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!