Montagues & Capulets

Jimmy and I need to buy two new computers, on the account that our laptop and desktop died within two days of eachother. I am planning on a Macbook Pro and Jimmy is planning on an HP.

When I told my dad of the prospects, he responded,

"Oh, so you're a divided relationship?"

And my brother Kyle's response?

"So, does that mean you'll be making fun of him in a year when his computer breaks?"

Oh, the life of a star-crossed lover...

A modern day fable

After going to the doctor's office, my Mother-in-law and I went to Panda Express to grab some lunch. We each got a Panda bowl, yum. As I was eating my food, I pushed the orange chicken to the side to eat the rice first. I always do that with my food- save the best for last. I had just finished most of the rice and was ready to stab into that first piece of chicken. Just as my chopstick went into the bowl, it lost balance and tipped over... all.over.the.ground. Argh!

Moral of the story: don't save the best for last because you may never get to it OR make sure there's a fro yo shop next door to sop up your sorrow with multiple toppings.

Kaitlin: Chip

Me: Ol' Block

Translation: I like to go shopping at Ross because it is awesome.

Hangover

I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to stay up until 2:30 watching Prison Break.... then again, maybe not

Things that I didn't blog about but want to remember

• doing four events in seven days- a true record
• the Ramies' wedding and Stephanie's red, red, red hair
• celebrating Kaitlin's birthday with the family. She chose bowling and Squeeze Inn, I'm so proud
• starting seminary, gosh I'm tired... but very spiritually fulfilled. Can't forget Haley's face when the dawn of recognition appeared with the answer to a prayer or JP realized I care.
• fabulous 9th anniversary day to be celebrated when I can cruise the town without crutches.
• thoughtful friends and fabulous family
• panic attack over the auction with peace following because comfort of a good cry on God's shoulder
• lots and lots and lots of blood tests to see if having a baby is ever possible again
• Larry's
• helaman 4:13

I have so much to be grateful for, I just wanted to use this post to remind me. For the most part, it is a all jibberish to anyone but me. But, hey, that's who this blog is for. I am just glad I got some of it down before I forgot.

pity parties are not allowed at our house

even if I'm the one that chooses the color scheme and sends the invites.

1 1/2 weeks ago I fell. I got hurt. I'm still on bed rest.

You'd think after sitting with my leg elevated and driving privileges revoked, that my blog posts would be flying through the lines of the internet like a banshee on fire. But, alas, that fate was not to be. Netflix had taken me hostage. My blog finally paid the ransom required and here I am!

So to catch all 3 readers up with the circumstances, here's the story:

I went to a Time Out for Women conference with all the girls. We left early Friday morning to do some vital shopping before dinner and the first speakers that night. I was fueled to spend, dude. I had a large wad of cash just sitting on it's haunches, waiting to attack. At Nordstrom's I took a dent out of the cash and was giddy with the designer jeans and fabulous tops I had acquired. After a round of the mall, we were heading out for an early dinner. Carla and I made one last stop at H&M before leaving. At H&M, baby Blake (Carla's sweet nugget of joy) was getting a little fussy. So I went around the front of the stroller and picked him up. As I picked the baby up, the weight of our shopping bags pulled the stroller backwards. Instead of just letting it fall, I lunged forward to catch it. What's unfortunate about that situation is that my foot ad knee wanted to stay put while the rest of my body did not. So, my knee twisted and popped, causing my knee to buckle under my weight. I fell while Blake was in my arms! I know without a shadow of doubt that there were guardian angels there right at that moment. I literally remember him floating comfortably down onto my chest while I fell. He was completely unharmed. It was as if there were invisible hands that nestled him down onto me after I fell. There are no other words to describe it.

When I tried to stand up, my leg could not bear weight. So, I limped over to a lounge outside the store. As I was sitting there, I just kept praying. And I kept feeling that I really needed to go the hospital. But the internal conflicts started to rise up and fight for air. I can't ask these girls to skip dinner and take me to the ER!...maybe it's not that bad.... I have to make lunch for tomorrow...what about the girl talk tonight?... and on and on it went. I knew that I desperately needed to go to the ER. So, when Kelly and Carla came out of the store, I let them know what I needed. They took me back to the Hotel lobby to wait for Jimmy to pick me up. When he got there, I had come to terms with leaving for the night, but had fully expected to return for the following day.
After a night in the ER, I did not think it possible to return- especially because Saturday's plan involved a lot of walking. The AMAZING women left at the conference took care of lunch the following day for me. They called to see how I was.
I am seriously touched by all the help and concern I've received because of this accident. There has been an outpouring of love and service that I am truly grateful for. My family has helped so much as well. although it would have been nice to attend the whole conference, I do not regret anything that happened. I may get frustrated at times because of the stupid crutches and imbecile brace I'm required to use, but it has afforded me a much needed break from life. Recovery has been slower than I expected, but I'm okay with that... for now.

We haven't even had Summer weather-

but we're going back to school?!

Goodness, the Summer went FAST!

Here's to a fabulous year of:

• early, frantic mornings
• lost shoes
• bed head
• stinky, stinky lunch pails to clean out
• every bleed you dry fundraiser available
• thousands of tiny papers/projects coming home

and, drumroll please......

• six whole hours of peace and quiet

Hunting

When we went to Utah last month, the dog slept on the couch. Dog sleeping on the couch= Stephanie's late night-red eyed-never ending search on Craig's List for a replacement. We've already flipped the cushions, that's not an option anymore.

One thing I need to say about Craig's List- people's definition of, 'nice' are verrrry different.
On my hunt for the perfectly priced sofa, I have been led through all kinds of scary postings making me wonder a few things:

1. Why must every picture be taken in terrible lighting?
2. Who ever decided that forrest green was a good color for leather?
3. What makes people think 'comfortable' and 'attractive' are synonomous? If it doesn't work for shoes, it won't work for couches.

It's been a fun journey looking through other people's cast offs... but when it's time to finally buy a couch, it will be new. And then I will make the dog sleep outside.

Days like today help me understand why some species eat their young.

I am still getting the cringe worthy feelings deep in my stomach. I hate those feelings... the ones where I think of something I said or did to embarrass myself. I am sure that most people do not remember the stupid things I say or do, but I seem to hone in on the negative things that are part of a great moment. One event I did ran perfectly smooth except for the fact that one guest wanted their meat more well done. It was so embarrassing. All I could think of was that feeling when I thought of that particular event. Otherwise, the clients loved the food, raved about it and gave a hefty tip to show their gratitude. It's so hard for me to think of mistakes I've made without being super hard on myself.

Today I have been uncomfortable with those cringes. Kaitlin has a friend from preschool and swim that came over with her mom for the first time. We have been friends for over three years and I was very excited about their visit. I spent lots of time planning a great lunch and my friend brought a tie dye kit. We had a great time until it was time for them to go home. The girls went outside to play while we talked and shared some great laughs. My friend put her younger daughter in the car as I went to get the girls. They were nowhere to be found. Hmmm... I looked in the trailer behind the house and didn't see them. I looked in the backyard and couldn't find them. In fact, we couldn't find the girls anywhere. My friend was starting to get worried, so I yelled out for Kaitlin with no response. We live on 40 acres in the middle of nowhere. There is no way someone could have taken them. However, my mind wandered there sometimes in the forty minutes we spent thus far looking for them. The neighbor kids were enlisted in the search. I screamed for the girls until I was hoarse and my friend was in near hysterics. How would you feel if you visited somewhere for the first time and lost your child in an expansive wilderness?! We stopped to say a prayer. Jimmy came home to help look. It was getting to the point we were all in tears. When the searching hit 50 minutes, one of the neighbor boys saw our girls. I ran to them very concerned. They were playing hide and seek. I said to Kaitlin in a near yell, "Didn't you hear us calling for you?!" She responded with, "Yes, mom, but we were hiding."

ARGH!!!! Does this child not know when the crazy mommy voice comes out?!?! Because that is what I was using when I was calling out for the girls! Fortunately they're safe.... but I am still cringing. And good luck with my friend ever coming back to visit.

A Rose by any other name...

I have so many nick names for Kaitlin. I never really noticed how many things I called her until one of her cousins heard me call Kaitlin, "Bubba". The cousin looked perplexed and said, "Why do you call Kaitlin 'Bubba'?" Hmmm... I don't know the answer to that. I do know that is only the tip of the iceberg, though. Here are Kaitlin's many names:

Kate

Katie

Ramona

Bubba

Bub

Little Bit

Little Bean

Kidlicious

Little Miss

Sweetums

Precious

Presh

Sweetie Pie

Burrito

Baby

Baby Girl

Precious Little

Kitty

The Girl

Little Ham

The funny thing is, each one is said in a specific way/voice and some are in a specific setting. For example: Little Bean is said when I am opening the door for Kaitlin. I always say, "Hop in, Little Bean!" I don't know how it started, but I seem to say it automatically now.

What names do you use for your kids?

Submitting myself to torture...

...of the cheesy, overly dramatic type.


After a hiatus from Beverly Hills 90210, I decided to start the seasons from Netflix where I left off. I cannot get over the terrible music, hair, acting. I cringe during every single episode. Why do I continue to torture myself, you ask?! Because I wasn't allowed to watch it as a kid. The rebellion is just manifesting itself years later. Darn peer pressure...


*p.s. I am still in love with Dylan McKay, he's a stud.

Joys of Summer

Goodness, has it been awhile. I know you missed me! Our Summer has flown by faster than a jack rabbit on a date (gotta love the obscure movie quote-name that movie!). With all the many experiences and visits I have truly felt what it's like to be blessed. Enough mushy stuff... I've had a tear jerker video on the top post for ages! So, on to a fun story- one plucked from the many fun times we had this year. Our family went to Utah to attend a blessing for my newest niece. We had a great time. What a joy it was to see all the cousins together with their different personalities. All the girls loved playing together. Rebekah threw every ball in sight. Baby Gunnar was a gentle giant of a baby.

It was so fun to meet with my sister in law's family and enjoy the company. In the basement of their home, there is an awesome den with vintage board game deco and a real live Jelly Belly machine- if Kaitlin had an income, it would've all been spent one bean at a time...

As Kaitlin, Courtney and I were downstairs milking some more beans from the machine, we heard, "thump, thump, thump, CRACK!" coming down the stairs. All I could think of was how we would revive whatever child just rolled down the stairs. My first aid training came rushing back to me. I just wish it had come back in accuracy. The good news is that when I rounded the corner to see which child would suffer my lack of first aid skills, we saw a large, juicy watermelon smashed into bits. I peered up the stairs and saw Rebekah standing at the top of the stairs pointing with a sweet declaration, "ball". Once it dawned on me that there was no child in need of faulty first aid, I turned, looked at Courtney for a social queue. You see, it was her house. Was I to peal into hysterics like I wanted, even though there was sticky watermelon guts on her very beautiful carpet? Or, was I to look at dismay at a total mess? Luckily, Courtney I seemed to share the laugh at everything gene and we burst out in laughter that brought sweet tears.

Now, that's the kind of memory I like to take away from a family get together...

Buying stock in kleenex

I've been hanging out in the refiner's fire lately. I have to say... it's not all bad. This past week has brought more amazing blessings and experiences than I could have imagined. I have such gratitude for Heavenly Father's knowledge- he knows where I am, what I'm doing, what I need. The only problem hanging out in the fire is that I am so emotional- I cry at the drop of a hat.
Exhibit A:

If I were a Disney character...

yesterday would've been accompanied by singing forest creatures and background village peasants harmonizing during the chorus. I had a day straight from the heavens! May I explain?... It's my blog, of course I can explain!

Once upon a time there was voluptuous and kind princess named Stephanie. She woke up one morning to the sound of a beautiful ringing noise. "Oh dear, she thought, that must be the sweet maiden Cammie calling from a distant land! I must go to her!" So princess Stephanie rose from her chambers and gracefully prepared for a day at the nearest castle. After dropping her child off at 8:30 in morn, Stephanie went well on her merry way to Castillo de Amorosa.
At the expansive castle, Princess Stephanie was able to give dearest Cammie a squeeze and continue up the turret steps. At the top of the winding stairs, a local of the castle dweller showed each room while the princesses listened in awe. Princess Stephanie and Princess Cammie thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the fabulous features... except for maybe the torture chamber. Seeing an authentic Iron Maiden gave the princesses the serious heebie-jeebies.
Although the princesses were not accepting of the castle's grogg, the famed Capri Sun sufficed. After a wonderful and informative meeting with the castle dwellers, The princesses attended a mid day feast at Boskos. There, they enjoyed lemon and herb grilled artichokes, garlic bread, field green salad, the best ever pasta with marscapone and fresh tomatoes- a feast fit for a king! The princesses were not sufficiently stuffed, and the local frozen sweet shop was calling just as a dove cries for her mate.
Princess Stephanie and Princess Cammie heeded the call of the shop in the form of quite possibly the best ice cream ever! Strawberry and vanilla swirled ice cream with white chocolate hearts and strawberry filled dark chocolate hearts. It was then that Princess Stephanie bid Princess Cammie adieu to continue on her pleasant journey!
Having such a wonderful mid day jaunt provided Princess Stephanie with the energy and enthusiasm to continue on with some other princesses in the area. After a 13 minute primping ( I know the princess is phenomenal!), Princess Stephanie met up with her fellow princesses- April, Lynette and Amy for trip to the largest kingdom in all the land, San Francisco!
With stunning scarf (she pulled it off), brazilian earrings and sparkling shoes on her feet, Stephanie joined the other ladies in partaking of her second feast of the day at Frachino's Ristorante. The second feast of the day from the far away land of Italy! Upon the princess' plate was insalata capreses, bruschetta, freshly made pappardelle, leeks, prociutto and mushrooms. A feast that was sopped up with crusty italian bread!
The court jesters extended an invitaion to the ladies and they accepted. So, onto the presentation of Beach Blanket Babylon! There, the princesses enjoyed themselves thoroughly. There was music, laughter and crazy big hats! If an Italian feast a show by the jesters weren't enough, the second ice cream cone of the day for Princess Stephanie made it nearly complete. A cafe around the corner provided our heroine with hazlenut biscotti and grasshopper pie ice cream.
During the dessert course of the feast, the princesses were excited to hear of the new prince to be born any moment. after a thrilling trip to the far off kingdom of San Francisco, the princesses stopped at the castle Kaiser to visit Carla in the midst of her child bearing.
There, Princess April coached sweet, strong and amazing Princess Carla through the journey to become the mother of a son. The experience was asacred and special one for all. Stephanie sincerely appreciated being there to be part of a miraculous and beautiful occurence. It was a highlight of her life and especially precious because she will never get to experience for herself again. What an amazing day in the life of a princess.

And they all lived happily ever after!

Look what I made!

Still working on Kaitlin's room... slowly but surely. The last thing to do is the headboard. Once it's all done I will post multiple pictures. But for now, I want to show off this handy work.

This Little Red Reding Hood silhouette will go in Kate's room alongside a Jack and the Beanstalk silhouette. I will post pictures when I finish- goodness, I really need to get crack a lackin'!

Congratulations to Jimmy!!!

I am so proud of my dear, sweet husband. He graduated last night with his Bachelor's in Business Management.

Here's the story behind the day:

We woke up early, early to get to the HP Pavilion by 9:00am to drop Jimmy off for registration. We went to turn around and received a concerned call from the graduate. He said that the information from his counselor was erroneous and the graduation didn't start at 10:00am, but at 1:30pm!!! We were having family coming in to town for the graduation and there were already well on their way to the venue. Plus, we had a reservation at a restaurant for 2:30... there was no way we were going to make that reservation. After much scrambling and cell phone usage, we got all guests to the Hotel Sainte Claire for brunch and cancelled the reservations for later that day. The hotel was very accommodating, elegant and delicious! I highly recommend it. Then off to the graduation where there were over 1,000 graduates... we counted. And guess what?! They read every.single.name. It wasn't too bad (only because I took Kaitlin outside to ride up and down the escalators for an hour) After much waiting and listening, Jimmy's name was read and we got to cheer for 1.5 seconds before the next name was read- It was thrilling. I cannot tell you the emotions that went through my head at such a rapid pace. My heart is swollen with pride, love, reminiscence and pure joy. I cannot believe the journey that we have shared together. He has been strong, patient and hard working. Congratulations!!!

Girls' Camp Recap

I go to our church's girls' camp annually and just have a total blast every year! For the fourth year in a row I have been able to work with the 16-18 year olds. My FAVORITE! I just love giggling and goofing off. Here are some of my favorite moments from the week:

• I love dogs. I have always been a dog person, which usually means cats are not on my list of priority animals. Actually... I kind of hate cats. Not like I would hurt a cat, but I just suppose I have too much of a self esteem issue to like a pet that hates me. When I went to the craft shack to make a little something for Kaitlin, the craft leader and very good friend of mine came to me laughing. She started by apologizing to me. Apologizing for not sticking up for me in the exchange that had just occurred. You see, two of the girls in my unit (group I was a leader of) came to the shack looking for a gift for me. While the craft assistant, another good friend of mine, was sifting through buttons she made a sarcastic comment about a hideous cat pin. The girls took the sarcasm as truth and were convinced that I loved cats, especially when on an enameled pin circa 1986. They excitedly snatched the pin and decided to make a ring for me out of it. My loathing for cats nearly matches my inability to wear a poker face. So my friends who worked in the shack knew there was no way I could receive a gift without looking ungrateful and appalled at quite possibly the ugliest ring ever. Their warning was fair- my reaction was not. I spent the week jumpy just waiting for the presentation of a gift that I knew would require a fake-genuine smile. I practiced every night in the mirror. On the final day of camp, the moment had come. Two of the sweetest girls came to me with a darling little gift all wrapped up for me. I cringed (I think only on the inside) "Well," I thought, "here goes nothing..." and I cautiously opened the gift. Inside the carefully wrapped package was a huge, amazing, perfect for me ring. It was so beautiful! Those girls had set up the story from the very beginning! They had the craft girls tell me about the pin so I would be surprised. I had no idea and that is was made the gift even better.
• One morning, I woke up groggy and stumbled my way into the kitchen in our lodge. Everyone else was sleeping soundly, so I quietly grabbed a croissant and sat among the snoring girls to enjoy a moment of semi peace and quiet. As I was silently putting pieces of the croissant in my mouth, I noticed that it smelled terrible. I kept sniffing at it, but the smell was faint. Then I noticed it was not the croissant the stunk, but my hand. As I put my hand to my nose I took a perplexed and lengthy sniff wondering how it come to this point. Then the previous night's sleep dawned on me... I had slept fearful of keeping my bunk mate awake. Rather than let out loud and copious gas from the heavy meals I had been eating, I would hold my cheeks open every time I felt the urge to let one go. So, instead of a loud noise to accompany my rumblings, there would be a near silent whoosh! Once I came to the realization I had indeed been eating a fart croissant, I did three things in this order: 1) Laughed very loud, 2) Ran to the kitchen to wash my hands, 3) Sat down and ate the rest of my croissant.
• Some how, I had let it slip that I am terrified of aliens. I am truly afraid of alien movies and those silly fair trinkets with the alien heads on them seriously freak me out. One night, I walked out to the car to go get a cd with one of the girls. When we came back to the lodge, the lights were all out and I heard a strange clicking noise. Out from behind the the table came a thing crawling at me with a glowing, freaky head. I got so scared that I pushed the girl I was with in front of me and was ready to book it. She started screaming and I was ready for the little green monsters to take me away. After a few more moments the girls finally turned on the light and I saw that the alien was really just glow sticks and a head lamp on someone crawling all over the ground. I was really shaken up, but I felt really bad for the girl I pushed in front of me. I am sure that if I had the ability to speak I would've yelled, "Take her!"

p.s.- they got it on video... just waiting for that one to pop up on youtube.

I think I'll save the spiritual stories for tomorrow.

Tough Stuff

I am in charge of the sixteen to eighteen year olds at an annual girls' camp for our church. I've had the honor of cooking with one of my YCL girls (YCL= youth camp leader), for eight weeks. It has been a blast. At first I was nervous because it was part of a disciplinary action taken from some events last year. She is not a bad kid at all, but just had the unfortunate situation of not living up to my expectations. I tend to be pretty tough on those poor girls.

Well, my nights cooking with this amazing girl were just fabulous. I had a great time doing what I love and getting to know her even better. I know this year will be a complete success! Honestly, last night being my final night cooking with her was sad for me. It was nice to spend some one on one time with one of the greats of the upcoming generation. It makes me sad to think of all the things teenagers are going through these days. Just going to high school is a war zone. I admire all those that get through it alive with their self confidence and values intact.

Now for a funny clip from my favorite high school movie:

Timberhill

We LOVE the new hike we've been going on lately. I could do without the copious amounts of cow pies... but the view is worth it. Unfortunately, I do not have one of those fancy-scmancy cameras to take a really great picture of what I see in real life. You're just going to have to believe me when I say it's amazing!

p.s.- I recommend waiting until you get to the car to have a picnic... wind+cowpies+thistles=cranky mommy

It was nice to have a funnel...

We scattered my Grandmother's ashes at sea over the weekend. We scattered my Grandfather's ashes nine years ago on the same battleship. Things have changed (for the better) on the battleship and it was very pleasant to have the ashes not blow back in your face. Ha!
We really enjoyed our day in the city and on the boat. I could've done without the seven miles of walking! Although I am a natural at exaggerating- the seven miles is no tall tale, folks! I actually did walk that much in one day. I would not recommend it, especially if you are required to be pleasant to out of town visitors...

One attempt at doing a panorama picture... what I find funny is that the sailboat was going the same direction, so it looks like they are twins! Uncle Steve, Mom and Uncle Paul

Another try at panorama...

Our fat and happy little tug boat. It follwed us around like a little puppy.

Alcatraz from the front and back.

Under the Golden Gate bridge.

When on a boat, it is a requirement to get a picture of a port hole. I threw my mom in there for good measure.

Going under the Bay Bridge