massages....hmmm good!

I had my first real massage today from a real massage therapist. It was FABULOUS!!! I am thinking I really will go into massage therapy. But first things first... CHRISTMAS is going to be here in 2 days! I am excited but also nervous as these snow blizzards have been really bad as of late. It is the thick heavy snow too. Good for snowmen, bad for driving! Anyway, today was a pretty good day. It was the work 'Holiday' Party (pot luck). I took my famous brownies and also spinach artichoke dip. Both turned out beautifully. I also talked to Jay for a minute at work when I gave him his Christmas present. I made caramel, double chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered cinnamon bears. I only gave the cinnamon bears to my boss and Jay. Everyone else just got the pretzels, which were amazing goodness. (thanks to Lis for helping me and also momma arrington for letting me use your kitchen.) I am not sure when we will be going out next. I will keep you all posted. So I hope that the weather stays good tomorrow for everyone who will be traveling, myself included. Oh, and Jay had family stuff too on Sunday so he didn't come with me. That's all I have for now. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

update of these last two weeks...

First... I have been very boring as of these last two weeks. I haven't really done anything. That's why I haven't posted. Anyway....on to what you really want to know. Jay got sick with either food poisoning or the nasty stomach flu that has been going around. He was out sick for a week. This was last week. He came back this week and says he is at least keeping his food down. :) I was thinking maybe he was trying to avoid me, but as it turns out...I think he still is interested in me. :) So this current week... I haven't really had a chance to talk to him because work has been kinda busy. It's okay though cause next week will be even crazier. I know for a fact we will have at least 2.000 price changes the day after Christmas. Tragically, this is only in one batch of changes that day. We have 3 different batches of price changes. The other two won't be sent until that morning. BLAH!!! So back to Jay.... we were supposed to go sledding and, who knows what after, probably see some lights somewhere, Friday night. Well, thanks to this snow, he got stuck trying to get home from work. He was sorry, but didn't want to try and go out again in the storm. I understand. We put our date on hold. I am hoping he will come with me on Sunday to appetizer night. Who knows. The snow plows have been out, so hopefully if it will stop snowing, he can make it. Today's plans... I have choir practice at 10am for the Christmas Sacrament meeting tomorrow. Then I am going to Lisa's house to make caramel, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate cinnamon bears. I am giving these as Christmas presents to my friends. I did my laundry last night so I don't have to worry about that today. And, unless Jay calls, I am going out with the girls. Yes Lisa... that is what I said. I will be at girls' night unless I hear from Jay. You still love me. And really that is my boring life as of late.

fabulous weekend

This weekend was a really great one. Thursday didn't quite go like I planned. I got hot chocolate, and went to the gym, but I didn't see The Office. I got home from the gym and passed out cold. I was so tired though. Friday... CRAZY day at work. Macey's has an annual open house every year for two days. Friday was the first of the two. We also had a fair amount of price changes. Mostly though, we were busy making signs for all the new displays they put out so people buy things easier without having to search the store for them. It was also really cool because we get to dress in color rather than the "macey's white." I wore my favorite green sweater and pin-stripe dress pants. I actually curled my hair and put make-up on too. AMAZING! Anyway, I must say, I felt beautiful. Everyone that saw me couldn't believe it was actually me. Most people did double takes. It was kinda funny, but also annoying. Yes, yes I look quite nice when I am not at work. Whatever. But really, that was not the best part of the whole day. There is a guy at work and he is really good looking. He is really shy, but we have had a few conversations. I like him a lot and have been trying to work up the nerve to ask him out. I keep telling myself that today will be the day, but I always manage to chicken out. Well, he asked me out! That is what made Friday absolutely fabulous. We went to a band party thing. His brothers are in a band with some other guys. It was fun. I felt bad because I did most of the talking. He just laughed at me and said I was just fine. After we left the party, we got frostys at Wendy's and came back to my place to eat them. We ended up talking the rest of the night away and tragically when he left, there was a parking ticket on his window. He is really an amazing guy. I find myself wanting to be a better person because of him. Just before he left, I asked him to come to the institute Christmas show with me Saturday night. He said yes he would like that. So Saturday was quite a long day for me. I had 4 hours of sleep (my body wouldn't let me sleep longer...ugh!) I woke at 8 am and laid in bed for a while. I got up and ate breakfast then showered. Lis asked me to come help her with pictures at 10 and then I had to do my laundry. I got done just in time to come home and fix my hair before Jay picked me up for dinner. I have to smile because on Friday night he wore blue (his favorite color) and I wore green (mine) but on Saturday, he wore green and I wore blue. Yes, I know I am a dork. (at least I admit it.) We went to Chilli's and then went to the mall before the show started. We actually timed it quite well for not watching a clock. The institute show was great this year. I am slightly embarrassed because I ended up crying during one of the songs. It was an arrangement picked by Brother Woodstock of "What Child is This" AMAZING!! After the show, we went to Quantum of Solace (the newest James Bond). It was okay. This weekend was a great one! I am not sure when we are going out next, but we agreed that we are going to keep dating. Nothing official right now, but we are dating. That's all for now cause I got to go to a fireside.

hee hee, i love connections...

Yesterday was a great day. I went to work. Time flew by because we had a lot to do. And, I love connections... I bought Batman The Dark Knight yesterday. (it doesn't come out until Tuesday the 9th of December.) Since I have been working in the scanning department, I get to see everything that comes into our store. All new products have to come through our office. New releases usually come early so we can put them in our system and make sure there are no bugs. I got permission to buy Batman early. I love connections! I still haven't seen it...not even in the theatre. I know, I know...shocking! But now I own it. Hee hee. Ok, that wasn't all that made yesterday great... I also got to go to Body Jam. Mike taught so it was really a great workout. I can't really dance to save my soul, but hey, I had fun trying. It was a new routine, and more modern hip hop feel. So yeah yesterday was a great day. Today, I am really tired....work comes at 3am on Wednesdays...ad day. I worked for 11 hours. Stayed busy the entire time and kinda felt like I wouldn't be able to get everything finished for today. Our computers have slowed incredibly with everyone doing Christmas shopping online now. I am not sure why it affects our system, but it does. Anyway, I did get everything done today that I was supposed to. And I had quite a few laughs at work. I accidentally broke a bottle of iron supplement, liquid iron supplement. It stinks horribly, so don't ever break a bottle. I was adding them into our system from the pharmacy and it fell off my desk onto the tile floor. It was oddly extremely funny. My co-workers were laughing pretty hard, and that sent me into laughing. I could feel my face turn red; from embarrassment and also laughing so hard. This brings to mind what I wrote on my spotlight for work... It asked what is your most embarrassing moment. I wrote "I try and have one daily. those of you who know me, know this is true and will swear I am blonde." Honestly though, I can't really recall my most embarrassing moment. I usually can laugh things off and just take it in stride. If you can think of a different story please share with me to remind me. My memory is getting worse with old age. Ha ha ha. Well, that is all for now. But tomorrow is Thursday.... and that means hot chocolate and The Office!

thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving. I hope everyone else did too. I went up to Logan Wednesday evening and spent the night helping Brooke & Chris get the house ready. Ok, really I helped just a bit cause I totally passed out. I am not sure why, but lately all I really want to do is hibernate like bears do. Anyway, Thursday morning we got up and finished getting ready. Chris did most of the cooking, but we all helped. It turned out quite lovely. I tragically didn't eat as much as I wanted to. In fact, I only had one plate full. Very sad day. I really loved how tender and flavorful the turkey was. My favorite, besides the mashed potatoes, would have to be the pomegranate cranberry apple salad Chris made. I am really thankful for my family. The only one we had missing was Adam. He had to work. This was the last Thanksgiving we would have this many of us together for a while. It was a good one. And now we can break out the Christmas music and trees. It really bugs me when people forget Thanksgiving and go from Halloween to Christmas. Oh well. It was a great day and that is what counts.

Today was freakin awesome...

Today was a great day. I didn't get to sleep in, but that's okay. I woke up about 7 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I slowly took my time getting ready for the day. It started with enrichment with the ward. Lis was in charge and reminded me that I should be there. She made creepes. They were fabulous! After enrichment, Tiff and I went to the mall. She had some shopping to do, and I wanted to see if I could find a Twilight t-shirt. My friend Stacia texted me and said that there was a blood drive going on, and that they desperately needed people. Tiff and I went to ORMC and donated. I love giving blood. And it was even better because I didn't pass out. (last time I donated, I passed out at work and they called an ambulance...i knew the crew that responded...it was embarrassing) Anyway... so after we got done giving blood, I went to the Weber State football game. Tragically they lost 33 to 26 against Eastern Washington University. Weber is still the Big Sky Conference Champions, but they have to share the title with Montana. Whatever. So I am at the football game...(by myself cause everyone had other stuff going on...thanks Lis for letting me use your student id) when my phone rings. Its Jonathon. He asked if I was at the game. I think he may have seen me walk in and sit down alone. I was of course at the game. He was there too...with the ROTC. So he said I should come over and see him. I went. Then Lis called to ask where the game was at and if she should come. The second half had just started. It was a better second half. Jonathon asked if I wanted to grab a bite to eat with him after the game. At the time I thought he was just asking me, but when we met up after, he asked where Lisa had gone. I told him that I actually had plans to eat, but ice cream would be amazing. We actually ended up getting hot chocolate from a little cafe up by campus. Sadly, Lisa didn't join us. Well, I had to leave to get ready for the night, and Jonathon had to study and do homework. I hurried home to change for dinner. Chef made Lis and me a special dinner. It was seriously so good that I actually tried everything he cooked...including the green beans. Chef started us off with the tortilla strip soup. then he had made a chicken apricot something or other for Lis, and an oriental pork something or other for me. These dishes are not on the menu at the Marriott. Chef just wanted to make dinner for Lis, and then told her to invite me. He came out and asked us what we liked about the dishes and what we didn't like and if we had any suggestions. I said that he should serve asparagus instead of green beans. Dessert was eclairs drizzled with caramel and raspberry sauce. The whole presentation and taste of the food was terrific. I loved it. Well, Lis & I hung out at the hotel for a bit...mostly just getting a kick out of the drag queen conference thing that was going on. Then we went to the megaplex where we met up with Tiff and the other Lisa. They had not seen Twilight yet, so we took them. I seriously am in love with Jasper. He is so freaking hot! Anyway...today was just a great day. Now I am going to bed cause I have a caffeine withdrawal headache...

twilight was pretty awesome

Thursday was a good day. I got up, went to work, got my hot chocolate, went to the gym, went to a star-gazing activity with the ward, watched "the office" at Tyler's, got two hours of sleep, ate at Denny's with my friends, and then went to TWILIGHT! We didn't get into the midnight showing because it was all sold out. We got 2:40 in the morning tickets. I could not believe how many people were still there at 3 in the morning. It was crazy. Mostly there were women, and they were of all ages. It was slightly disturbing. The movie followed the book for the most part, but of course they have hollywoodized it. I still actually liked it. I have a hard time reading books and then seeing the movie. I usually don't like the movie. If I see the movie and then read the book, I usually like them both. For instance, I read Eragon. Loved the book. Saw the movie, and hate it. I saw the movie Stardust and loved it. Read the book, and liked it. Weird, yes I know. Anyway, Jasper is freaking hot! Edward isn't what I pictured in my head, but he is still cute. I had pictured Edward as chiseled perfection beauty. Bella works. Alice is super darling. I think Jasper and Alice are my favorite in the movie. I am totally excited for today. It should be pretty good. I am going to enrichment with the ward this morning at 9. Then I am going to the Weber State game, hopefully. and then I was invited to join Lisa for a special dinner Chef is making. And then I am going to Twilight again with friends that didn't get to make it Friday morning with us. Lisa was there Friday, but she is coming tonight. WAHOO! It should be a great day. Oh yeah, I almost forgot... I also get to go shopping for ingredients for a Blueberry/Cheesecake type pie I found online and am going to make for pie night tomorrow.

wow i haven't posted in a while

hmm... let's see... what has happened in my life in the last about 2 weeks since i posted. well... um, if i can remember... i have been working. my usual M-F, 6-about 2 ish. with wednesdays being 3am-i am done. I have gone to the gym a few times with Lis. I of course had hot chocolate on Thursdays. This last Thursday was the Marriott's grand reopening. I went to it and Erin joined me. It was fun. I sampled all the food. Be very proud of me...I ate fish. Chef told me i had to try his trout cakes and salmon bake. Both are very tasty! I don't eat fish by the way. Actually Chef just laughed at me and said I don't eat cheap fish, and that I am an expensive taste bud girl. Whatever... But really the food at the Marriott is really good and everyone should go try it. Let's see...what else has gone on... I went up to Logan for Chandler's birthday party. He turned 3 on November 5th. He is so darn cute and growing up so fast. Ok...I have to say Halloween was fun, but I am mad that most of my friends baled on me. And it was a little disappointing because I have yet to find a scary movie that scares me. I know that may be a little harsh, but that's how I feel. and I have to be honest with myself, right. Hmmm... what else has gone on... that's about it. I am excited for next Thursday. TWILIGHT comes out to the movie screen. I say movie screen because theatre is live stage performances...this is the cinema. I hope that it is not too Hollywood ized. I am so excited for it! Oh.... I do have a good news moment... ha ha ha... I found amazing khakis at Target for $5.00! They were on clearance and I needed new ones for work. Super cute ones that make my butt look great....cause I don't really have much of a butt so I need all the help I can get. They are really comfortable too. I wore them on Friday.(Sorry Lis that they didn't have any more when we went to look for you...I thought for sure they would. I will keep my eyes open for you still. ) Anyway... that's all that has really been happening in my life. so until next time...

halloween pictures

from left to right is me, Lisa, Kurt, and the other Lisa. we are dressed as; a diva, punk rocker, fan,, and gangster. Lisa & Kurt were working. the other Lisa & I came in to eat. after we ate, the other Lisa & I went up to Tyler's house to trick-or-treat him because he didn't come eat with us. he stayed at home and handed out candy. anyway we ended up staying there and watching "the eye" that was my Halloween. Saturday I got up, did laundry, went to the Weber vs. Portland game, watched Weber cream Portland, helped Lisa take pictures, ate at Rumbi Island grill, and played rockband with Lisa's family. it was a grand ol' time. and this is Lisa's niece eating her chicken sandwich from rumbi island.

halloween

ok. so i am still alive. i have not seen any more of a Toyota around. i should tell you the reason i didn't call 9-1-1 to begin with. 9-1-1 on my cell phone takes forever to connect. i discovered this when Lisa & I were driving to Provo and were almost side-swiped by a reckless driver. we watched him almost take out two other cars, so i called 9-1-1 while Lisa kept driving and trying to stay out of his way. this is what i heard after it finally connected: "the number you are calling is an emergency number. do you know you are calling an emergency number. if you are not in an emergency, please hang up now. if this is an emergency, stay on the line. the number you are trying to call is an emergency number. do you know you are calling an emergency number..." it took about 2 minutes before I got through to a dispatcher. it took about a minute to connect to make the call. I didn't get the licence plate of the Toyota because I didn't think they were going to hunt me down. i also didn't want to hint to them that i was getting on my cell phone. dark car....dark outside...cell phone easy to see light up. i was also looking for a cop. they could have pulled me over and i could have explained to them the situation. and for the record i never believed it was anything racial. i just was scared that some insane people were going to find a way to kill me. so thanks Brooke for calling me mexican.
ok. on to Halloween. I got up early this morning to get myself ready for Halloween. i actually took time to do my hair in curls and put on make up. i am a 10 minute girl. if i can't be ready in 10 minutes or less, i just don't care what i look like. too bad for everyone else. it took me an hour this morning to shower, dress, dry my hair, put on make up, and do my hair. My costume was that of a diva. so i curled my hair and pulled it sort of up so the curls flowed down. i actually put on eye shadow, blush, lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. Mona was kind enough to loan me some bling. actually, all of my accessories came from Mona. my doggie was on loan from a friend. anyway i got quite a few complements today at work. it was fun to see people do a double take as they knew they knew me, but were not quite sure at first why. i will post pictures after i take them after tonight's fun and games. i just thought i would do a quick update for now. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

frightmares

this week has been pretty boring. I did get to go to a corn maze on Thursday with Lisa's ward. It was alright. We only got sort of lost. We didn't want to stay too long there because we were going to go watch "the office" at Tyler's house. TVO is pretty much amazing. Anyway...Friday Lisa, Lisa, Emily, Teri, and I went to Frightmares. I don't really care for lagoon, but I do like frightmares. They had great costumes and makeup, but I never truly got scared. Perhaps it was because I didn't have a guy to protect me, so I had to just protect myself. Honestly though, it wasn't that scary. We all had a great time though. I think the funnest ride we went on was Wicked. I had never been on it before. Wow! It was sickening fun. After lagoon, we went to find a 7-11 for some hot chocolate. Our journey was successful. Yummy! I love the seasonal flavors they put in (pumpkin pie). MMMMM good! We got back to Ogden shortly after midnight and Lisa dropped us all off at our different parking spots. I had the scare of my life driving home from the Marriott (we decided to meet there since Lisa got off the latest). I was behind this Toyota 4 runner and it was going 20 in a 40. I couldn't get around them. The next thing I know, they are putting the back window down and the girl in the passenger seat starts yelling at me and making very threatening gestures. I may mention that they were in the left lane and should have moved over and put on their hazards since they refused to drive the speed limit. I gestured back a 4 and a 0 with my fingers and then found a window to get over. I took it. I sped up and they sped up. They weren't going to let me pass them. Finally I got past them. As I was passing them in the right lane, the girl in the passenger seat really started making gestures and yelling. I ignored them and kept driving. I got ahead of them and didn't think any more on it until I saw them following me. They had sped up and were now riding my butt. I sped up a little more (going 55 in a 40) hoping to pass a cop that I know was in the area since it was Friday night in Ogden on Washington boulevard. Just my luck...no cops. They were still following me, but I had some distance in front of them. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want them to follow me home. I didn't want to pull over and let them do something to me, and I didn't want to keep driving and let them run me off the road. I decided that I needed to do something. There are usually Weber county sheriffs hanging out on the deck in front of the WT fire station. I know all of them. They can help. I was now passing the street I usually take to get home. By the way, I live in Washington Terrace. I took the next street. It leads straight to the fire house. The speed limit in the terrace is 25. I was doing 40. I got in front of the fire station and saw no sheriffs. I stopped at the stop sign, and looked right. Yes! There was a sheriff, but he had someone pulled over. What was I supposed to do now. Pull in front of the person and say "help i am being followed?" I pulled into the fire station parking lot. The Toyota didn't come into the parking lot, but they pulled over onto the street by the fire station parking lot. The girl started making gestures again, but didn't get out of her car. I stayed in mine and turned off the ignition and my lights. we stayed this way for about 5 minutes or so. I started shaking and my heart was pounding. I don't work at the station anymore and don't know the door code to get in. What was I going to do? pound on the door until they opened up? I may mention that I didn't leave the station on the greatest terms with these guys. I saw the girl flick something out her window. I think it was a cigarette or a drug of some kind. Finally the Toyota drove off. I waited about 30 seconds and pulled out of the parking lot. I went the direction they went because I still didn't want them to follow me home. I also didn't want them to go around the block and see me leaving. I figured if I didn't see them, I should be okay. I got home and quickly turned off my lights and ignition. I started shaking even harder and began to think that if they drive around the area that they would find me and who knows what they would do to me or my roommate or my landlords or any of our cars or the house. I called Lisa. She got me to calm down enough to drive up to her house. I still was really shaken up. Lisa stayed on the phone with me until I got to her house. I stayed the night. I hope that these people don't come looking for me or anything. if you are reading this and have any suggestions of what i could do to protect my roommate, landlords, and me please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. Or if you think that they aren't going to come around, let me know so I can take some comfort in it.

camping....

The weather was perfect this weekend. Everyone that was going to come camping decided not to come. They all had other things going on. So Lisa and I came up with plan b. We stayed in town Thursday night and hung out with Kurt and Tyler and watched "The Office" Of course I had to go to the Marriott and get my hot chocolate and tortilla strip soup. It was after that that Lisa & I went to Tyler's house. We stayed there and talked for a few hours. Then we went back to Lisa's and crashed. This is Tyler & Lisa. And this one is Kurt. Friday morning: Lisa woke up fairly early and took her car in to get an oil change & tire rotation. She was kind enough to let me sleep. When she got back, we ate breakfast and got ready for the day. Since we couldn't leave Ogden until after Lisa picked up her check at 10, we took our time getting ready. We actually didn't leave Ogden until about noon. Oh well...this is vacation and we were going to enjoy it! No rushing! We drove down to Provo and decided to see if we could check in early. (Since no one else came, we made an executive decision to not mess with a large tent.) Lisa gets discount rooms at Marriott hotels. We checked in and I have to say the beds in this room were so comfortable that Lisa & I almost decided to just sleep instead of hike. But "hike" we did. We drove to Bridal Veil Falls. I say "hike" because we both thought that it would be a hike. Bridal Veil Falls actually turned out to be more of a paved stroll walk by the falls. It was still really pretty. I love the fresh air and beauty of nature. This is Bridal Veil Falls "hike" While we were taking pictures, this couple came up and said "you guys look like you know what you are doing. will you take our picture?" Lisa of course took it. I told her she needs to start carrying business cards to hand out. She could have given them one and said, "here. when you get married, give me a call." We took a lot of pictures. Then our stomachs started growling. We went back to the hotel and got dressed up for dinner. Italian food was our pick. The front desk person suggested the restaurant Ottavios. I am sure that it is spelled wrong since I can't spell. Anyway, the food was fabulous! Lisa got pollo penne something and I got pollo pente cannelloni. It was a party in your mouth. The best part was that it was only a few blocks from the hotel, so we walked there and got to work off some dinner walking back. We went back to the hotel and fat dogged.

Then we decided we could eat again, and went downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel and got dessert. I got the raspberry cheesecake and Lisa got the milky way chocolate cake. Both were amazing good. We went back to our room and fat dogged a little more. The pool was still open for another hour, so we put our suits on and headed down. Hot tubs are so wonderful. Then we went to bed because we had to kinda wake up early Saturday in time to hike and get ready for Weber State football. Stewart Falls was the slected hike for Saturday. It is such a beautiful hike up to the falls and the falls are really pretty too. I was hoping we could have had a bit more time to enjoy all of it, but we had a great time nonetheless. There are so many marvelous things and colors in nature. We just have to remember to take the time and care for them and enjoy them.

too soon!

Does anyone else think this is too soon? I woke up today and this is what my car looked like. BLAH! too soon! Anyway... I guess winter is here. Hopefully it will melt this week and this coming weekend will be perfect weather. Lisa & I & some friends are supposed to go camping. I think if it is this cold and there is even more snow, we may have to find something else to do.

Yesterday was amazing. I got to sleep in. I went to the gym with Lisa, Lisa, and Stacia. We were planning on just running and then maybe doing some abs. Well, as it turns out Mike, our Body Jam instructor, was doing his video to actually become an instructor. We were asked if we wanted to do Body Jam and help with his video. Heck yes we do!...want to do body jam. The camera was pointed at Mike the whole time, so it made things better. What a great workout! After the gym, I went to Lisa's house and got ready for the day. Lisa had to take engagement pictures, but it was really raining hard. So, she asked me to come be her assistant and hold the umbrella. Lisa got some really cute pictures, even with the rain. By the time we finished, we were both freezing. I talked Lisa into hot chocolate from 7-11. That is my second favorite place to get hot chocolate...Starbucks is first. Then we went back to Lisa's. She had to get ready for a gala. I had to get ready for my date.

Jonathon is such a sweetheart. I hadn't really decided exactly what we were going to do for our date. I did have planned "the haunted village," and I did know that I wanted to eat somewhere. Poor Jonathon was so patient while I questioned him on what kind of food he wanted and if a haunted house was alright...(some people will not do haunted houses) He was even kind enough to drive to my house and then we took my car to Salt Lake. I took him to P.F. Chang's. Jonathon had never eaten there before. Stupid me forgot that it was Saturday night. The wait was an hour and a half before we finally got a table. I should have made reservations. The food was fabulous! We ordered the egg drop soup, mongolian beef, and sweet & sour chicken. YUMMY! After dinner, we met up with Lisa, her cousin Preston, and his friend. We all went up to "the haunted village" It was fun. I think the scariest part of the whole thing was when Jonathon got caught in a 'spider web' and I was trying to help free him. The others had gone on ahead. Suddenly there was someone standing next to Jonathon. He jumped, and that made me jump. It was Lisa. She had her hood up and the lighting had given her face a ghostly glow. We both had thought it was one of the characters getting up in our faces to scare us. It was so funny. It was even funnier when Lisa finally understood why we had jumped. I swear sometimes my dear Lisa is completely blonde. (you know I love ya Lis!) and ok, I have my moments too....far more frequent than Lisa.

We were all freezing when we finished getting through the village. Hot chocolate sounded perfect. They usually have a hot chocolate table, but since they were closing for the night, we missed it. The snow started coming down. I had told Jonathon at the start that I don't like driving in snow and that if it started snowing, he would have to drive my car. He is wonderful. Lisa suggested 7-11 for hot chocolate. We found one and Preston was sweet enough to buy our hot chocolates. I think this had to do with the fact that I had called Preston gay. He has bling bling earrings and we were all teasing him about it. It was pretty funny. Anyway... Jonathon drove my car home and that was the end of my Saturday.

thursday traditions?

I think I will have to make a new Thursday tradition. This tradition will be to go get a hot chocolate from Starbucks every Thursday. Quite possibly too I think I will have to make it a soup day as well. Yesterday I went to the Marriott again. I ordered the hot chocolate and then stuck around and talked to Lisa until the restaurant opened. I ordered the corn chowder soup (it is also life changing...) but was given the tortilla strip soup. Oh well. I love them both. Kurt decided to join me and upon discovering I was given the wrong order, ordered me and himself corn chowder soup. It was fabulous! well I got done eating and Lisa was off work so I went home and got ready to go to the gym. I ran 3 miles while watching "the office." running is easier when you have something to distract you from what you are actually doing.... hmmm... anyway, Lisa & I also decided we were swimming after our run. We probably swam about a mile. Lisa did more laps than me, and I think she was actually at a mile and a half. I have discovered I am not a great swimmer. I only am maybe average. I have to laugh at the guys that ask what swim team Lis & I are on....our answer: none nor have we ever been. Then I have to laugh at all the guys at the Marriott that Lis works with. Yesterday I got asked quite a few times if I was her sister. It was hilarious to see their reactions when my answer was "no, but we basically are." I don't think many people really believed us that we are not blood related. Oh well.
On to today... Work was easy today. Our office was not the usual boiler room. It has been so hot as of late that we have to have a fan set on high constantly going. Today we did not have to turn the fan on. It was the perfect temperature. I could only work for 5 hours today. I got a fair amount done and I am beginning to really like Fridays. I was done with work and came home and got my laundry done before I usually get off work. WAHOO! Next weekend will be even better. I got Friday off and Lisa & I & some friends are going camping. I am so excited. And I won't miss that much work because I usually have 35+ hours before I come in on Fridays.
I am also really excited for tomorrow. I get to sleep in. Hopefully go to the gym. Get ready for a date. Hopefully go to The Haunted Village. and who knows what random thing I will end up doing. I do know that it is going to be cold, but I am excited to wear sweaters. It's sweater season! That's all I have for now. Until next time....

christmas is coming!!!

ok, ok, really Christmas is still a while away, but today I had to make sure that all the Christmas items we will have on sale are in our system. Christmas will be arriving on Wednesday...tomorrow and available to purchase Thursday morning. BLAH! What happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving? They don't exist do they?! Yes there are a lot of really cute items coming in for Christmas, but honestly do they have to put it out so soon? I have not even begun to think about what I am getting anyone for Christmas. I have not even begun to think that there will soon be snow and I will have to start driving to work again. I wonder when it was that Christmas became such a huge retail nightmare. There is so much pressure to get Christmas out now. By the time Christmas finally comes, we are all so sick of it that we loose the true meaning. I can't remember the last time I was truly excited for Christmas and felt the magic behind it. What kind of a world has this become? I want to cry that we can't even remember Thanksgiving. What an amazing holiday it is. We get to remember all the wonderful blessings we have and pig out and sleep and be with loved ones. Anyway... I think I will veto Christmas until after I remember and celebrate Thanksgiving!

a week later...

so a lot has happened this past week. I haven't written because I have been out doing things... mostly the gym with Lisa. ok, let me sum up; Tuesday...my boss was back at work. hooray. she was mad because the other people in the office didn't listen to me. but that is usual, unfortunately. they don't like me because I have authority over them and I am the newest to the department. whatever. she told them to get over it. work went alright. I was excited to be done with work because IRON MAN came out on DVD. I bought it at Circuit City. Wahoo! then I came home and watched it. Lisa was then available so we went to the gym. I then had to get to bed because Wednesday is the day I have to be at work at 3am. and that was Tuesday.
Wednesday... Work was crazy. I felt like I had lead in my pants. Time was flying, but I was not moving fast enough to get everything done. I still got it all done, but it was a long day. I went home and took a nap. Then Lisa, the other Lisa, and I went to BODY JAM in Layton. It was awesome. I was drenched in sweat by the time it got done. We decided the night was still fairly young and since we are all poor, we came back to my house and made smoothies from frozen fruit. They were yummy! and that was Wednesday.
Thursday. another crazy day at work. once again I felt like I could not move fast enough. My boss was gone...she had to take her husband to the doctor. there were so many price changes, and I couldn't go help hang them. I had to print and sort them. I was getting so frustrated with my co-workers. They were seriously not doing anything! When I left, an hour after I was supposed to, there were still 4 stacks of tags that needed to be hung. My boss texted me and asked how today went. I told her and she said she would talk to the others. It was ridiculous that with 4 people working, we could not get the tags hung. I was so mad when I left work that Lisa said I should get a hot chocolate...from the Starbucks she works at. It was much needed, so I went and because the Starbucks is also in the Marriott, I also treated myself to Tortilla Strip Soup. Then Lisa and I went to the gym. Kurt invited us to go see a movie at 9. So, Lisa and I went with Kurt and some other people to see "House Bunny." I have to say, I didn't care for it and will try to never see it again. My boss said I should sleep in tomorrow morning (Friday). so I went home and went to bed.
Friday: I slept in. Just an hour. but it was still nice. Worked for 6 hours. came home. did my laundry. fell asleep.
Saturday... was awesome. My phone ringing at 10 am woke me up. Lisa, "where are you?" Me, "my bed." Lisa, "get your butt up and get over here." me, "k. see ya in a bit."
So I went to Lisa's house and had breakfast while listening/watching conference. It was fabulous! between sessions, Lis and I went to Sears so Lis could get some new shoes. We found some really cute ones that will be comfortable for her to work in. then we drove quickly back to her house and watched the second session of Conference. Then I went home and got ready for Girls' Night. the other Lisa, Tiffany, and I went to the Marriott and ate. Kurt joined us. (he also runs the Marriott) He made an executive decision and decided to come to the movies with us. we went to "Eagle Eye" It is really intense and I really liked it. I am sure I will own it when it is out on DVD. After the movie, I sadly had to take Tiffany home. :( She had a rough week and needed sleep. But Lisa, Lisa, Mary, and I went to Lisa's and pampered ourselves. Mary is a Mary Kay lady now, so we got to do facials, and pedicures. It was wonderful! We put on a chick flick, and I was quickly asleep. oops. at least they didn't put my bra in the freezer.
SUNDAY! was great. we woke up to the delicious smells of waffles and peaches. Lisa cooked waffles for us with a delicious peach/raspberry sauce and whipped topping. we ate and watched conference. All of us in our pj's. I actually stayed in my pj's all day... but I didn't leave Lisa's house until after midnight last night/this morning. ok scratch that...we went to Lisa's grandpa's house for the afternoon session and Lis and I also went for a walk between sessions. Conference was fabulous. I really like that we can listen/watch from the comfort of our homes. Sunday evening/night was great too. I hung out with Lisa and her parents. I think I will probably start calling them 'momma & daddy arrington' because I have been up there so much. it is tradition for their family to get together on Sunday. so I got to hang with most of Lisa's family. I love her nephews and nieces. They are so cute. After they all left, Lisa and I stayed up and watch "Iron Man" and that was my week...a week later. i promise to post more.

monday, monday...

Today was not a bad day. My internet is fixed. YAY! I woke up on time, got to work, work went pretty fast, hopefully I didn't mess too many things up... heard my boss' surgery went well, went to FHE with Lisa's ward, went to the gym, and ate fabulous Tortilla Strip Soup! So I may or may not join Lisa's ward. They are pretty fun. At least I had a good time tonight. Maybe it was because the other Lisa and I were there. Lisa would have been too, but she had to work. BLAH! Anyway, the other Lisa and I felt bad she missed all our good fun. So after FHE, and after the gym, we took Lisa flowers at work. Lisa then 'twisted' my arm so we stayed for dinner. I got the Tortilla Strip Soup again. It is seriously life changing. and really she didn't have to twist my arm to get me to stay. The other Lisa took my word and also got the soup. She agrees with me that it is life changing. We also ordered the chocolate cake for dessert. I didn't get a before picture...cause I forgot, but here is the after. and yes, it was THAT good! PS. this is the other Lisa. and that is her name...the other Lisa. Ok really I know it's confusing so here is a picture of the 3 of us from the football game a few weeks ago. and from left to right is; Lisa, the other Lisa, and me. Today was a good day. oh, and because my boss' surgery went well, I should see her Wednesday at work. Hooray! and on a final note...IRON MAN comes out on DVD tomorrow!!!

the rest of the weekend

Saturday was great. I got to sleep in! Lisa and I were going to get up early and go to the gym, but she decided to go to the temple first. That's just fine. So we went later...about noon. We ran and did abs. Lisa had a lot to get done so we left the gym and went to her house where we cleaned out her car and then mine. Then we had to hurry and shower so Lisa could go take pictures for a family. We got done just in time to go to the relief society conference. Sadly, the sound didn't work because no one knew which button to push. We missed almost all of the first talk. It was still a good conference. After it was over, we ran to Lisa's house because we had to hurry and tidy up for the bon fire/party. I lit the fire... Sweet huh! so we had a fair amount of people come. It was good to see people and meet new ones. I convinced Jonathon to come. He was exhausted, but still came. Then I fell asleep on him...oops. Lisa and the other people who were there (I am not sure since I was passed out) thought it would be funny to take pictures of me. They also said I was talking, but not making sense. (thankfully). so here I am passed out on poor Jonathon who is also close to passing out himself. In fact, it looks like he was out cold too. Well, I woke up for a second... long enough basically for Lisa to tell me I was staying the night because I was not coherent enough to drive home. I did wake up when Mary scared the crap out of me. I got up to give Stephen a hug goodbye and he for some reason just picked me up and carried me out to my car. Mary was hiding behind it and jumped out at us. He almost dropped me, and I am pretty sure my heart stopped. She got us good. I went back inside to Lisa's house and went right back to sleep. This was about 3:30-4 ish in the morning. Oh well. I got up, went home, showered, and went back to meet Lisa at her house so we could go to her ward together. It was fun. She has a cool ward. Then I came home, and took a nap. There was a fireside at the Institute, so Lisa, the other Lisa, and I went. It was amazing. After the fireside, I went back to Lisa's house and just chilled with her family and her. It was a pretty good rest of the weekend.

long week and great food

so today and really this week has been a long one. my internet doesn't really work...ever. in fact i am surprised i can blog this now. my work has been busy, but ok. it actually is better busy because the time goes faster. exciting news... my boss told me she put me in for a raise. i should be getting it on my next check. i can't look to see though because the store went paper free so it's all online...my internet is down. i would check my bank account, but once again...online and internet is not working. i really think this and my home page are all i can get into. anyway...technology and i don't get along. my cell phone isn't working either. it takes 4 or more hours for people to get texts from me. and another 4 or more for me to get their response. i went to the verizon store to figure out what is going on. they basically cleared everything off my phone and handed it back to me. well, this actually made it work for all of 5 minutes. then it made it worse. blah! so i went to a different verizon place and they listened to me and tried to fix the problem. they aren't sure what the problem is. they can't fix it. so i stuck with a retarded phone. try calling me sometime and i think i may still be able to talk that way...of course if i am not over on minutes... hence the reason for unlimited text messaging.
so work has been ok. i got told i am a boss by my boss, esp when she is not able to be at work. there are people who hate me for it. they think they should have got my job and not me. it is their own faults though because they didn't want to work and do the required work i do. on Monday i rode my bike to work and someone let the air out of the back tire. i know it was at work because i rode to work just fine. and if i got a puncture, i have the slime that fixes anything smaller than a nail size hole. since i found no nail size holes, you tell me how else air leaves a sealed tire. whoever did it was smart enough to let out just enough air to not notice it until you actually got on the bike and tried to pedal. i have my suspicions, but no real hard evidence.
so on to today/tonight... I went to work. it was a busy day. got a fair amount done. there was still lots to get done, esp since my boss is going to be gone for the next few working days because she has to have surgery on her eye. i came home from work and went to the laundry mat. the dryer i put my clothes in didn't work...i discovered after an hour and a half and my clothes were still wet and cold. got done with my laundry and came home and watched "clue" its a funny movie. then Lisa texted me and said that the restaurant she works in has no one there. it just opened tonight. i tried to round up friends to come eat with me. everyone sucks. they were all busy or never answered...which means they were/are busy. well, i really recommend eating at this restaurant. It is in the Marriott on 24th street. really great food. my meal consisted of; amazing bread with a garlic butter on the side, fabulous tortilla strip soup, (i would come and eat just that and be terrific),a huge wild west burger, garlic mashed potatoes and grilled carrot cake. all of the food was just wonderful. i really need to just come with people next time for sure. everyone seriously, go eat at the Marriott!

the tag

The Rules: Link the Person who Tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1) I am very OCD. My DVDs have to be in alphabetical order. If I find that they aren't, I immediately have to fix it.

2) I hate making my bed, so I don't sleep in my covers. I sleep on top and use other blankets to keep warm. If I ever let you in my covers, you know you are special.

3) The toilet paper roll has to come from the top and the smaller end of the bar that holds it in place has to be on the right side. This is another OCD for me.

4) My clothes have to be in a certain type of order in my closet.

5) I don't eat mushrooms because I can't bring myself to eat a fungus.

6) I am a bit of a germ-a-phobe, but really only with certain people....for instance my one co-worker who looks like she is in her 60s but really is something like 35. Ewww.

I now tag; Erin O, Brooke, Erin P, Mary, Dav, and Rochelle.

BODY JAM

Yesterday Lisa & I went to Body Jam. Its a new dance/exercise class offered at Gold's Gym. Holy cow! It rocked. My whole body is sore today, but it was an awesome class. I can't dance to save my life, but I tried. I recommend it to anyone looking for a new way to work out. It doesn't matter how good (or in my case, bad) you are. The instructors make it easy to follow and really it is the same type of steps over and over again. I am excited because we found another Body Jam class offered at a different Gold's than the one we go to. Hopefully by the time we go a few more times, I'll be an okay hip hop dancing, ready to shake my booty, in shape girl. In other news, I sadly had to take my baby (Mojave 2.0) to the shop. One of the bolts that holds on the water bottle was welded on to the frame. I finally bought a water bottle holder (Smiths' $5.00) and went to put it on, but failed. Anyway, thankfully Jesse is a genius and found a way to fix it at no cost to me. I got her back in the same day just a few hours after I had taken her in. Jesse checked her over and she is running better than ever. I still get to bike to work everyday. The weather is getting colder, but I am dressing warmer. When there is snow, I think I will break down and drive my Sephia baby. By the by, my calves are starting to look really good. Running also helps, but I am feeling the benefits of working out from biking and exercising. "And we all know exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't shoot their husbands." If you can name that movie, I will buy you a treat of your choice.

Saturday...

Saturday. Rocked. I got to sleep in. Lisa got back earlier from the R.S. retreat so we went to the gym. I ran faster than I usually do. It was awesome. Then I went to a Mary Kay lunch in thing. I got to see my good friends; Jules, Andrea, Janel, Megan, and Mary. After the lunch ended, I quickly drove home so I could get ready for my date. My good friend Jonathon, whom I hadn't heard from in a while, texted me a few months ago. Sadly, I was busy and never got back to him. Well, I have been thinking about that a lot. I don't like when I fall off the face of the earth and my friends do too. So I texted Jonathon, and scored a hot date for Saturday night. It was incredible to see him again. We went to the WSU football game. It was also homecoming. Jonathon is in the ROTC and in charge this year. That meant that when Weber made a touchdown, the ROTC went and did push ups in the end zone. Weber won 44 to 7. There were fireworks after the game ended. I was freezing after the sun went down. Stupid me didn't think about it being fall and the weather changing so I didn't bring a jacket. Jonathon just bought a new truck and he apologized that he hadn't put a spare jacket in it yet. Amazing guy. Well, the night was still fairly young by the time the game ended and the fireworks got over. We went to Jonathon's house so he could get out of uniform. Then we went to the comedy club. There was really only one comic I found to be hilarious. The rest were funny, but the last guy was roll-on-the-floor laughing good. I must say the nachos we ate from the club were delicious. Well, the show finished and it was kinda late. We were both tired. It was a long week for us both. So we came back to my place and ended up talking for a while. I have really missed my good friend. There was so much to catch up on. He got to go to Bulgaria, bought a new truck, got a jeep, found out who got married that we both know, and just what has been going on in our lives. Anyway, all in all Saturday was a great day. And here is Jonathon, and me. (thanks to Lisa)

the random continues...sort of

this week hasn't been as exciting as last week. although, I must say this has been a very weird random run into people week. Ok, really just random run into ex boyfriends I haven't seen since the break up. I don't know what kind of karma is being sent at me or whatever, but really I saw 3 ex boyfriends in the last 2 days. WEIRD, RANDOM, and slightly FREAKY. Actually I must admit it was really good to see one of them. He is married now, has longer, darker, curly hair...that was freaky... but doing well. Is it creepy that I wanted to give him a hug? I hadn't seen him since we split. He is an incredible man. Our break up was one of the 2 that actually went alright. All the rest have been disasters. Such is life. I do have to say that I am quite proud of myself. Lisa and I have been good about going to the gym. We are actually going again tonight. It makes me happy. I broke and joined Gold's. It will be for my benefit and I consider it an investment. Now I can go whenever I want. I still have been good and biking to work. It was rather embarrassing the other day because it was raining. By the time I got to work, I was fairly wet. I was most wet on my pants. Really, it looked like I had peed my pants. It was awful. I wore a scarf, thankfully, and it was long enough to tie around my waist until my butt dried. 2 hours later, I took the scarf off. To my relief, nobody said anything about the scarf around my waist. Most likely, they knew and didn't want to embarrass me. I am excited for this weekend. Saturday I am going to the football game at Weber. I also get to see a really good friend of mine. I am stoked. Oh, so my internet is working off and on again, so that's why I take forever to write anything. Such is life.

hooray for randomness...

so my life lately has been kinda boring. but this last week has been awesome. Lisa and I have been going to the gym. It all started with Lisa texting me if I wanted to come to the gym with her. She signed me up for a one week trial membership with Gold's. We ran 3 miles. It was awesome, although I can't figure out why I can run for 3 miles straight on a treadmill but not outside. Anyway, we got done with our workout and went to go fill out paperwork for me to continue my free trial. My free 1 week trial turned into a 1 month free trial. Hooray! So that is just the start of how awesome my week has been. okay I have to back up a bit...I went to a Mary Kay party on Wednesday and ran into quite a few friends I haven't seen since who knows when. Then Lisa and I went to the gym on Thursday. We also went to a really cool restaurant in Bingham Cyclery. I don't remember the name. Oops. Anyway it is amazing food. Go try it if you haven't. Okay on to Friday. I had a very long day at work. They are setting Halloween and I had to make all the signs and make sure all the items are in the system. Our computers crashed so it made life a little harder. I had places to go so I left and I was over hours for the day too. Lisa called and said she was headed to pick me up. We met up with Emily and her friend Chad at the Utah State Fair. Lisa had entered pictures in the fair and we wanted to see if she had won. Stupid judges...she didn't get any ribbons. Exciting news though....Lisa bought a new cowboy hat because her other one got ruined at the Idaho State Fair. We wandered around the fair for a while and then Lisa, Emily, and I went to Studio 600. Emily's friend's band was playing. The studio was actually not that fun...mostly because it was a younger crowd this time. Blah. So we danced for a while and left just before midnight. Well, as we were leaving these 2 really hot guys kinda started talking to us in the parking lot. Small chat...about not biting the glow sticks with your mouth. Anyway we got in Lisa's car and I said holy cow they are hot. we should get their numbers. or give them ours. Lisa turned the car around and we went into the Sears parking lot, where they had parked. I rolled down my window and said, "hey, so you said you're leaving cause this crowd is too young. how old are you?" they answered with obvious lies. but we chatted a bit more...me mostly just giggling. they asked our ages. They thought I was 19....ok, ok, I was really flirty. Anyway I finally said, "so I think you're pretty cute. can I give you my number?" of course! so we chatted a bit more and then asked them to join us at Wendy's for a bite to eat. Tradition for Lisa & me & whoever comes clubbing with us...we always eat at Wendy's after. So we had a picnic in the parking lot of Wendy's with these random boys I just gave my number to. They told us that their names are Griffin, and Stephen. So we laughed, I giggled, and then realized it was getting late. Emily had told her parents she would be home by 1am. it was now about 130. Good times! So we got home about 2-230 ish. It was fabulous. Saturday morning kinda sucked though. Lisa and I went to the gym...only ran 2 miles and did abs. I slept the rest of the day Saturday in Logan. Sunday..... Sunday was great. Went to church. Went to a terrific fireside. Ate dinner with my family. Drove to North Ogden where Lisa's b-day party was. Saw Mary and more friends I hadn't seen in a while. Met new people. Hung out with Griffin & Stephen again. Lisa invited them and they came. Oh these two are a hoot. I once again was laughing my head off. It was a great week. I hope this one is just as good. I have to go now because Lisa and I are going to the gym. But as a parting; here are pictures from Friday night & Sunday night of Griffin & Stephen. We are so random and I love it!

my sick, stupid human trick

I know you have all been wondering what my human trick is. Here. It's kinda....well, you decide.

squeaky cheese adventures

you may be wondering what the heck this is. well, let me tell you. it is cheese curds hanging out the window of Lisa's car. why are they there? because we had no refrigeration in a heated car. Ok, here is the real story. Lisa and I were planning on going down the Snake River today. That plan got shot when the weather decided to dump lovely rain/thunder/lightning/cold. So crazy me.... decided that we should go to Idaho. More specifically, the Eastern Idaho State Fair held in my hometown of Blackfoot. It was tons of fun. There was a lot to see, including randomness: my brother Adam. There was a lot to eat. My meal today consisted of a Mammoth Burger, Tiger Ear, Strawberry Daiquiri, cinnamon glazed almonds, and cheese curds. The bag of cheese curds were actually a sort of lame present for Lisa...it is her birthday tomorrow (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!) Well, it was a big bag of cheese. So we got snacking on it and the almonds on the drive back to good ol' Ogden, UT. Then we decided really we would be sick if we ate any more. So the cheese sat between us. Then it sort of started to get warm, mostly because we had the heat on because we were freezing because it rained on us the last 45 min or so that we were at the fair. We also decided that we couldn't eat it fast enough to still be good in 2 hours when we could put it in a fridge. So I came up with the solution....put it out the window. It WORKED! and that is our happy squeaky cheese adventure.

fell off the earth...

Hello. Sorry it has been so long since I posted. Mostly because my internet at home has been really stupid. I can't get into the internet the way you would think. Only a few of my sites actually work; ok really just my home page and this one sometimes. Anyways, what is new with me... My roommate, Erin, and I got permission to paint our apartment. We picked out lovely colors: a darker tan and a lighter green. Our landlords bought flesh and a brighter green. It actually turned out quite well. I may mention that our carpet is maroon red, my furniture is purple, orange, blue, brown, and cream. The living room is finished. It looks good for just having my experience painting. The kitchen is 3/4 of the way finished. We just have to move the fridge and finish one section of the ceiling I couldn't reach at first. Erin started back to school so this project we started last weekend has turned into my afternoon and evening job. It's all good though because I have no life. Oh well.

I must say that I did go spur-of-the-moment camping last week with Lisa. Ok it really was just Friday night to Saturday early evening. It was still a blast. We camped in a tent in Hope Camp Ground. Its in the Uinta National Park. Saturday we got up and went hiking at Mount Timpanogos. It is incredible and so breath taking. As we were going through the caves, we saw people coming up a different path. They had been spelunking. Right then we decided that someday, hopefully sooner than later, we were coming back to go spelunking.

my super cute nephew

This is Chandler on the Metro going to the Fashion District. He loved riding on the train. I love my super cute nephew. I can't believe how big is growing. He told me, "Beanie, I am growing big like you!" Chan fell asleep on the bus we had to take to get closer to the Fashion District. Lucky guy. It was so cute when he woke up and realized that mommy & daddy were buying him Thomas the Train curtains. He got so excited. It was fun watching him absorb everything and respond back to it. Chandler really is just a little man.

california adventures

hello all. I am in California right now. We; Brooke, Chris, Chandler, Mary, Esther, RayLynne, and I, came to San Diego for my cousin Bobby's wedding. Currently we are staying in a hotel, Courtyard Marriott, in LA. Our check out time is noon today. Yup, just the one night. Oh well. It is a pretty nice hotel. In fact, one of the nicer ones we have stayed at. Yesterday was quite a long day. We left Utah Thursday afternoon ish and stopped in Vegas at RayLynne's house. We got to Vegas about 2 am. There was an accident that took a few hours to clean up the interstate. Fortunately we were not in the accident. We had stopped in Mesquite to eat $5.00 prime steaks. I actually didn't get the steak, mostly because I am not really a steak person. Weird, yes I know. Esp. for growing up in Idaho right. Well, I grew up on deer meat, moose meat, and whatever else my dad happened to hunt. Anyway, I got a really good B.B.Q. pull apart sandwich. Messy, but oh so good. Then when we went to get back in the minivan, Chandler threw a fit. Poor guy has been stuck in his car seat for a long time now. It took mommy coming back to hold him for a bit so he would calm down enough for her to wrestle him into his car seat. We all fell asleep waiting for the accident to be cleaned up. The guy behind us began honking when we didn't move and everyone else was. Oh well. We had decided that in order not to be late for the wedding we had to get up about 4 am. Reality....we got up at 5 and left by 5:30 am. Made it to San Diego safely. Went to the wedding. Well, Esther, RayLynne, and I couldn't go in the temple so we stayed outside and watched Chan. After pictures were done, we went to go find food. We were all starving. Stopped at a McDonalds. Then we found this really cool beach. It was beautiful. We played in the ocean for an hour or so then had to leave. Our grandparents wanted to see us, and we wanted to see them too. We visited with them for an hour when grandma kicked us out so we could get some sleep. I love them so much. They are amazing people. We got to the hotel and went to bed. Now everyone is swimming in the pool. I didn't feel like swimming today. RayLynne is getting more sleep too, so I guess not everyone is swimming. Well, I got to go. Today is going to be busy. Chinatown here we come!

chick comedy

Chris showed me a video on you tube about a nail salon. It is really funny. I put a link over on the side, but once you get to the website, you will have to search nail salon. Anyway, so I had to be to work today at 3 am. It is ad day. I felt like I had cannon balls chained to me. It took me 3 hours to walk the entire store and write down everything that needed new signs for the new displays that went up last night, and yesterday. Then it took me an hour and a half to make the signs. It doesn't help that two of our three computers are slower than molasses in January. I would have used my boss' computer, but she came in to work by the time I was able to make signs. It took me another hour and some to hang all the signs back up. CRAZY. I finally finished with that task and went to another... hanging more tags that changed price for one or another reason, but not in the ad. I left work just after 1pm. Long day. I am debating on going in early tomorrow, well earlier than I normally would. There are a lot of price changes tomorrow and I have to be out on time because I am going to San Diego with my family. :) My cousin is getting married. Originally I would not have been able to go, but with my new scanning position, my boss is a lot more understanding. Hooray for cool bosses!

update

okay. so i haven't been on here for a while... mostly because I didn't have my laptop all last week. Brooke & Chris borrowed it for the reunion. Let me tell ya how boring my week was without my technology. Anyways...so I worked that Friday in the scanning office alone. As it turns out, I wasn't supposed to be alone. One of the guys didn't bother showing up until I broke down and called my boss at home in a panic and she got a hold of him and it got messy. I could have handled it, but really, I haven't done enough alone yet to remember everything there is to know about the scanning office. There is a lot more than just hanging signs and changing prices. Well, after the guy finally showed up...4 hours late roughly, he made me feel totally stupid and retarded for not knowing everything after working for only two weeks. Needless to say, I was crying by the end of my shift that day and wondering if I really wanted to work in the scanning office. I left work and went up to Logan. After a good chat with Brooke & Chris, I decided I was ok and I could still do the job. Lois would have killed me anyway if I had left. I replaced her so she could retire. The best part is, I didn't have to see this guy for a whole week. He was leaving on vacation, and his excuse for not showing up was that he had to pack. Monday morning, my boss asked me what happened on Friday after I had called her. I explained things to her, and she said that when this guy gets back from vacation, he will be punished if not fired. I felt better. So really not a whole lot really has happened. The family reunion was pretty good. I forgot how crazy my family is. That's what families are for right. It was good to see most everyone....not everybody got to come. And that's what is new in my world.

wish me luck

so I officially have been working in my "new" job for a week and two days. I just found out that I will be all by myself to run the scanning office on Friday...this coming Friday. Yikes! I hope I can do it. They all keep telling me that if they didn't trust me, they wouldn't let me be there alone, but still.... I can't help but shake the feeling that maybe I don't know what I am doing. so wish me luck. Actually, it can't be that bad, right? oh, my "new" job is in the scanning office at Macey's. Wahoo. All I do all day long now is scan items in the store and make sure that they are priced right. If they aren't, I get to make new tags to put on the shelves and anything and everything you see in a grocery store. pretty easy, huh. My fear is that the vendors will try and push me around since they know I am new and all. Lois has been teaching me well. I got to tell the bread vendor the other day that he needed to decide what bread he was putting on a shelf because our sign said he could only put one kind up...he had three on the shelf. He didn't change it, so I talked to Lois and she went and told the vendor to change it. She gave him some gruff for being mean to me. He apologized. It was pretty cool. Yes, I know....really lame, but still it was cool. The Nabisco vendors are really interesting people too. They don't like it when I ask questions about items they haven't put on the shelf, but we have tags for them. Hey, I'm new and just doing what I was told...hang signs. Anyway, wish me luck and I will try and keep this updated more often.

mondays

yesterday i found myself with nothing to do after a long 10 hr day. i had gotten up, well out of bed, at 2am to be to work at 3am. I ride my bike now to work and lucky for me, the cool morning actually woke me up. you would think that after such a long day one would come home and at least take a nap. believe you me, i tried...for about an hour. It didn't work. I was awake. I decided to take some advice from many friends, most recently my roommate, Erin, and watch "The Office". Erin owns all 3 seasons that are out on DVD. I watched season 1, and all of season 2 yesterday after work. Maybe I was just slap-happy, but I was literally laughing out loud all by myself. (Lisa, now I know where your references are coming from....the ones I usually just felt left out of because I hadn't watched "The Office" since, well...we won't go there.) Everyone who has not watched this show really should. It is quite funny. I am excited for today because I am home from work and once again have nothing really to do. I should go exercise, but I really did ride my bike to and from work today, so if I don't go then I don't feel so guilty. Honestly though, I have to know what happens with Jim and Pam. so I will just post later.

my new baby

This is my new baby. I actually got her on Saturday, but didn't have time to take her out. I took her out last night for the first time and then rode her to work today. It was fabulous!, a little chilly at 5:30 in the morning, and a little warm at 1:30 this afternoon, but wonderful nonetheless. She is a black, Raleigh Mojave 2.0 I love my new baby! The funny looking circle at the bottom of my seat is my lock. I installed a front light and back light on her too so she is legal to ride at night. I actually had to use my back light this morning. I am going to be so fit riding her to work from now on, well, at least until it's too cold or am running late.

July 4th

today was great. i spent the night at Lisa's and got up at 6ish in the AM to go run in Plain City. It was my first race since Moab's 5 mile. this one was just the Plain City Milk run/walk of 5K. i am not sure my time, as it wasn't very well organized. I just know i did better than 38 minutes....that was the time i heard called out after I'd been at the finish for a while. I think my favorite part of the race was the sidewalk chalk that marked our course. After we finished running, we; Lisa, her dad, mom, and myself went to North Ogden's breakfast in the park. it was very filling. we then watched the parade and got dressed up. Well, Lisa dressed me. I got to play her life-size barbie. she did a photo shoot of me since she is a professional photographer. (check out her web page; http://www.timelessimpressionsonline.com/) we hung out and ate and ate and ate with her family. i seriously felt like a king stuffing his face with nothing but fabulous food all day long. after gorging myself, Lisa and I left her family to go do other things. I went to go hang out with some friends and light off fireworks. we had a lot of fun being pyros. hooray for the 4th of July and whoever invented fireworks and letting pyros have some great times! what a wonderful country we live in! Happy 4th!

Jeff & the dirty girls (before & after)

Mud Volleyball

so i did the most fun thing EVER on Friday the 27th of June. I played mud volleyball for South Ogden days on the Maceys' team. we had so much fun. the mud felt great. we got dirty and just had a good time. I will post pictures when i get them. (rather than worry about taking pictures with every one's cameras, the lady in charge of our team said she would make us all copies) Everyone that participated got a light brown shirt with "mud volleyball 2008" across the front. we lost our first game, won our second, and then lost the third. it was double elimination, rally score, first one to 11 wins. the mud quite literally came up to my thighs (being the smallest one on the team). would i do it again?.... heck yes i would! and i highly recommend it to anyone and everyone else. we even changed our name half way through. we were "Maceys" and changed it to "Jeff and the dirty girls" since it really was just one guy and 5 girls. good times!

clothes model...... maybe?

So this was about 3 years ago. My best friend Lisa took pictures for me. She is a professional photographer. Lisa had just bought a new camera and I got to be her "dummy" while she tried it out and played with it. We decided after that I kinda look like a clothes model. I love my Silver jeans. Oh, and THANK YOU LISA! (she didn't charge me, well just the fee to develop)

my great and tragic day

Last night I turned in my resignation at the fire house. It was a great feeling, but also very sad. I resigned for a number of reasons, but that is another story for another day. I am glad to be leaving the department. I still get a little emotional about it when I mention it to people, especially since it was only last night. Just give me a week or so and I will be ok and not have the water works come on. Wish me luck in my next adventure. Who knows what that will be exactly, but it will happen.

splish splash i was taken a bath

aren't my nieces and nephew so cute. we had a great weekend. this is from left to right; Lily, Chandler, Madison, and Isabelle. they are so little and so much fun.

my fire engine

This is Engine 52. A thing of beauty isn't she. It's parked kinda funny because she's in the parking lot because we were using her lights and equipment for training. We were tearing a car apart, aka extricating a "victim" out. It was easier to do it in the parking lot rather than on our deck. She sure does look sweet.

What in the world?

You will never guess what this is. This is a picture of what is left of a 4wheeler headlight after being exposed to fire. Well, mostly heat because the one that got exposed to fire was only a metal frame left. Anywhoo... I am sure you guessed it, there was a fire in my city and I got to be there. It was a very hot fire. Perhaps you read it in the news, but perhaps not. Everyone is okay, and we are very lucky about it. Several propane tanks and power lines could have caused major damage to firefighters and by-standers. Fire is amazing! Dangerous, yes I know, but oh so much fun to watch.

car fire

On April 12, 2008 I got to burn a car. For fun. actually it was training, but it was awesome nonetheless. I got to smash some windows in and watched fire flash out and around me. My gear protects me so I didn't get burned. My Chief was yelling at me to back out though. I was watching and going "cool" while I should have been retreating. I am in one piece and alive still. It was really amazing to see it flash out at me. kinda scary, but really cool.

This is from left to right: Renee, Me, and Lena. Last day of school Jr. Year of high school. What great and amazing times we shared.

this past weekend

so my bestestest friend ever came to visit this past weekend. it was awesome! Lena and I caught up on old times and shared new times and flew kites and laughed all night long. It was really good to see her after such a long time. Lena will be moving soon and I am not sure (nor is she really yet) where she is moving to. It will be sad, but a good change for her. Conference was also quite good. I couldn't believe we had such a hard time finding a radio station that covered conference in Utah. We shared a good laugh about that one. We ended up finding it on an AM station and got to listen to all the sessions that were broadcast for everyone. Lena is currently working for the church as an editor for the "Friend." she said that she will be working on the conference talks for the next while here. It was really good to see her. A fun weekend that will always be remembered.

Canyonlands 5 Mile

I ran in the Canyonlands 5 mile race on March 8, 2008. It was so cold that by the time I finished I was blue and happy to be done. It was a great race though. I beat my time from last year by 2:30 minutes. It made me very happy. My bib number was 5397 in case you want to check out pictures of it online at www.canyonlandshalfmarathon.com The coolest part of the race is the drummers that they have that beat on drums about halfway through the canyon. You feel that beat in your whole body and you want to just run with it. Next year for sure I am going to try and get in the raffle for the half marathon. Wish me luck!

This is Sarah and me. At the time she didn't work at the station, but she does now. We are the only two girls currently. We love it. Tonight we totally kicked the guys butts at the physical test we did with SCBA packs. (Those are the air packs we wear.) It was hard, but we did it... and we lasted longer than the guys. Since this picture, I got new gear that fits better and is designed for girls. I've been in fires with it. It's great. I love my job. This picture was also a year and a half ago