In November, I was elected to the executive board of my professionals organization. January is our 1st meeting at the location of our next annual conference. It's a busy weekend of meetings, but we managed to find a few hours for my favorite past times..food, folks, and fun!
James and Desi are a couple of my favorite people on the planet. James works at BYU Graduate Studies and Desi at SLCC. They are so much fun! So kind! So great to hangout with!
Here we are before we take off for Seattle, the 3 amigos. The 2nd picture is me and Desi on the way back to Salt Lake. Where is James, you ask? Oh yeah, he got "bumped" up to 1st class. He didn't even get me extra cookies! The bum! Just kidding, James. His SkyMiles status got us lots of perks, so we won't complain. Now if only I could get those miles.
There were a lot of homeless on the streets of Seattle. Sadly, they all seemed to have Tourette's. Language, people! They were creative homeless, I'll give them that. Here is an abandoned sign advertising Kissing Lessons. haha! So funny!
Our dear friend, Dannette, lives in Seattle and wanted to show us some of the sites. We had to get up pretty early, "Whose idea was this!?!" (said James), but it was worth it. She took us out to her neighborhood in Eastlake. She is an absolute DELIGHT to be with. I adore her to the moon. On and the breakfast was awesome. Highly recommend and I will be visiting this place in November.
We didn't make it to the side of Seattle that has the space needle. Not that Desi would have gone up with us if we had. So this will have to suffice for now. We'll see how it goes in November. :)
When my first niece Grace was born, I made a commitment to be at every one of my niblings 1st birthday's. This promise has taken me to NYC, LA, Wisconsin, Clifton, and now Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. Cailin is my 13th nibling and she is SOOOOO stinkin' cute! Just a few weeks ago, she would cry if I even looked at her, let alone tried to hold her. (I tried not to take it personally, since she did that with everyone, but still!) I don't know if it was that she was in a familiar setting this weekend or just finally growing out of that phase, but she was adorable!!!! Alexa Jo. is the cutest big sister, too. She basically took over Cailin's doll and accessories, but Cailin didn't seem to mind. I don't know if you do this in your house, but we love to see them make a mess with the cake. Cailin did pretty good. Here's a collage of photos I took:
Brad and Cassi are perfect hosts and me mum is a hilarious travelling companion. We went to Boise and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then got pedicures. Well, Brad just watched the little girls while the ladies went to have pedis. A few games of TRAINS and some awesome PhillySteak sammiches, makes for a great party. I love my family!!
Well, you may or may not know this, but the only camera I have owned was one that you had to advance FILM with your thumb...Yes, I know, it's been a while. But, thanks to my awesome brother and sister in-love Lissa (and new nephew Pierce) I am the proud owner of a new camera and it's DIGITAL!!! So, now i have gone hog-wild in the first few days of ownership. You're welcome!
The Niblings: Duke's Family (above) Random poses with commentary (below) - (Click to enlarge)
More random (more commentary) - more clicking to enlarge.
New Years Day we celebrated with our tradition of bowling. I scored a 163. Not bad for a gimp.
Hopefully having a camera will mean I do better at blogging. Cuz this is kind of like my journal. (I said kind of. :) )
http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com My friend Catey --yes, the beautiful woman in the picture below--is hosting a give-away on her blog. Ever been to the CSN website? They have amazing deals on practically everything. And Catey is one of the most positive people I have ever met. Check out her blog and join in the fun!
I know, this is probably a cop-out, but I have a LOT of heros in my life. And I mean A LOT! This particular group of heros has been on my mind a lot lately. They are weeks (we hope, huh Catey?) away from having child #8. This has been a more difficult pregnancy as they realized early on that he was going to come into this life with a few challenges. They have handled this news with grace, humility, and courage. I truly love them and feel buoyed up when I read Catey's blog. Aaron served his mission in Georgia with me, and when he got home he met and quickly fell in love with Catey. I used to babysit for them before they moved to Egypt...or Eagle Mountain, I mean. I don't see them as often, but love that we keep in touch. An amazing family that I am blessed to have in my life. (I stole this picture off the photographer's blog, so I hope that isn't illegal. )
Aaron and Catey - Malia, Taylor, Alaina, Jacob, Dallin, Lincoln, Charlotte--Samuel is on the way!
The following are just comments I made on that I would like to remember.
Mar 13 - Made homemade whole wheat spaghetti tonight with my Dad ♥
It was the best spaghetti EVER and prompted me to buy a pasta maker. This turned out to be a fiasco since the item arrived from eBay sans crank. After 4 weeks of the seller's attempt to make it better, it resulted in a refund. So I am still on the hunt.
Mar 15 - "O, death, where is thy sting?"
Same weekend that I had the best spaghetti of my life, I woke up Monday morning with the worst case of the flu I have ever encountered. I didn't hardly move for 3 days. I was miserable to say the least. My dad says this when he camps. I think it's appropriate to be used in cases where you think you are not going to make it to the next sunrise. Thankfully, I did.
My wonderful sister in-law Michelle is they one I hold responsible for my new addiction to this tasty treat. She gave me some and I tried to ration it a month...I made it a week. My cousin Susie offered to get me some more a few weeks later when she went to CA. She got me three. They, too, were gone in a week. I need help.
Mar 31 - I like a little apple with my peanut butter :)
See? I don't have to have the unhealthiest form of PB. I can make my apples fattening too! Haha.
Apr 6 – Who doesn't like a good snog? Isn't that right, Harry?
I think I'll leave this one "as is":)
Apr 6 - Conflict is where the car in front of you has a NY Yankee sticker in one corner AND a University of Utah in the other. Do I like them or do I not? Thankfully, the Jazz sticker by the breaklight broke the tie. I like them, but they have poor taste in sticker placement.
I am definitely a NY Yankee fan. And a Jazz fan. Not a Ute fan.
In the past, on April 15th, I would write "I hate taxes!" on every check I wrote--including the one to the IRS. This year, I actually got a refund, so I'm not feeling the same animosity. YAY!
It was a great feeling paying off some debt and saving for my new Bosch mixer with tax refund money. Much better than seeing that amount come OUT of your checking account--convenient as it is.
Apr 18 -Hard to beat a weekend with family, picnics, and gorgeous weather. I even got my first sunburn of the season. Love it!
This was another full weekend. On the 17th we had our NCAA March Madness "Steady Boy Steady" dinner. Then Saturday, we moved our Easter picnic to this weekend. It was so great to be able to go down to the creek and roast hotdogs, roll our Easter eggs, and hang out with family. This was ONE weekend where it didn't rain...so you gotta love that!
