it's so funny that she wanted to look like one in the way she posed. Jason decided to post like a Bratz doll too.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the evening.

Jenna's Christmas pictures

My little angel

I wanted to share with everyone how much Jenna has done for me - she is my little angel.

On Monday I received some not-so-happy news, but since she's 4, I didn't tell her about it, but she picked up on the fact that Mommy was sad. I wanted to take a long bath to relax and while the water was running Jenna came down stairs and said, "I know what will help". I asked her what she meant and she said, "I know what will help make you happy". She ran upstairs to her room and came down with a picture of Jesus and said, "Jesus will make you smile".

I am so blessed to have a child that is so in-tune to my feelings. She is truly amazing and I love her so much. Whenever I am sad she asks me where my happy face is. If I'm mad at her, she asks me to put away my angry face. I don't think I could've asked for a better daughter.

Our Gingerbread House building project

Christmas Countdown

Yup - it's that time of year again and now that it's December 1st I can officially be "in the mood". OK, I'll admit - I am a complete grinch until we finish eating Thanksgiving Dinner and then I am all ready for Christmas to arrive. I found myself at Toys-R-Us on Black Friday at 5:45 (45 mins after opening). I wandered aimlessly through the packed aisles, I really didn't have anything that I needed to get, but I like to see what is going on and love to say "I was there". I walked out of Toys-R-Us about 5 minutes after I walked in, deciding that chocolate coin maker was not worth 2 1/2 hours of my time - my nephew wouldn't care if I got it for him, he's never heard of it anyway.
I had a few minutes before JoAnn's opened - that's the rendezvous spot I had planned with my mom. I walked over to Old Navy and found a long line there too. They do have some cute sweaters there, but I hate that when I buy something there for me it's inevitable that every time I wear it I'll see at least 3 other people in the same thing. I like to be an original (to an extent) so I walk out of there about 5 minutes later once again empty handed. Two stores and I have yet to buy anything - I'm pretty proud of myself.
I get back into my car and drive over to JoAnn's and find my mom and sister already in line. They are there for the 99 cent flannel - I am there to stand in line as they shop. I don't need anything there either, but I love having the company of my mom and sister, Suzanne. I leave my car at JoAnn's and go with my mom to the mall. There I make my first purchase - a new pillow for my husband, who has been using the same pillow since before we got married. (Yes, he knows about it already).
We went to a lot of stores and I found some great deals, including a new outfit for less than $50 from my favorite store, New York & Company. I also got a lot of shopping done and can proudly say that I'm almost done Christmas shopping!
By the time I get home, Jason and Jenna have gotten in the Christmas spirit (Jenna has been in it for a month or so). Jason has hung the star-lights on our house and turned them onto the setting that I like to call an epileptics worst nightmare - they flash pretty quickly. Jason has also gotten the tree out and all the Christmas decorations. It's now 2 pm and I've been up since 5:15 so I'm beat, but Jenna really wants the decorations up. I do get some rest, but pretty soon Jenna is ready to get Christmas started. She was determined to have an angel on our tree this year so when my mom was at Target she found one and we let Jenna put it on the tree.

24 days until Christmas and before I know it it'll be over and all the presents will be opened and Santa will be back at the North Pole resting from a long night's flight around the world. I'm sure he's preparing to grant as many Christmas wishes as he can and I know that he is watching all of us to make sure that we are doing good. I made sure that I added my change to the bucket next to the bell ringer at WalMart - it's not much, but every bit helps - if we all add a dollar, can you imagine how much of a difference it would make?

Sisters

Boy do I love these 2 - they crack me up and give me awesome advice! I am so lucky to be blessed with such great sisters. Crystal gives me great advice on what to do with my hair - and she's the one who's helping me get back to blonde. If you ever need a hair stylist - she does a great job (and no, I'm not biased in the least).
Suzanne is always there to help me and answer questions about children - she has 2 and they are Jenna's best friends. Suzanne is also very patient, more than I am. She never ceases to amaze me.
This picture was taken at my house when I hosted a Jafra party (makeup and skin care)

Jenna's new haircut

well, it's actually a few weeks old now, but I wanted to share it. She loves it and it fits her personality very well. She's very sassy. And no, I did not pose her, I just told her to pose!

50 years from now

I've been thinking a lot lately about my great-grandma and how lucky I was to get to know her. She has been in heaven for probably 20 years, but this week I have been thinking about her. I can remember walking with her outside of her small 1 bedroom house. The house had a tiny kitchen/dining room with no dishwasher (and I remember not wanting to eat off her dishes because she washed them by hand). You went up 3 stairs to her living area where she had old wooden gnome faces hanging on the wall and a crystal candy dish with circus peanuts in it (sometimes they were stale, which made them even better). She had a small laundry and bathroom with her tub and washer and dryer and in the other room was her bed. The outside of the house had wide, blue, wood siding and a white trim. If we walked to the side of her house, there was a honey suckle bush and there were some stairs that went down to her cellar. We always were afraid to go in there because there were spiders and who knew what else, but if grandma was with us, we were safe. She also had a beautiful rose garden and tall pine trees surrounded her house.
Detached from her house was her 1-car garage...and this is why I've been thinking about her. I remember her using all of her strength to pull open her garage door and closing it after her car was out. This past week my garage door reverted back in time and I have had to manually open and close my own garage door. My arm hurts and Jenna thinks I'm amazing all because of this garage door.
So, this is my question, how was it that she was content in a house smaller than the length of my bedroom & sitting room? Why am I concerned with having more room, more stuff, just more. I don't have to keep up with the "Jonses", but I do like to have a full closet of clothes (my closet is probably just a tad smaller than her bedroom). I have a whole room dedicated to my hobby, while she crocheted, knitted, and quilted all from her rocking chair.
My goal now is to remind myself that I don't NEED what I think I need - I am truly lucky that I have so much. In 50 years, will it matter? Will I even remember that I had that pair of shoes or the name brand clothes? I truly believe a simpler life is a much happier life - if only it were so easy to become that simpler person.

My Little Red Riding Hood

I am in love of these pictures of Jenna and wish I could take credit for taking them, but alas, Jason took the pictures. But, I can say the leaves were my idea! My mom has this apricot tree right beyond our back gate and the leaves were just perfect - and Jenna loved playing in them.
Wait, I can take credit for the costume though... believe it or not, I made this costume and am so proud of myself! My mom showed me what to do and I did it. Jenna had fun helping me tie all of the ribbons on the basket and I was able to get rid of a small (very small) portion of my ribbon stash.

For Jenny

Jenna has a special namesake, she was named after my best friend, Jennifer Ann, "Jenny". Jenny is Jenna's angel. Ten years ago this Halloween my world changed forever. My best friend, Jenny, died that evening at 5:01 pm going to a haunted house with some friends. I was living away from home and my mom, sister and brother-in-law drove 3 hours so they could tell me in person and be there to comfort me. I can only imagine the long drive that that was for them. I still remember it all too clearly. But, I am not going to dwell on that - she lived a wonderful life and changed my life forever and that it what I talk about.

I met Jenny my sophomore year in high school - we instantly clicked. We complimented each other very well. She once compared me to a mama chicken where I kept her in line, I think we kept each other in line. Jenny loved to dance and I loved to see her express herself in such a beautiful form. If you could see how my spirit dances, it would dance like she did. She was born in Germany and lived most of her life in Louisiana but moved to Utah just a couple years before I met her. People used to ask me to make her mad because that was when her Southern accent came out and for all of us that never left Utah it was a thrill and of course I obliged. We had a monthly fight just to blow off steam and would call each other the dumbest names we could think of like, "broken locker" and "empty carton of milk". I think that is what kept our friendship strong. I don't remember many fights, but people would ask if we were in one if we weren't together. We were inseparable. I knew that the drive to her house was 3.6 miles each way. I knew that if I took something out of her closet that she would say it looked good on me.

We spent Spring Break together and didn't now what to do, so we took our version of a road trip to Crystal Springs, about 40 minutes North of where we lived. We felt that that was the coolest thing ever. One New Years Eve we ended up singing to Belinda Carlisle's Greatest Hits because we couldn't decide which dance to go to.

I know Jenny is still with me - she helps me with so much. I know she is with Jenna - Jenna knows more about her than what I've told her and she loves to dance, just like Jenny. I am trying not to mourn this month, but it is so hard. It has taken years for me to become close to a friend again, for fear of that loss. Happy dreams don't come this time of year, I wish they would, but I will settle for no dreams over nightmares that I have had.

So Jenny, I will listen to our songs and write down my thoughts and await the day when we can meet again. I will greet you with open arms and know you will be there. We will smile and know that we are right back from where we left off. I miss you my dear friend and pray that are preparing my child to find my family. Tell him or her that I'll be a good mom and that I'm waiting as patiently as I can, but you know I'm not a patient person, so if you could, please send them soon.

It's been a month

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've updated - sorry.
I got an awesome job at a local elementary school and even though it's part time, it consumes my days. I am the SEM teacher and student council advisor - so my first job was to get student council going - that I am proud to say is now done! I have an awesome group of 8 6th grade girls who crack me up. They each have such wonderful personalities and I can't wait to get to know them better. Now, you ask...what is SEM? - It's the school-wide enrichment model. In a nutshell - enrichment is anything beyond core curriculum. I am over the gifted and talented program and teach those classes and also get speakers for assemblies, etc. It's a whole lot of work and I'm only allowed about 20 hours a week. It's wonderful though - this job was meant for me, it's what I love to do and what I really went to school for. I'm stressed, but it's a good stress.
In other news, I went to an awesome crop this weekend! It was in Idaho and up in the mountains in a cabin. My friend Misty (who rocks) invited me to come with her work. They had a ton of giveaways and I'm pretty sure I walked away with more than what I paid for the retreat. And we had someone who cooked the best food! Shockingly though, I was in bed relatively early both nights, about 2am and I was up around 9 for breakfast. I did over 20 layouts there and I am very proud of myself for that.
Well, I am off to bed - it has been a long weekend.

Jenna's Dance Debut - for the local high school drill team at a clinic

Jenna's first day at preschool - finally pics

Jenna's in Preschool!!!

Can you believe it? My baby is in preschool? She has gone twice now and she loves it - and I am relieved that she does. Her teacher is a sister-in-law to my high school spanish teacher (and probably one of my most favorite teachers). My little brother, Adam, had her for first grade and then Russell, my even younger brother had her in preschool.

Anyway, here are a few pics of her first day of school...ok, I WAS going to upload some pics but there seems to be a problem, so I'll try later (apparently blogger doesn't like DH's camera and how big the files are)

more California pics

ok, here's the video of my favorite song

Our vacation!

OK, Disneyland was awesome and was so much fun with Jenna and Jason there (especially Jenna, I love Jason, but really - Disneyland is so magical for little kids).
We left Saturday mid-morning and drove 7 hours until we got to south of Las Vegas, NV - a place called Primm and we stayed at a hotel where we heard the roller coaster until about 1 AM and then some sounds from the next room that I'm glad that Jenna didn't hear.
Saturday we drove into Anaheim and we were happy to find out our hotel was directly across the street from Disneyland, it took us less than 10 mins to walk out our door and get inside Disneyland! Jenna was so excited and then the first thing we did was take her on Snow White - oops, kinda scary! We then took her on some more fun rides like the Carousel (her favorite ride) and the TeaCups which I thought she would hate but she loved them and wanted to go faster and faster.
We met a lot of characters and my favorite was Goofy - he took the time and danced for awhile with Jenna, it was so cute and she loved it and it really helped her warm up to the other characters.
The princesses were of course Jenna's favorite by far...and paying the $70 for the 3 of us to eat at Ariel's Grotto was so worth it! We sat down to eat and 4 different characters came to our table and talked with Jenna for awhile. One of them was the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella (Jenna's current favorite story). Our waiter was awesome - couldn't have asked for a better waiter and then one of the royal court members came over and talked to Jenna because she was dressed like Snow White - he sounded exactly like Crush from Finding Nemo!

Well, I'm sitting outside and it's currently 100 degrees so I am going to finish this another time and go inside before I melt.

Check out my Slide Show!

My new favorite song

Seriously this song cracks me up and I love it!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I_wQK0mHbuU