Country Folks! (In your best Nellie Olsen voice) Part One

So I have been dreading this day since Jordan first alerted me of it. A day together in the city. Not in the nearby city but the BIG city; downtown part of the BIG city if you must. We were to go to the city together as mother and daughter to share in the special experience of the General Young Women's broadcast. Yes in the actual Conference Center itself. I have never been to a live session of conference and so despite the implications that I would have to drive up to and in the BIG city, I was a teensy bit excited (in a good way). Then as the event approached I started to have anxiety. How would I be able to get to where I am going? How will I find the Conference Center when I got to where I was supposed to park? (They gave us a purple parking pass with an address on it.) How would I find my way back to the freeway? You get the picture. I approached Rob with my problem and he kindly agreed to drive us and sit in the car and read while we went in. (OOOOOH how sweet!) So then I was ok.

Well there was one little problem with this new plan. I was winding down from a fun-filled week with my sisters who came from out of town and I just found out another would be here on said day. Needless to say I really didn't not want to leave. My sisters and I left early this morning to go shopping with the intentions to be back in time for Rob to get ready, but my sisters held me hostage. I had to beg and plead with Rob to forgive me for not getting back when I should have and he was not able to get ready in time. So to pay my penance I told him he did not have to come (hope it was worth it guys!) and that I would brave it on my own. I was even guilty for having one try at seeing if Jordan didn't really want to go anyway. She shot that right down and wondered if I had turned heathen on her. With a repentant heart, I map qwested the parking address and with Rob's reassurance that we would be fine, we left on our way. The ride up was quiet and uneventful. We got to SLC and off the freeway with one hour to spare. This was supposed to be a good thing because it meant we could tour the Conference Center since I had never been there before. But alas it could not be that easy right? NOTHING in the city is ever that easy right? The story takes an agonizing turn right here and there might or might not be some swears so I don't blame you if you want to stop reading now.

Ok, you asked for it. So I got off the freeway and found the right road to get on. That was good. As I am looking for the next road Jordan says, "hey look mom that lady has a purple parking pass too!" How could this POSSIBLY get any better? I slowed right down and got behind her to follow her. As she was taking me into unfamiliar territory Jordan points out that just because she has a purple parking pass like ours does not mean she has the same parking lot as us. Oh yeah. Um, how do I get back to where I was? I felt like Lucille Ball at that point. WAAAAAAAH! It took me fifteen minutes to go around the block through all kinds of mess and over some kind of tracks. There was a speeding train coming right at me. He was right on the road! When did they start driving on the road?

So I got back to square one and I was on the right west but I couldn't figure out how come there was no parking lot. Jordan looked at the ticket again and reminded me that there was another part to the address and that I needed to find S. Temple. She remembers seeing it on our little trip around the block and I didn't believe her so I went the way I wanted to go. As I came around the block for the third time Jordan points out the second part of the address. Finally, now where is that cursed parking lot? To make a long part of the story short I kept getting stuck in lanes that I wasn't supposed to be in, once again Jordan saved the day and found the parking lot we were supposed to be in but only after I got in the right hand turning lane that would have taken us around the block for the fourth time, I got flipped off (how rude!) when I sat in said lane for two light cycles while trying to worm my way back into the other lane, and after several attempts at finding the right entrance we got parked with 5 minutes to spare. By this time I was a little ragged and had a slew of swears on the edge of my tongue. As we got to the doors of the Conference Center, the man at the door asked us to deposit anything unworthy of entrance into his hand. I kindly obliged and handed over my swears without using even one!

The rest of the story is just as amazing but definitely less agonizing and I will have to wait until tomorrow to post the rest. Needless to say the experience was one of a lifetime. I would gladly do it all again and that is saying something! Thanks Jordan for saving us from sure death!

Happy Birthday Mom! Part Two

Ok, so this is a little amateur. I had another one all done and ready to upload and couldn't get it to work. I will have to mail it to you.

Happy Birthday Mom! Part One

Well today is a day that I have been waiting for. I have had something that I have wanted to clear up for awhile now and I think now is as good as ever. My mother has MANY talents. You name it she has tried it. This myriad of talents did not transfer to me one iota. One of her many talents was making porcelain dolls. She was really good at this and helped share this talent with others. As I look back on this part of her life, I have fond memories. This may be because I got to be her helper. She was very busy with this business and I was with her on many of her excursions whether it was teaching a class or shopping for supplies. I often heard others talk about this talent of hers with fondness and I was proud. I always remember how much it meant to her when she heard her own son compliment her and talk highly of her talent. So when I was put on the spot one day in young womens and asked what I would remember most about my mom, it is no wonder that the one thing that came to mind was that I would always remember her talents as a doll maker. I remember hoping that she would feel that same pride from me as I know she felt from her son. I later learned that this was a turning point for her as she was disappointed in my response. She wrapped up her business and she was done, just like that. I know that she has felt bad about this for a long time and I was hoping to use this time to tell her how badly I felt that she did not understand my true intentions. What I thought would be a noble compliment had hurt her feelings. I would like to take a few minutes to tell her now the things that I will always remember about her.

*** I will always remember her love for her Heavenly Father. She has ALWAYS had an unwavering testimony of her Savior and did strive daily to pass that on to us.
*** I will always remember her desire to treat our bodies like the temple that they are. She worked hard to teach healthy eating habits. I know just how hard she worked because I am now a mother and it is very hard and expensive to have healthy things available for my kids to eat.
*** I will always remember the many things that she sacrificed and is still sacrificing for her children.
*** I will always remember the times she said no and how much I despised that answer, but I am glad today that she said it when she did.
*** I will always remember the service that she gave to others. She was always valiant in her duties to God and her country.
*** I will always remember how she taught me to pray. I will never forget the time that she set this very important example to me. One day while we were coming home from SLC, we were coming around the point of the mountain and it was a blizzard. In front of us there was a multiple car pile up happening right before our eyes. As we came up on it we realized that we were going to be a part of it. As many well known swear words came to my mind, I heard from the other side of the car this most heartfelt prayer from my mother. She was praying for help. I was swearing. I will NEVER forget that moment, EVER. We escaped with our lives and our spirits thanks to my wonderful mother who used her faith to call for help. I am grateful that my mother had enough faith for both of us as I am sure God would have taken me home at that moment just to give me the spanking I deserved.
*** I will always remember that I was important to her. If I had a need, or a desire (like for a little bunny rabbit) she was quick to fill that need, sometimes in abundance (like the 4 pregnant rabbits that would bring me MANY little bunny rabbits).
*** I will always remember that it took growing up and moving out with a family of my own to finally see these many things (and many more that I have not covered) that I will always remember.

Thanks Mother Dear and happy birthday!
To be continued...

Easter

I hope you all enjoy your day. Here is a video to complement your Easter dinner

Spring has Arrived!

How appropriate that I should have my spring bag arrive just in time for the first day of spring! I was so excited to get it! It brought much cheer and happiness to me!
I LOVE IT!

I am mainly doing this post because I forgot to thank the most important person in my acceptance speech. Thanks Pip!




P.S. Thanks for the extra little surprise...(take a really close look at the little piece of Pip that came with my new bag.) I will keep it forever and for always.

Where's the beef?

There have been some blogs that I enjoy frequenting and commenters that have been MIA. Rumors have been flying around here and there and so I decided to do some checking and unfortunately this is what I have come up with.

All of these blogs were found unresponsive. There was success on some blogs with much CPR and the use of an AED (defibrillator), while with others there is still no response. A quick peek at their latest medical records revealed the following.

Shellbell: Taxic shock syndrome.

Wendeth: Spring Fever.

Elder and Sister: Idida not find anything unusual except maybe a touch of spring fever too but there are still tests pending that will determine the results.

Amber: A CT of her computer showed a hypoconnection.

Please join me in letting them know we can wait patiently for their quick recovery but not much longer!

My Birthday by Jordan

My B-day has been really fun! This morning my parents woke me up and showed me the slide show that they had made! Then I opened some gifts from my parents! My little sister Alexis even bought me a pencil from her school store!! The one thing that I got from the list of things I want so bad was a camera! My family is awesome and has made this day really special!

Yesterday I had a big party! Here is a picture of me and my friends eating pizza!

We played alot of games!! One of the games we played was called "What If, and Then" How you play is everyone writes a What if question. Then you pass it to your right and they write Then...
Then one person starts and they read their Question then the next person says their answer and so on. It is a funny game!

This picture is from this morning. My mom bought me a new Sunday dress. Also some High heels (I surprised me and my family by wearing them!)

Happy 13th Birthday Jordan!

Wow! Where does the time go?

Turn up the volume and stay tuned after the show to learn 13 things you may not know about Jordan

1. Jordan loves to read, sing, dance, and go shopping.

2. She really wants her own cell phone, ipod, camera, TV, printer, and checking account. She will only get one of those things for her birthday.

3. She just signed up to play softball and is not sure if she will like it being that she only played once before and can't quite remember where short stop is, which way is first base, what the pitcher does or even what kind of ball they use.

4. She is braver than her mom because she has her own room in a dungeon and sleeps there every night.

5. She is taking classes from many of the same teachers I took classes from in Junior High.

6. She is great friends with Jenny Phillip's sister-in-law and we even had this said friend in our house tonight! I asked her for her autograph but she politely declined. Jordan just rolled her eyes at me.

7. Jordan thinks she has a crazy mom. Her friends think I am cool. This is true. I heard it slip from somebody's mouth tonight. Not sure if I was supposed to. I might ask Jordan if I can come next time she goes to play.

8. She does not like being tall and therefore
does not like to wear shoes with any kind of heel to them. I talked her into a pair yesterday to go with her new birthday dress. I had to lie to her and tell her that they really didn't raise her more than a couple of millimeters. I hope she never finds this out as she might think it is ok to lie.

9. She hates salad and abhors ranch. She loses her appetite when she sees her dad bring it to the table every night and pour half the bottle on his plate to eat with whatever we are having that night.

10. She wants an older brother so badly. Her little brother is not cutting it.

11. She has learned to love the good old shows, i.e. I Love Lucy, Little House on the Prairie, Andy Griffith, etc. but is too embarrassed to admit it to her friends.

12. She is the only one in her home economics class who could raise her hand when asked who has ever washed dishes by hand. She says that she will never complain about loading a dishwasher again after we move and get one. I haven't told her that I may find a house without one because I like to think she is learning how to really work hard and that is a good thing.

13. We have had 13 years full of laughter and joy with her and we hope to have 113 more!

We love you so much Jordan and think you are one amazing girl no matter what the bishop says.

Go yell it on the roof tops!

Sung to whatever tune is in your head...

Go and tell it on the roof tops! Go and tell it to the world!


This anxious woman has GRADUATED with honors! Ok, so the term wasn't really graduated it was something like, "congratulations, you have rolled over to paid status starting 03/16/2008," but ya know I can pretend that this is grander than that can't I?

After 2 LONG agonizing months of many tears and torture from doing dictation after dictation and having them scrutinized to the very letter, I am done!

Here is my commencement speech:

I have learned so many things this last year including but not limited to the following:

I have learned to translate ESL doctors who try but just can't speak English very well (bless their little ole hearts). Some are soooo funny to listen to. I just had to learn to laugh at them and not cry at them. It finally dawned on me the other day that if they are called ESL doctors (English as a second language) then I could be called a MSL translator (Medical as a second language). I think they can learn to laugh at me too right? Or cry if they must but please don't fire me when I think they are saying things like "the patient has fellinfrumatry" instead of "the patient has fallen from a tree."

I have learned that my brain does not communicate with my eyes, ears and hands at the same time. Because of this I have had to learn to take criticism very well. Even after checking and rechecking and then doing it again, somehow I would always still miss something. The key to graduating I guess was that I learned how to stop missing the dangerous mistakes. Tough for sure and no fun to constantly have someone finding EVERY little mistake. That woman who supervised me should get a national award for her attention to detail. She was good. I had to tell her so once.

I have learned that I could probably be a doctor by now. I was able to diagnose many illness that the doctors seemed to miss. Many times I have wanted to interrupt the doctor and give him my thoughts. I just know he would have appreciated it. I could have saved him (and the patient) so much time and much unnecessary testing...

I have learned that because of HIPPA, you do NOT want to CC a report to a wrong doctor. I am anxious even writing anything medical in my post.

I have learned that when things seem so hopeless I just need to hang in there.

I have learned that my house does not magically clean itself while I am working and therefore must remain unkempt until the weekend.

Most of all I have learned that I have an amazing husband and amazing children who love me and are so patient with me. A great big thanks to them for helping me stick with this and helping me see that I can do something of this magnitude.

Anyone interested in pursing a career in this field?

Disclosure: I hope you all know I am mostly joking with all of this MT stuff right...Dr. D? I really love what I am doing and I am sooo excited to move on. I know and accept that I am still sooo amateur and have so much to learn.

Sneak peak.

So Boo got wind of the American Idol. I don't ever watch this show so I wont pretend to know much about it. She wants to sign up. Here is a couple of videos we put together to show them what she is all about. We are anxiously awaiting word...



Shellbell this one is for you!

Reader's Theater by Brandon

THE MAGIC BROCADE

The Widow made brocades for a living. She made one of Sun Palace that she liked so much that when it flew away she fainted. Chen had to go and find it. He found Sun Palace and the brocade was there! He took it home the next day and when he and his mom took it outside it did it again but this time it stretched, growing larger and larger...

Here are some highlights of the play.

When the widow got home she showed the picture to her son, Chen. "Look Chen how I would love to live in this palace or at least visit it."
"Mother why don't you weave the picture as a brocade? That would almost be like being there."

She set up her loom and began to weave. Her eyes grew bloodshot, her fingers raw.

"Hello Deary! What brings you so far from home?"

"But, you won't get to Sun Palace by foot, so you better take my horse it'll show you the way."

"Thank you."

Before long he came to a sea full of ice, without missing a step the horse started jumping from one ice flow to another.

Thank you dear lady!

At last Chen's eyes would stay open no longer and he drifted to sleep on his chair.

Chen put them on.

He placed the brocade on a rock.

..."Quickly while the wind still blows, step into the brocade!"

And Chen became husband to Lien.

clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,and clap!

One of many blessings.

(To the tune of "My teacher told me I should never tell a lie.")

My fa-ther told me I should never walk the roof.
For the roof could break apart if I should do.
Do you know the consequence,
do you really want to chance,
causing much grief to that poor old maaaaaaan?

When we threw our toys up there and they got stuck,
we had to leave them there until our better luck.
With one bounce of a large ball,
you could crack the tile so small,
and then you better run and find a place to hiiide!

Briiiiing out the buckets for the rain is coming fast.
That caulk and tin up there just do not seem to last.

It's time to climb up on the roof,
but watch out for lightning too,
our famly simply cannot stay dry without youuuuu!!

He had so many sleepless nights,
spent thinking bout his plight.
Oh you should never, ever walk that rooooooof!

Have a fun picture walk through this great act of charity made possible by one great man in our town.



It took us (Suser and I) awhile to feel comfortable (safe) walking on holy ground.



See how easy they broke apart? It was actually quite fun to do this part. But DEFINITELY against all we were taught. It took us awhile to get the courage to do this too. We wondered if we needed to call dad and get his approval AGAIN.



The Charity Giver is pictured above. Isn't he glowing a bit? If you look close you might actually see a halo there.



One of the few pictures you will see of me working hard. I was the main picture taker (and as those of you who are the picture taker at your house can relate) I didn't get much documentation.



Yes, he is doing the garage also. Now you may be able to go back to his picture and see his wings too.



Susie could get closer to the edge than I could. She was brave.



That dump truck was full when we were all done. And no worries. There are no more spare tiles behind the garage anymore. Sorry dad. I hope you will not miss them too much. Can't imagine what you will need them for now other than the comfort they always seemed to bring that they were there for you.



I wondered how they were going to get the tiles up there. I am a little naive but I was glad to see that thing pictured above. When I tried to lift a pack of tiles later that day, I was grateful I did not have to carry them up the latter like they had to on the garage.



10 points for every tile you can find anywhere in this post that has caulking on it. Zooming in is allowed but you must be able to prove your finds. You may break the bank with this one.



It was quite a surprise to see the wood underneath in such good condition considering there was not anything in between the tiles and the boards. It must have been dad's diligence at keeping those things caulked and tinned.



As I noted earlier, they (Charity Giver and delivery guys) had to carry those tiles up there by brute strength. They have to weigh close to 100 pounds each.










Can't quite tell if he is in the truck here or on the edge of the roof. What do you think?



You all might want to give dad a call and make sure he is alright. These pictures of destruction of his roof may cause him some indigestion tonight.




The rest will be revealed when it is done. Or will it? The Charity Giver suggested the end result be a surprise for when mom and pop get home... You will just have to come and visit if you want to see the rest!