Sunday's "My Life Story" entry No. 3

Tell about an incident with a car.

About 6 years ago when we lived in Salt Lake Chris and I were driving home from Provo and for some reason that night we were driving separate cars. I was driving with Thomas' strapped in his infant carrier in the back seat. Thomas was crying uncontrollably and keep on spitting his binky out and so I leaned over the seat to try and put it back in his mouth. To do this I had one hand and one knee(for added control of course) on the steering wheel while the other hand awkwardly stretched over the seat to find his wailing mouth. This feat of coordination and flexibility happened several times. Just about the time I settled Thomas down a cop signaled me to pull over. I exited the freeway and wondered what in the world I was being pulled over for. I knew I hadn't been speeding. The cop came up to window, flashed his skinny light and immediately asked if I had been drinking. I giggled at the thought and told him no and that I had never had a drink in my life. Unconvinced he surveyed the backseat and then over to the passenger side with his light. "Look at my finger." he firmly instructed. He waved his finger back and forth across my face while shinning the blinding light into my eyes. The light was so intense against the night dark night I could barely see him let alone his floating finger. Chris was not far behind me and got there just in time to figure out what was going on. Chris could not pass this opportunity up to say something clever and so he shouted out to the cop. "Make her do the walk!" It was classic Chris. I think at that point the cop figured I probably hadn't had anything to drink although he did tell me my eyes didn't really check out. Whatever that means.

Lesson learned...JUST LET THE BABY CRY!

11 Years Later...

I have been in Utah for the last week and on Friday my mom and I took the kids up to temple square. It was a beautiful summer day just like it was 11 years ago. Chris and I got married Friday August 22, 2007. (I actually forgot the significance of the day until Chris reminded me the day earlier that Friday was our anniversary. I know it's pathetic; I forgot my own anniversary.) It was fun to reminisce about the day I got married and in many ways it felt like it was yesterday.



I stood all dressed in white in the very spot this picture was taken 11 years earlier. That day was the beginning of some of my greatest desires in life; to get married in the temple and have a family. I hoped that day would be the beginning of a life full of promise and good things to come. I just never imagined all those years ago that my life would be so blessed and beautiful. I love you Chris, Thomas, Kate and Jack!


I love this picture because it is real! Thomas won't smile and Kate and Jack are fighting over a bell. Kids...you gotta love them.

Things I love about Utah

I recently went to Utah for 2 weeks as the last hurrah before my kids started school. We had a great time visiting family and friends and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. (Photos of the kids and all the fun we had will follow in a few days.) This post is devoted to a few of my favorite things about Utah.

Here is a list of random things I love about Utah.

1. I love Utah's summer nights. Especially the time when the sun is setting. The billowing clouds and vibrant hues are breathtaking. It doesn't matter how hot it got that day the temperature always makes it way down into the 70's. Ahaaaa... perfection!


2. I love Shaved Ice. I have not seen one Snow Shack in California! If they exist someone needs to pass over the info pronto. Favorite flavor, Tiger's Blood of course, it's been around since I was a little girl.


3. I love the radio stations in Utah. I can't name them anymore but there are a lot that play really good music.

4. I love the variety of fountain drinks offered in the gas stations and convenience stores in Utah. I swear Utahan's must drink more soda from a fountain than any other state. Every once in a while you need an unleaded diet coke and it's nice to know no matter where you stop they probably have just what your looking for.

5. I love Downeast. It is the best place to find great stuff with big names for 1/2 the price. And might I add they have a fabulous line of cute, modest and very affordable clothing. I just Love them!
6. I love basements. Not only does a basement provide you with ton's of space, (You should see my mom's storage rooms.) they provide a nice cool and dark environment, perfect for sleeping.

7. I love Hires Restaurant. If you've been you know what I'm talking about. Sorry IN -N-OUT you got nothing on a Hires burger. And ain't nobody can touch their fry sauce.
8. I love the mountains in Utah. I always took their beauty for granted.

9. I love all the fresh fruit and vegetable stands. Utah has the best locally grown peaches! Yummy!

10. I love that you can buy food storage at the local grocery store. This was particularly exciting for me because I am currently working on my year supply of food. Macy's grocery store had an entire area devoted to food storage and emergency preparedness. I bought myself about ten #10 cans of food, a 55 gallon water barrel, five 5 gallon water jugs, 50 pound of wheat and 25 pounds of beans. My car was packed so full I had no visibility except through the front window. Thank goodness for that.

Love ya Utah, see ya in 6 months.

Are You Geo-Ignorant?

Who could forget last August when Miss Teen South Carolina fumbled through her response to the purported statistics showing 20% of Americans can't locate the U.S.A., their own country mind you, on the world map. I was so utterly embarrassed for the girl. I recently looked up the National Geographic/Roper poll and found even more unflattering were the results showing what young Americans (18-24) knew very little about the geography of the world. According to the National Geographic/Roper poll since the war in Iraq began in 2003, 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country on a map of the Middle East. Seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel. Nine in ten couldn't find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa. Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia? Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map. And three-quarters were unaware that a majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world. Wow!

Fast forward one year to the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. (By the way I thought they were amazing.) As the 204 different participating countries made their way into the Olympic stadium I thought it would be fun to see how many countries I could locate on a map. At the end of the two hour procession my results were a little disappointing. Although I could for the most part figure out what continent they belonged on there were many I could not locate on a map. There were a few counties that sadly I don't think I've ever heard of like Gabon and Cape Verde. The gloomy part is I am well above average when it comes to most Americans geographic knowledge. So I shouldn't be to hard on myself. After all I can locate some of the key countries that affect me as a resident of the United States. Can you locate China, Sudan, Venezuela, Russian and Iceland on a map? And even more important, do you know what they have to do with you? Look them up next time you are perusing Google Earth (at earth.google.com).

Jack's Crappy Nap

At first glance it may look like Jack fell into a deep peaceful sleep with muddy dirt clumps squished between his fingers. Oh contraire. That ewy gwey mess is, you guessed it, yucky smelly poop. In Jacks words, "ew gross"! To most moms this sight would be quite alarming and an immediate clean up intervention would take place. Nap time over, clean up quick, disinfect the room. Not me. I choose to let the little one sleep. After all I am a mom who believes you don't wake a napping baby. I actually let him sleep like this for almost an hour. I was not only enjoying a little peace and quite of my own but I was so relieved that this time unlike three previous times his pooh was contained to his hands and not smeared all over the crib.
I guess we will have to try duck taping the diaper on. Sorry Jack, no more crappy naps for you.

Sunday's "My Life Story" entry No. 2

What is one of the first television programs you remember?

I was born in 1975 and so most of my what I remember when I was young were shows from the 80's. Probably one of my very first memories of watching TV was Sesame Street. Other shows I remember watching were Richie Rich, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Punky Brewster, She-Ra, The Smurfs and The Littles. But I will have to say one of my most favorite shows when I was young was Little House on The Prairie. It came on every Tuesday Night and later when the re-runs began it was on every night at 5:30 on channel 11. I used to imagine what it might have been like for Laura Ingalls growing up with no heat in the house. I remember during winter months when the sheets were cold when you first jumped into bed and it took a while for the bed to warm up. During this time I would pretend I was Laura Ingalls struggling to stay warm in my small bed in the family's covered wagon. I have some funny memories.

As I got a little older, probably 8 or 9 I remember loving the show Solid Gold. My favorite part about the show was the Solid Gold Dancers and for a short time I wanted to be one. I found this retro clip from YouTube. If you ever watched the show, this clip is quite a trip.

Darcel was my favorite. Need I say More.

Pure Joy

Pure Joy: (pyoor) (joy)

1. Complete Happiness;

Utter excitement with an intense ecstatic feeling.

The other day while boogie boarding with my friend Jill, I experienced PURE JOY! I realize I am a true amateur when it comes to this newly found sport and to any professional watching me that day wouldn't say the waves were nothing special, but I don't think they would argue that I had a few great runs. You know you "caught the wave" when you feel that churning thrust beneath your body; and if it's a good one it will propel you forward all the way to the beach. My friend and I (a.k.a. "the fun moms") and a friends 12 year old daughter all caught a good one together. We screamed and laughed the whole ride in. It was truly a moment of PURE JOY! (By the way, thanks to the friends who stayed on the beach and watched our kids.)


As I've gotten older and life has become more serious I forget how important it is to laugh. I don't just mean chuckle because we all chuckle from time to time, but to really laugh with full enthusiasm and excitement. It make life so much richer when we have these moments. I think I'm going to try and have more of these PURE JOY moments!

Other PURE JOY moments.....

Kate leaping down the beach and swimming in the water.

Thomas doing his thing on the boogie board.

Sunday's "My Life Story" entry No. 1

I have had a jar filled with rolled up pieces of brightly colored paper for 10 years. On each piece of paper is a question and the idea is to help you write your personal life story. Although I haven't lived a whole life time yet I think I've had this jar long enough and so each Sunday I will draw out one slip of paper, enjoy remembering and then write.

Slip No. 1

Tell about an incident at a hair salon.

I will have to say my most memorable story to date was the first time I ever had my hair "professionally" colored. Up to that point I was a faithful user of Loreal Preference Golden Blond. I started using it just shortly after having Thomas. After pregnancy my hair color was looking a little drab if you know what I mean. Dirty blond is how it is most often referred to and I wasn't going for the homely look. I think for the most part I did a respectable job at coloring my own hair. I had several people over the years ask me where I got my hair colored. It was flattering and of course I loved the fact that I paid only $8.00 a shot. For years I could not imagine paying the high price to get my hair colored. But there is one problem about coloring at home-it's all one color and so it can look a little fake. You know, like a blond bomb shell wig. So I decided I would go in and have some low lights put in to give my hair some much needed depth. To make a long story short I went to a Salon (two days before Mike and Lauren's Wedding) and came out with painfully dull platinum blond ash hair. It wasn't pretty and it only got worse after I went back in the next day to have her "fix it". It was a little too chemical looking for my liking. Not exactly the look I was going for, so I ran to thr super market, decided what the heck I love Courtney Cox's hair color and so I bought dark, dark, dark (completely opposite then blond) brown hair color and gave it a go. Wow! It was such a great change. It was exactly what I needed and although finding the right brown has been a saga I have learned a few things along the way...

1. Lower your expectations. You're not going to look like Heidi Kulm just because you colored your hair the exact same color. 2. Don't go to the "new girl". 3. You have to tell them exactly what you want-they unfortunately can't read your mind. 4. It really is better to go only a few shades darker or lighter than your natural color. 5. Coloring your hair a totally different color can knock you out of a mini mid life crisis. Who knows, it may be just the thing you need.