Lucky

I normally don't really care for the song "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend" but Justin really made me feel that way today.
First of all, I can be a spaz. I was having one of those typing spaz days (while we're at work, we chat over gmail) and I was being all sorts of crazy, talking about him taking me to see Taking Back Sunday for my birthday. He informed me that we'd have to go to either Brazil, New Jersey or Pennsylvania to do so, and I didn't see what the problem was... but that's not what I'm talking about now.
We just had an email go around our dept. that told us to clean because the CEO is going to be walking around looking to see what it looks like (clean, dirty, unlivable, etc), and so while we're quite busy, all the guys start cleaning their desks (the noise level went way up, people opening and shutting drawers, air being sprayed on keyboards, boxes being moved). To make a long story short, I was getting really irritated. I started going off on Justin about the guys, and then I moved on to friends. How I really can't count on a lot of them (not all) but being the dramatic, ornery, short tempered person that I am, went off about how I can only count on Justin and I continue to think I have friends when I don't (I really do) and what not. Well, Justin responds with this :

yep:  I am glad I married my best friend

 

 me:  Me too.

 yep: <3

 

And magically, I am okay again.  He's pretty great :)

Bring it on, Christmas!

So this year, I got my tree up a week BEFORE Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait any longer to put up my Christmas Decorations. They're so cute! I'll post pictures later. My husband was wanting to feel the Christmas Spirit a little more this year as well, so what better way to feel the spirit than to have some holiday music on while we look at our tree?!

Anyway, I've been thinking about movies that make me shed a tear or two, and this is what I came up with.

PS I Love You
Charly
Phenomenon
Titanic
Pearl Harbor
Dead Poets Society
Moulin Rouge
Finding Neverland
Bridge to Terabithia
The Lion King
Atonement
The Green Mile
My Girl
Beaches
Marley and Me
Benji the Hunted
Charlie St. Cloud

By all means, these aren't the only ones. There are some that make me cry in fear, but I left those out.

I don't often watch these shows, because I'm not a huge fan of crying, but there are just some days that you need a little swelling of the heart, and leakage of the eye.

The feeling is mutual.

I love when I'm able to bond with someone over mutual feelings over another person. Whether those feelings be good or bad, it's always nice when you can say, "So you know so-and-so? They said the DUMBEST thing yesterday!" Or "You follow this blog, right? Did you see this post? Custest thing ever, huh?!"

Sometimes it's nice to know that you're not crazy for thinking your thinks. (Yes, I know thinks isn't used correctly, but I'm referring to Dr. Seuss-genius.)

But then there are those times when everyone loves a person, and all you can think is, "Really? THAT PERSON? They're one step above dog poop rolled in nuts."
And then there is another time when you just can't help but like that person, and everyone else thinks they're just a big, giant, idiot stick. (ex-boyfriends, what?)

But such is life. So the sayings go, people are brought in your life so you can teach them, or they can teach you... some are brought in for a season, a reason, or a lifetime... so on and so forth. There are hundreds of different sayings, but I could only think of those ones at the moment. You get my point though.

Am I right?!

Best time to see a spider : while holding a vacuum.

Worst time to see a spider : getting out of the shower.

I get kind of worried

Earlier today while sitting at my desk, I was listening to some ladies (GASP! ladies in the tech department?!) talk to a guy I sit by, and they made the comment of, "Why is it so stinky down here?"

Well this bothered me.


Because I can't smell it.




AHHHH!!!! I'M GROWING IMMUNE TO THE STENCH OF GUYS!

This is a problem. So I immediately went and talked to my boss about smells that don't give him headaches, and I immediately put something out. Which I don't think is going to do the trick, because I can't smell it. Granted, it was from the dollar store, so who knows how well it will work, but I think I am going to invest in some spray. Hopefully that will remove some of the smell, or at least cover it up for a little while. Just something that will change the smell down here a little bit so I know when it's stinky or not.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm ALWAYS right. Most of the time.

And Justin has recently figured this out.

SO. One day over gmail chat, we were discussing how I ask for Justin to buy me things. I do it all the time, mostly joking. It's pretty much anytime I see something bright or shiny. Well, Justin asked me to buy him something. So I did. Here is how our conversation went:

*This chat has not been changed to portray the argument in it's entirety*
me: See how easy that was? You're like 'buy me something' and I'm like 'okay'
Justin: I have gained a lot experience watching you do it to me all these years
  thanks btw
me: You're welcome.
  All these years?
  I didn't start until we were married.
  Because that's when you stopped buying me things.
  So 2 years.
Justin: yeah all these years
me: These past two years
  All these years implies more than 3.
  Which is not the case.
Justin: plural is anything more than 1  and adam says your wrong.
me: uM NO.
Justin: how do you figure
me: Because I'm your wife.
Justin: ok fine. these past 2 years I have learrned this
me: Thank you.
  And here's a dollar.
 Pfft, I just bought you shirts! You better damn well agree with me!
Justin: yep

Pretty self explanatory. Although he didn't really agree with me, as you may or may not have gathered. A couple of nights later, Justin and I were watching The Office and Parks and Rec with my sister and her husband. When the shows were over, Justin started talking about how in one of his classes, they had a debate about few = 3 or more, and couple = 2, and Justin said, and I quote, "So these refers to 3 or more." And I said yes, and then it dawned on both of us. I started yelling about how I was right, and he was yelling about who knows what, because he was WRONG! And it wasn't even me that proved him wrong! IT WAS HIM!

That was one of the most AMAZING arguments I've ever had with my husband.

Granted, there are definitely a MILLION 'marks' that when we die and go to heaven, we need to find these and fast forward/rewind to determine who was right/wrong. I don't know if anyone else does this, but we'll be arguing about something (not in a hateful way, but more jokingly) and one of us will yell "Mark it!" and it kind of ends the argument, although there may be talk about when we're in heaven how it's going to suck to have to apologize, or who is going to be wrong more... it's super fun.

So I've recently been inspired. Inspired to do what you may ask... Well a few things. Mind you these are in no particular order.

So I've recently been inspired. Inspired to do what you may ask... Well a few things. Mind you these are in no particular order.

First- to make things. Easy things that never crossed my mind. Like a wreath. And a birthday board. Things that allow me to have a creative outlet. It feels good to have something come together, that comes from my hands. It may not be the most amazing thing, or the cutest thing, but it's mine. And that means a lot. Another thing that helps me relax, aside from coloring, is the action of writing. Not like stories from my mind, but quotes from other people. I have a journal that my sister gave me, and I've been filling it up for years. There's something about reading these beautiful and unique thoughts from people and then the motion of writing it out... I wish I still was in a calligraphy class. Sometimes you'll see my finger wagging around in the air, and that I because I'm writing something in the air. Usually what I'm saying, or what someone else is saying. So try not to judge.

Second- to drink more water. I have a friend that goes through a gallon a day. WHOA. I struggle getting half of a bottle down. So, now that I'm sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, I think it might be a good idea to get some water in my system. Plus, it will be good practice for when I'm pregnant* and carrying around a giant mug. It seems like a good, healthy habit. Maybe I'll even throw in a lemon, who knows?
*I'm not pregnant.

Third- be grateful for what I have. I have a great apartment, a lot of awesome shoes, jackets, and clothes. I also have a husband that loves me. A family that loves me. A puppy that loves me. I have a job that provides for my husband and I, and offers me benefits. I've got a car. Justin has a car, a job, and he is extremely smart. So honestly, how lucky am I?

These are just a few of the things that have been particularly prominent in my life as of late. But definitely not the only things. But seeing things written out, I feel like I need to prioritize a little more. Just one of those things where I'm seeing where things stand in my life, and it helps me think, "oh hey. maybe there are more important things."

And why is it so easy to take a pill everyday to make ourselves healthier, or better, but when it comes to praying or reading scriptures, it just gets harder and harder? It's almost like someone doesn't want you to take those positive steps in your life. :/

Sent from my iPod

Family Reunion, here we come!

So this weekend the Peterson family is having it's first reunion in.... years. Aside from the Christmas parties of course. Anyway.

We're getting together this Saturday at my mom's house. To give you an idea of how ginormous our family is... I have 4 older brothers/sisters. So, there are 5 kids total. We EACH have to bring 4 dozen cookies. Let's see. That means there will be 20 dozen. Which equals 240. That's a lot of cookies. There are probably around 100 people in my family from my grandparents down. And it just keeps growing. It's going to be a par-tay.

So I was thinking of doing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and I can hardly wait. I'm thinking that I'll just make an extra dozen for myself.

One of those things

The other day, I was so insanely ADD, that I couldn't finish anything. Which is why I'm posting this now, and not when I actually started it.

I had one thought after the other, and man alive, I couldn't organize a single one of them. At first it started with me sitting down to write a blog, and then thinking, "I really should eat a shake while I write this." So, I get up, make my shake, and then what do I do?

Go watch The Office.

20 minutes later, I put my cup in the sink, and sit down to write... yet again. But I hear a noise upstairs, and I had to talk to my sister, so I run up. I sit and talk for a minute, then head back downstairs.

I stand there for a minute trying to think of what I was going to do (which is blog) and decide I need some laundry done. Which is much more productive. So, I start a load, and sit back down to watch another episode of The Office. Speaking of The Office, I love Netflix. Best idea ever!

The moral of this story is that I had mental ADD for a night, which caused a delay on me sharing my super-exciting story with all of you!

The end.

New blogger

So I just changed to the new blogger interface, and man alive, it's how I would have done it myself. I'm SUPER glad that they finally updated. Granted, it's going to take time to figure out where everything is again, but I'll figure it out.

Moving on.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a few interviews. You may remember. One with Control4, one with The Ready Store, and then one with Stampin' Up! which all happened within a week of each other. What are the odds? All summer I don't hear anything, and then the week before my job at the elementary starts, I have 3. Say la vee. I'm fairly certain all three went well. It was kind of funny, because I knew someone on the inside at each job. I was getting updates from two of the jobs. The other job, it was more like "Oh, well if that's what they said, then usually the next step is hiring."

After praying and waiting and whatever else it took, I was offered a job at Control4. I was SO excited. More money, benefits, and a mostly woman free environment! I truly loved working at the elementary, but it will be nice not having to worry about all the women talking and talking and talking. And everything that goes in hand with that. So I accepted the job, and worked my last week at the elementary.

I'm going to miss my friends that I made at the school, I'm going to miss my little guy, and I will definitely miss the hours. But I guess this is all part of growing up... a full time job. I'm ready though. I start Monday at 9:00 AM. Then it's all downhill from there. =)

Luckily for Justin and I, we were able to get some trips out of the way before I started my new job. We went camping to the navel of Utah, Levan. It was pretty fun. My brother pulled his trailer up, and then  my other brother pulled the four wheelers down. We drove them around, and then the kids realized that they could drive them, so they drove in circles around the camp. We also had a minor mishap with our bacon. I bought turkey bacon, and we had it for breakfast on Saturday, but then come Sunday morning, when we cooked the rest of them up... they tasted like crispy nothing. Justin and I sat down, and started eating, and we're both looking at each other thinking "Uhhhmmmm, something is wrong here..." and then Justin realized that the bacon had soaked in our cooler water all night. It was in a bag that unfortunately got pushed to the bottom, and took in a bunch of water. So, there went our breakfast. Oh well.
We spent a few hours at Yuba Lake, which was my first time there. It really is a nice little lake. Not too busy. I took my dog, and the poor thing was beside himself with fear. Maybe because I dragged him into the lake with me, but who knows? But don't worry, he still loves me.

After camping, we headed to his parents cabin. As soon as we got there, I showered. And I was excited. We played some games, and watched some movies. It's always so relaxing at their cabin. We all walked down to the swings and some played horseshoes, some threw frisbees, and then there was swinging. Hahaha which reminded me of when Justin fell out of the swing when we were dating. HAHAHA! THAT was hilarious.

I finished The Help this week. Talk about a FANTASTIC book! I LOVED IT! I've heard that people don't like the ending but I'm not sure what they were expecting. The book isn't a love story, and I thought the ending suited it. Anyway, I can't wait until I go see the movie.

Interviews and much much more.

So in the past week, I've had two interviews. First one at Control4, which was all due to the lovely Kateka. It went really well, and I actually have another interview via phone set up for Monday. Which is really too bad because I suck at phone interviews. Horribly. Either way, my second interview was with The Ready Store, which was set up through an old friend from 1800Contacts. It was very random and spur of the moment. I saw her at 6:30 Thursday night, and then Friday at 12, I had an interview. Thursday afternoon Stampin' Up! called, and alas, I had an interview for this Wednesday. So, even though all summer I didn't hear one single word about a job, now that school is almost back in, I've got three interviews. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense. But I'm extremely grateful for the opportunities, and can't wait to figure things out. I know that I was all psyched about being the PE teacher, which I really am/was, but after everything that happened with my legs and spending all that money, it was kind of a wake up call as to why insurance is so important. So my priorities have had to shift slightly.

I can't lie either, at this moment in my life, I'm embracing change. I've been at the same job for a few years now, with a little break while I went to school. I've been out of school for over a year now. Justin is still going, but that also means he's working, going to school, and free time is spent doing homework. Which, I appreciate everything that he is doing to provide for me. I love Justin. He is such a hard worker, and he has the most amazing goals which he is completely able to achieve. I'm so proud of his ambition, and his focus, and control. He is so motivated and he knows just what he wants. It really is such a comfort to know that I'll be with him for eternity.

Moving on in the weekend. Saturday was rough. A word that I can't even say ruined everything. I found out my aunt (my dad's sister) has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Looking it up, the first line reads "Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD (pronounced /ˈkrɔɪtsfɛlt ˈjɑːkoʊb/,^[1] "KROITS-felt YA-kob") is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal." So that gives you an idea as to what my Saturday was like. I think the hardest thing is knowing what my aunt will have to go through. She's already forgetting things, she's started tripping, and it's just the beginning. For some reason, their family has been hit HARD with trials. My uncle died when I was just little. Then my cousin's wife died in her sleep, leaving him with just a little baby girl, and this was years ago. But then my cousin died 3 years ago. Leaving his daughter with her step-mom and grandparents. She's now in her 20s, but that doesn't make it any easier. Now my aunt has been given 2-6 months left to live. Sometimes you just have to wonder how much one family can take. And the things I mentioned are just PART of their trials.  It blows my mind. I know that Heavenly Father only gives us as much as we can handle, but it doesn't make it any easier to comprehend. So there have been a lot of tears. A lot of prayers. Not only for my aunt, but for my grandparents. They've already lost one child, I'm not sure how they'll take losing another. For my dad, and his sisters. I can't imagine the pain these next few months will bring for them all. For my cousins, and what they'll have to endure. So instead of me praying about jobs, and what not, I'm now praying for comfort, love, and understanding.

I had a friend post asking about happiness, and what it was. I can honestly say that the thing that makes me most happy is my family. They can make me the most crazy, the most angry, and they can make me laugh the hardest. But without a doubt, they make me the happiest.

Things are MUCH better, thank you!

Even though I had the worst weekend ever, things started looking up almost instantly. But how could they not? Anything is better than pink eye and poison ivy. This last weekend we went to Justin's parents cabin, and spent the night there. Saturday was really fun. We went kayaking! At first I was a little nervous, because the area where we pushed off from had a lot of trees and bushes and what not in the water, and I had all these horrible images of tipping over and having to swim in it. But it worked out. So we went for a little ride just around the trees and bushes. At one point, we turned a corner and this HUGE bird took off going "AHHH!!!! AHHH!!!!" And it nearly gave me a heart attack, because I started to think if the bird turned on me, I was going to have to beat it with my oar, which would then lead to me tipping over... but alas, all was well. Then Shane did a little fishing. Then Justin noticed some freaking ginormous crawdads. So naturally, they started to fish for them. Once they got one, Justin decides to eat it. So he pulled out his little camp stove, and throws it on. Yucko. But he ate it. We had to go home a little earlier than normal because we still had to go grocery shopping and birthday gift shopping. So we left around 4, and got our to-do list out of the way.
Sunday morning, I started babysitting for the lady who lives behind us. They have 4 kids. So that was an adventure. It really wasn't that bad. Eli (the little 2 year old boy) was SO easy to watch. He didn't cry ever. He went down for naps like a champ. He went to bed at 7:45 like a champ. And all in all, it was a good experience. Justin would come over and hang out with me and the kids. Eli loves Dora, and Justin would sit and watch it with him. It was adorable. Kind of funny because Justin rarely does that with his own nieces and nephew. But this was a bit different of a situation. We finished babysitting Tuesday night, and I have to admit, there were some serious learning experiences in that time. Both on parenting, picking battles, and how to handle things. I hope I remember!
So, a couple of weeks ago, I had told Justin that I wanted to do something that was just us. We've been doing a lot of family stuff lately, which I love, but it's summer, and I don't want to miss my chance to hang with just my husband.
So. What did we decide to do? Go backpacking! I was super excited. We invited some of our friends to come, and got all ready. Well. There must have been something lost in translation, because when I told Justin I wanted to go somewhere 'easy' he heard 'moderately hard'. I'd never been backpacking. Sooo.... little bit of a rough start. 3 miles straight up hill. What the face. Definitely wasn't ready for that. This was a trip I think I needed to prepare for. And didn't. So, we stopped a few times so as to catch our breath, and to let the old man running up pass us. Yeah.
2.5 hours later, we found our camping spot. It was a nice little spot next to the creek. There was a full moon, so right in the middle of the night, it felt like there was a spotlight on us. It was dang bright. And from what we thought, there was going to be a meteor shower, but alas, the moon was too bright to see anything. The next morning, we decided to forgo the hike up the rest of the mountain, and just started home after breakfast and cleaning up. We walked up to the lake, which was pretty. On our way back to get our stuff, Justin and I stumbled across some moose. Which kind of scared me. Two big moose, that were looking right at us. Little intimidating.
Now I'm sore, and my sleeping schedule has been thrown off. But the latter is because when we got home Justin and I took a 3 hour naps. Oops.

Recap of the worst weekend ever.

So, like I said. I had pink eye. It started Thursday morning, and hit full on Friday morning. When I woke up, I thought Justin had punched me in the eye during the night. My eye was watering like crazy, so I got up at 5 and started to wipe it off and what not. Justin, my brother Jess, and I were all planning on going camping from Friday to Saturday and dig for trilobites, geodes, and go to Topaz Mountain. I wasn't sure if I should go with or not (I didn't know at the time that I had pink eye) so I had Justin give me a blessing, in which something was said about doctors and I took that as a "don't go, you need to check this out" sign.

They left, and my brother in law Adam took me to my parents so that my mom could drive me to the insta-care. When I got there it was roughly 7:00 AM so I went to sleep in their spare bedroom, and my mom woke me up at 10, and off to the insta-care we went. We went to the Riverton Hospital which was completely empty. We got right in, and he told me it was pink eye. I'd left my contacts in for too long, and he said one probably just got irritated, and I didn't leave it alone, so that's probably why it happened. Anyway. He prescribed me some eye drops, and told me I couldn't put my contacts in until my eye was completely healed. Mind you, my prescription for contacts is roughly -4.00, and my glasses are from my sophomore year in high school which puts my prescription at like a -1.00. So, my glasses help me see a few inches further than what I see without any help. I got my prescription filled, and went home. The eye drops left the WORST taste in my mouth, so as soon as I took them, I'd eat to mask the taste. Awesome, huh?

Onto my 'flat warts'. So, like I said, I have these all over my leg. When I had Dr. Forsha look at them a couple weeks ago, he was all "Oh yep! Those are flat warts. You probably have dozens of them" which I do, and I don't find amusing. So, they did some experiment with ointment on my hip, and then Thursday they put the dpcp (the ointment) on my warts. Well, they got red and itchy. Then Friday night they started to blister. Then more started blistering. And the itch continued on. Finally Saturday afternoon, after sending a picture of my leg to my parents, my mom called me and told me to call the doctor. So I did.

Me: Hi this is Tracee Larson, I have flat warts all over my leg.
Dr. Forsha: Oh yes yes, I remember you.
Me: Well, they're starting to blister up, is that normal?
Dr. Forsha: Oh well, no. Basically what we're doing is a controlled allergic reaction, so it's like putting liquid poison ivy/oak on your leg. The concentration must have been a little high. Are the blisters twice the size of the warts?
Me: More, at least 3-5 times bigger.
Dr. Forsha: Hmm. Well, why don't you call me tomorrow, and if it's still this way, I'll call in a prescription for Prednizone.
Me: Okay, thanks.
Dr. Forsha: -click-

So, Friday night I didn't get much sleep what with all the itching and eye business. And with Justin gone, I just sat and watched TV all day. I had to move the lazy boy like a foot away from the TV so I could watch it without getting a headache. Then Saturday night was about the same, but with Justin home. I just laid in bed and tried not to itch. So Sunday rolls around and I call Dr. Forsha back, and he calls in the prescription to help the itching.

So, we go to Wal Mart to pick it up, and the guy at the pharmacy asks if I've ever taken it before. I've had hives before, but I don't remember. So I say no. He goes on to tell me that it can give me an upset stomach so it's better to eat when I take them (yay, more eating) and that I'll have 5 days of taking 3 pills, then 5 days of 2 pills, and then 5 days of 1. Woo. Then, he looks at Justin and says, "Now, this can cause moodiness."

Um, hello? I have pink eye, and itchy blisters all over my leg, and I can't see a damn thing. I'm already moody.

So Justin and I laugh about that. But I do have to admit, the prednizone is doing a fine job, and most the itchiness is gone. Hallelujah!

Going back to my dermatologist appointment with Dr. Forsha on Thursday, I was told to call back 3-5 days later to let the office know about my reaction. So that's what I did. I talked to the phone nurse, who says she's going to call in my prescription for me to pick up tomorrow (Wednesday) and she'll call me back to let me know. So I wait, and a couple of hours later, she calls and says, "Well, the Doctor decided that since your reaction was so severe, we're going to put you on a different cream that you put on once a day. It's called somethingIcan'tremember and it'll be in a box of 24 packets. Can you pick that up tomorrow at the Riverton Wal Mart?" Which I respond with, yes, thanks, blah blah blah.

Wednesday morning, I go to Wal Mart.
Me: My doctor called in a prescription for me yesterday. My name is Tracee Larson
Lady: Okay, just a moment.

Lady: Um, okay. Do you have insurance?
Me: No, I don't.
Lady: Oh, well this is $600 dollars.
Me: Okay. Well, I'm going to have to talk to them. Sorry!
-I turn and walk away so as not to freak out at the poor lady just doing her job-

Awesome. I call the dermatologist office back, and guess what? They're all out to lunch. For a full hour. Once I finally get someone, I'm transferred to the phone nurse, and naturally, I get her voicemail. So I leave a message about how the prescription was $600, and that's not going to work for me so we need to figure something else out. Another couple of hours later, she calls back saying that they don't have a licensed doctor in the office, so she'll have to call me tomorrow. Which is now today.

I called the office earlier today, but no one answered. Go figure. Then to my surprise, the phone nurse calls me back.

Phone Nurse: Is this Tracee?
Me: Yes it is.
PN: Hi this is so-and-so from South Valley Dermatology, and I've talked to one of our doctors, and we've decided to go with a cream that you can apply to your leg 3 times a day. It's all purely samples provided from the manufacturer.
Me: So I won't have to pay anything?
PN: That's right.
Me: Thanks, because I don't have insurance, and I can't afford much more.
PN: I'm so sorry. We keep it here in the office, so is there anyway you could come here and pick it up? The problem is we're going to lunch soon and won't be back until 1:30.
Me: That should be just fine.
PN: Okay, it's kept in the fridge, so we'll have it ready for you.
Me: Okay, thanks.

So, la-de-da-de-da 1:15 rolls around, and I head over. I go in, and ask for the prescription for Tracee Larson, and the girl (who I assume is new can't find it. So I mention that it's in the fridge, and she goes and looks there, and still can't find it. Then a nurse practitioner whatever comes and asks what it's for, and I say my leg. Luckily, she finds it. When she hands it to me, I asked her to just look at my leg really quick, because I just have some questions, which she is fine with. When I roll up my pant leg, guess what reaction I get? "Good heavens girlfriend!" 1- I am not your girlfriend. 2- your office did this to me!

So I ask about scarring, how long it will take to heal, etc. I get the answers I expect. Not the ones I want to hear, but I expect them nonetheless.

So needless to say, at this point I'm satisfied.

But then, and I feel this encompasses my whole experience with this dumb office... When I go out to my car, I jump in and start the car, throw it into reverse just as someone pulls in next to me. Well, I wait patiently for this 50-something lady to get out of the passenger side. She opens the door, and BAM. She hits my jeep with the door. WHAT THE! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! She makes a little "Oh no!" face, and continues on her way. Just leaves. Doesn't even make sure there isn't anything there. No 'I'm so sorry I'm an idiot and can't control the stupid car door' just nothing.

I'm past the point of handling anything more this week. So if you need me, I'll be curled up in bed sleeping until Sunday morning.

don't even worry.

I have pink eye.
What am I five?!? I remember friends getting this when we weren't even old enough to go to school!! Honestly!!
So that means that I get to disinfect my house from top to bottom. Goodie.
Also, the eyedrops leave a DISGUSTING taste in my mouth.
Fhtsycvifystshxhcghkbmvxsusfxhxjvjg

I R PISSED!

Along with pink eye, I went to the dermatologist on Thursday because, lucky me, I have 'flat warts' all over my left leg. So, a couple of weeks ago the doc put an ointment on my hip, which then swelled and scanned and itches like mad. Then when I went back on Thursday, they put the same ointment on all the little devils. I'm having flashbacks of my hives 2.5 years ago. The itch is driving me MAD!

So all in all, best weekend ever!!

What The Face

So this last weekend (July 24th weekend) Justin and I took my niece and nephew to Fairview. Since we live with them, it wasn't any big deal. They're great kids, so we weren't worried. Madi and Trevon were really respectful and obedient. Justin and I did learn that when you're packing food, and you think you have enough... double it. We definitely ran out of drinks the last day, even though we got 2 boxes of capri suns, and a case of water... oh well. Lesson learned. It was a fun weekend though. We went to the parade and watched some movies on the projector. My mom bought some arrows and got my brother's bows out, and everyone played with them. It was really fun.

But I realized something. I used to take pictures ALL THE TIME. I mean, a lot. I just really like having pictures to remember things with. But for some reason, which I haven't quite worked out yet, I don't take pictures anymore. I don't know if it's because I want a better quality camera, or I am too lazy, or what... but I don't. It kind of makes me sad. Justin claims I still take a lot of pictures... but I had my camera with me this weekend, and I didn't take one picture! What the face?

YAY!

Grandpa is home. Doing fantastic.

And breathe.

On to other news.
I've been finding out that being the bigger person is LE SUCK. It's amazing how it comes at me from all the different aspects of my life. Like
A- Friends. Time after time... I guess that's just what happens. Grow up, forgive and forget... I guess.
B- Co-Workers. It's funny how you can think that you know something and then the next second, everything you thought you knew is flipped turned upside down. (Thank you fresh prince) So on I go with life, choosing to not say anything.
C- Church. Yes, church. Alas, no one is perfect.

So, I must act my full 25 years, and move on with life. And not be spiteful. Which boy o boy, that's HARD. I'm quite spiteful. Sometimes mean. So, bite my tongue, my nails, my gum, whatever, so as to not say anything that might offend. Hah.

Anyway.

Oh grandpa

Just get better. Remember this? Well, last night my grandpa started having heart problems. I'm not positive on all the details, but I do know that he had an ambulance take him to the hospital last night. And he had a pacemaker put in. And his body went into shock. He currently has a breathing tube in, and because they're so uncomfortable, they're sedating him. He should come out of it hopefully tonight, or tomorrow.

It just doesn't make any sense, because my grandpa is so dang healthy! My mom and I were joking just last week that he's almost too healthy. Well, that just goes to show you that it doesn't hurt to have some deliciousness along the way.

Well, on a side note, but related to my grandpa...
For some reason, in my family, we have runny noses. Anything can trigger it. We laugh, it runs. We eat, it runs. Slightly cold out? It runs. Sneeze, run. Look to the left, it runs. A cloud floats by, it runs. And mine is running now. My grandpa had a surgery to help his. Maybe one day...

This is something that ALWAYS makes me happy. It can make me cry it's so pretty. Music is the key to my heart. The back story on this clip from Glee- Kurt (in the white outfit) leaves the school his boyfriend is at. His boyfriend is the main singer and he's singing him this song as a goodbye.

And then one that still makes me happy, but not in a teary way...

THEN! If you know scrubs at all... this is just hilarious.

Glee has a tendency to push it as far as it can go, and then a little farther, which I'm not a fan of. BUT the music is amazing! The dancing can be pretty fantastic too. And then Scrubs... just makes me laugh. Pretty much one of my favorite shows. Along with Supernatural. So I recommend them.

Okay okay.

So, after much deliberation, I decided to add the picture of the 'All Seeing Eye' to allow you to see the creativity that oozed from within my soul.

Yes. This is me. One of my shameless ideas to make money. My dad thought that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. Why was I not out playing like most kids? I don't know. I had a box, and I used it. Now that I've found the website mentioned in the previous post, I'm sad I never thought of doing those things. 

Moving on.

This past week my mom and I went to St George. My parents own a condo there, and they decided to rent it out. So everything had to be taken out, and cleaned. We were buuusssyyyyy. When we got down there, the temperature inside of the condo was 89 DEGREES! And the carpets had just been cleaned, so it was muggy. I turned the air on STAT. Gradually, the condo got down to about 74. It felt GREAT. My mom and I got there Tuesday night, and we cleaned Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We took a load of things my mom didn't want to the D.I. and we moved what we could into the main room so it would be easier for my dad and brother to load when they got there. Jess and my dad arrived Thursday night in a big moving truck. Then on Friday, it was my cousin's wedding. My parents went to the temple that morning, and Jess and I hung out watching TV. When my mom and dad got back, my mom and I went to the luncheon, and Jess and my dad started loading all the furniture into the truck. Later that day, Christy and Adam and their kids met us at Breck's reception. I'm so happy for my cousin! He met a BEAUTIFUL girl. I hope they're really happy. They deserve it!

After the reception, my mom decided to take us all on this little hike to see petroglyphs, or hieroglyphs... whatever they're called. As we're walking along, we're all looking at this ginormous dark cloud heading our way that looked QUITE foreboding. So we kind of picked up the pace. When we got to the carvings, it was sprinkling a little bit, and then lightening, so we decided to head back. On the way back, the lightening was getting worse. Christy and Adam and their kids ran ahead, and Jess and I had our cameras taking videos because it was CRAAAZY. We were just kind of strolling along, and then BAM! Lightening hit behind us, and we all started running. It was a ways away, but close enough that we took off. When we got to the cars, we got in, and about 60 seconds later, it started to POUR. Big huge drops. It was a lot of fun just sitting there and watching it. 

This is a video of all the lightening we were running through

The pretty sunset before the storm

 This is the dark cloud heading our way

 Hiking around in the dark

This was when we got into the car. Jess and I.

 My family in the garage

 The family with me

 Madi was taking pictures

We headed home, and were just hanging out in the garage. Watching the rain. It was really coming down! Ciera Madi and I ran down to my grandparents condo to see what they thought, and then we ran back so we were soaking. In the garage, we have a ball hanging from the ceiling to show how far you can pull in. Well.... my family being my family... we made a game of it. The game was called "Don't Flinch" and what you do is measure how close the ball is, and then throw it around the circle and you can't move. Hahahaha I don't know. Then Adam threw a curve ball, and told us all to take a step to the right without measuring, and then we threw it... pretty sure that every time my dad took a ball to the face. All in all, it was a really fun week. We only went swimming a couple of times. 

 After we'd run around in the rain

Hahahaha this is our game!

 Pre-dadgettinghitintheface shot

 Jess not flinching

 Madi still taking pictures

I wish I could be a kid again!

I just found the COOLEST website. It's all about crafts for kids, making things out of cardboard... which is something I did all the time as a child.

In fact... One time when I was about 10 years old, being the money hungry child that I was, I had an idea. One of my parents had just gotten something that came in a HUGE box. One big enough that I could get in. So what did I do? I poked a hole in it that was about my eye level (while on my knees) and then made a little slot with a bag on the inside to catch the money that was put through the slot. What was the money for you ask? Oh, well I'd made myself into "The All-Seeing Eye" which was what the hole was for. I'd put my eye up to it, and when someone put money in the slot, they could ask me one question. It worked much like an 8-ball. I had to put notes on the box like "Don't stick your finger into the hole" and what not. My dad thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. We have a picture of me in the box, and him kneeling down by it. I'm a little embarrassed by this story... so we'll leave the picture out.

Back to the website... they do things like this! Talk about cute! A big mailbox in the living room, and then individual mailboxes on each door... I wish I'd known about that like 15 years ago, because I'd be all over that. But think about it, how cute would it be to have a family home evening or a Super Saturday with your family, and you all put together the big mail box, then make your own little ones, and decorate them all. Then, you write nice letters! Write why you love them, something that they do that's helpful... I mean, it's even a good idea to do with your husband. It's always nice to have a little reminder, no matter how cheesy.

Needless to say, I'm more excited than ever to have a family. I just hope that I remember these awesome things! Maybe.... I think I might start a binder of things to do with kids when I actually have them... I mean... who knows? We might not have internet by the time I have kids. We might have a chip in our heads that just feeds us information... You never know.

Hahaha oh my

I found this on pinterest, and man alive, some of these make me laugh so hard! Like 1-3, 5, 7, 9... really, they all made me chuckle a little bit.

3 Weeks Down

So, as much as I love summer... it starts to wear on me. I get so bored! I try to entertain myself. I've covered lamps, I started a wreath, I have a quilt in progress, I've got a pile of books to read.... but sometimes I just want to get paid. I didn't find a job for the summer, so I kind of stopped looking. I've got my job at the school waiting, and get this, I'm going to be the PE teacher. Hhahahahahahaha. So weird. I'm really excited though. Maybe it will help me lose more weight. I'm thinking I should start running or something, because pretty sure I will have to run a mile with the kids. And how embarrassing would it be if I killed over while doing it? So yeah.

Anyway. I'm just chugging along. Peeling my shoulders away. I'm not sure if there will be anything left by the time I'm done with them. That sunburn was a lot worse than what I thought. Justin said 'ew' to my shoulder when he saw it. Such a sweetie face.

But back to summer. I read 3 books in about 5 days (The Hunger Games) and then I read a couple of Mary Higgins Clark books, and like I said, I covered a lamp. My sister started to help me cut the pieces to the quilt, which by the way is harder than it sounds. I started to cut my first rectangle, and had the ruler thing held down, started to roll the cutter, then it all moved. I yelled, Christy started laughing, and I was done.

AND THERE IS A LITTLE BLACK FLY THAT KEEPS FLYING AROUND MY HEAD AND I COULD LOSE IT AT ANY MOMENT!

In other news, I've fallen in love with Criminal Minds. And kind of Without A Trace. Essentially, Ion Television is the greatest. I watch it all the time. My boss always jokes about how I should have gone into criminology or something like that, because this stuff fascinates me. I read Ted Bundy's story, The Stranger Beside Me. It's his story from the point of view of his friend. Ann Rule worked with him at a suicide prevention hot line. She knew him before everything with him started... Just the workings of the mind intrigues me. How someone can snap like that, and still carry on in their life, as a normal person. I think that's why Criminal Minds has caught my eye. They go into detail about the type of person, and all the different details about them. I don't know how much of it is true, but it sure caught me.

Well, if anyone has an idea as to what else I could do with my summer, I'm open to suggestions. =)

Summer feet

I found the coolest stuff to paint your toes with. Sally Hansen something or other. But so far, I love it. And I love how tan I look compared to Justin :)

Sun Burn

Ah man. I got a killer sunburn at Cowabunga Bay yesterday. BUT MAN ALIVE IT WAS FUN! It's freaking expensive to get in, even with $6 off, but it was totally worth it. My front side is burned, but that's all. The chairs don't lay back. And grass is limited. But the slides were pretty great, the lazy river was also pretty great. Here are the slides, and what they all look like. It's such a fun place, and it was actually really eye opening.

My sister and I were talking about the different body types that were there, and how most people don't care what they look like. They're just there to have fun and get some sun. In my family, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who wore a tankini that showed my tummy. My sisters were always in the one pieces or tankinis with shorts that show nothing. We were talking about how it was either because of our morals, or our lack of confidence or what. But we've just been the kind of people that hide our goodies. I don't know.

June 16th was my anniversary with my hubbestie. Two years. It feels like it's been forever, but in a good way. I basically can't remember a time with him not there. It's too hard to imagine. I'm totally okay with that. We celebrated by going to Park City and stayed at a nice place that we got a steal off of groupon. The next day we went to the outlet stores and purchased some things there. Then we went back home and napped for a couple of hours. The next morning we went to the Dugway geode fields. We spent a couple of hours in the wrong spot, but we figured it out and started to dig in the right spot. We didn't find anything, but also didn't know what we were doing. It was still a lot of fun, and we're definitely going to go back. I love that Justin and I have the same interests. That we want to do the same things. And most importantly, that we have FUN. No matter what situation we're in, for the most part, we can laugh and enjoy each other. Granted, there are times when I get a little hangry (hungry=angry, thanks Justin), but we still love each other. Happy Anniversary Justin!

And then, in honor of Father's Day, I wanted to tell a funny story or two about my dad =)

#1

So when I lived at home, my room was in the basement. There was one night that we'd all gone to bed, and all the lights were turned off. I was hanging out downstairs and decided that I needed a drink of water. I didn't turn on any lights because I didn't want to disturb my parents... so I started to feel around trying to find the couch and table so I didn't hurt myself. I found the first couch, and then the table, I just had to find the second couch. I was reaching my hand out to feel for the couch when I touch someones shoulder. Well.... if you know my dad at all, he's easily startled. SO. He screams, I screamed, he screamed, I screamed, and ran into my mom's room, who while all this is happening, she's yelling "what's going on in there?!" -SIGH- I'd interrupted my dad while he was praying. hahahaha

#2

My dad is deathly afraid of spiders, and he also has this morning ritual where he goes into his bathroom and grabs the mug by his sink, rinses it out, and then fills it up and takes a drink. He normally does this before he has his glasses on. So my mom thought it would be funny to put a fake spider in his cup. It was a bell that had legs poking out of it, that kind of rolled around. The next morning, my dad got up and started his ritual. Filled the cup up and then poured it out. Well, the fake spider was rolling around the sink... and my dad started to yell up a storm. I'm sure there were a few cuss words in there, but he was yelling loud enough that my brother heard him from the other end of the house, and came running. Meanwhile, my mom is in bed laughing her head off.

I love my family.

Bah!

Does anyone else struggle with loading pictures onto blogger? They always upload to the top rather than where I want them to, and trying to type under them... don't even get me started on that. Honestly.

Mind? Where are you?

So, Justin and I have one of the coolest bathrooms ever. I mean, COOL. I'll post pictures at the end of the post. Well, we bought some things to put up in our bathroom, and we just use push pins to hold things up, haha, so don't look too closely. I opened the drawer that they are normally in, and couldn't find them, so I went to the other desk, checked those 3 drawers, and they weren't there either. So, then I went to the nightstands, and checked the 4 drawers there. Then I got distracted and was looking at the things I keep in my nightstand. 10 minutes later I couldn't remember what I was looking for. Well, I stood up and looked around for a minute or two, grabbed my blankie, and then came back out to the kitchen. Stood there for a minute. Then I finally remembered what I was looking for. So I came back to drawer #1, and TA-DA. Right in the back. Sigh. My obliviousness really hinders any progress I want to make.

Anyway.... here is my bathroom. And yes, these are all the real colors.

My bathroom used to be more green, black, and white, but then I found this clock at Target for $3, and I couldn't resist. Then on a trip to Fairview, we found the tin posters, and they fit right in. Thus, making our bathroom super awesome.

My bookshelf

I love my bookshelf.

I love all the things on it, all the pictures, all the decorations... everything. One of my FAVORITE things on my bookshelf are these books...

Book #1-

Book #2-

Book #3-

Book #4-

Book #5-

Book #6-

Book #7-

Book #8-

Book #9-

Book #10-

If you haven't read them, I highly suggest that you do. they're the diary of a British girl, and man alive, are they hilarious.

You're welcome.

The before

Continuation.

So, here are the fabrics and the lamps that I did. I forgot the 'before' pictures of the lamps, so you'll need to imagine them being orange first. Something else that I've done recently is made pillow cases for Justin and I to use. Some that matched a little more, and gave us a couple more to use.

The Fabric

The Lamps

The Pillow Case

Oh, and by the way...

It's getting crafty up in this hizzle. My friend posted about a wreath that she just did, and I loved it. It's a bean wreath! How cute is that? Well, since it's the summer of awesomeness, I'm going to start making things for our basement/home. On my list so far is this....

• Quilt- easy peasy one, because this is my first time


• Covering lamp shades- I bought the lamps from my friend, and just need to cover them with something that matches our decor


• A bean wreath- it was so freaking cute, I need one of my own


• Staining or painting my coffee table


• Whatever else tickles my fancy

I'm really excited. I have all the fabric for the quilt, and I'll start cutting it soon. I'm going to post pictures of the fabric so you can see the cuteness it radiates, and I'll post some before pictures of the lamps. But, seeing how I'm coming up on my 2 year anniversary, I was thinking that it's time for me to start being able to do things on my own. Being able to make my house look like a home. Not that doing these things are the only way to make a home... I just don't have the money or the room for the things that I want. So, I'm going to improvise and use what I have. Maybe get a few things on the side. But along with the crafty side of growing up, there is the side of cooking, like with a crock pot. Gotta learn some different recipes for that, because Justin and I will get sick of barbecued pork loin pretty quick. We went to the store the other day and stocked up on meat. Steak, pork loin, and hamburger. So, needless to say, I need some ideas. I googled a little bit today, but was really only half-assing it, because I wasn't feeling my A-Game today. Anyway... I still do my e-mealz but Justin and I suck at going to the store, and suck even worse at printing the menus off each week. We've been a member since January, and we have 10 menus printed off. Oops. Just a quick update on those, because I know some of you might care =)

• There are different menus to pick from, like fat-free, gluten free, portion control,vegetarian, low-carb, etc.


• There is a meal for each weeknight, so Monday-Friday. Along with the menu, you get a shopping list.


• You can choose a specific store you'd like to shop at, like WalMart, Kruger, etc.


• Some of the meals we've had are Pasta e Fagioli, White Bean Chili,Creamy Chicken Broccoli Bake, 3 Cheese Manicotti, Baked Spaghetti Pie, Winter Veggie Pasta Toss, Taco Cornbread Bake, Black Bean Soup, Spicy Shrimp, Huevos (hahahahaha huevos...) Rancheros.

We've made most of those things, but not all of them. The ones I listed are from each different menu. Most are really easy, like under 30 minutes. They use basic spices, basic ingredients, and so on. I've really liked making the meals, it's just a matter of staying faithful to them. Which we struggle with.

Golly. I was thinking this would just be a short, easy post... and man, did that turn out differently than what I was expecting. Heh.

I guess I'll update.

So, it's been a while. Let me think... what have we done?

Well, we've gone ghost towning on a few occasions, gone to the cabin, camping, met up with friends... things like that. I can't even keep it all straight. There have been a lot of vacations, a lot of changes, and a lot of snow.

It's now summer for me. School has been out a couple of weeks now, and boy, have things changed. Next year, I'm going to be... get this... the P.E. Teacher! Ba-dun-ching! Kathy is going to get the curriculum Chad used last year, and I'm going to have a look at that, and create from there. What are the odds. How weird is that going to be?

--Pictures from Ghost Towning--

--Pictures from Geocaching--

--Pictures from Moab--

--Pictures from seeing Carrie--

--Pictures of our weekend with the Wingates--

For some reason I don't have a good picture of Adam and Nicole, so I'll get a good one on the next trip =)

This Thursday is the 16th. Which means I've been married to Justin for 2 years. WOW. Time flies by whether you like it or not. We've been able to travel around Utah quite a bit. It's been a lot of fun. We've really grown in the time too. Adjusted to having two people, learned to sleep with another person in the bed, things like that. We love to hike and to send time together. Which is why for our anniversary, we're staying in Park City Thursday night, looking around Friday, and then on Saturday, we're going to go look for geodes. Haha. We like it =)