Jared and Julie

As many of you know, there is a new guy in my life now named Jared. We met through a mission companion of mine who lives in Cedar City (where Jared lives). We started with emails, progressed to phone calls, and now are talking on the phone nightly for several hours.

Last weekend we had the big meeting. I drove up to Cedar City and Jared had a wonderful weekend planned. It was SUU's homecoming, so a lot of the activities revolved around that. He cooked 4 wonderful meals and treated me like a queen while I was there. We had a great time.

Here are some picutres from our weekend. We went to the SUU football game. Jared made sure that I was properly attired in SUU gear. We also went hiking in Zion's National Park on the Kolob trail. It was absolutely beautiful. We are having a fun time getting to know each other and look forward to the weekends we have planned to spend together.

Painting!

I had a new roommate move in last weekend. In the room where she moved in, there were some Chinese characters on the wall that had been painted over. However, they had bled through the paint. This didn't look very good, so I decided to fix it before she moved in.

I talked with my co-workers and asked them how to get rid of it. They told me about Kilz and how to use that first and then paint over it. Well this was the first time I've really looked at the paint in my house. I realized the original paint was an off-white color. It is on all the ceilings and the walls of 3 of the bedrooms upstairs. All the walls downstairs and the walls in the bedroom my roommate moved into were all a darker brown color. There are a lot of paint cans in the garage. So I went out and did some investigating. I saw there was a large can of brownish colored paint. I ASSUMED it was the color of the browner shade of paint because why would there be original paint out there? Me being the brilliant one, took it to home depot (there was a home depot tag on the lid with the shade-smart thinking) and they mixed up a small can of matching paint.

The work began. It took 4 coats of the primer before the characters did not bleed through. I waited 24 hours and came back the next night to paint over the primer with my new can of paint. As I started, I realized after a few strokes that it was a little lighter than the paint on the walls. At that moment, it finally dawned on my that this was the color of the ORIGINAL paint. So......the characters are gone, but now my roommate got to move in to her room with a patch of light colored paint by the window. Unfortunately, there aren't any more BIG cans of paint in the garage. Just little cans that I really don't think match the walls. Anyone have suggestions on how to match the paint on the walls to a can of paint so I can retouch this patch, once again?

Mr. Berry Love

Chester loves to get groomed. Unfortunately, it is very expensive so it only happens about every 8-10 weeks or so (depends on how long I can put up with his long hair). 2 weeks ago it was time for his spa treatment. I call it a spa treatment because I drop him off and he is there for 5-6 hours. What are they doing to a dog for 5-6 hours? I have no idea. The service includes shampoo, cut, teeth brush, nails clipped, ears cleaned, and who knows what else. Well they let me pick the fragrence of the shampoo, so I decided on Berry Love.

When I went to pick up Chester, the groomer came over to talk to me about him. I was a little worried because I never know how he reacts. I just drop him off and pick him up 5 hours later. She said he was the BEST dog she had ever groomed. He sat there and loved to be shampooed and sat very nice while his nails were being clipped. He enjoyed his teeth brushing (probably because she had peanut butter flavored toothpaste). She also said he was one of the cutest dogs she has seen. Anyway, she told me she would be transferring stores but wants to continue to groom Chester. She offered me a 10% discount if I was willing to drive to the other location. As tempting as that was, it is too far away when this location is around the corner from my house.

All in all, Chester is a pri-madonna. This whole experience just proves that. What's not to love about such a well-behaved-for-the-groomer dog? Now only if he would learn to stop chewing on my furniture!

4th of July in Taylor, AZ!

After 13 years of being away from my the place I grew up, it was time to go back for the 4th of July celebration. This celebration is what Taylor is known for. It started bright and early in the morning (5:00 am) with the firing of the anvil and the Jennings Band. I didn't play in the band because it's been over 10 years since I've played my flute. But my brother Greg played. The firing of the anvil consisted of an anvil, lots of gunpowder, and another anvil. It was lit by a long torch and made a very loud noise as the top anvil went flying in the air. The whole town followed behind the band and anvil truck and made stops in order to fire the anvil off. The band played, the cars honked, and water balloons went flying. Oh the fun of a small town. Greg's kids were a little afraid of the boom of the anvil. By the end, they finally got close enough to actually see it go flying.

After the anvil, there was a patriotic program we all went to. It helped us remember the real reason for the celebration. It was a great program. The speaker was very enlightening.

Then it was time to move on to the rodeo ground for the BBQ and Navajo Tacos. We ate the Navajo Tacos for lunch and the BBQ for dinner. In the evening was the Taylor 4th of July Rodeo and Fireworks show. This year was not disappointing. The horses and bulls bucked, the barrel racers raced, and the clowns were as corny as ever. The fireworks show was awesome (much better than the show in ShowLow we had seen the previous night).

The 2 friends I took seemed to like the celebration of my hometown. It was fun to share this with them. It was a quick trip up to Taylor, but well worth the drive. Hopefully I can go back again and continue the traditions that started in my childhood. It was good to go back and see people I hadn't seen in years. How things have changed in that area, yet how things have stayed the same.

What a cowgirl I am. I'm ready for the rodeo now!

Me with Stevens' horses.

Andrew and Jordan eagerly awaiting the rodeo to start.

Apache Lake

On my birthday (June 27) we had a relief society campout and lake activity. I worked half the day. Work bought a cake and sang. Then I went to the Cheesecake Factory (yes, my favorite restaurant) with Nicole for lunch. After eating some wonderful food, it was off to Apache Lake. I took 3 girls in my car with me. Well, the dirt road was a little windy and narrow. We were on that road for about 20 miles. Needless to say there were two stops for vomiting from one of the passengers.

Once we got to the lake it was worth the drive. It was a beautiful lake. We got our tents set up and relaxed for the evening. It was so hot there. When it came time to sleep, we were all sweating in the tents. So we took ice cold bottles of water and laid them on our bellies and next to our faces to cool us off. How did the pioneers ever do it?! Morning came early with the rising of the sun. We were anxious to get on the boat, kayaks, canoes. Just getting in the water and out of the heat! We went on the intertube first. The driver of the boat kept trying to throw everyone off! It was awesome to watch people flying through the air. Not so fun to be the one flying! I was then informed that the boat didn't have waterski's (even though this was announced as a waterskiing activity-go figure). All he had was a wakeboard. Well I have never been wakeboarding. So I thought why not try today! So I did. I got up my first try! I was a little excited about that fact. Once I got up, I wasn't sure quite what to do, so I didn't stay up too long. It was a good time though. The water was cool and refreshing.

When we were all tired and had enough fun for one day, we drove home a different route that only took 15 more minutes. Why we didn't know this route previously, I'm not sure. I think everyone that went built some good friendships and had a great time. I know I did!



Me intertubing with Kiersten-we stayed on!



Me wakeboarding! Oh yeah, I got up.

Family Camping Trip

I love to camp and have a good time. My family went camping in June for 4 days and 3 nights up by Mormon Lake. I went up early to make sure we could get a good spot. I brought my nephew Andrew along to help keep me company while we were waiting for the rest of the family to show up. It was absolutely beautiful. No phone, no tv, no computer. I brought Chester along. Let's just say Chester isn't a camper. Within a few hours his belly was covered with at least 100 bites from the nats. So me being the brilliant mom that I am, I spray him down with bug spray. Well Chester didn't like that so much, so he licked at it. I think that made him sick. He didn't each much the rest of the trip (except pine cones), but hey, no more bug bites! I think he was wishing for his blue chair or the cool tile floor to lay on most of the trip. He did love the walks that the kids like to take him on.

We had fun camping. We ate a lot of good food. The kids all fished and we caught 8 total! The boys cleaned those fish and fried them up. However, no one ate very much of it. Horseshoes was also a popular game. I do remember Lynnette and I kicking some trash against Greg and Dallin. Yeah, that was fun! Campfire songs and smores were also a hit. I can't forget that late night adult only rook game. I do believe Lynnette and I dominated in that as well.

One of the best parts of this campsite were the flushing toilets. That may sound silly, but this is the only campground in the whole Mormon Lake district that had flushing toilets. I definetly found that very nice. Not to mention there were coin-op showers there! We were in luxury even if it did cost $3 for 5 minutes. At least the water was warm!

It was a successful camping trip. Hopefully to be repeated in future years. Aunt Julie was a little overwhelmed with the 10 neices and nephews at times, but still enjoyed watching them have fun. They sure know how to find firewood. Note to self for next trip-don't buy firewood if Nicole's kids are coming! The campfire was always roaring when we would let Josh build one. Oh the fun memories of family camping trips!

Women can do it to!

Well, my sweet little Chester was not so sweet this weekend. While I was at work on Friday, he got bored and decided to chew on the lines to my A/C unit. I came home and the temperature at 9:00 pm was 88 degrees in my house. I was sweating when I went upstairs. I went out to look at the unit in the backyard and sure enough, the wires were frayed. Chester had chewed them up. And being such that it was pet damage, my home warranty does not cover cost of repair.

Saturday I was able to get an A/C company out to assess the damage. If it was just rewiring, then it would be $85. However, apparently the unit was running when Chester had his fun, so he blew the whole fuse. Funny thing is, A/C units are not hooked to a fuse box. Therefore, he blew the entire transformer, which was an additional $425. Total bill came to $571. I was NOT happy.

I knew I needed to build a fence around the unit so this would not happen again. I go to Home Depot to get some fencing supplies. I had a general idea of how to proceed. I needed to get some posts, fence wiring, and some bailing wire. I went up to a worker there and asked for some assistance in getting the supplies. He looked at me like I was crazy. He asked if I was building it by myself. I said yes. He couldn't believe it and asked if there was someone I could call to come help me. I said no, I think I can manage. He eventually pointed me in the right direction and I was able to get my supplies. He asked how I was going to get the posts in the ground. I told him I'd figure something out. As I was leaving he said I really need to get some friends. This was so rude. Being a female does not make me incapable of building a fence. His stereotype was ridiculous.

When I got home, I made the fence. My roommate came out and helped me. I drove the stakes in by pounding them with my pick ax. It is very heavy and did the job just fine. I put the fencing up, then secured it with bailing wire. Chester is never going to be able to get past this wall. Women CAN do it. I want to bring the Home Depot guy over to my house so he can see my handiwork! Oh the joys of dog and home ownership.

The beautiful fence with the master destroyer!

The infamous wires!

April 2008 Cruise

I went on a cruise in April with my friend Tenesa. We flew the red eye to Miami and then boarded the Carnival Inspiration. Our first port was in Key West, Florida. We didn't do any exertions there. Just walked around the island. We saw the southern most point in the US. It was fun. The next day we were in Cozumel, Mexico. We did some shopping then went on an exertion. We went snorkeling and then they took us to a private beach where we did some kayaking and laid in hamacks. Beautiful water and beach. That night we went to eat at Senor Frogs, but there was only a bar there, so we found another great restaurant to eat at instead. This was a great day! The next day we were at sea all day long. Tenesa didn't like this very much, but I did. Very relaxing day. When we got back to Miami, we spent the day at South Beach. It was pretty run down, but the water was gorgeous.

The trip was a great vacation. I loved just laying on the boat and reading (I read most of the Twilight series). The Caribbean sun was warm and the water was a deep blue. Cruises are great vacations. Good food, good fun. Always plenty of relaxation time. Always sad to get back to reality, but the memories last a lifetime.




April 2008 Cruise #2



April 2008 Cruise #3

Grammy Memories

Monday I was up in Shumway going through all my grandmother's earthly possessions. She was an amazing woman. One of her joys in life was decorating her home each month with a different theme. Jan-Snowmen, Feb-Valentines, Mar-St. Patty's Day, Apr-Easter, May-Mother's, graduation, June-Father's, Summer fun, July-Patriotic, Aug-back to school, watermelon, picinini's, Sept-Fall football, Oct-Halloween, Nov-Thanksgiving, and Dec-Christmas. I would go help change the decorations each month while I was in high school. We had it down to a science. It was to the point that I knew just by looking at the box what was in it and where the items went in her home.

Grammy passed away 2 years ago. Most of her decorations have been up in my Aunt Kim's attic. The job needed to be done to go through all these boxes and throw out the things no one wanted. This was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be. As we were sifting through the boxes, it brought on a flood of memories of my grandmother and how she loved these decorations. I don't share the same passion for decorating that she did. As a matter of fact I'm lucky if I put some Christmas decorations up. However, I didn't want to throw hers out. I wanted to get the job done, yet wanted to save stuff. My mind won out most of the time knowing that I'd never use the decorations and nobody else wanted them either. We threw away thousands of dollars of decorations and a lifetime of collecting.

There were some other boxes of her memories and journals that we also found. I just couldn't throw away the journals of hers. She wrote faithfully everyday. It is her history of her thoughts and feelings. My aunts wanted them in the garbage, but I just couldn't. I managed to keep some of them out, but I know many did get thrown away.

This whole experience was tough for me, but I knew it needed to be done. After we finished, Nicole had bought some new flowers for my grandparents graves. I went to the Taylor cemetery and put them on it. I came to the realization that earthly possessions aren't important. Some day my children will be cleaning out my possessions and taking them to the dump. What is important is the way we live so that we can be together in the eternities. Nothing goes with our spirits when we die except the memories and the knowledge we have gained through our earthly experience. I'm sure Grammy was aware of what we were doing. Hopefully she has a different perspective from the other side and won't be mad when I am again reunited with her about us taking her cherished decorations to the dump.

I've posted a slide show of pictures from the ride up, Shumway, Snowflake Temple, and then of my grandparents grave. Hannah took most of the pictures. Enjoy!



Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day Weekend

I had a great Memorial Day weekend. It started off with me picking up my parents at the airport Thursday night. They came and saw my home. I call it a home now because my father dedicated my home while he was here. The power of the priesthood is amazing. Nicole came with 4 of her kids and picked my parents up a little later. I then went out to dinner with one of my favorite mission companions, Betsy. It was so fun to get caught up and to see how our lives have changed, yet still feels like just yesterday since we were tracting together in Ocean Springs, MS.

Friday night we had a BBQ at Aunt Myrna's house. It was a little too cold to swim thanks to the weather not cooperating with our original plans. However, Uncle Bill still fired up the BBQ and we had some great food.

Saturday was Brookly's baptism. It was great to see all the family together and celebrate this big step in Brookly's life. Nicole put on a wonderful dinner with great food and fresh fruit. That night I went with Hannah (roommate) and Tenesa (friend) to watch Indiana Jones. I have always been a huge fan of Indiana Jones. This one was good, not great. I didn't like the whole alien aspect to it. Sunday I drove out after church to Nicole's and then drove mom and dad to the airport. Sunday night Hannah and I drove up to Snowflake to help Aunt Kim and Uncle James clean out the attic of all Grammy's stuff which we did all day Monday. We drove back to Phoenix Monday night. It was quite a long and exhausting weekend. But it was a lot of fun.

Chester

As many of you know, I got a puppy in November and his name is Chester. He is a cocker spaniel and the main man in my life. We definitely had some great times together and some not so great times. Let's just say he likes to chew my things. He's so cute though. It is hard to stay mad at him for very long. He's now 7 months old. Here's some pictures after his first haircut.
He's now ready for another haircut. I can't believe how fast his hair grows. He did have his little neuter surgery and didn't like wearing the cone very long. He was very embarrassed to have to wear it to training class with all the other dogs. But no worries. He graduated from training and we had a little ceremony with him. Oh how fun it is to have a dog.

Women's Conference 2008

So two weeks ago I went to Women's Conference with my sisters/sister-in-law at BYU. It was a lot of fun. I was very exhausted from lack of sleep, but I was able to enjoy the spirit of the talks and bond with my sisters. We went to a concert one night and saw Eclipse. We were able to sit on the floor. It was great! We laughed and ooed and awed with the other 20,000 women . We even lifted our cell phones to Michael McClean (and Eclipse). The end of the two days was topped off by listening to our Prophet, Pres. Monson speak. What a wonderful experience to listen to a Prophet of God speak in person. Definitely the highlight of the experience for me.

After we went to the two days of enrichment, we went home to spend some time with mom and the men. We went to the Jordan River Temple Saturday morning


and then to the new movie Emma. I believe it made us all feel grateful for the sacrifice of that great woman. Mom took us to Desert Book and bought us an Eclipse CD so we can remember the great concert! It was a great afternoon. That evening we played the infamous game of pictionary and let's just say Camie, Jeff, and I were unstoppable! Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day ( a week early) with enchiladas and gifts for mom. It was a great weekend for sure. Before I flew back Monday I was able to catch up with a high school friend Lisa. It is great to stay in contact with friends through the years. It's amazing how our lives are change and are different than what we plan when we are in high school.

Welcome Me to Blogging

So it's been a few years since I've blogged. My sisters have inspired me to try again. So welcome me! Yeah! I'm going to play around now and see what I can to to make this the best looking blog on blogspot!