Redhoodoos

View

2011-06-12T12:52:00.002-06:00

Today I am grateful for the beauty of the earth.

This is the view from my computer desk at home. I love it.

On a clear day, you can see the mountains prominently behind the trees.

I love the serenity, the peacefulness, the wild-ness, and even the seclusion.

I especially love when I see this view when I look out my window.

Life is good.

Prom 2011

2011-05-14T19:57:00.003-06:00

Connor and Larissa ready and waiting for their dates!

A beauty!

Missing Stockings

2010-12-11T20:54:00.008-07:00

MISSING!

Have you seen us?

Connor's Solution:

Darren's Solution:

*Note the names on each of the stockings.

Something must be done about this.

Please join me in a moment of silence.

Creepy Crawlies

2010-05-17T15:57:00.007-06:00

The females in my family are deathly afraid of spiders.

Naturally, we were repulsed and horrified yesterday as we listened to someone relate his story of setting up a campsite at Zion National Park last summer and being swarmed by hundreds(!) of the creeping, disgusting things. Not a couple, a few, or even dozens - he said 'hundreds'.

*(Note to family: If you ever hear me say anything along the lines of "Hey, we should go camping at Zion National Park," please realize that dementia has set in, because I will never, NEVER, utter those words again while I'm in my right mind).

Last night, we further discussed the awfulness of spiders and listed their horrific qualities. (I'm rating this "R" and discretion is advised!)

They're silent predators
They stalk and prowl at night
They bite
The way they move is just....wrong
They crunch when squished - again, just wrong
They have fangs
They make webs. Ew. Charlotte may have been cute and charming - but that was a cartoon. Normal spiders don't help pigs.
There are billions of them on this planet. Billions. And they keep reproducing.

I could write volumes about their disgusting qualities - but I need to think of something happy and cute or else I won't sleep tonight.

So - talking about spiders brought up a decade-long debate that we've had in our house. While I realize there are spiders everywhere - I don't think tarantulas are extremely abundant (am I in denial?).

The following is an actual conversation:

Todd: Tarantulas are everywhere - even in our backyard.

Me: No way. They like hot climates like Arizona and Mexico. There might be some in our mountains or in Southern Utah - but not in our neighborhood.

Darren: It's true - they are all over the place. We probably have hundreds of them in the field behind our house.

This debate has been going on for years! YEARS! Please help us put it to rest and feel free to be especially vocal if you agree with me. ;)

Bryce Canyon - January 2010

2010-01-02T18:51:00.007-07:00

Todd and I journeyed to Bryce Canyon this weekend. It was a great way to start out the New Year. It was chilly, but sunny and beautiful, and of course we found an adventure or two. This is the entrance to Ruby's Inn. I love how they decorated for Christmas!

We stayed at this motel - the Grand Staircase Inn, in Cannonville. The rooms are clean and very affordable ($39 per night is not too shabby!) and is on the very spot that my grandmother was raised in the early 1900's. It turned out that we were the only guests that evening. The office closed at 7:00 and afterward there was not another living soul on site. It was eerie to say the least!

This morning we explored the area a bit before we started our trek home. Todd just happened to notice something as we drove down a little dirt road. I don't know how he saw it! Look closely...

It was only by extraordinary luck (and Todd's excellent vision) that we saw this Bald Eagle!

A beautiful, regal creature...

We saw this abandoned cabin near the Georgetown Cemetery.

We eventually made it to the rim. Regrettably, I can only recall being in Bryce Canyon in January once before.

It was a quick trip - but it was fun, and Todd and I were able to plan for the upcoming year. Happy 2010!

Goodnight Redhoodoos

2009-01-17T16:00:00.001-07:00

It's time to put you to bed, dear friend. No - this isn't goodbye. Just goodnight.

After all, we've been through so much together! You have understood my weird animal obsessions like this and this and this and this.

And my need to mock my family like here and here and here. And of course my silly and dumb posts which are far too numerous to name - but here are the dumbest - this and this and this.

And of course you understand my love for the red desert. Remember this post? And this?

And you understand the cup!

But I need to focus on my health and fitness right now and need to put you to sleep. I will being hanging out at my other blog "Red's Groove" these days but will come back to you occasionally too.

So, remember, it's me. Not you. You've been a good little friend, Redhoodoos.

Yellowstone when it's freaking cold!

2009-01-04T19:09:00.005-07:00

Todd and I just came home from our jaunt up to Yellowstone. Although nothing good happens in January, in my opinion - it was still stunningly beautiful.

The back side of the Tetons.

In some areas, the roads were sheer ice.

We love the town of West Yellowstone. Yes, indeed!

Todd wants one of these.

Yeah - it was cold.

The view from our hotel window - where it was nice and warm.

We liked how the sun hit the mountain as it was setting.

What? How did Creature the Cat's picture get in here?

Oh well - doesn't he look cuddly and snuggly and warm?

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-03T08:27:00.002-07:00

Dad - put your dancing shoes on....

2008-12-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have the best father in the world and wouldn't you know...today is his birthday. New Year's Eve! He likes to say that the whole world celebrates his big day.

My dad has his own blog - check it out here!

Happy Birthday Gene Gene the Dancing Machine!!

Love,
Yikket

P.S. - Hey dad - before we come over to party at your house tonight, I just have to know... did you take down your Christmas tree yet? I just don't dare run the risk of witnessing another 'incident' where you accidentally knock it over. If you recall, mom shook with laughter for days and the memory of the tree lying on its side has haunted me for years.

P.P.S - Oh - and just so that I can prepare myself - are you going to tell the infamous Scotty Pippen (aka Potty Skippin') joke again this year? How about your elephant imitation? Are you going to pepper us with snipits of the Herman the Worm story? Will you wax philosophical about the good ole Alma days with Turkey Jim?

P.P.P.S - Can we finally put to rest the debate that Springville, UT is the drug capital of the world?

P.P.P.P.S - If we end up playing Scattergories, don't be mad if we don't let you count "Foghorn Frieda, the famous floozie from Flauttisville, Florida" as 7 points, k? That was really quite a stretch.

P.P.P.P.P.S - Oh yeah- and would you mind if your daughter thinks you are the funnest, craziest, kindest, bestest, and most giving dad in the world?

Giveaway

2008-12-28T21:02:00.001-07:00

I'm having a giveaway! To learn the details - go check out my new blog!

Psst

2008-12-28T06:28:00.001-07:00

I've been busy working on a project.

Come back Monday to see what I'm doing....

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T06:13:00.003-07:00

Can you believe it's Christmas Eve? What will your family do tonight?

Merry Christmas everyone. Be festive. Be safe.

Holiday fun and household UN-fun

2008-12-14T21:41:00.005-07:00

We've been busy people in our home lately! I'm short on time so this post will be short, sweet, and to the point! =)

Thursday we went to Connor's swim meet. He is really good!! Unfortunately they lost the meet because they were going against the best swim team in the state.

Friday my work had our Christmas party and I made some delicious tacos!! Thanks everyone for your awesome recipes. I couldn't have done it without you!

Yesterday our family went Christmas-ing down town. It is not very often that all of the kids are home together on the same weekend - so we took advantage of this rare opportunity!

We went to Clark Planetarium and saw "Santa and the Snowman 3D".

BTW - if you have little kids and want to see a darling Christmas movie - this is the one!!

Even though it's kind of a 'little kid' movie - my teenagers loved it. They actually admitted it!

Then we boarded TRAX.

And met Todd for dinner. YUMMY!!

We saved the best for last!

About three weeks ago, I opened the mail to find that I received tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. I was so excited that I actually screeched!! I enter the lottery every year - and this is the first time I received tickets.

Along the way, we braved the crowds and saw the beautiful lights on Temple Square.

And made it to the concert. To my delight - our seats were excellent (it's hard to tell in this picture). There are just times in life when the stars align and things just work out. Yesterday was that day. The concert was amazing!! The choir, the orchestra, the reading - all incredible! I love this choir and the feeling I get when I hear their angelic voices. There was an AMAZING organ solo of the song "Go Tell it on the Mountain" that literally brought the house down!

It was a super weekend that ended with my mom's birthday celebration tonight!! Love you mom - hope you had fun.

And now for the bad news.

I'm stealing Elora's computer right now because mine is broken. Why? Not a clue. The 'Geek Squad' thinks it might need a new mother board. Yeah. That's fun.

I haven't mentioned that my oven died a few weeks ago and my washing machine is on the brink.

Alas - life is good. I will take appliance issues over the more serious challenges that other people are facing during this Christmas season.

But - this means I won't be blogging much during the next few weeks. {Please hold your applause}. I'll still be around - and I'll lurk and comment when I can.

I sure hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season!

Happy Birthday Maud the Broad!

2008-12-11T21:46:00.006-07:00

Today is my mother's birthday - December 12. She would be mad if I said her age - so I'll just say she looks barely old enough to be my mom! And that's the truth!

**My mom reads my blog so please leave her a comment and tell her Happy Birthday**

So - about the name Maud the Broad. First of all - my mom's name is Maudeen. I was kind of a crazy teenager and I'm so glad she made it through those years in one piece! I also had crazy friends - and they loved my mom! People just love to make her chuckle because she has a funny, hilarious, contagious kind of laugh. But getting back to the point - one of my friends - I actually think it was Cindy (aka Binders, Cynthia) - actually called my mother "Maud the Broad" once while she was at my house. My very fun mom laughed and laughed at that name and it stuck. Instead of being stuffy and hating that name - she thought it was hilarious.

Here is my lovely mama!

Isn't she pretty? She has stunningly beautiful eyes!

Here are some things I know about my mother!

She has a great laugh!
She loves makeup
She is beautiful
She is lucky
She drives a Mini Cooper (Jealous!)
She loves to play dice games - especially bunco
She is faithful and loyal
She is funny
She loves the color red
She loves the Gospel
She is competitive and loves winning radio contests!
She would do anything for her children and family
She has a favorite cup and a favorite chair
She loves Bryce Canyon and she gave me my love for Bryce Canyon
She makes the best potato salad in the world!
She has 4 children - 2 girls and 2 boys
She laughs at my dad's jokes
She is frugal
She loves licorice and jelly beans
She is spunky
She is very kind to everyone
She loves very deeply

Mom - I'm feeling bad that I'm not going to see you until Sunday. Have a super great wonderful jolly birthday. You are loved so very much!

Click HERE for a little something from your four kids....

Happy Birthday Maud the Broad!!

Help! Need a great taco recipe!

2008-12-10T19:09:00.004-07:00

I'm making tacos for 15 people and need a good recipe....chicken, beef, armadillo meat - doesn't matter. Just needs to be tasty. Do you have a yummy recipe to share?

Lucky!!

2008-12-09T20:36:00.005-07:00

I came home from work tonight to two great surprises! They made my night!

First - I won a giveway from author Annette Lyons!! She is giving her three winners a choice of any of her published books. Let me just tell you how hard it was to decide!!

But this was not a typical giveaway - this was a "Pay it Forward" giveaway. She included a challenge. In an effort to promote book sales - the winners are required to post their own "Pay it Forward" giveaway!! So - come back to my blog soon. This is such a clever idea. I love it!! Thank you Annette!! I can't wait to read your book.

Then .... I received a package in the mail from Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm.Why? Just because that's the way she is. Her blog is like a ray of sunshine!! Thank you so much, Shauna. That was so sweet of you. You are awesome. The chocolate? Sooooo gone!

And I can totally imagine what the rest of you are thinking about me right now...

You may even be thinking that I'm making this all up and I didn't really get these awesome gifts. To this I say..

Eat your hearts out!

Speaking of eating - it's time to go serve dinner...

Vote for the best Christmas Pic!

2008-12-07T09:00:00.002-07:00

The plan was to get our Christmas pictures taken this weekend. I had grand intentions. The lighting would be perfect. Clothes and hair would be perfect. Children and mama would be happy. The heavens would sing. Our family's Christmas card would be stunning!!

Yeah, that was the plan. It didn't turn out that way.

The lighting was bad. The photography was horrid. We were moody. It wasn't very fun.

Here are a few gems from the first batch...

I suggested going back to the park to take more pictures. "NO MOM!!! They look fine!"

I'm a mean mom - we went back.

The final results are not much better. The following 4 photos are the best of the nearly 60 that we took. I can't decide which one to use so I need your help!! Which of the following are the least frightening of the bunch?

Photo 1

(Do I look totally annoyed in this picture? Because I sooooo was....)

Photo 2.

Photo 3

Photo 4 .

So, what say you? 1, 2, 3, or 4?

How cute is Elora's new hairstyle?!!

2008-12-04T20:24:00.002-07:00

Before....

After!

I LOVE IT!!

Darren's films

2008-12-02T19:20:00.008-07:00

Before his mission, Darren loved to make videos. He created film after film - about anything and everything. It's what he loves. It was very hard for him to leave technology behind and journey to a foreign land. But he did it. I'm proud of him and I'm missing him.

As a side note - we learned yesterday in his weekly email that he was robbed last week. Darren was out with his companion and had two wallets on him - one was a fake wallet with only a few bucks in it. They got that wallet - but not without a scuffle. He's okay and he wasn't hurt! But it's hard for us here at home - we feel so helpless. Do any of you missionary moms have advice?

So for some reason, I'm remembering his videos these days and thought I would post my favorites. They mean more to me because I first started to love him when he was 10 years old (when I married his dad) - when he was precocious, creative, curious and had boundless energy. Through the years he channelled those traits into his filmmaking and became pretty darned talented! It was fun to watch.

So here are my faves....

(Sorry - I just deleted the first video. Too embarrassing for me)

The next video was for Larissa's school project a few years ago. Meltaways are my kids FaVoRiTe chocolatey treat...

This next video was a film-making competition that he signed up for. They had 24 hours to shoot a video and had several components that were required: they had to use the phrase "Dude, where's my car?"; have a shot of the sunrise; the city; a landmark etc. So - Darren had 24 hours to come up with a plot, film the video, and edit it. He was up all night! Btw - the lady in this movie is my mother-in-law!

The last one I'll post is of Heroes. HE LOVES THIS SHOW! It's a little gorey but I thought he did a great job with it...

When cooking goes very wrong...

2008-11-30T18:37:00.007-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days when things just turn out wrong? Today is that day for me.

My good intentions in the kitchen failed miserably.

Enjoy my misery...

These are supposed to be magic bars.

Being the die hard chocolate lovers that we are - we're still going to try a taste.

Apparently I did something wrong with this loaf of bread.

Oh yeah - we're still going to eat it - I'm off to fetch a chisel!

Tell me I'm not the only one with days like this...

A fun-filled Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T16:46:00.009-07:00

Ah, Thanksgiving. What is better than enjoying great food, family, and friends - all in one weekend? Here's a rundown...

Dinner was found at my humble abode this year. I learned that it is dangerous to seat my dad and brother at a table full of food and expect them to wait for the prayer. As I was taking this picture - I noticed the heaping mounds of (half-eaten) food upon their plates. They clearly could not be bothered with formalities such as saying "cheese" at my picture-taking attempts. Did they forget about my ruthless tendencies to post embarrassing photos? Like from this post?

Note the cup. The beautiful, perfect cup.

We had so much fun! Seriously, few people (if any) are funnier than my two brothers. When they get together - I never know what will come out of their mouths. And I just laugh. Usually I'm blubbering and drooling because I'm laughing so hard. I blame them for headache today - my laughter hangover.

Then - guess what I did today?!!!

WOOT! I met more blogging friends!!

Binders, Pam, Kitchen Ditcher, Tink and Moi

I have had so much fun getting to know my friends and fellow bloggers. You are all such beautiful, lovely women and I am so happy to know you!

After lunch - I met my hubcap and we picked out this..

I will have to blog about our tree incident one of these days - which is why we now buy real trees. Forgive me MCF.

Tomorrow, Todd and I are supposed to head up to the Yellowstone area to pick up the girls.

Usually - I jump all over the idea of a weekend jaunt up to that neck of the woods. Truly it is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

But all I really want to do this weekend is this:

Except I would be enjoying a bag of crazy bread instead.

Tonight - we're off to Twilight!

It's been a fabulous weekend and Thanksgiving and I'm reminded - it's only FRIDAY! I still have two more glorious weekend days. For that I am definitely thankful!

Food, glorious food!

2008-11-23T21:55:00.012-07:00

I have found the perfect antidote for beating the blues:

An early Thanksgiving dinner

Family

And lots of hugs

We had Thanksgiving dinner tonight at my mother-in-laws house. It was SCRUMPTIOUS! We are having dinner at my house on Thursday and I hope that my offerings are 1/8th as good as hers.

**Thanks to all of you wonderful friends who commented and sent me emails with advice for fighting discouragement. Your words touched my heart. Thank you! I feel soo much better tonight.

Have a great week!!

Discouragement

2008-11-23T11:27:00.007-07:00

Last night I found myself feeling discouraged, resentful, and slightly angry - familiar feelings that I had hoped would stay forever in the past.

I asked myself the 'why' questions. Questions that have no answers - at least not in this life.

This morning, I was still discouraged. This scripture came to mind:

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." D&C 122:7

Clearly, my life has not been so dramatic as to be cast into a pit or into the hands of murderers, but I will admit to feeling sorry for myself in the past for some of the things that have happened. Trials that are meant to give me experience.

I started a quest about a year ago to draw closer to the Savior and to leave the past behind me. To trust the Lord. To follow Him. To have faith.

Faith has been a difficult lesson for me to learn. I like to 'see' what I believe. I like tangible evidence. But as I've grown more faithful - so has my testimony grown.

I suppose it is normal for the old feelings to pop up now and again. I've learned a few things that have helped me to put it all into perspective. Tricks to reject the negativity and keep it out of my life.

This music/video helped me today. Take a minute and watch.

What do you do when you feel discouragement? What helps you to put things into perspective?

Great day with friends!

2008-11-22T21:15:00.005-07:00

Alyssa, Binders, Sher, Me, Frumpy, Mother Board, and Moxie (Debbie and her son Tyler came later).

I met these great ladies today! Before today they were just names and pictures on their blogs. Today they are friends.

Lunch was a lot of fun - it was great to finally meet all of you!

Twilight Obsession

2008-11-20T19:17:00.008-07:00

My cute girls are obsessed with Twilight.

OBSESSED!

They have read the books.

Reread the books.

Rereread the books.

Bought Twilight clothes.

Made Twilight clothes.

They have blogged about Twilight.

Dreamt about Twilight.

Dreamt about Edward.

Donated blood (seriously).

BEGGED for movie tickets to the midnight showing tonight (there is no school tomorrow - how convenient).

And have made me chuckle because of all the craze!!

Tonight is the movie and they are just a wee bit excited!!

My ladies - have a great time!

Are you going to the movie? Are you Twilight crazed too?

Bloggerama

2008-11-19T17:06:00.004-07:00

Not that I'm trying to brag or anything (okay - I admit that I'm totally bragging) - but I get to meet some of my favorite bloggers this month! Frump/Wonder Woman/ Julie/Motherboard?/ Sher?/Binders (who has been my bud since before the Driver's Ed incident) will be hangin' with me on Saturday.

Next week it's time to dish it with Kitchen Ditcher and Pam at Comcewens!! I might possibly even meet Shaila at DaBergs (hoping)!

Is anyone else going to be there? Tink?

Wahoo! Life is good.

Red is doin the hoodoo dance!

Gift Exchange - last chance!

2008-11-17T21:36:00.007-07:00

If you want to join in the gift exchange - please let me know by tomorrow morning. Here are the details.

These ladies have signed up to play...

Deb, Lonna, Alyssa, Linda, Sharon, Jeni, Lisa, Jody, Cindy, Shellie and moi.

Your secret person will be emailed to you by tomorrow night! Wahoo!!

Jody

2008-11-17T18:29:00.003-07:00

My friend Jody lost her father today. I'm sure she would appreciate some kind words. Please visit her blog here.

Todd is soooo Busted

2008-11-16T20:25:00.008-07:00

Tonight I was hanging up clothes in our closet.

Very innocent looking, don't you think?

As I was looking for a spare hanger, I found this...

A grocery bag was tucked neatly between his shirts.

Huh?

Upon closer inspection (because inquiring minds really want to know), I found this....

The motherload of chocolate.

Several things jostled around in my mind as I scurried for the camera to blog about my findings.

Why did he hide chocolate? Is he afraid I will get mad? That's silly - we have a pretty darn good marriage and he doesn't have to worry about 'hiding' things from me.

Did he forget that there is a stash of leftover halloween candy in our living room?

So after teasing him relentlessly (because that's my job), I asked him why he hid the chocolate.

The reason?

This kid.

Connor is our resident chocoholic and can sniff out the edible goodness within minutes.

Apparently, Todd wanted to hide some for himself before Connor got to it.

The perfect ending to a weekend. I love my little family and their shenanigans.

But, do tell - do you hide things from your kids? Do you have secret stashes?

Forgiveness

2008-11-16T09:35:00.003-07:00

Wherefore I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is requred to forgive all men.

D&C 64: 9-10

Weekend Love!

2008-11-14T19:19:00.011-07:00

Kids home? Check

Dinner? Check

Clean house? Uh - good enough. Check!

Weekend? Check!!

Time to check out my friends blogs? CHECK!!!

The weekend is here and I'm on the prowl. You may want to make your blogs private in the next few minutes because I'm going to check out everyone on my sidebar! None of your blogs are safe! Bwahahaha!

I love the weekends!

On my mark. Get set. GO!

A confession

2008-11-12T22:19:00.005-07:00

My kids love oranges - but I'm an apple kinda girl.

A lot of people I know love the color blue. But It's just not my thing.

And, my dear friends - I'm the lady who puts up her Christmas tree before Thanksgiving although a lot of people think it's a sin!

Except that it usually looks more like this....

And I have bravely, brazenly, bold faced-ly (is that a word) changed my blogging template to a Christmas theme in mid-November.

Can we still be friends? =)

Secret Santa - Blogger Style!

2008-11-11T11:55:00.021-07:00

I received a lot of responses in favor of a Christmas Gift Exchange. So here we go!!

**DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 - 6:00 PM (mst)**

1) Send me an email with your name and mailing address to redhoodoos at gmail.com

2) In the email, share your favorite color, music, snack/treat, type of music, books - and anything else you think your Secret Santa may want to know about you (decorating colors and style, etc).

3) Everyone who signs up will get to be a Secret Santa to someone. You will also be the recipient of a Secret Santa.

**I WILL SEND AN EMAIL TO YOU WITH THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU ARE 'GIVING TO' BY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18**

1) Please keep your gifts under $25 if possible.

2) Once you receive the name of the person you are giving to - have fun! Familiarize yourself with her blog and personality and make this a fun event for her. Send her secret cards or anonymous comments before sending the gift if you'd like.

3) Try and keep your identity a secret until the end!

**FINALLY - MAIL YOUR GIFT DURING THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 8**

**Note - I will be extremely careful about who participates. Only bloggers that have existing blogs can join in the fun. I will post the blog names of everyone participating.

These bloggers have signed up to play Santa!

http://lindanjake.blogspot.com/

http://gravelroadsanddaiquirisinthedirt.blogspot.com/

http://kitchenditcher.blogspot.com/

http://coloradomcewens.blogspot.com/

http://dabergsblog.blogspot.com/

http://amayzing-family.blogspot.com/

http://tink65.blogspot.com/

http://lisalouwho.blogspot.com/

http://shljanderson.blogspot.com/

http://thegregbeefamily.blogspot.com/

http://djshelley.blogspot.com/

Calling off the Wesley Berry Anger Post!

2008-11-11T11:49:00.002-07:00

The refund was in my account yesterday - as they promised.

I wasn't defrauded (like I feared) but it was a whole lot of inconvenient and the customer service was AWFUL.

Sooo.....buyer beware. For me - I'll be using a mom and pop's floral shop from now on!

Christmas Gift Exchange

2008-11-09T22:40:00.003-07:00

Come back Tuesday for more information about the Christmas gift exchange. (I'll try to put it up tomorrow but it's going to be a crazy busy day). This will be fun!

Christmas Love

2008-11-08T22:53:00.002-07:00

I would love to send all of my blogging friends a Christmas card next month.

If you are interested in receiving a card from moi - please send me an email with your address to redhoodoos at gmail dot com.

I hereby promise not to stalk, send bombs, give your address to anyone else, or tape cat fur to the card (sorry Janell - sometimes my cat obsession just eeks out in odd places).

Also - I think it would be fun to do a Christmas gift exchange with each other. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post something early this week.

If you are interested in a gift exchange - let me know the following:
1) Would you want your identity to be a secret until the time your person receives the gift from you? Or would you like it to be known from the start?
2) Should there be a gift $ limit? If so, what amount do you think it should be?

YAY - I'm finally starting to feel the Christmas spirit!!

Beware of Wesley Berry Flowers!

2008-11-08T16:47:00.008-07:00

I'm sending an email and posting about an experience I had - to warn you of a horrible company that I think defrauded me.

The company is WESLEY BERRY FLOWERS. Don't go there!! Whatever you do - stay away from this company.

Here is my experience...

A few weeks ago I googled florists and found this company. Their website is very professional and looked pretty legitimate. It's at http://www.wesleyberryflowers.com/

Have any of you ever heard of them?

I called customer service and ordered flowers and a dozen cookies. I wanted them sent to someone in a hospital out of state. I gave them my credit card. The money was taken out of my account the same day.

The next day I received an email from this company saying that they didn't have my item in stock and it wasn't delivered. Huh? An email? A day later?

I called them and asked what they were going to do. "I will request a refund for you. You will receive a refund in your account in 10-15 business days."

What?!! Why did they even take the money out of my account if they didn't have the item in stock? Couldn't they have found this out sooner so the recipient could still get her flowers before she checked out of the hospital?

So I've been silently fuming the last few weeks. Each day I check my account. Each day the refund is not there.

I decided to call them today. Clearly, I was not happy. I was ready to tell them of their poor customer service.

As a side note - it really takes a lot to get me mad. I am a pretty easy-going person.

I called a few minutes ago and spoke with a woman in their customer service department.

Me: Poor you. You had to take this phone call. I'm not happy at all.
Her: Sigh. Were you just speaking to someone? (I thought this was fairly 'telling')
Me: No.
Her: Sigh. What's the matter?

I explained the situation. Told her I was unhappy that they debited the money out of my account if the item wasn't even available. blah blah blah.

Her: Just a minute. Click - she put me on hold. I wait. MAAM - Your money will be taken out within 24 hours.
Me: You mean it will be put back 'into' my account, right?
Her: Oh yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for calling. BYE.
Me: Wait!
Her: Click.

She hung up on me.

I was sooo not done with that conversation. I didn't hear one "sorry for the inconvenience". Not even a simple "sorry". Nothing but rudeness. I was calm throughout the entire conversation. Never once was I rude to her.

I called her back because now I was as mad as a hornet. I wasn't going to be calm anymore!! Someone picked up the phone and hung it up again.

!

I am just astounded. I got online and found that I'm clearly not the only one who has had problems with this company. There were pages and pages of complaints.

I will be calling a manager on Tuesday morning if there is not a refund in my account.

It's not the money that upsets me. It's the way I've been treated. They took my money. Didn't send the flowers and then told me it would be 2-3 weeks before I would get my money back.

I don't understand why some people/companies can't be honest and forthright.

So beware of this company. Tell your friends to beware. It is a nationwide online florist. I hope I see my money on Monday - but I'm not counting on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a happy note - have a great Sunday!

Making lemonade out of lemons..

2008-11-06T19:41:00.004-07:00

It happens every year. Whether we like it or not - we can all expect to get older. Unfortunately, it's that time of year for me. If I'm still blogging next year you will get to hear (er, read) my whining, kicking, and screaming because it will be the year of the big 40! Holy cow - 40! (But I don't want to talk about that.)

At the risk of sounding doom and gloom - it seems like something bad happens every November. Seriously, every year in November there is an incident of some sort.

One year I hit a dog. Another year it was the Driver's Ed incident (which was really the last week of October, but I'm counting it). One year I was called to work the shift for a girl who was murdered the night before (this was a horrific experience for me). Last year was the mother load of multiple bad incidents. Go here to be truly entertained! (It was technically my first blog post).

It is seriously uncanny.

So every year I usually brace myself and just wait for the events to unfold. I tend to get pretty discouraged during the month of November. But this year I'm going to try to have a positive mindset through it all. Of course I can't control everything that happens, but I can control my responses to the events. I can be grateful.

So far this month, there have been a couple of incidents. Nothing major, and I really hope this is it! I can handle this.

Yesterday at 6:00 am I received a phone call from my husband and son, who were stranded in our season's first big snow storm. They couldn't make it up the hill that goes up our mountain. Cops were patrolling the hill and we were worried that they would close it to all traffic (as they often do in the winter). But hey - positive mindset, right? I drove down in a sturdier vehicle, picked them up, and brought them home! No roads were closed. It all turned out okay! They made it home safe and sound.

I was hoping that was going to be my only "November Incident" this year. But alas - I had another one this morning.

This morning, I was driving to pick up Connor from swim practice. I took a freeway exit and headed for the left turn lane when I heard a pop and a hissssss. 30 seconds later my back tire was completely flat. Fortunately, I made it through the light and I pulled into a parking lot, and just sat there trying to figure out what to do.

I really tried to find the good in this incident.

The Good News - I have a husband who can fix anything!
The Bad News - he left his cell phone at home.

So, I called his desk. No answer. I had him paged - Victory Was MINE! He would leave work to rescue his wife who was in distress.

While I waited, and while looking for the positive in this little issue - guess what I found?

My camera!! I soooo launched into blogging mode.

This is how I felt about having a flat tire:

Luckily, my dear husband came to my rescue. (Except that he wasn't too thrilled about me taking his picture doing manly things...) And luckily my son found another ride to school.

Todd messed around with the tire for a while before telling me the bad news - we didn't have the tool that he needed to get the spare.

But he had a great idea! Let's take the tire off of the car and drive it to Big O. They can patch the tire and then we can drive back and throw the tire on the vehicle.

Except that the tire had a gaping hole in the side and couldn't be 'patched'.

But as luck would have it - I had 4 snow tires in the back of the car.

I was actually going to have them installed on Saturday - but hey - there's no time like the present! So off we drove to Big O on this beautiful Thursday morning.

And here I am again - a happy camper!

I'm sooo hoping that this post is the end of my infamous bad November luck for 2008. But if not, I'm sure blog land will be the first to know!

Jan's Awesome Giveaway!

2008-11-04T22:14:00.002-07:00

Did you vote?

2008-11-04T19:30:00.002-07:00

Todd and Creature are sooooo in the DOG HOUSE!

2008-11-03T19:04:00.013-07:00

Yes, it's another cat post - AND IT'S AN ANGRY CAT POST!

I am the angry elf.

I realize that after this post I may lose both of my readers - but please find it in your hearts to allow me to rant about the conspiracy that has been brewing, BEHIND MY BACK, in the walls of my own home.

First, behold the cutest cat in the world. Surely there has never been a more lovable feline.

Even the biggest cat hater EVER has to admit that he is downright adorable.

For years I have lovingly cared for this cat. He adores me. He follows me everywhere I go. We have an understanding. When I come home, I call for my cat. I hear him jump off of my bed and he runs down the stairs. He rubs against me and purrs. He loves his mommy. (Yes, I just said that. Please don't mock me.)

But he has betrayed me.

Because this guy bought catnip.

Oh, he may look sweet. Handsome. Innocent. But don't let that cute face fool you. He has beguiled my cat into thinking that HE is the cat's meow.

Todd has used this past weekend to his advantage and has gained major brownie points with my cat. He has spent the weekend feeding him catnip drugs. Today he came home before me and laced Creature's cat food with it.

HOW CAN I COMPETE WITH THAT?

Now, when I come home - he doesn't come running. When Todd calls him - Creature scampers to his new master. He stares at Todd with eyes full of anticipation for the never-ending catnip.

I just want you to know that I am not happy about this.

There is no point to this post. There is no moral. There is no ending question in an effort to get comments. This is it.

I am an angry elf.

Grateful

2008-11-02T20:16:00.011-07:00

Wonderful Kitchen Ditcher left a comment on my blog and said "You are so blessed with your family Red." That made me beam from ear to ear - because she is so right.

Aren't we all lucky to have loved ones? People that mean the world to us?

Here are some random photos from the busy last two weeks.

Connor's first swim meet (He's the swimmer on the far right)

Connor - I'm so proud of you~!

Larissa's Choir Concert. She's the beauty in red/black.

She is such a sweetheart.

Creature snuggling with Elora. He can't decide if he's a cat or a human. Children and animals love to be around Elora. So do I.

I had to laugh at Elora's socks...

They just don't look comfortable to me! LOL.

My amazing husband.

Finally, here is a portion of a letter from my missionary son, Darren.

"I realized also that I haven't always been the best son and that it has taken some real patience to raise a child like me! Yikes! I think I get it now... I thought I had it back then.

To my Moms! As far as support and love I've never seen better examples of unselfishness and forgivness than I have seen come from both of them. I sure pushed them to the limits! But I really can't believe how much I am missing them. Of all the "things" I thought I would miss I didn't really understand just how much my family means to me.I find that I am not catching myself saying, "gee, I wish I had spent more time working" or "I should have gotten in one last 'Halo Night' with my friends." Instead I find that the things I miss most were the ones I spent the least amount of time with.

I wish we had had more game nights, more time to fish, more trips through the mountains picking berries, more fun times feeding the squirrels at Bryce. My family(s), and just how lucky am I to have two of them! Mean everything to me! I wish I had helped out more, spent more time working on cars or making the burden lighter for my parents."

I am so thankful for my family.

Our family of spooks

2008-10-31T21:03:00.010-06:00

Elora the Widow Maker

Larissa the Gypsy

Connor skipped out on Halloween this year...still spooky, nonetheless.

And a house full of teenagers

Terrifying, for sure.

Happy Halloween!

Skeleton in the closet

2008-10-26T15:22:00.009-06:00

Every year during the week of Halloween I am reminded of an event that has always haunted me to the core of my being. Throughout the rest of the year the memory is a mere nuisance - a recollection that can be stuffed into my subconscious mind. But today however, I'm feeling a little brave. After you read this - breathe a long sigh of relief that this never happened to you. If it did happen to you - I'll be shocked - but I will be happy to have found my kindred spirit. We can be BFF's.

For those of you who don't know this part of my past - enjoy. I expect to be mocked. It's okay - I'm bracing myself. I can take it. I'm willing to get this over with so that I can lock it back up into the past where it belongs.

I should mention too - that as far as embarrassing stories go - this is at the top of my list - but doesn't even scratch the surface of the mortifying event that Jennifer H. endured. (Go read her story - your self esteem will be boosted and you will sing HALLELUJAH that this didn't happen to you).

At the end of this post you will see why I am especially spooked this year.

But first - take a minute to enjoy this gem from the 80's.

The event happened exactly 22 years ago, during the week of Halloween, while I was a sophomore in High School.

I was taking Driver's Ed at Hillcrest High. We were on the range at the school practicing stops, turns, and parallel parking. We all drove around in the school's driver's ed cars - hideous Dodge Darts (I actually don't remember what kind of cars they were - I just remember they looked like they withstood years of abuse from young students learning how to drive). However, that year the school purchased a brand spanking new Pontiac Grand Am. It was beautiful to behold and we all fought for a turn driving it.

It was my turn to drive it.

It is important to note that I had previously been driving the ugly Dodge Dart. I parked the car and ran over to the Grand Am for my 'turn' driving it.

Oh, how I wish I could turn back time.

I hopped into the Grand Am. I'm sure I was beyond myself with excitement to be able to drive it. I enjoyed a nice leisurely drive on the range for a few minutes. I knew I would have to give up the Grand Am in a few minutes to the next student and I just didn't want to let go.

The driver's ed instructor told me to pull into a parking space in front of a light pole, stop, and then back out of the parking place. BTW - I was alone in the car. The instructor stood on top of a tower and barked his orders at us.

I thought this task was a piece of cake. Easy cheesy.

Here is where it gets a little fuzzy in my mind. Chen and Bean - you probably remember the 'incident' better than anybody - please feel free to correct me if I have ~~purposefully left out~~ overlooked glaring facts. Be nice.

I pulled into the parking place. At the end of the parking place was a light pole. I realized I was going a little too fast and knew I would have to push on the brake pedal or I would end up hitting the light pole. I quickly pushed the brake - hard - and realized TO MY HORROR - that I confused the gas pedal and the brake. I pushed the gas pedal and drove the car INTO THE LIGHT POLE.

Okay. Breathe. I'm getting a little worked up reliving this horrible event.

I don't remember the details that followed. I just remember the eyes. EYES! Eyes belonging to my fellow students - staring at me as I sobbed. I sobbed uncontrollably as the realization of what I did became clear. I mangled the front end of the brand new Grand Am. Then, in a flash, my mommy was there. Thank goodness for loving and wonderful mommies.

I spent the rest of the year trying to downplay the incident. Luckily I had wonderful friends who laughed at me rather than shunning me for life. By the end of the year - it was mostly forgotten - until the yearbook came out and on the center page was a lovely color photo of the mangled wreck.

I looked for my yearbooks and unfortunately I think they are buried in the ~~dungeon~~ basement. No worries - I think I've supplied you with enough arsenal to launch a pretty healthy attack of scorn and mockery at me.

Why am I bringing this up? My charming, handsome, and adorable son is taking driver's ed right now. Shudder.

Connor - I forgive you if you slam into a light pole.

To everyone else - please share your most awful, embarrassing skeletons in your closet.

Catching up!

2008-10-19T17:01:00.014-06:00

{I have tried to format this post and align the pictures with no luck. I'm accepting and releasing.}

My blogging has been a little sporadic lately and I need to catch up on some of our family’s events. This might be lengthy – I’ll throw in a smattering of blackmail pictures of my children and husband so you aren’t too incredibly bored. Blackmail pictures always seem to make me smile

In September, the girls and I went to CATS. As a background story - when Larissa was 4 years old, and I was newly married to her father – she would always want to make ‘kiddie’ houses in her bedroom out of blankets. After a while, it donned on me that she was actually making ‘kitty’ houses. Ahhh! The lights came on for me. I soon realized that this cute little girl was CRAZY about cats and I wanted to take her to the Broadway production of CATS. I had seen it before and loved it!! So, CATS finally came to Salt Lake and I was able to take my pretty ladies.

Another exciting event in our household is this -

After 4 years – Elora finally had her braces taken off! And there was much rejoicing in the land….

Connor made his high school’s swim team! Some days he has swim practice twice a day – he is very dedicated. We went shopping for Speedo’s last week. I asked him if I could see and he said “no”. His first meet in October 23 and he won’t be able to hide from me and my camera for too long.

I am the young women’s coach in my ward and we have been playing volleyball.

Here are my superstars:

Todd, Connor, and I dropped off Elora and Larissa at their mom’s house last weekend and we headed up to Yellowstone. It was cold and it snowed!! It was a wonderful weekend. Of course, I’ve never had a bad weekend up there.

By Sunday morning – we hadn’t seen a single animal.

Just as we were about to turn around and head back to the motel – we saw this jaywalking critter.

After seeing the coyote, we were encouraged and ventured further into Yellowstone. A little bit later we happened upon a herd of Buffalo.

The motherload

I think this guy was ticked that I was invading his personal bubble.

They are huge creatures

We even saw elk - so beautiful.

This bozo was a little special. He was looking for the bathrooms and kept looking in the wrong direction.

And I've saved the best for last!

I finally met my first blogging friend.

I had dinner with Jody! We went to Mi Ranchitos in Sandy. She and her husband are a lot of fun. Go check out her blog here.

Would love to meet anyone else who lives in the area, btw!!

And.....drum roll, please....

I won Lisa's Chocolate giveaway!! Woot!!

I got a phone call from three bored kids on Friday who said, "Mom - a package was just dropped off and we think it's the CHOCOLATE!"

I made them take pictures and send them to me at work.

Yeah baby!

I actually took this picture today. A lot of the chocolate has been eaten! It surely wouldn't last long in this house!

Life is good!

THANK YOU LISA LOO!! You are such a sweet gal. Her daughter just had hip surgery last Friday. I can only imagine what she's been going through. Go visit her blog here and send her some good wishes.

Well, that's all I got! Have a great Monday tomorrow.

So gross...

2008-10-16T20:09:00.006-06:00

A house full of teenagers is never dull - and mine is certainly no exception! Just now, I witnessed something so heinous, so truly disgusting, I had to post about it.

My daughter, who will unfortunately remain nameless, was enjoying chips and salsa. As she made it to the end of the salsa container, I watched her as she eyed the last few tablespoons of the salsa juice left in the bottom.

Now - to preface, it wasn't the kind of salsa that is pictured here - it was the fresh tomato chunk kind of salsa. So all that was left was the juicy debris at the bottom.

I saw her drink the salsa juice.

I know it seems as though I'm picking on my kids lately - but I'll have you know that there are many many funny things they do that I just shake my head at. I show an incredible amount of restraint by NOT posting the volumes of shenanigans that occur in my house on a daily basis.

INCREDIBLE RESTRAINT, I tell you.

Now I just have to know - would you drink the last few tablespoons of salsa? Do you have strange food fetishes?

Embarrassing brothers

2008-10-13T21:45:00.005-06:00

Growing up, I was sandwiched between two brothers. One was five years older and the other was five years younger. Now that I'm in my older and wiser (cough!) years, I can say that I have the greatest brothers in the world. But back when I was in high school - they were horrifyingly embarrassing and were especially ruthless when a guy showed up at my door to take me on a date. Oh, I dreaded those times like a fiery, burning pit in my soul.

Okay - to be fair, it was mostly my older brother Ken. But, younger brother Brian, I have not yet forgiven you of the air freshener incident that caused the minor fire in the brand new car for which I have taken the blame all of these years.

But getting to the point.

My sweet daughter Elora had an experience this weekend that she will not likely forget due to the embarrassing antics of her brother.

The story goes like this:

Elora: Hey Larissa, take a picture of me wearing the hat that "L" gave me
Larissa: Why?
Elora: So I can send it to him. He wanted me to send him a picture of me.

The photo was taken. The photo was sent to "L".

Hours later, Elora had a better look at the picture, and shrieked at the top of her lungs....

*The above photo is posted by permission. Elora's authorization and release are on permanent file in the family archives.

I'm so sorry Elora.

Brothers aren't always embarrassing - it's just that they usually are when we don't want them to be. (deep thought, I know).

News Challenged

2008-10-07T19:15:00.017-06:00

My dear husband ~~sensing that I'm a wee bit obsessed~~ challenged me to not watch or listen to the news for an entire week.

An entire week!! (Not a typo).

Normally, when I'm not grounded, I like to watch the news while getting dressed and ready for work. Toggling between channels 5 and 13 provides the visual stimuli needed to start the day.

Then, in an obstacle course worthy of American Gladiators - I flip off the tv and run down the stairs, while I simultaneously grab my purse, pet my cats, and yell at to Connor that I'm out in the car. I feel a little thrill when I finally turn the key in the ignition and I hear the soothing sounds of my beloved news station - KSL 1160.

Lunchtime news gives me an added jolt through my work day and I unwind with KSL again on my drive home.

Is this behavior a little abnormal or do you feel as addicted as I do? With the economy and the presidential elections ~~and the OJ Simpson trial~~ - are you drawn to the radio and the tv like I am?

I'm not sure I'll survive the week - I'll let you know. But looking on the bright side - I did find a music station that plays 80's music during my lunch hour.

Duran Duran just may keep me sane!

Autumn in the air

2008-10-05T11:43:00.011-06:00

I love this time of year. Here are some of my favorite things.

The smells of cinnamon and spices.

General Conference. I loved President Monson's talk during the Sunday

morning session. The choir sang my favorite song -

"I Know that My Redeemer Lives."

Mmmm. Pumpkin Pie. Mmm.

The changing of the leaves.

My Nancy Drew game that comes out each October.

Black cats.

The first hint of snow (from this morning).

But there are two things I'm definitely NOT looking forward to...

SNOW! I'm not ready for this!

CHRISTMAS!! AHHH!!

Are you ready???

Have you started your shopping?

Sicko

2008-10-02T13:45:00.004-06:00

<--- This is me today.

Can you believe I called in sick to work? I haven't even been there a month yet. It's killing me.

I feel awful!! I've slept all morning and haven't even felt well enough to play the Nancy Drew game that showed up on my porch yesterday.

It occurred to me yesterday that I haven't had the flu or a cold for about a year because I haven't worked for the past year. Working in an office is like the daycare syndrome. When one person gets it - we all get it.

So this weekend, I'm stocking up on all things anti-sickness - hand sanitizer, vitamins etc etc.

What do you do to fight off evil germs?

Bloggy Love

2008-09-30T19:14:00.007-06:00

Each day on my way to work I see a cute little mom walking her three kids to school. I love seeing her because she always has a smile on her face as she is talking with her kids. The kids obviously love being with her because they are usually laughing and smiling too.

The first day I saw them I just sat and stared. I was waiting at a light and they were walking through section of road that is under construction. The kids were listening intently to something their mother was saying. Then came the smiles. I tell you - each day I see them it is the same scenario! And it warms my heart. I look forward to seeing them each day. I sometimes have the urge to pull over and give her a hug.

This is how I feel about my blogging friends!

I can't wait to read your posts. I love hearing of the fun and exciting things in your lives. I laugh when you share embarrassing stories and funny events. I hurt for you when you are hurting or experiencing hardships.

Each one of you brings something to my life. I love all of you and your blogs for so many reasons. You inspire me. You make me laugh. Really laugh! You make me stop and think about the important things in life. You've even made me cry.

So, if your name is on my sidebar, you inspire me. You make me want to be better.

Thank you!

So, gather 'round everyone for a great big group hug - redhoodoo style!

Random

2008-09-27T15:36:00.007-06:00

Cute Tammy tagged me! Thanks.

The rules of the tag are to name 7 random things about yourself and then tag 7 others.

Let the randomness begin!

1) I am extremely claustrophobic. I hate being trapped or confined in any way. Shudder!

2) I have an ice-cube fixation. I love ice. I have ice with me at all times of the day.

3) The other night I had a dream that my SIL adopted a human-sized baby beetle. She dressed it really cute but I couldn't get past the hideousness of it. Just ew!

4) I have lived in Tallahassee, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Santaquin, Layton, North Ogden, Murray, East Millcreek, Draper, West Jordan, Salt Lake City and Sandy.

5) I am hot. Well, what I mean to say is that besides the way I look, I usually FEEL hot. After drying and straightening my hair in the mornings, I can be found opening all of the windows in the vicinity and turning my floor fan on high. Phrases like "I CAN'T WAIT TIL IT'S WINTER" and "WHY DOESN'T IT SNOW INSIDE THE HOUSE" come spewing out of my mouth at a fevered pitch. At this point my son will come running into the bathroom and laugh hysterically at my frenzied state. Then he will proceed to inform others in the house that I'm having another 'hot flash'. Dear child. I have to wait until I'm in the parking lot at work to put on my makeup or else it would probably melt off of my face. Yeah, I'm hot!

6) I love the nicknames family and friends have given me. Red. Higgie. Showie. Yikket. Josephine. Chickie. Jodster. Missy. JLW. J-Lo. Higgs. Chod. Yikkety Yikkety Yak. Bodi. Bo Bodi. Momster. Stepmomster. I also love to give nick names!

7) I love playing the Nancy Drew computer games. Okay - I know they are for younger girls and not for moms of teenagers who have hot flashes - but they are sooo much fun. I have played every single game and cannot wait for the next one that comes out next month. I usually giggle maniacally when I see the UPS fairy dropping the box off onto my porch.

So now I tag 7 (or so) people and then I will stalk your blogs and learn random things about you. I tag my real life friends this time: Rusty, Cindstress, Amanda, Tash Bo Bash, Lonna, MCF, Melissa, Carrie, Nicki, Susan, Megan, and Karlie.

Work and balance

2008-09-20T11:34:00.008-06:00

I have survived two weeks of being back in the workforce. Whew! I wasn't sure I could do it. I forgot that eight hours were so long. Those eight hours flew by when I was at home.

I am reminded of the things that I liked and didn't like about working. The pros and cons have come screaming back to me again, as if I haven't had a year-long sabbatical.

PROS:

1) People. It's nice being around people again during the day. I have strong hermit-like inclinations so it is good for me to be out and about. It is good to laugh with others. It is good to enjoy lunch with new friends. It is fun to get to know new faces...and when you start a new job - EVERYONE is a new face.

2) Clothing. Going back to work means I get to dress up and not walk around in fuzzy slippers and pajamas during the day. Yay for me and for all who live with me. I have actually broken out the ironing board a few times lately. Miracles never cease!

3) Building and location. Holy cow - the building I work in is beautiful and it is in a perfect location. My building is next to a golf course and at the base of a canyon. The view of the city is incredible. At least that's what I hear. I sit in the dead center of the building and don't have much of a view. But the word from those that sit near the outskirts is that it's pretty incredible!=)

4) Money. A little extra cash is always good.

5) My job function. I love what I do. I work in the licensing department for a physician staffing company (aka locum tenens) and I love it. I am a total nerd when it comes to doing my job. I love being organized. I love being efficient. I love being busy. I love results! Love it!
CONS:

1) Guess what I did over the weekend.

DUN DUN DUN......

But that's not all - there was also grocery shopping, ironing, and general cleaning of the humble abode. Do you think my kids are saving it all for me during the week because they think I miss it?

2) Tired! At the end of the day, I am soo tired. I sit at a desk all day so I'm not sure why I'm so exhausted. I think I just need to get used to my new schedule. Hopefully it will get easier.

3) Exercise - or the lack therof. I have exercised one time in the last two weeks. Again - the tired thing. What are some things you do? How do you make time for it? I'll take all the advice I can get.

4) Blogging. I have put blogging toward the bottom of my priorities. Something that has given me so much joy is now at the bottom of my list. I still lurk, by the way. I don't always comment, but I read your blogs and they inspire me daily.

5) Family. Unfortunately, my family gets a busier mom. They get a more stressed drama mama. I am controlled by the clock and don't have time for the smallest of inconveniences. I'm easily annoyed by the simple things. Usually it's the things that might make me late for work. Such as the homework left at home that is realized on the way to school. The "oh mom, I'm out of lunch money" as I'm dropping the kids off. Little things. Small things that tend to make steam come out of my ears.

I don't want my kids to remember a stressed mom. I know I'm human, but I want them to remember me as fun, loving and caring. Not stressed. I'm trying to find balance and I know it will all work out. Maybe I should try a little T'ai Chi or yoga. T'ai Chi anyone??

But overall, I feel blessed. Stressed, but blessed.

Just now, my cute daughter Larissa shared a scripture with me that she has memorized. She said, "Mom, Tessa read a really neat scripture in Young Women's today that I memorized."

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do man light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine forth before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in Heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

I'm blessed indeed.

For a good laugh...

2008-09-15T21:49:00.003-06:00

My kids have made me a fan of Brian Regan. He is hilarious! Here is one of our favorite clips. The "dead yak" had us rolling!

Enjoy!

Wow...

2008-09-08T20:35:00.004-06:00

Lovely, wonderful Jan posted this incredible video on her blog. I cried. Please watch it.

Burnside family, I am thinking of you all right now. Love you.

Thank you!

2008-09-08T18:16:00.005-06:00

I was so pleased to see your comments wishing me well today. Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness and kind words. It made my day!

I survived. The house didn't burn down while I was away. I think I really like this company and my job.

Life is good.

Now on to more important things like catching up on your blogs!

Sometimes this is how I feel ...

2008-09-07T21:31:00.000-06:00

Gloom, Despair, and Agony

2008-09-05T18:45:00.004-06:00

Push start to set the tone for my somber mood.

After exactly one year at home, I am going back to work. Work. W.O.R.K!

AGGGGGHHH!!

Work. As in cubicle. As in having a boss. As in being confined for 8 HOURS A DAY!

Monday is the Day of Doom.

For me, there will be less time to blog while lounging in fuzzy slippers and engorging on crazy bread. Most of my spare time will be spent with my husband and offspring.

Sadly, my blogging may become even more sporadic than it already has been lately. I will still stalk your blogs because I get such a kick out of my blogging pals. You all are truly the best!

Please say that even when you move on to more frequently written, exciting, normal, and clever blogs, ones that don't talk about cats and cups, you won't forget about me.

Love,

Red

Home again

2008-09-02T00:13:00.013-06:00

Since school has started, I'm finding it a lot more difficult to get access to the computer. I mean, my children act as if their homework is more important than my blogging! ;)

Todd and I went on another excursion to Yellowstone. It will probably be the last time for a while. It was crowded, cold, rainy, we noticed few animals, but it was WONDERFUL!

We went on a drive to the top of a mountain near Island Park. We go to Island Park (near Yellowstone) several times a year but we had never explored the backcountry to the west.

The top of the mountain was shrouded in fog. The cool air was so inviting.

Every winding turn showed us something new.

Todd and I had a wonderful conversation and actually kicked around the idea of moving to the Yellowstone area after Larissa graduates high school in four years. Who knows?!

On our way home, we stopped at this gas station in Ashton, Idaho.

I really didn't think the trip could get any better. But it soooo did.

THEY SELL MY CUPS! Remember my obsession over a cup? (Read cup post here).

And I stocked up on even more of these babies.

Aren't they beautiful?

And while picking up the girls from their mom's house on the way home, I got to hold these little cuties.

A great weekend, indeed. And I think we're done traveling for a while. Maybe life can get back to normal again! (Ha!)

Creature the couch potato

2008-08-29T17:59:00.008-06:00

Sorry, this is another cat post. I realize I'm a freak about my cats - but I can't seem to help it! I can only imagine how I would be with a dog!

But this is really cute.

The tv was on Animal Planet and I was doing other things. I happened to look over at Creature and saw that he was mesmerized by the kangaroos on tv. A commercial came on and he closed his eyes for a minute. When the show came back on - he opened his eyes and watched it again!

Here he is. The shot is fuzzy because I was trying to be discreet. I didn't want him to look away. (Okay, the real reason is because I'm camera challenged).

(Isn't he the cutest cat in the world? And even if you hate cats, which so many people do, you have to concede that he is at least cuter than most cats. Right? You do agree, don't you? Come on, I can take it).

Thank you for indulging me in my cat-obsessed post. I will wait at least a week before I post about him again.

Do your pets do funny, almost human type things?

Todd's hair-o-rama

2008-08-27T18:40:00.005-06:00

I was inspired by Mother Goose's post and wanted to share the love. Here is my dear husband in all of his glory. Vote for your favorite hairstyle and while he's sleeping, I'll get out my shears...

Original pic...

I call this next picture Todd's wannabe "Snape" look...

Lookin' good, babe!

Good times, indeed!

2008-08-26T19:01:00.009-06:00

Good things are happenin' around these here parts. Not only did the human-caused (grr) fire get doused (well, mostly)....

But my cute kids started school and liked their classes (for the most part)...

And, Connor got his braces off last Friday (can you see him just practically oozing with happiness and being more than willing to smile for me?)...

And, I love this next piece of good news.

But, please don't think I'm a horrible mother.

Oh, but I really was so horribly mean.

But to preface, Elora really deserved it! She takes full advantage of April Fool's Day and any other opportunity to scare, torment, tease, shock, or terrorize her family (especially me)!

Okay. So, the story goes like this. I was helping Todd trouble-shoot our failed air-conditioning unit (yes, failed! As in - failed in 100° temperatures - PFFT!) in the basement over the weekend (okay, actually I wasn't helping him trouble shoot - let's be honest here - I was just holding the flashlight). I happened to noticed the ugly creature (no, not the cat. And have you noticed that I'm the queen of parentheses today?) in the corner. I had forgotten about this ugly specimen and decided to put him to good use. See below....

Meet Bob.

Well, as luck would have it, Elora's room is in the basement. And she was gone with her friends. And wouldn't be home until about 1 in the morning - when it was very very dark.

You can probably imagine where this is going. MEAN, huh?! Sooooo cruel that it makes me giggle just thinking about it. Seriously laughing here.

When she came home from her outing with her friends, she went down to her very dark room and found good old Bob hanging in the doorway.

She said she screamed and karate-chopped Bob.

And again I assert - I'M NOT A BAD MOTHER!

(I should probably mention here that Elora declared war with me and scared me with Bob the next night - and I screamed louder - but that's beside the point).

Getting back to the original point of this post leads me to the most joyous event of all!!

My dear, sweet, wonderful husband has repaired the stupid air-conditioner and life has become wonderful again!

And Creature the cat is happy - and that's all that really matters!

Fire on the mountain - part 2

2008-08-25T18:39:00.007-06:00

Well, the fires have died down - thank goodness!! It was very interesting for a while there. Apparently the fires came fairly close to some homes and people were evacuated. No homes have been destroyed but it was too close for comfort. Thanks for your phone calls and emails. Love you guys!

Here is a view of the fires tonight.

A few hours ago.

Wow!

Apparently everyone driving down our hill was just as interested in the fires as I was.

Here is a view from Connor's school. (Yes, we really do live this far away from schools. Grrr!!)

Hey, I found the Microsoft Paint program which showcases my absolute inability to draw. Straight arrows are apparently too complicated! LOL.

But moving on....

I hate that the beautiful hills have been destroyed by fire but glad no one was hurt!

Waaaaay too close. This temple is still under construction.

View from Larissa's school.

Our community's fire station - under construction.

Oh, the irony.

Fire on the mountain

2008-08-25T13:09:00.006-06:00

There is a fire burning on a mountain a few miles from our home right now. It has created quite the attraction as a lot of people in the neighborhood (including me, Elora, and Creature) are outside taking pictures. We are okay - it's still far enough away that I'm not concerned about it reaching our little hill.

Interestingly, I was working on something on the computer and decided to check the news. I read the story about the fire and Elora and I looked out our back window and saw this photo. The second photo is two blocks away from my home. I'll post more later - gotta go get my kids from their first day of school!

Blogging Slump and Change

2008-08-21T16:12:00.004-06:00

I've been in a blogging slump, I guess you could say. Hopefully I'm back for good this time!

Do you ever blog slump? I suppose it's good to take a break every once in a while.

We've also been busy with back to school shenanigans - clothes shopping, cleaning rooms, cleaning the house, school supplies shopping, orthodontist checkups, registration, school tours, etc etc.

And we've been busy with non back to school shenanigans like exercising (Yep, I'm still going), job hunting (looks like a temporary job is in order), family get-togethers etc etc.

I think I'm a little sad that it's time for school to start - which means the end of summer (and warm weather). When my kids were younger I couldn't wait for school to start so I could have some order again. But my kids have been gone a lot this summer and I haven't had enough time with them. (I never thought I'd hear myself say that one!). We haven't played enough games or had enough heart-to-heart talks.

'Tis life, I suppose. Time rolls forward and we make the best with what we have. We learn to welcome the change that comes with the seasonal winds and stop wishing our children were younger.

As mothers we hope for the best for our kids, don't we?! We hope our kids will do well in school. We hope they will be involved - and busy (so they will stay out of trouble). We hope they will want to come home and give us hugs. We hope they will drive safely!! We hope they will stay strong against peer-pressures and will make good friends. We hope they will develop talents and gain confidence in themselves. We hope we taught them well.

School starts Monday and then I will only have 4 years left until my youngest graduates. Connor starts high school this year. Ouch. He's learning to drive. Double ouch! He may go to his first homecoming or prom. OUCH!!

I will take a deep breath, say lots of prayers, give lots of hugs, and hope they have their best year yet! I will try to embrace these changes - but I make no promises!

Are you ready for school to start?

Catching up

2008-08-15T12:54:00.016-06:00

I've missed my blogging friends terribly! I feel so out of sorts when I'm not posting about 'stuff'.

Here's what's been happenin'!

Todd's cute nephew Chris got married. It was sooo beautiful up there! He and Toni looked so happy.

Monday was Todd's competition shoot-out. It was Corporate Games at his work and they took bronze. You go husband!

Check out my husband's mad shooting skills.

*The author of this blog would like readers to know that her husband would never shoot furry, cute animals. He's a 'target' man.

I'm thinking a Corporate Games men's calendar is in order. Here are January, February and March.

We registered Connor for HIGH SCHOOL on Wednesday. Holy cow - he only has three years left. My smart kid has some awesome classes!

Wednesday was also Connor's 16th birthday. Yeah, a bragging blog will be heading this way soon.

I LOVE this picture!

And he received a very nice birthday present - he gets his braces off next Friday! Woot!

The dentist strapped his mouth closed for the last two weeks. It's been nice.

Yesterday I had lunch with my hilarious and fun friends Lorrie and Michelle (MCF). Of course, I left my camera in the car...but you can check out MCF's blog here.

{BREAKING NEWS}

Todd just called with a notable tone of interest to his voice as he told us about some breaking news. Apparently Big Foot and his clan have been found. See this story for more fascinating details.

We're heading off to the hills again for another camping attempt. Hopefully we'll stay for more than an hour this time.

I'll be sure to blog if we spot the infamous Big Foot. Have a super weekend!

Mastering the subject

2008-08-10T21:11:00.010-06:00

As a young girl I was quite imaginitive, as most girls are. I loved dress-ups and dolls and stories and making shapes out of clouds while staring at the big, blue sky.

I was also easily distracted. One day I would decide to clean my room - spotless! It was going to be sooo clean and make my mom so proud. But my mom would usually find me watching a Brady Bunch marathon instead. Oh, but then Gilligan's Island was on the other channel so I would have to flip back and forth between the stations. Then a friend would come over to play. And the Jones' had open plunge at their swimming pool that I couldn't miss. Then of course, I had to play on my Lite Brite for a while. By the time I would finally make it to my room, it was time for bed.

Where did the time go?! Remember those lazy summer days as a child?

It seems that I haven't quite grown out of the "distracted" phase because my time escapes me daily and I find myself asking "What did I actually accomplish today"?!

I seem to be drawn to the internet like a mosquito to a bug zapper. I'm drawn to the light!! Ooooh. The pretty pretty lights.

I have projects that I have put on the back burner for a while now but it's become critical that I finish them.

I once received advice to "Master the subject at hand." I think I'll heed those words this week.

So, I'm grounding myself from the computer (mostly, not completely....don't be silly) until I get some of these pressing projects done.

You may not find me blogging this week. I'll try to be back as soon as I can because your blogs make my day!! I have more fun reading your blogs than I do posting on my own blog! My husband thinks it's funny that I just laugh and laugh at some of the things my blogging friends write about.

Be back soon!!

Wish me luck on getting stuff finished! Have a super week!

Indecision

2008-08-07T17:00:00.013-06:00

Remember how I blogged about getting ready to go to the Grand Canyon and even left a few oozy comments on your blogs about my excitement?

Friends and family may recall me saying something like, "Golly, I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!"

Reservations were made, maps purchased, and the route was planned. Wayyy in advance.

Here is a picture of our Grand Canyon trip.....

That's right. We didn't go. We used the trip money for a family gift instead.

Literally the night before we were supposed to leave, Todd and I bailed. We started thinking that since we combined two families when we married - why not get a family gift?!

So there you have it. And now I really really want to go to the Grand Canyon. Soon you'll hear me say...."Golly, I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!" But hey - my kids are happy.

In all seriousness - I just didn't feel like going. Weird! Me not wanting to go on a road trip is just downright strange.

However, we did make alternate plans.

After the girls left for their mom's house, Todd and I decided to go camping in the Uinta's and scout out some wild animals - our favorite pasttime! We are crazy about finding animals in the wild. We would never hurt one - we just like to boast about them (like - "I remember back in 2003 when there was that there pack of wild, snarling hedgehogs circling us. We barely made it out alive!") and post gazillions of pictures of them on this blog.

Before we left, we stopped at the store for supplies - spotlight, lighter, ~~fattening and sugary treats~~, ice, and drinks. Then we hit the road and headed up Mirror Lake Highway.

No, we didn't stop here along the way.

We found a dirt road off the beaten path and happened upon two park rangers.

Us: Hi. Are there any good campsites up ahead?
Them: Oh sure. There's plenty. But do you know about the bear?
Us in unison with our ears suddenly perked up: Why....no. A bear, you say?
Them: Well some ATV'rs spotted a black bear near here earlier today.

Our car spewed gravel and dirt as we sped off in search of a campsite and a bear.

I had the camera ready. Todd was in eagle-eye mode.

We searched. And searched. And searched. No bear. I started to get cranky.

So what did we do?

We set up camp....

...and realized we forgot a few things like the firewood and the tarp that goes over the tent that protects against rain. Todd launched into survival-mode and started looking for firewood for a campfire.

We couldn't get the lighter to work. Todd's attempt at alternate flame sources failed miserably.

Then we noticed the rain clouds ahead. While I really wanted to see a bear in the wild - fears of a possible bear attack in the middle of the night haunted my thoughts.

So, after being at the campsite for less than an hour, we packed up and went home.

A weird weekend of indecision and changed plans for sure!

But we did go hiking up to Dog Lake and Lake Catherine the next day and saw a total of FIVE moose. We didn't realize they were sitting 20 feet away from us while we ate our sandwiches. Cool!

The girl moose kept checking this guy out. Hot stuff, I tell you.

So, no Grand Canyon, no bear, and no camping, but I spent the weekend with Todd - which made it fun!

Tell me - would you camp out knowing there was a bear in the area?

He's home!

2008-08-06T00:48:00.002-06:00

Connor came home tonight looking tired and jet-lagged and hungry and showed us souvenirs and gave us hugs and pet the cats and had a bite to eat and admired our new tv that replaced our Grand Canyon trip (a blog in the making) and then said he was tired and was going to bed.

But the whole point of this short little post is found in the first three beautiful words of the run-on sentence above. My Europe-traveling son is home. Now maybe I can get some sleep and stop worrying. Life is good.

Good night all.

A decade together

2008-08-04T14:05:00.012-06:00

Ten years ago Todd and I got hitched. Ten YEARS! Wow, time has really flown by because it certainly hasn't felt like a decade to me.

This is one of our first pictures together as newlyweds. Sorry for the poor quality, I had to scan it.

Connor and I lived in a little two bedroom apartment in Salt Lake when we met Todd. I'm not exaggerating when I say he swept me off my feet. I was enamored by his passion for life. He loved boating and flying and was mostly raising three children by himself. And they adored him! That spoke volumes to me. Connor and I fell in love with him and his kids (Darren, Elora, and Larissa).

Interestingly, Connor and I were alone for 5 years and all we knew was each other. When I married Todd we went from a quiet family of two to a bustling family of six!

This is one of our first family pictures.

We are nothing if not goofy.

We had some interesting times the first few years. Like the time I opened the freezer and found a dead snake. Darren found roadkill and wanted to skin it. Yeah, that was fun. NOT!

And living with little girls was a new concept for me. One night I tucked Larissa into bed (she was 4 at the time) and she said she wanted to talk. I asked her what she wanted to talk about. "I want to talk about butterflies and sparklies and glitter and rainbows." I'm sure I had a 'deer in the headlights' look. Connor usually just wanted to be tickled. I didn't know how to talk about glitter!

There were hard times too. Todd's business went under and he found a job that worked him graveyard shifts. I worked days. With four young kids at home and Todd and I never seeing each other - it was rough at first. One night Todd was at work and the kids and I were home alone. It was raining and lightning outside. I couldn't sleep but thought the kids were sleeping fine. I heard knocks at my bedroom door and found eight scared eyes looking up at me. We went into the living room and said a prayer. Then we sang songs together. This was a very special night for me and went a long way toward us all bonding together. I'll never forget it.

Life has gone on for us through the good times and the bad. I love my family so very much and I'm so thankful that Todd and I found each other.

Another goofy picture of the fam. We are with Todd's parents in this picture.

We celebrated our anniversary with the girls. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Tepanyaki's. Mmm!

My dear husband gave me pearls. He said that he has been wanting to give me pearls since I had my thyroid removed last December. He said that he hopes the pearls will detract from my scar and I won't feel as self-conscious. Sweet!

Todd is a wonderful husband to me.
He is never unkind. Always caring, loyal and hardworking.
He is logical when I'm emotional. Serious when I'm goofy. Steadfast when I'm impatient. Motivating when I'm discouraged. He is my rock and makes me so happy!

He even loves Bryce Canyon. What more could I ask for?! I am the luckiest gal, indeed.

Skydiving Connor!

2008-07-30T07:00:00.002-06:00

Holy cow! Look at what my son did yesterday in Switzerland!! How lucky and BRAVE is he?! I'll be honest, I've been so worried about him skydiving and I'm just glad it's over. WOW! I'm sooo proud of you, Conman! YOU WENT SKYDIVING!!! AHHHHH!

The spookiest (and possibly the dumbest) post EVER!

2008-07-28T18:22:00.002-06:00

The following is a true story. No names had to be changed to protect the innocent, as there were none.

(This may not be as funny to you as it was to us - but we roared.)

First, for effect, and to showcase my strong nerdlike tendencies, queue up the following music to add to the air of suspense.

{Redhoodoos donning her 'ghost story' voice}

Late Saturday night, around midnight or so, me, Todd, and Elora came home from seeing "Dark Knight". As a side note - the joker in this movie is a tad bit creepy. So, we were already a little bit special.

It had been hours since we had had our internet fix, so of course, we race to the computers, knocking things over that are in our way and not bothering to turn on any lights.

Todd and I were at the main computer looking something up - not sure what, and it doesn't really matter, because my fingers get a little thrill when they caress the keyboard - even if it's a site about Armenian clowns.

We were busy looking at something when we heard a noise.

Remember, it's midnight and we just saw a scary movie and the house is dark. I might be embellishing a bit - but I think there was lightning in the distance. Yeah, we'll say there was lightning.

So.

We heard a noise outside.

I thought it was the sprinklers and didn't mention it.

We heard it again. And again. And again.

Slowly, Todd and I look at each other.

We discuss the possibilities.

Me: It's the sprinklers.
Todd: No, they go off at 11.
Me: Hmm
Elora: Maybe it's the tree by our house.
Todd: We don't have a tree by our house.
Me: Hmmm.

Silence.

Todd: Well, let's go check it out.

2 thoughts jostled around in my head.
A) Why do we have to go check it out.
B) Why does my manly man want us to go with him to check it out? I'm not accusing Todd of being scared or anything. I'm just sayin'.

We crept out the back door to find the source of the very creepy sounding noise.

We huddled near each other like a mass of jello - any noise would have surely sent us jiggling!

Try to imagine three very grown (and hopefully rational) people practically glued to each other, creeping ever so silently to the side of the house.

In defense of my man - he was first in our little line.

We crept to the side of the house and found the source of the noise.

And we found......

THIS!

This is where the laughter began.

Turns out that the neighbors tent flew over their fence and was caught between our fence and our house.

The laughter continued and of course Todd said things like "Ha ha, you were so scared".

So, to really showcase my nerdlike tendencies - I asked my husband and daughter to re-enact the events that occurred that fateful Saturday night.

As you can clearly see, Todd thought it was a dumb idea.

But because he loves me, he obliged! Elora is just a sweetheart and can't say no!

(I can't look at this picture and NOT laugh my head off)!

So there's our very scary story.

Sorry I'm a nerd. Now you can go back to reading important and meaningful blogs.

So....

2008-07-28T16:51:00.003-06:00

Todd and I are going here later this week for our 10th anniversary!

I'm pretty darn excited because I've never been! I have always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon but we've never made it. Besides looking over the rim - is there anything you can recommend? A great restaurant? A trip to Sedona or Flagstaff, perhaps?

Any ideas?

Check out this hilarious post by Jennifer H.!

2008-07-26T15:15:00.003-06:00

This post is very cool!

Creature the superstar

2008-07-25T15:20:00.019-06:00

My cute niece had a photo shoot with her daughter the other day. Click HERE to see the cutest little girl in the world. I may be a little biased. =)

I was bitterly jealous and decided I wanted to have my own photo shoot. Elora's at work. Connor's in Paris. Darren's in Russia. Larissa's at grandma's. Todd said "no".

Pfft.

So, I present "Creature" to you in all of his glory. (Baby Bear didn't want to play.)

He wanted this song played during the photo shoot. His favorite!

Here is a great shot showing his love of my plants.

Here he is trying to solve the world's problems (or possibly he spotted a bug).

His sultry pose.

Having a little lunch time snack. The posing must have tuckered him out.

He wouldn't wear the rhinestone boa I tried to wrap around him.

I don't get why my brother thinks I'll be a crazy cat lady when I grow up.

Brian - have I totally embarrassed myself here? Should I hang up blogging for good?

Jan's Giveaway!

2008-07-25T08:54:00.003-06:00

Check out Jan's Target giveaway. This is a good one!! She reached 300 posts and wants to share the love!

Jan rocks!

Joel Hills Johnson - Pioneer

2008-07-24T12:46:00.007-06:00

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. On this day in 1847, the first LDS pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.

My great-great-great grandfather, Joel Hills Johnson, traveled with another group of pioneers and entered the valley in 1848.

This is from his journal:

"We started from Winter Quarter in W. Richards company, on the 5th day of July for the place of our destination and after much fatigue, many hardships and difficulties, and the loss of one yoke of oxen, one heifer and twenty two sheep we arrived in the city of Great Salt Lake on the 19th day of October 1848. Having accomplished a journey of fifteen hundred miles from Knox County, Illinois to Great Salt Lake City."

And one of his many poems:

I prayed to God for faith and grace,
By night and day,
And means to leave that sickly place,
And speed away.

He heard my cry and said to me
Though sore oppressed
By cruel foes yet you shall see
A day of rest.

He blest my hands, I bought and sold
And every trade
He gave me thrice. So not with Gold
A fit out made.

I sped me then unto the west
To shun my foes.
And find a land that God had blest
Mid mountains snows.

My way was hard and rough 'tis true
Yet I possessed
Faith in my God and kept in view
A land of rest

I reached the land my heart desired
And thanked the Lord
That I so far from mobs retired
Could keep His work.

Joel Hills Johnson eventually made his home in Cannonville, near Bryce Canyon. It's no secret that I love the area of Bryce Canyon. I feel home when I am there. I'm sure this love is compounded by the fact that my ancestors roamed the valleys.

I hope I never forget their sacrifices.

Mosaic

2008-07-23T13:17:00.005-06:00

This is a lot of fun! Give it a try. I shamelessly stole the idea from Julie's blog because I'm fresh out of blog ideas. Check out her mosaic. Thanks Julie~!

The mosaic:
1. Jodi 2. Pizza 3. Hillcrest High School 4. Salmon 5. Napoleon - duh! 6. Water 7. Macchu Picchu, Peru 8. Punkin Pie (mmm) 9. Wise 10. God and family 11. Curious 12. Redhoodoos (if I had a flickr account)

Here is how you can play too:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

Where in the world is Connor? And a TAG!

2008-07-22T15:40:00.009-06:00

My spunky son is roaming the globe for the next two weeks! I'm missing him something fierce.

Right now he's in England touring castles.

Thursday he'll see this.

Next week he'll SKYDIVE (!) over the Swiss Alps.

He'll end his trip in Rome.

He's my world traveler, for sure!

Hey! I was tagged by the wonderful Jan! Go see her funny post about a phone call she received. I laughed and laughed!

I'm supposed to come up with six words that describe my life. This was not easy!

Here they are:

Changing
Abundant
Busy
Fun
Faithful
Learning

Now I tag 5 people - and this was not easy either! I want to tag all of you.

1. Miss Mattie 2. Comcewens 3. Mother Goose 4. Tammy 5. Kitchen Ditcher

I'm hopping over to your blogs right now to let you know you've been tagged.

Have a super day!

Discipline and Commitment

2008-07-21T17:29:00.009-06:00

About 6 months ago, a bunch of us pledged to get into shape enough to run the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon held this past weekend. We had big plans that included making team t-shirts.

I had visions of us all crossing the finish line together - arms linked - while "Rocky" music played on the loud speaker. In my dream there would be tears of joy and a chorus of cheers "JODI! JODI! JODI!" as mobs swarmed to congratulate me.

Anyhoo - the big day came and guess how many of us ran the half?

Just my bro.

Since my new goal is to not beat myself up too badly, I will just say that I will try again next year.

My brother stuck to his goal and DID IT!

(Sorry Bro, you're going to HATE this - but I'm going to brag on you for a minute.)

Brian started slowly working out last January. He wrote a hilarious post on my blog about making a lifestyle change (click here to read it). He thought he was overweight (I never thought so) and wanted to live his life with commitment and discipline.

He started going to a gym. Then he joined a running group. He ran a 5k and a 10k. All of this was in preparation for the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon.

I should say here that Brian HATES running. It has never been something that he enjoyed - which is all the more reason why he is so inspiring.

He also travels frequently with his job but still found time to fit exercise in.

Me and my bro at the finish line.

Brian's not much for praise and attention. He quietly goes through life accomplishing goals (he just purchased his first home this month) and pushing himself to succeed. I got emotional watching him run to the finish line. Sorry Rocky wasn't playing. It would have been playing if it was up to me!

Thanks Brian for being an inspiration to me. You always have been. You are absolutely incredible. Word to your mother. Peace out.

Traveling with girls

2008-07-20T21:00:00.003-06:00

Why teenage girls are so fun to travel with!

They are so flippin' funny!

They will pose for me.

"Jodi's Angels"

They accept my "Dare" challenges and eat gross food combinations.

Another gross food "double dog dare".

EVERYTHING is funny to them.

It's interesting to see what pictures they'll take when they get the camera.

They love animals.

They can eat ANYTHING and never gain a pound.

They love to make me laugh!

**Photos above posted by permission.

What happens when Todd has a camera...

2008-07-20T17:24:00.007-06:00

Pictures my dear husband took this weekend...

Elora - my idol

2008-07-18T11:53:00.001-06:00

My cute and talented girl sang her heart out last night at our city's "Idol" competition! You should hear this girl sing! Wow.

I could never do this. Never ever ever! I'd rather have my toenails removed than sing in public.

She didn't make the final cut but she gave vocal coaches and previous winners that were in the competition a run for their money.

The judges told her she has a soothing voice, nice vocal tones and an innate musical sense. They told her they loved that she was enjoying herself!

She is seriously a sweetheart! GREAT JOB ELORA!! As always, I'm so very proud of you.

For Aunt Connie...

2008-07-17T17:18:00.002-06:00

Aunt Connie - I found your kindred spirit! Click here to read Shaila's blog about her clocks. I thought of you.

My wonderful Aunt Connie has 1,410 clocks in her home. She and my Uncle Monte hate Daylight Savings Time!

I thought I had a picture of Aunt Connie and wanted to post it - but I can't find one in my collection. Darn! She would have been mad at me anyway. (hee hee).

Can't wait to see you and Uncle Monte this weekend - there will be some fun game-playing action!

Boredom

2008-07-17T14:15:00.015-06:00

What do you do when you have a house full of bored people?

Who have eaten all the ice cream...

And played all the songs on guitar hero...

And visited all the sites on the internet (except the bad ones)...

You take them on a road trip!!

Remember to pack all of your favorite well-used games....

And hiking shoes...

And grab bags full of entertaining goodies...

(This tradition was started when they were little - but now they still want them!).

And you hope they have a wonderful time enjoying God's country - without all of the gadgets my teenagers can't seem to live without!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend everyone! Blog with you soon!

Jane Austen update

2008-07-16T16:33:00.004-06:00

Remember my post where I actually admitted to having never seen a movie nor read a book written by Jane Austen?

Well, Elora and I stayed up late and watched Pride and Prejudice the other night. It's the version with Keira Knightly (that was the only version available from where I rented it). I loved it! In all sincerity, I was asking myself what had taken me so long to get caught up in the Jane Austen Fever that a lot people have. Now I get it.

I loved Mr. Darcy - reminds me of my main man!

My plans now are to watch the other versions of P & P before I start into Sense and Sensibility. Thanks for all of your excellent suggestions.

Here are my other plans....

Chuckle for the day

2008-07-14T15:31:00.005-06:00

My next door neighbor and her three-year old little boy came over to chat the other day. Her little boy found a jolly rancher (sugar-free!) and asked if he could have it. Of course it was okay with me if it was okay with his mom.

A few minutes later he told his mom that my cat Stitch (aka Creature) stole his candy. LOL! I gave him another one and didn't think anything of the missing candy.

Later that night Connor was petting Stitch and said, "Mom, WHAT is this?"

The missing jolly rancher was stuck to Stitch's belly fur! So, I guess my cat really did steal his candy.

Isn't he CUTE?!

Just look at his belly fur. Holy cow - it's a wonder more things aren't lost in there.

Come to think of it - I DID lose my keys a while back. I wonder....

Okay - enough blogging for me for now. I need to study! Have a great day!

Time to brag!

2008-07-14T12:00:00.002-06:00

During Connor's ninth grade year, he took a college level (AP) course in geography. I was extremely proud of him for that alone!

Last May, Connor studied and stressed about his final AP exam. He took the exam and told me he would be happy with a score of 3, but he was hoping for a 4 (exam scores are graded on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest score possible).

The results are sent in the mail and he received his score last Friday.

He scored a 5!!! A 5!!!

I'm soooo stinking proud of my hard-working son! He tries sooo hard at everything he does.

Good job Conman!

*I blocked out his telling information. I trust all of my blogging friends - but what if there is some freaky pervert out there reading this. I shudder at the thought! Anyhoo - no offense to all of you wonderful people.

<-----Holy cow~!

The cup

2008-07-12T21:47:00.006-06:00

I must confess that I am obsessed with a cup. Seriously obsessed.

This guy right here goes with me everywhere I go.

I will list the features I admire:

The enclosed top prevents debris from falling into the cup and thereby tainting its contents.
This cup's large size allows for more consumption of liquid.
The small base of the cup fits perfectly in my car's cupholder.

I fill this baby up with water several times a day. Only water is allowed to grace its interior.

The other day I mistakenly left it home while I went to the store and I felt the way I do when I accidentally leave my cell phone at home. Horrors!

Clearly I'm running low in my cup stock and should purchase more.

Note how snugly it fits in my car.

A closeup view. Note the perfect, glistening ice.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a strange, almost creepy, obsession.

A purpose-driven life

2008-07-12T00:06:00.000-06:00

Nearly 18 months ago, my creative and earthy sister and her talented husband bought a cabin on ten acres in the woods. They gutted the cabin and have spent the last year refurbishing it. New flooring, doors, trim, and painted walls. They don't have luxuries; but even with no phone, indoor plumbing, or running water...my sister couldn't be happier!

They have a three year old son named Eli and wanted to raise him away from the big city. They want him to know values and a strong work ethic.

They moved out of their 2200 square foot home (they stay there on occasional weekends) in the city for a home less than half its size with a goal to self-subsist and live debt free.

They still have a lot of work to do and aren't wasting any time. This summer there will be a well for water and a 3000 square foot garage. Later they will build a greenhouse and dig a root cellar - they have a goal to grow and store most of their own food. Future plans include solar panels and a septic tank.

My parents, Connor, and I drove up there last week to see them and we were amazed at what they have accomplished. I keep bugging my sister that she needs to blog about her amazing life. She reminds me that she doesn't have internet connection. (Just a detail!).

I just can't believe how smart they live!

She met us at the main road and we had to follow her up to her cabin.

Her husband, Dean, met us along the way. He was having too much fun!

First she showed us her kitchen and homemade cupboards and curtains. She can do anything.

This is their propane-powered fridge.

And their propane-powered stove.

Their clothes washing machine.

And clothes dryer.

The bathroom facilities! She says it gets pretty cold in January.

This wood stove heats their home in the winter.

Their wind generator was a gift from their adult son, Ben. It provides basic electricity.

Eli and his cousin, Kaydence.

Barb is sitting with her granddaugher Lynzi.

Oh, did I forget to mention that my sister was in her forties when she had Eli? She and Dean already have 4 grown children.

They have chickens and a dog and there is talk of getting a cow!

This fire pit gets put to good use.

Barb has a hard time growing food in her garden because of the short growing season they have at 7000 feet.

She catches rain water for the garden.

And this is how they burn their garbage.

Eli's fenced-in play area. They are amazing parents!

This is Dean's self-described "man cave"! They are siding it with lumber.

Connor just had to try out Dean's toys.

My sister had reservations at first about selling their city home to live in the mountains. She wondered if it would be a good life for Eli. I can say, unequivocally, that my nephew is one happy camper! My sister is homeschooling him now until he's ready for kindergarten. At that time, he will be put into a public school where he will make friends.

Barb wrote an article about their homestead that was printed in the "Countryside" magazine this month. Very cool, indeed.

I'm proud of the purpose-driven life they are leading. They are extraordinary.

New blog

2008-07-11T00:01:00.002-06:00

After my tyrade last week I mentioned that I would start a blog dedicated to health, fitness, and weight loss. I need to be held accountable! ;)

It has a long way to go, but here it is...
http://upsideofdownsizing.blogspot.com/

Mystery

2008-07-08T18:38:00.012-06:00

My very smart, environmentally conscious, and animal-guru friend, MCF, thinks the baby wolf I saw in Yellowstone might instead be a fox or a coyote. I really want to get to the bottom of this. Here are the pictures I took. I need your opinions. (Remember that I'm photo-challenged)

Yes, he's doing exactly what he looks like he's doing. lol.

What say you?! Is he a wolf, coyote, or fox? Either leave a comment or answer poll to the side. Thanks!!

Darren Update

2008-07-07T19:11:00.005-06:00

He's lost 15 pounds. He's going to Prague for a Visa trip. He is homesick and having a hard time learning the language. Last week he was chased by a drunk man and another man told him to go home because he's an American spy.

He's only been out for four months and has many investigators. He's also had a baptism. He says he loves what he's doing. He says that his companion is the best and that they have a lot of fun together. One thing about Darren - he loves challenges and he is extremely resilient. He will get through this and be a better person because of it. I'm proud of him.

Here he is in his Russian hat.

Independence, bear hunting, and photo ineptitude

2008-07-06T21:38:00.009-06:00

Todd and I made a jaunt up to Yellowstone over the weekend. As usual, it was a blast - although too short. Our last trip to Yellowstone in May was sooo amazing and we had high hopes of seeing another grizzly. Unfortunately, no such luck.

But we did see moose.

And buffalo a plenty.

And a baby wolf!!!

This was actually very exciting. As usual, I was behind the camera and was too excited to get a good shot. This fuzzy mess was the best photo of the bunch. Pfft.

And adorable Creatures.

And elk.

Todd captured a great shot of me.

This shot was taken during our bear hunt.

Yellowstone lake.

Incredible fields full of these flowers - everywhere!

As usual, a wonderful weekend with my main man! Can't wait to go again.

But, the best part of the trip was picking up Larissa on our way home. We missed our spunky girl!

Hope you all had a happy 4th!

Let Freedom Ring!

2008-07-04T17:54:00.008-06:00

Hostages freed: Watch this video!

Beast in the Basement

2008-07-01T12:54:00.013-06:00

I don't think I've ever blogged about the beast that lives in my basement. If you like spooky stories - here's a good one.

This murderous beast has a history of stalking neighborhoods and frightening all that had the misfortune of crossing his path.

He was known to be the ringleader in neighborhood gangs and once killed a cat and left its corpse to wither and rot in Todd's mom's backyard.

He has horrific social manners proven by his incessant hacking and sputtering. It is truly disgusting to behold.

He became homeless a year ago and because of his old age (and the fact that I JUST CAN'T SAY NO) he came to live with us.

Since he has a homicidal past - we felt it was best to keep him locked up in our basement. We let him out into our backyard often and the last time he was out there I snapped off a few shots - mainly to show proof of his hideous and tortured existence. I'm sure he lives with the guilt daily.

Take a look into the eyes of fierceness...

This 25 pound behemoth is not as innocent and sweet as he looks.

Small children and clowns flee when they catch a glimpse of his monstrous size.
(please don't notice the gigantic cracks in my patio)

Here he is in all of his lazy lounging glory.

We sleep well at night knowing that he is too old to hurt any other poor innocent critters. We are continually hopeful that his murderous past is behind him.

**Besides husbands, do you have or do you know someone or something that should be kept locked up in a basement for the welfare and safety of others.

Mountain Peril

2008-06-30T08:23:00.001-06:00

Saturday's hike to Lake Blanche started out so innocently, but turned into an event.

Todd ~~dragged~~ drove Connor and I up to Big Cottonwood canyon to hike up to Lake Blanche. It's not a super long hike - about 3 miles - but it's all uphill. It's estimated that it takes the average person about 2.5 hours to reach the lake. It's a tough hike. HOLY COW it's tough.

I've made it to the lake a few times - but when I was in much better shape. I had every intention of making it to the top - but yesterday my body told me it just wasn't happenin'.

Look how eager and full of hope Connor is at the start of the hike.

The beginning of the trail fools you into believing it is going to be paved and easy like this all the way to the top. It was a bait and switch, if you ask me.

Egads.

It IS pretty up there, though.

A waterfall near the lake.

This is as far as I made it.

We hiked for about 2.5 hours and still had another 45 minutes to go before we would make it to the lake. The last part is the hardest part of the hike.

Todd and Connor had lots of energy left in them to make it to the top but I told them I couldn't do it.

They were really sweet and told me it was okay if we didn't make it.

In hindsight - this was actually a very good decision to stop when I did.

When we finally made it to the car, I started to feel nauseated. Then came the splitting headache! Then I became dizzy.

By the time we made it out of the canyon, I was chilled. It was 93 degrees outside, and I was actually cold!

I asked Todd to pull over and I just laid on the grass in the shade. I was soooo sick. Todd got me some ice water and saltines and after about 20 minutes of moaning on the grass, I was suddenly better.

Turns out it was heat exhaustion.

But all is well now and I'm glad I went. The moral of this incident is that I need to wear sunblock and start the hike in the morning and not during the hottest time of the day - and drink a TON more water.

Lesson learned!

Pity Party Hoodoo Style!

2008-06-29T15:44:00.005-06:00

Many many thanks to all of you who read and/or commented on my last blog entry! You deserve medals for putting up with me. Thank you soo much for your many ideas and suggestions. I thought about them all weekend.

You might be happy to know that I have ended my pity party and have pushed myself into action. ;)

I am creating a blog dedicated to weight loss and fitness. Making my goals and progress public just might be the catalyst I need to stick with the plan this time. I'll post it within the next few days.

Thank you, blogging friends. You are all so patient and wise and wonderful and I appreciate you!

Tomorrow is a new day.

*Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor Roosevelt