ASU! ASU!

One of our favorite dates Jeff and I go on is to the ASU football games. We love to get out and enjoy the crowd, and some football. I'm not a huge football fan, but through Jeff and his great enthusiasm for ASU football, I can appreciate the game and it's fun to attend the games.

My favorite part of the date is eating at "The Chuckbox". Yes you sit on a wooden crate and it's not the most stylish restaurant. But it awesome football food. The line is always out the door on game days. Best hamburgers and fried mushrooms. (Jeff hesitated taking me there for the first time because I'd always make fun of the name. He was so shocked when I loved it.)

That's where we'll be tonight. Eating and cheering - ASU! ASU! ASU!

Let the shopping begin!

We'll be taking part in the mayhem at midnight. The smartest thing retail ever did was to start opening stores at midnight, for those of us night owls!

What about you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have an enjoyable day with your families. I'm so grateful for my family, both near and far. For their love, support and most of all, friendship.

I'm grateful for my health and well-being. I'm grateful that I have a nice home to live in, in a nice neighborhood, with great friends all around me. I'm grateful that I live in this free country, where we can worship as we please, and raise our families as we choose.

I'm grateful for my loving husband. For his constant support and allowing me to be me. Because of him, I am a better person. I'm grateful for my children. For their sweet smiles and unconditional love for me. I love to see heaven when I look in their little faces.

I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. For his sacrifice which allows us to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Parents again. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life, for loving parents that have taught me values and to follow God's commandments.

Twilight

Apparently I'm in the minority.  I tried to go in without too high of expectations, but they were too high.  I was pretty disappointed in the movie and really have no desire to see it again.  I am however dying to read the books again so that I can recapture the feeling and excitement of the series.  

In my opinion, they need to fire the make-up artist, the costume designer, and the director.  I think some of the simplest things should have been addressed, that are important to the book.  How hard would it have been to put Edward in a leather jacket?  It's a big deal in the book, and he's wearing a stupid tweed jacket that's too small for him.  And then they put a stupid blue jacket on him and zip it up to his chin - he looks ridiculous.  He doesn't look like he's straight out of Calvin Klein ad, like he should.  The fashion just wasn't there.  And how hard would it have been to paint Bella's room yellow, it's too small for a rocking chair to fit in, and where did the brand new laptop come from?  Where's her archaic computer?

My favorite characters were the villains.  They were believable, and I am looking forward to seeing them in future movies.  I was actually sad to see James die, he was a great cast.  I didn't feel any chemistry between Edward and Bella.  

Oh well.  I'm so very glad that so many of you enjoyed it.  I wish I could say the same!

World's worst pedicure

I love pedicures. I try to get them every couple of months, but they're not the biggest priority. I have terrible feet, and am often filing away at them trying to make them smooth. So when I splurge for a professional to do it, I eat it up. My favorite feeling is going to bed after one and sliding my feet in between the sheets. Nothing snags or feels rough, just smoothness.

So my friend Challene and I decided it was time to have the feet done. She has gone to this school before and said it was good. They only charge $15, and do a really good job because they're students and the teacher is watching them.

We drop the girls off at preschool, and I dropped Reed off at a friend's house. We arrive and it was just a bad day I suppose.

The girl I had trimmed my nails for 45 minutes, NO JOKE! She then put some foot scrub on, and just when I thought she was going to start polishing, she starts trimming AGAIN! I actually had to tell her that they were trim enough. Please stop trimmming! Then, she goes to remove my calluses, and is barely even putting any pressure on the bottom of my feet. She asked me if I knew the store in the mall "Bath & Body Works". I replied "Yes, I love that store". She then said that they sell stuff for feet and that is what I needed to buy.

In my head I'm screaming "what are you talking about? This is what I'm paying you to do!!!"

It took almost 2 hours for the pedicures! I got home and my big toe already had a chip in the polish. Not a happy customer.

And to top it off, as I was checking out the lady informed me that they do eyebrow waxes. They didn't inform my friend that they perform that service. To me that's like going to a plastic surgeon to get your finger worked on and they inform you that they perform liposuction.

At least my chickie didn't cut me like Challene's guy did . . . TWICE! Then he sprayed alcohol on it. Smart. Poor thing woke up in the middle of the night with her toes throbbing.

I told her she could do whatever she wanted but I'm never going back there again. There's got to be someplace that is cheap AND decent.

Yea!!!

I made sure my husband and I took advantage of the fantastic Utah weather and got our Christmas lights on the house. Last year we didn't do it before Thanksgiving (while the weather was decent), and regretted it afterward. So, it didn't happen last year.I purchased new lights after Christmas last year, so I was determined to get them up. It just took a while to convince Jeff to help me get up on the roof so I could do it like I wanted it done. I think he was little nervous the whole time I was up there, but it all went well. Except for the part where he didn't see the last box of lights. I got down and realized we'd missed one and now I just want to get back up and finish the job!

I wasn't going to turn them on until after Thanksgiving, but Reed loves them. Every time he wakes up, goes outside, pulls in the driveway, we open the front door, you name it! We hear "lights! lights!", over and over again. So, for my little man, we turn on the lights, and Jeff takes him outside at night to enjoy them.

Sofia Scissorhands

I am happy to report that Sofie has made some progress in the scissors department. I pulled out a workbook I had picked up on clearance a few weeks ago. It was all on cutting. The day after "the incident", she spent about 5 hours (off and on) in this book. I think she got it out of her system, because it's been over a week now and she hasn't touched a pair of scissors (not that she could reach any if she tried!).

The day has finally arrived!

Dear Anonymous

To the person that doesn't like the fact that I don't like Utah
(see comment on post below)

#1 This is my journal. Therefore I can write whatever I choose. You can either choose to read it or not.

#2 I don't care for Utah, and anyone that knows me, knows that. I live here, because we have chosen to live here for good reasons. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, or say nice things about it. Once again, it's my journal and I can write what I choose.

#3 Imagine if you were to move away from Utah, at this moment, and go to Arizona. You would leave behind many friends, most likely family, places you are familiar with and enjoy. You would have many ties and wonderful feelings about Utah. That's how I feel about Arizona. It's more the ties that I have, the emotional ones, that draw me to the Phoenix area. Even if the summers are killer, I love it because of the people and the places I enjoy. I hope you can understand that.
I'm sure someday I'll feel the same way about Utah. It's getting better, but 14 years vs. 18 months, it's got a long way to go.

Love it

You know Utah wouldn't be half bad if the weather could stay like this all winter long (60-65 degrees). Oh, wait, that's Phoenix.

I'll have some posts scheduled to go while I'm gone (hopefully I'll get it squeezed into this crazy schedule somehow!).

And I'll be loving the continuation of this fantastic weather - even a little warmer than this. Perfect. That's why I often refer to it as "The Holy Land".

Our 10 seconds of fame

We were on the news last night here in Utah. Some of you heard that we were interviewed by Max Roth of Fox 13 about a month ago. It aired last night, in two parts.

You may not believe this, but they didn't choose me for my good looks, my fancy house, or because I'm a great interview. No, it just happened to be a matter of convenience on the part of the school. I was scheduled to go in and help Bella's class on a particular afternoon. I received a message from the principal about 45 minutes before I was supposed to leave. Reed wasn't feeling that great, so I was actually debating on going at all. The principal's message stated that the news was coming in to do a story and needed a parent to talk to. Because I was already coming in, would I be willing to talk to them. I called her back and told her that would be fine. At the end of our conversation she said "Oh, did I mention that they are coming to your house after school?" I replied by laughing "yeah, that's really funny". She said "No, really, personally I would need a cleaning crew to come in before they could come into my house." The reality began to sink in as I said "they're really coming to my house???!!!!" "Yes, they want to watch you do homework with Bella after school."

As I hung up the phone, I looked around. I wasn't dressed, or showered, and my hair really needed to be washed. The kids weren't dressed and they still needed to eat lunch. My house was a disaster with a sink full of dirty dishes. My son had diarrhea.
And I was supposed to walking out the door in 45 minutes???

Thanks to my great friend Chantelle for taking my little guy and exposing her children to yet one more childhood illness that no mother wants to deal with. I was able to tell the cameraman to only focus on a small area of the house that wasn't disgusting. The little girl you see with Bella at the house is Jessie. She is in Bella's class and we are great friends with their family. Her mom was working for a little bit, so Jessie would come over after school and we would keep her until her mom got off of work. It was great that she was able to do it with Bella, I think it helped Bella not be so camera shy.

To tell you the truth, I'm just glad I didn't sound like a dough head on TV, and my house didn't look like a total pig sty. I didn't say I didn't remember a lot of the spanish I learned on my mission, I said that I never felt completely comfortable speaking it.

In the video the reporter didn't get her name quite right. Bella thought it was funny at first, then it bothered her after a while. The first part is mainly us, the second part is another little boy in first grade (who's quite entertaining).

Click here for the video

Free photo book

Click here to get a free photo book from snapfish. Oprah featured it on her show yesterday. You just have to click on it by Friday night, and it will apply the credit to your account. You have until Sunday night to redeem the coupon.

Have fun!

SOFIA!!!!!!

I have a new theme song. It goes to the tune of a classic "Sound of Music" song about Julie Andrew's character "Maria".

How do you solve a problem like Sofia?

In the last week she has done the following:

Cut up a bunch of bananas into about 20 pieces
(she did this with a plastic knife, had bananas scattered all over the house. I have no idea how many Reed ate, but needless to say, he was in HEAVEN!)Opened a brand new box of cereal and dumped/scattered it all over the carpet in the basement where they play.
(from the great sale I went to last week. It was too late to put away the groceries when I got home the night before.

When a friend was over, she was the mastermind in taking 2 bottles of kids shampoo and pouring it all over the unfinished basement, and using the mop to spread it everywhere. Now my basement smells like cherry and coconut.
(same sale items that were promptly put away after this incident)

And that brings us to today. While I was on the phone with my parents, and trying to clean my room at the same time, she was watching a movie in the family room (or so I thought). I kept checking on her and she was just chill on the couch.
I went in the room about 5-10 minutes after checking on her and found this:
She got a hold of my kitchen shears (which are brand new, I can't believe she didn't cut herself), and cut up her cute new shirt, pants, and handmade beaded socks Stacia made. When that wasn't enough, she started on my couch cushions.
What was I doing you ask, while this mayhem was going on? Let's see, changing Reed's nasty diaper, taking a shower, and helping a friend upstairs.

I was able to get them patched, sewn and now they are turned backwards/upside down. Let's just hope something doesn't happen to the other side. She's wearing her lovely altered outfit all day today. If you'd like to come and see her new fashion design, come on by. You might even find her on the porch with a "FREE" sign around her neck.

For Sale

One sister for sale!

One sister for sale!

One crying and spying young sister for sale!

I’m really not kidding,

So who’ll start the bidding?

Do I hear the dollar?

A nickel?

A penny?

Oh, isn’t there, isn’t there, isn’t there any

One kid that will buy this old sister for sale,

This crying and spying young sister for sale?

-Shel Silverstein

Veteran's Day

My younger brother Daniel just recently left for a tour in Iraq. You can keep up on his travels through his blog, click here.

In honor of the many that selflessly serve our country, and those that are left behind in their service, please remember them in your prayers. I know there are many ways to help them this Christmas as well, please take the time and effort to show your support to our troops.

Sweet Spirit

Today we had our ward primary program. Because I'm in the presidency I had a big part of writing the program and organizing the teachers and children.

We had 120 children in our program today, out of 150+ that we have in the primary. As you can see, we had some not show up, which is typical.

The children did such a fabulous job. They sang beautifully, spoke their lines so well, and sat reverently. We not only have kids on the stand, but kids all along the front of the pulpit on the floor, and the first 4 rows of pews - full of kids.

The teachers were great in helping the reverence, and our choristers did the BEST job ever.

The spirit was so strong, and it made me so happy to be in primary, and part of the children's lives. They are such little sponges, just waiting to be led, and waiting to be taught. I am so grateful for the Savior, for his example, and for his teachings. I love that I get to be a small part of their lives, and their testimonies. They have strengthened my testimony more than I will ever influence them.

Bella did a great job saying her line, and I was happy to see her sing so well. Sometimes we have issues with her not wanting to sing so much while at church.

It was funny to think that next year both Bella AND Sofie will be up there together. Sofie was a little disappointed that she didn't get to say her line from her preschool program!

Freaking out

So yesterday I added the new "Twilight Countdown" to my blog. It wasn't until I was looking at it on the blog that it donned on me.

I'm attending the midnight showing with my sisters, sister-in-law, niece, and hopefully my mom (if she arrives in time) in Phoenix. Hmmmm . . . in Phoenix. (this is the part when I figure it out) The premiere is in 12 days (11 days now) and that 's all the time I have to get ready and get to Phoenix???!!!!!!

I'd better get moving. Whenever I have a trip, it takes me FOREVER to get everyone's clothes washed, ironed, and packed. Not to mention the million other items I have to go through to pack in the van and take to my sister Dayna (namely baby clothes Reed grew out of that I borrowed from her & baby girl clothes for her cute little one).

I feel the stress level heightening (even though it was high to begin with!)

Moolah!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - IT PAYS TO DO COUPONS!

I spent about 5 hours at the grocery store today (2 separate trips), and probably 2 hours last night getting ready for today.

I spent a total of $175.69

Saved $671.76!!!

Now I am exhausted, and must retire for the night. Tomorrow brings another busy day (someone has to find a place for all these groceries!).

Happy Election Day!

I'll be on pins and needles all night waiting for the results!

Make sure you get out and vote!

Welcome Baby Boy

We are blessed to have a new nephew.

Click here to check him out!

Fall Dress Party!

Jane & I are having another dress party on Wednesday! There are 1000 dresses to choose from, sizes 2T-14 and also infant dresses. They range from $20 to $37. This year she has a sale rack of $20 dresses from previous years. She also has separates on her sale rack (skirts, blouses, velvet jackets) for $10-12 each. Of course the photos that I have are all from SPRING dress parties. She only brings WINTER/Christmas dresses to this party. She will also have Baptism dresses available.

I have done these for years now, and always find great dresses for the girls. You can find matching dresses for all ages, and she can mail you any sizes she has out of stock. I always get many compliments on the girls unique dresses from the dress party.

Wednesday Nov. 5th

9-11 a.m.
We are doing it at JANE'S house this time

If you need directions to her house, please email or call me.Dress parties are going on all over the valley. From Spanish Fork to Sugarhouse. If you would like to attend one in your area, email me, and I'll find the party closest to you.

Of course there's a bonus to Jane and I if you can make it to ours.
We would love to see you there!

Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday Jeff & I put 13 plants & shrubs, and 3 trees in the ground. Needless to say, every part of my body is sore today.

And not a moment too soon, the wind is blowing, it's raining, and pretty nasty outside. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous. So sad to see our indian summer end, simply because I know what's headed my way.

We did all that with 3 little kids that had "Halloween Hangovers". So glad it's out of their systems now, and today will be back to normal.

Mmmmmm, good

Next Thursday there will be a new Chick-fil-a opening up at Jordan Landing (close to our home). Yeaaaaa! Thanks to Jane and Susan for the tip yesterday, we picked up 5 hot FREE chicken sandwiches, and 5 coupons for more FREE chicken sandwiches.

They are doing it again today, and guess what? We'll be in line again - can't get enough!