Rockin and a Rollin'

I was abruptly awakened from a dead sleep on Wednesday the 18th to some loud crashes, creaks and groans and my bed shaking. What in the world was going on? My mind quickly raced through some possibilities. Wind storm? No...a quick glance out the window showed me that the tree branches were not whipping around. A flyover by the jets from nearby Hill Air Force Base? No...I couldn't hear the tell-tale sound of the loud engines. These are both things that as a resident of Davis County shake my house on the regular. I dismissed both options within seconds and came to the surprising but unmistakable conclusion: EARTHQUAKE! And interestingly, more than shaking, it felt like more of an intense rolling sensation. I sat there in a bit of a panic trying to figure out what to do. Should I run to Lilian or was it safer to stay put? Should I call out to her to see if she was okay? But what if she was somehow sleeping through it...I didn't want to alarm her. The earthquake seemed to go on forever but in all actuality lasted about 20 seconds. Oscar and I rode it out together on my bed and then raced to Lilian's room when the rockin' and rollin' settled down. She was sitting straight up in bed, eyes wide. "Was that...??" she asked, "An earthquake!!" I answered. And then suddenly the floor started rolling and her bedroom door started to sway... "It's happening again!" Lilian exclaimed. I assured her it was an aftershock which was normal, and that we'd likely continue to feel them throughout the day. I hurried down the hall to assess damage considering I had heard some pretty loud crashes during the initial quake and found Brandon standing on the stairs having been also jolted awake by the earth moving beneath him. "Earthquake?" "Yep, earthquake." 

I found my big canvas painting on the floor from where it had taken a dive from the fireplace mantle, a little dinged and dented but still okay. Not so okay were some vintage glass bottles that had been swept down with the painting. Also damaged was the framed picture of the Bountiful Temple that had taken its own dive from the downstairs fireplace mantle.





















Bryan had been driving to work when the earthquake hit. He was listening to the radio when he saw what looked like a huge bolt of lightning flash through the sky further south in Salt Lake City and then the radio went dead for a few seconds. He didn't notice the shaking, attributing it to just driving over some rough road. When the radio came back the DJ's were yelling, "Earthquake, earthquake!!!!" 

We spent the day responding to texts from family, and posts on social media as well as pouring over the news reports coming in throughout the day. We discovered the quake was classified as a 5.7 on the richter scale and was centered in Magna, Utah. Not huge, but still the largest we'd had here in Utah since the 1930's when there was a 6.6.  We still have friends living in our old neighborhood in Magna and it was interesting to hear of their experiences...the intensity of the shaking and the damage in their homes of course much more severe than our own 30 miles north.

(The Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Temple lost his trumpet in the quake leading to a lot of funny memes...)

It was equal parts fascinating and unnerving to feel so many aftershocks throughout the day and week following the main quake...more than 200 altogether, though we only felt the ones that were at least a 3 on the richter scale. Oscar spent the day following me everywhere I went and cuddled up at my side when I stopped to sit at my computer or on the couch. Anytime the house started creaking his head would pop up and his eyes would get wide.

Wednesday the 18th was meant to be the first day of online distance learning for the kids after schools had closed Friday the 13th. We joked that maybe this was Mother Nature's way of giving the kids a little alarm clock jolt to get them moving so they wouldn't be tempted to sleep in even though they didn't have to catch the bus and check into their physical classrooms. It certainly did give a bit of a break from the non-stop Coronavirus news, at least here in Utah.

Caught

It was a mad dash from my front den to the back bedroom...I'm sure they probably saw a flash of my pink fluffy bathrobe streak by as they came in the front door.

What was meant to be a productive day had devolved into a few hours sitting in front of the computer. I'd come to terms with it. After all, the blog post about the first day of school was taking me much longer to put together than I had thought...but it was on my list of things to do. So, maybe I wouldn't get a chance to visit the Museum of Fine Art today after all and needed to shift that activity to another day. No biggie. Reconsidering my to-do list, I'd already decided instead that some laundry and vacuuming would take its place after finishing said post. 

But then I heard a car door slam. It sounded close...I even glanced out the window, but didn't immediately see anything. I turned back to my computer screen. Then I heard voices. Glancing over a second time I saw Julianne walking up the front path, obviously coming home for lunch. Not unusual, really. But voices...plural. She had a friend with her. The realization of what I was wearing rushed over me and my horror deepened when I saw that not only did Julianne have a friend with her, this friend was a boy! I had seconds to decide how to play this. Stay in my seat and smile bravely? This is probably what I would've done had I been in my normal pajama pants and t-shirt. But no, today I was in a robe...a bright pink one, no less. I don't tend to wear pink anymore, but this was the robe I bought with some Christmas money from my grandparents back when I was in my first year of college. So not only a robe...but a really old and tattered one at that. I decided to grab my computer which was still gaily playing whatever song was cued up on my iTunes playlist and make a run for it down the hall.

Yes, a flash of pink. I'm sure they saw it as they came in. Because then Julianne called down a warning as they walked into the entryway and I could hear the humor in her voice, "Mom...I've brought Jaden home with me for lunch!" 

"Yes, I noticed!" I called back. "That's why I ran for it...you've caught me being lazy this morning and I'm in nothing but my robe!" 

I heard Jaden's laugh. Good thing he feels comfortable at our house and knows our family well.

And then the memory of the state of my messy kitchen came back to me. Face palm.

Maybe this'll teach me to get ready for the day in a more timely manner after the kids leave for school....

TGIF

Today is Friday.

Friday is lots of things.
First and foremost, Friday starts the weekend. Which means anticipation of a Saturday where maybe life slows down a little bit. Or if not, at least is different. It does not mean sleeping in...because weekend or no, Brandon will still have gymnastics.

Sometimes Friday means date night. But only if it is an early date night...because, gymnastics. Did I mention that already? And I drive carpool Friday nights.

Friday means I stay up late. Not because I get to sleep in on Saturdays (see above). But because usually Julianne is out on a date or at a party and I feel like I should wait up for her as a good Mommy is wont to do.

Friday is garbage day. So after sending Lilian off to catch the school bus, I run around the house in a mad dash to get all the house garbages emptied and into the big, black garbage can and out to the curb in a race against the garbage truck's arrival. Sometimes I miss it. Sometimes I purposely decide the big, black can isn't overly full anyhow so I'm not going to worry about it. Sometimes I think I really ought to deal with it all on Thursday night but usually I'm not that organized.

Friday used to be Winder Dairy delivery day and oh, how we would look forward to that chocolate chip pumpkin bread that was on our standard order. But then Bryan decided that paying $2.99 for a half gallon of milk when you could pay $2.50 for a whole gallon at the grocery store down the street was just ludicrous...my protestations of taste, quality and convenience notwithstanding. We put a stop to our Winder Dairy deliveries. And it was for the best, it really was. But I do miss that pumpkin bread.

If I'm really on the ball, Friday means dry cleaning pick-up. Or drop off if I've left something out on Tuesday.

Friday is early-out schedule for Lilian. Which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Early-out throws my schedule all cockeyed what with having to remember that Lilian comes home two hours earlier that day. I'm always worried that I'll forget and be having a lovely lunch somewhere with a friend, only to get an indignant call from my 2nd grader wondering where I am and what she's supposed to do in the meantime?

But most importantly? Friday is P-DAY! At least for these next couple of weeks while Rebekah is at the MTC.
P-Day means an email. And if I'm lucky and happen to be on-line at the right time, a little back and forthing with the emails which kind of, sort of feels like texting? Hey, I'll take it. Because once she gets to London we'll have a 7 hour time difference. Which means I'll be up in the middle of the night if I want to back and forth email with her. And really, I'm not sure how often it will happen. Oh, I'm most definitely willing to give up sleep for it...maybe just not every week. Realistically, I'm not entirely sure what time she'll be on-line today. So no guarantees really, of anything more than a newsie little email from my missionary girl. But when you are really missing that missionary girl....an email is worth its weight in gold. (Well, emails don't actually weigh anything...but you get the idea. Just go with it.)

So, TGIF!

Browsing Pinterest

Pinterest is an interesting website.

I resisted getting an account for a long time. I'd heard others bemoan how addicting the site was and knowing how dependent I already was on other social media sites (Facebook, I'm looking at you), the last thing I needed was another time waster.

But I was also finding myself bookmarking recipes and saving quotes and pictures of cool DIY crafts or home designs to my desktop often. I was constantly trying to find ways to organize it all, when I finally realized, isn't that what Pinterest is for?

So I signed up...and hoped to develop some self control if the site did prove to be overly alluring.

That was a few years ago. And amazingly (and thankfully) it has become more of a tool than a time waster. Recipes are probably what I use it for the most. But Pinterest has helped me come up with multiple ideas for birthday celebrations, holiday decor, hairstyles, craft projects, etc. I use Pinterest as a research tool, more or less...I can't believe how handy it is.

Oh, there are definitely times that I sit down to browse just for the sheer fun of it. It's interesting to see what the people I follow (my neighbors and friends) are pinning because in many cases it gives me a pretty good idea as to what they are up to. Kind of like people watching, but virtually.

For example:
     I could tell from her pins that I had a neighbor that was looking to build a new home long before she put her house in our neighborhood up for sale.
     This morning I saw pins from a couple of girls of Jane Austen hairstyles and laughed as I realized it is because they are both in the upcoming play at the high school where they will be performing Pride and Prejudice. Clearly they are trying to figure out how to do their hair for the show.
     I can tell when a holiday is coming up....Elf on the Shelf and neighbor gift/craft pins at Christmas, homemade valentines when someone has an elementary age child around Valentines Day, Halloween costumes, etc.
     I can tell when someone is trying to get in shape because they pin more exercise routines and ideas for diets.
     Someone in the mood to bake pins a lot cake, cookies and other such desserts recipes.
     Romantic and wedding type pins...lots of hearts and temples,  show up when someone is happily in a relationship.
     And quotes...always quotes. Depending on the type of quote, I can usually get the gist of what kind of mood they are in, what they are wishing to be better at, how they are feeling.

And I'm sure the same goes for me. People can tell when I'm in a wanderlust mood and yearning for a vacation because I pin lots of pictures and travel quotes to my vacation bucket list board. It likely becomes really obvious when I'm planning a birthday party. Or when the yogini in me is resurfacing after a few months off. A few times a month a bunch of recipes show up as I try to figure out new things to cook for family dinners. And by the quotes I pin, I'm sure I'm opening a little window as to what is on my mind at that particular moment.

Some examples of what I've pinned recently:

Forgetful

The phone rang at 7:15 this morning. It didn't wake me up, being a Monday morning I had already said goodbye to Julianne and was heading down the stairs to wake Brandon. But that was still pretty early for a phone call. The only thing I could imagine was that Julianne had forgotten a piece of homework or some other such thing for school.
It was the dentist office.
Aww, crap.
Brandon had an appointment this morning at 7:00. And though it was on my calendar, Brandon and I had talked about it coming up (and how awful it was to be so early...I was planning to just wear my pajamas), and had confirmed the appointment multiple times via phone call and email...I still somehow forgot.
But that's not the worst part. This was a make-up appointment. The first one was over Thanksgiving weekend. I had made the appointment a year earlier at his last check-up....but then didn't write it down because I had not bought my new 2014 calendar yet. It was in my phone, and that likely would've been enough.
Except we hopped on a last minute cruise over Thanksgiving week. And my phone was not receiving any service in the middle of the Caribbean. So I did not get the calendar reminder or the voice messages from the dentist office informing me that I had missed my appointment until after we docked in Florida a few days later.
When I got home I rescheduled. For today.
Sigh.
I'm not normally this scatter brained when it comes to appointments. I've never done this before and suddenly I've done it twice!
The other day when checking out at the grocery store I was asked for my home phone number that was attached to the frequent shopper program....and I couldn't remember. I had to look it up in my contact list on my cell phone.
A few days before that I couldn't get into my truck because I had forgotten the key code.
I'm trying to decide if I'm having brain freezes, senior moments or if my blonde roots are making an appearance.
Luckily for Brandon, they had a cancellation tomorrow at 12:15. The reminder alarm on my phone is already set....

Fashion faux pas

Its been a lazy morning....paying bills, looking on-line for ideas for some upcoming family birthdays, downloading a couple of books for my kindle, reading blog posts, etc. It wasn't till 12:30 that I realized that due to Lilian's early-out school schedule this week, if I wanted to run any of the errands that I had on my to-do list for today, I had to get ready fast...only one hour till she stepped off the bus. In my rush to get ready, I toyed with the idea of just putting on what I wore yesterday. I had only worn it half the day after all. And I thought it was a rather cute outfit. Light colored jeans, a longish orange shirt with white swirly designs on it, a dark blue denim looking blazer and to cap it off...grey heeled ankle boots, a silver dinosaur necklace and silver earrings.

I pulled on the jeans, but decided on a different shirt...cream and red stripes instead. Same jacket, earrings and necklace but decided against the high heels in favor of some brown riding boots. A quick make-up job and I was out the door, heading to the local craft store feeling like I looked pretty cute, even if my outfit was very similar to what I wore yesterday. I didn't figure it was likely that anyone would notice.

At the craft store I was surprised to see a woman that I recognized. I did not know her and up until yesterday I'd never even seen her before. But she had stood in front of me in the long check-out line at Fresh Market grocery store the evening before. And because I was bored and enjoy people watching, I found myself watching her closely...making up stories for why she was buying so many microwave TV dinners, why she chose to wear that attention-getting faux animal print coat. Under the coat she was wearing a vest with a logo, a tutoring company of some sort....had she come straight to the store from work? Blonde hair, pretty, but probably a good 10-years older than I was. Close scrutiny, but no judgement....just people watching, as some people do.

So when I passed by her at the craft store, I immediately  knew where I'd seen her before. How funny to run into her just a few hours later at a different store. I saw a flash of recognition in her eyes as well. I didn't think she had really noticed me yesterday at all, especially seeing as I was behind her in line. But as I finished paying for my crafts and picked up my sack to head out the door, I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me," she said. "Can I ask you where you got that jacket? I noticed you wearing it last night at Fresh Market and thought it was so cute."

Gulp. She remembered me AND what I was wearing yesterday? Could she have been watching me in the same why I had been watching her? Scrutinizing my outfit, wondering about the groceries I had been carefully placing on the other side of the divider between her purchases and mine...how clearly I must have a sweet tooth judging from the chocolate chip cookies and the 2 bags of chocolate blueberries in my cart, wondering if I had other children other than the 7-year old with me or if this little girl was my only or first, making up stories of what kind of job I might have, etc?

I told her my jacket came from Old Navy but she was disappointed to learn that it was not a current purchase so the chances of her finding it now weren't good. She then leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Oh, and by the way...your vent is still stitched shut."

Ummm....what? I thought she was saying I had a tag hanging out or something. My "vent"? Oh, that little flap in the back of my jacket? I reached behind me...yep, still stitched shut. I made some mumbled comment about not having worn it very often, and then continued out the door.

And then as I walked to my truck I found myself very decidedly embarrassed that I had been caught more or less recycling an outfit from the day before...and very thankful that I had at least changed out the shirt and boots!

Also, I immediately unstitched my "vent" when I got home.

Scraping frost with MP3s?

I remember well the days when with freezing hands (because if I wasn't prepared with a window scraper, what makes you think I would be prepared enough to have gloves) I would scrape my frost-covered car windows with a cassette tape cover. Something random in the glove box...Alphaville, Depeche Mode, OMD or something similar.

This morning I found myself scraping the frost from my windows with a CD case. Josh Groban in this instance. And this is not the first time a CD case has been my scraper of choice. (It works better than a credit card...trust me on this, I've tried it.) Being the more mature age of 40, you'd think I'd be wise enough to carry a scraper in my car. Apparently the age on my birth certificate does not necessarily equate to smarts....

But times are changing. In my car is pretty much the only place I listen to actual CDs anymore. MP3s are what we listen to now. In the not too distant future I will probably own a car with no CD player at all. Just a plug-in to listen to a playlist I've downloaded from my iTunes account. And how can I scrape the frost off my windows with that???

The saga of the MacBook Air...

I love my MacBook Air. One of my favorite things...getting up early in the morning and with chocolate slimfast breakfast shake in hand, checking my email, reading blogs, etc...before the kids get up and I move into mom-mode.

{Did you catch that bit of foreshadowing there?}

One morning a little over a month ago, my L key stopped working. Very inconvenient wouldn't you say? I use L a lot. Why couldn't it have been an X or Z?

So I took the whole thing into the Apple store at the City Creek Mall downtown Salt Lake. Conveniently I was already planning to be down that way for lunch with some friends.

I told the Apple gurus that my L key wouldn't work. I didn't know why. They asked about any other keys not working? Well, the left bracket key was also broken. But that wasn't working because I had had a small spill of my chocolate shake one morning....over a year ago. And I don't use the bracket key much anyhow.

I was surprised to have the Apple guru inform me that likely the two events were related. How could that be, I wondered out loud? It was a year ago? He said that with liquid damage, it's usually just a matter of time. He told me to go home and back up my info and then bring the computer back so they could fix it for me.

{Sigh}

I asked Bryan to help me back up my MacBook stuff onto an external hard drive. And he did bring a hard drive home from work for me.

But we were getting ready to go camping. And Bryan had heavy duty deadlines at work and wasn't home much. And so it didn't get done.

In the meantime, I plugged an external keyboard into my MacBook so I could type. Usually I left it off to the side. It was big and bulky and inconvenient to reach over to maneuver around on the mouse. If I was just typing some quick comment on facebook or trying to type in an internet address for some website, I could somewhat easily reach to the side and hit the L key if need be. If I was typing a longer email or blog post, I'd bring the keyboard in front of me. 

The whole thing was inconvenient, yes, but it was working. Trying to find a time where Bryan was home to help me, and also a time where I could even consider making another trip into the Apple store downtown, was equally inconvenient.

But then one early morning I was doing my regular morning routine...reading blogs as I drank my chocolate slimfast shake. I went to type a comment onto a blog I follow. Apparently I was typing a heavily L-filled comment because I decided maybe I should bring the keyboard over to the front of me. And as I grabbed the thing and tried to get all the cords to behave and get the darn thing situated in front of me....the corner of the keyboard hit the shake that was sitting up and out of the way from my MacBook...but still close enough to fly over and dump its contents all over my MacBook when struck.

Irony? That the whole reason I was using a the darn external keyboard to begin with was because of a chocolate slimfast shake spill. And then to have that unwieldy thing be the cause of another chocolate slimfast shake spill?? {Well you know, if I take any and all responsibility out of the equation and not own up to the fact that I should've learned from my mistakes to begin with and not be drinking chocolate slimfast shakes while anywhere near my computer....}

I won't repeat for you all the bad words that came out of my mouth.

I went into action, as you can imagine, trying to minimize the damage and get as much liquid off the MacBook before it seeped into the keyboard. But it was only seconds before the whole thing started making a really loud, overheating type noise. {Imagine that.} I turned it off, continued wiping up sludge, and then turned it upside down and open hoping that gravity would let some liquid drip out...and also to let the darn thing dry.

Then I had to tell Bryan.
{!!!} 
But luckily for me, it was our 20th wedding anniversary that day. So he was thinking loving thoughts about me already and, though irritated, kept it in check.

A few hours later I turned the MacBook on....to see if it even would. And it did! "Quick, quick Bryan!" {I hollered.} "Let's see if we can save any data!" He was all gung-ho and grabbed the external hard drive he had brought home for this very purpose weeks earlier.

And....hold that thought.
It was full of data already.
And taking way too long to clean up and reformat.
And by too long, I mean hours.
Which meant that by the time it was ready, my MacBook had long since turned off on its own.
Toast.

It was at this point that I started mentally reviewing everything I had on my MacBook and grieving their loss. Mostly pictures. See, I also had become lazy where pictures were concerned. Because I dealt with them mostly in picasa on my MacBook when I was putting them up on my blog or facebook, I had more or less stopped downloading them to Bryan's main computer where they would be backed up. I knew that it was possible for Bryan to link up to my MacBook and just suck them over. He'd done it before. It was on my list of things to do.....
....too late.

My only saving grace....I am fairly up-to-date on my blog. So though I was losing countless pictures, I knew I had a good representation of all family activities and events on the blog.

So I took the MacBook, that was by this point in time smelling rather foully of spoiled chocolate milk, back to the Apple gurus and told them the story with all its irony and oh-me-oh-my-can-you-believe-how-stupid-I-was-???

The repairs were intense. And only slightly less expensive than buying a whole new MacBook. They had to replace so much on the thing that I more or less have a brand new MacBook anyhow.

But glory be and hallelujah! Because after weeks and weeks of having a slightly screwed up, and then completely hosed MacBook, I am finally back in business.

Because as cool as my iPad is....there's only so much it can do.

So my friends, learn from my mistakes. Back up your computer often. Don't delay getting your pictures to where they need to be to be safe. And above all, don't drink chocolate slimfast shakes for breakfast when you are reading email and blogs!

Geek

I am a Trekkie. I don't know if this bit of information surprises you or not. At times, it surprises me. The sci-fi geekish part of me is admittedly on the small side, but is strong all the same. I'm not sure whether I am more proud or embarrassed to admit that I had a subscription to a Star Trek fan magazine. I owned a Star Trek communicator pin (that actually made the official noise when you pressed it) and actually wore it attached to my jacket. The thing is...this was not when I was a young and impressionable teenager. No, I was an adult...married and in college at Utah State University. That communicator pin....I wore it proudly around campus. Believe it or not, I actually even wrote a paper all about the ins and outs of being a Trekkie for my English class.
Yes. I did that.

And though maybe not as outwardly and obviously geekish as me, Bryan was right there with me in Star Trek fandom.(Who do you think started me down that Star Trek path??) We watched reruns of Star Trek: the Next Generation every single night at 10:00. We had a running "name that episode" contest....we'd already seen every single one. After Star Trek: TNG ended we made our way through Deep Space Nine and Voyager, finally calling it quits when we couldn't really get into the prequel series Enterprise. (Bryan always claimed it had to do with the opening credits music...such a departure from the normal Trek style theme song. Wrong, just wrong.)

I saw the midnight showing of the movie Star Trek Generations...the one that was meant to "pass the baton" from Capt. Kirk's original crew to Capt. Picard's Next Generation crew. But after awhile (and I feel a little bit traitorous saying this) the movies got a little bit well, meh. And I stopped watching. Traitorous, I told you.

But then some time went by and the Star Trek franchise rebooted itself, prequel-ing Capt. Kirk's original crew and more or less turning the Trek timeline on it's head. And oh wow, oh wow...these two newest movies have made the Trekkie in me smile really, really big!
 

I suppose maybe none of this sci-fi geekiness is any kind of surprise whatsoever if you've ever noticed my current obsession with Dr. Who. I haven't written any college papers on it of course. And any and all fan magazines and sonic screwdrivers are bought solely for my children. But I have toyed with the idea of getting new family pictures taken with all of us wearing different Dr. Who t-shirts. Or bow ties. Because in the immortal words of Dr. Who "Bow ties are cool."

Yes, I am a geek.

Guilty Pleasures

We all have them, right? I'm sure I can't be the only one that indulges in guilty pleasures here and there.
A few of mine....

Chocolate...specifically these Brookside acai/blueberry dark chocolates. I'm a lot little bit obsessed. I comfort myself with the knowledge that dark chocolate is supposed to be better for you. And acai berries and blueberries...superfoods, yes? Antioxidants and all of that? So I justify it as being my "healthy chocolates." All the same, I'm not sure how healthy they are if I eat them by the handfuls. Which I do. All too frequently. I've tried to combat this problem by putting about 12-15 of them in a little snack baggie and limiting myself to one baggie per day. And that works. Sometimes.




Books...which of course if you know anything about me, is a no brainer. But the guilty part comes in when you realize that I tend to shy away from the library and purchase almost every single book I read. Because then I can re-read it. And let my daughters read it. And loan it out to my mom and sisters. And really, don't you think that bookshelves lined with colorful books with interesting titles that look well-read is the best decoration for a home? I do. (Which is also part of the reason I haven't jumped onto the Kindle/electronic book bandwagon yet.) My guess is we own hundreds of books. I really ought to count sometime....

Grey's Anatomy....my friend Mylissa and I joke about this being our "summer home in babylon." (My LDS friends will catch the reference to Elder Maxwell's famous quote.) Because truth be told, it's not the most, umm well....pure of TV viewing material. But I have religiously watched this show since first season and now it is in its 9th. Well, no...that's not entirely correct. I started watching mid-2nd during the big post-superbowl event. An unexploded grenade inside a man's body? What? And it was a cliffhanger so I had to tune in the next week to see how it all turned out. And then I was just hooked. Bought the 1st season on DVD to get all caught up on backstory and I was a forever fan from then on. (And oh...look at this picture with Mark and Lexie....ah, I miss them. I literally sobbed when they died in and from complications due to that plane crash. Seriously.) 

People Magazine....I look forward to the mail on Friday's specifically because I know my People magazine will be there. Yep, admitting to it loud and not proud. And also embarrassed to admit that apparently I'm that person...the one that follows the goings on of celebrities and such. Honestly, most of the time I think they are rather ridiculous. But that doesn't stop me from getting a kick out of reading this magazine. Hey, at least it's not the National Enquirer or US magazine, right? My favorite editions are the ones with royal updates. Because even more than being a celebrity follower, I am a royal follower. Have been since I was in junior high. I guess I can count that as another guilty pleasure...



Shoes....I'm picky and particular when it comes to shoe style and fashion but less so when it comes to quality. Which means that though my closet is full of shoes, none of them cost a huge amount. Payless and Target are where most of them come from. Because I figure that by the time they fall apart, I'm usually ready for something new anyhow. Besides, my feet aren't overly sensitive and don't have much in the way of arches so fancy support isn't usually needed. My favorite styles...sandals and boots. I almost always wear some kind of heel. (I have a friend who was surprised, when I was walking around barefoot during a rehearsal last week, to realize how short I really am.) Flats tend to give me blisters on the back of my heel. And I despise wearing tennis shoes for anything other than exercise.

LUSH....this is a newish guilty pleasure. You can smell the fragrance from the opposite end of the mall...it's like the store is reeling you in with aromatic promises of good things to come. I can't help myself... And so far, I haven't been disappointed. I've loved everything I've bought here. It's a store filled with all natural hair, skin and cosmetic products. Their bath bombs are...well, the bomb! I've completely converted over to their hair care line (their hairspray doesn't make Bryan sneeze...yay!) We've tried lotions, facial masks, exfoliating skin bars, etc. And I am hooked. Where does the guilt come from, you ask? After all, the stuff is all natural...good for the environment, good for me, no animal testing, etc. But the stuff tends to come with a bit of sticker shock...
All the same, did I mention I have plans to visit Lush this very morning? I'm out of hairspray and conditioner....

Squats, ice cream and puppies

Things I've learned today....
And this is saying something since it's only a little bit past noon. Can you imagine what the rest of the day has in store for me in terms of little lessons?

Number one: If you decide to join a squat challenge, and if you choose to do those squats in what your husband says is the proper form (ie: "a** to the grass"...pardon my french) then when you do those 50 squats and then another 55 the next morning, your legs will not only be sore but then also very jello-like. And try as you might, you cannot wear wedge sandals...especially if you are trying to go down stairs. No matter how much you convince yourself to grin and bear it because you are a pro at fashion over comfort when it comes to shoes, regardless...it's just not possible. Because though you may be able to overcome the pain, you can't force your shaky knees to behave and you very likely will fall over.

Number two: If after eating a super nutritious lunch of salsa and chips you decide to just rinse out the salsa bowl rather than washing it throughly or getting a new bowl entirely, and then put vanilla ice cream in it....your ice cream is going to have a slight salsa-tinged taste to it. Which isn't too horrible, really. But good to know all the same if it's unseasonably hot outside (yes, 90 degrees in May, I'm talking to you....) and you're hoping for unsullied and pure vanilla ice cream.

Number three: (And this might just be a no-brainer) If three of your closest friends in the neighborhood all independent of each other bring home puppies within just a couple of weeks, you are going to get puppy-hungry. And you will waste all sorts of time on the computer looking up those breeds of puppies...havanese, cocker spaniel and labrador, respectively. And you will inundate your husband with phone calls and emails regarding said puppies and info on each. This all despite the fact that you know your husband is allergic to puppies. And knowing full well that having a puppy is like having a new baby that will thoroughly disrupt daily life as you know it. (But those little puppy eyes....oh my goodness, how can you resist?)

May the Fourth Be With You

In honor of Star Wars Day (the day where everyone sounds like they have a lisp...) I thought I'd share some "Vadering" pictures with you.

Apparently Vadering is a thing. I've heard it referred to as the new planking. (Remember this?)
The first two are of Julianne and Brianna taking turns Vadering each other at a choral festival a few days ago.

And then Brianna again...this time Vadering Rebekah at a young women's activity later that same night.

Life according to my iPhone

My first thought when I walked into the bedroom was that Bryan was trying out a yoga pose...I was about to be super impressed. Rather, he was trying to work out a kink in his neck. But hey, that's one super creative way to work out a kinked neck so impressed I remained...

Sabrina was more than a bit panicked when Bryan plopped her into a bucket of water....until she realized that she is a duck and suddenly the whole thing started to feel natural. So that's what those big, webbed feet are for....

All the essentials for after school downtime....cell phone to stay connected to texting friends, a good book and a nice pillow for when you decide to lay your head down for a little power nap. I have no doubt she woke up with cramped legs. This I know from experience seeing as I have fallen asleep in this exact same position more than once.

Because she asked and they were only a couple of bucks. She was delighted about the finished product...even if she only kept them on for five minutes.

Two cavities. They don't call it laughing gas for nothing...she giggled through the entire procedure.

Well....it's probably good that Bryan and I had already decided that we needed a new trampoline pad. Because otherwise I might've been kind of annoyed...

(Sneak peak of the stacked rock going on the man cave.)

Rebekah singing with my voice teacher Gary. A last minute, late night lesson to get Rebekah ready for madrigal auditions. And when I say late night....10:15 PM up at Weber State University. (Yawn...)

Shopping with this 5 year old....
Well, maybe I'll just leave you with this picture and let you come to your own conclusions.

I'm going a little bit crazy

This is what my past couple of weeks have looked like:

*Monday Feb. 18: CLEAN....for 8 hours. Discouraging how messy the house can get.

*Tuesday Feb. 19: Meeting with the stake primary presidency to plan a training meeting.

*Wednesday Feb. 20: Stake children's choir rehearsal that I am in charge of that will be included in the stake Easter Cantata in a few weeks.

*Thursday Feb. 21: Higher Ground rehearsal. Song practice with my mom and sisters in South Jordan for a funeral we were asked to sing in. Higher Ground performance in Farmington.

*Friday Feb. 22: Visiting teaching appointment. DARE graduation for Brandon.

Saturday Feb. 23: Send Brandon and Bryan off to Phoenix for a gymnastics meet. Sing at the funeral of a sweet woman who lived next door to me during all my growing up years in Taylorsville. Meet high school friends for a reunion of sorts at Leatherby's. Adult session of Stake Conference in which we are providing music...and Elder L. Tom Perry is attending. (I'm Stake Music Specialist, remember?)

(Okay...this is not Leatherby's...it's the Spaghetti Factory where we met up a few weeks ago. But same people involved. Humor me.)

*Sunday Feb 24: Main session of Stake Conference...providing music. Stake choir practice later that evening to continue preparing for the Easter Cantata.

*Monday Feb. 25: Babysit my "Monday Twins." Stuff Monday Folders for Brandon's teacher at the elementary school. X-rays for Brandon...no broken arm, yay. Stuck in Bountiful because of a high speed police chase and subsequent freeway closure....but meet up with Bryan who is also stranded and an impromptu date night ensues.

*Tuesday Feb. 26: Voice lessons in the morning. Accompany Rebekah on the piano while she sings for solo and ensemble at the high school. Miss singing in my own master class so I can take Julianne shopping for jeans...she has exactly 0 pairs.

*Wednesday Feb. 27: Another stake children's choir rehearsal....spend all morning making cookies for them as a reward for their fabulous singing.

*Thursday Feb. 28: Higher Ground dress rehearsal. Chorale rehearsal down in Draper.

*Friday Mar 1: Presentation on U.S. presidents for Fun Fact Friday in Lilian's Kindergarten class. Meet with Julianne's school counselor to register her for high school (Drivers Ed....ack!) Attend the Crystal Cup gymnastics meet at Salt Lake Community College to watch my niece Kaitlyn compete...she's on the girls team at Brandon's gym.

*Sat. Mar 2: Appointment with Julianne's doctor....making decisions as to whether we are done with growth hormone or not. Lots of prep for stake primary training.

*Sun. Mar 3: Send Bryan off on a business trip to Los Angeles. Take Lilian to a song practice...she was a part of a special musical number for a R.S. lesson. 3-hour block of church. Stake Primary training meeting where we teach how to integrate sharing time and singing time...I prepare and present 4 different songs, and lead a couple of others. Stake Choir practice for the Easter Cantata.

*Mon. Mar. 4: District Science Fair for Brandon in Layton. Babysit "Monday Twins."

*Tuesday Mar. 5: Make an early breakfast for Rebekah and send her off to take the ACT. Higher Ground rehearsal and set-up. Higher Ground performance for my ward Relief Society Birthday party.

And none of this actually includes all the time I spent taxi-ing Brandon to gymnastics (he goes 5X a week) or Julianne and Rebekah to their theatre class, tap class and various other rehearsals. Or the stress that came from a particularly worrisome situation that arrived Presidents Day weekend that kept my brain spinning on overload and resulted in many long phone calls and an unwanted meeting. (Yeah...I know that's vague. Forgive me. But it's personal. I wouldn't mention it but it was part and parcel of the whole crazy busy of that week.)

It just never ends, does it? I keep telling myself....just get through this presentation or that performance and then you can take a breath and relax with a glass of milk, a cookie (or 3) and watch an episode of Downton Abbey. (I'm still in season 1....I know, I've got to get caught up!) But it never happens. Because I finish one thing and immediately have to start prepping for the next. I tell myself that I should simplify my life...but honestly, I'm not sure how. Maybe I just need to accept that my life at this time is rather crazy and find ways to prioritize my time better and enjoy the journey....instead of whining. Because I chose this! And I'm so incredibly thankful for my life and my family and all my opportunities. And also because I know that I'm not the only one and that my list here is very likely similarly crazy to many of yours....

  

Life according to my iPhone

Random shots downloaded from my phone over the past few months...
And seeing as Lilian is my near constant buddy, she claims center stage in many of these photos. Good thing she's cute, huh?