Jon Schmidt & Cute Things Kids Do

* I went to a benefit Jon Schmidt concert tonight in American Fork, with my sister Rachelle. It was so fun! Jon Schmidt is a great, funny, crazy entertainer. It was more low-key than some of his concerts, and his sidekick cello guy, Steven Sharp Nelson, couldn't make it tonight, so he was alone. He paid tribute to a military family who was there - the dad is home on leave for a week before deploying for a whole year. When he was talking about this family, and their 4-year-old girl whose birthday it was today, I was imagining people much older than me (for some unknown reason - sometimes I forget how old I really am). But after the song, he had the family stand up, and they looked like they could be my own age. Which is totally normal, but it just made me think about that little family, and the things they are sacrificing for the rest of us. It made me proud to be an American.

* I played 3rd parent to some of the Bennett children last night. I took Carson to his soccer tryout, and had to leave him there to go get Lindsey from gymnastics. (One of the dad's took Carson home, don't worry!) On the way home from gymnastics, Lindsey was informing me what I should do as a parent. Her two bits of advice for me: Let your little girl get her ears pierced whenever she wants. Don't make her wait until she's 12. And, when you have pudding with dinner, even when it is Oreo pudding, let your kids eat it whenever they want. Don't make them eat their potatoes first. (Although she did tell me she likes potatoes, too.) Thanks for the advice Lindsey! When we got back to the house, Carson was at home alone, and when we walked in the door, he was sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework. He is such an awesome kid!

Trying out this blogger app

So, I downloaded this app forever ago, and I'm just now getting around to playing with it. But, it might actually mean that I might post more often. We'll see how it goes.

This month I went on a trip with my mom back to Rhode Island and Boston area. It was amazing. I need to write down what we did, but here is a picture from our drive to Cape Cod. These are some of the cute little cottages right on the water in the town of Wellfleet. We were there before tourist season started, which I was happy about, because there was no one around. But the weather was still nice enough for us to enjoy it.

Hopefully I will have more stories and pictures to post later.

A Good Day

For some reason, I woke up today with a renewed motivation to get some things done. So, here's a rundown of my day, mostly for my sake, because I want to see it written down.
7:00 wake up
7:10 make to do list
7:20 gather up all the garbage in my house, clean and organize basement a bit
8:00 call in prescription
8:05 check email, facebook, reader
8:15 dishes, take out upstairs garbage
8:30 make muffins for breakfast
9:00 fix my crochet hook holder (that I made a year ago, and am just getting around to finishing it)
9:15 sew button on knit bag I finished last week
9:30 sew project bag, cut out three more project bags
11:00 put tree branches from the backyard into the green waste can (think about mowing, but grass is too wet)
11:30 check email, facebook, reader again, KSL too probably
12:00 make lunch - eggs & hashbrowns - second meal of the day eaten at my dining table
12:30 lay down on the couch to rest my back - sewing hurts my back a bit
12:45 take a shower
1:00 leave my house, run errands - Smith's, library, Hobby Lobby, Target
3:00 go to Daybreak, sit by lake, work on Relief Society lesson for tomorrow, read a book, watch the ducks
5:00 walk around the lake
6:15 home, dinner (Arby's) - eaten at the table again - the third meal of my day - I think that's a record
6:45 lay on couch again, play on iphone - games, facebook, email, reader, etc
7:00 move all the rest of the tree branches in the backyard onto the cement, off the grass
7:30 mow back lawn
8:10 wash feet, because they turn green when I mow
8:30 grocery store
9:30 back home, exhausted

Now I'm watching the end of Last Holiday, which is a pretty good show to end my day.

Here's a picture of my to do list for the day. I like to write it down, so I can check things off as I go. Today I got to check off several things. Some days I'm not so productive.

Friday Fun

I have been looking forward to the Rooftop Concert Series concert tonight in Provo, UT for awhile. Rachelle told me she would come with me. Unfortunately, it is outside, and they were one week too late. We wimped out and didn't go sit there in the rain and freezing cold. So, I guess I'll have to plan on going next year, since this was the last one of this season.

So instead of hanging out with C Jane and friends tonight, I ended up at home, after I stopped and picked up some Cafe Rio delicious-ness. I even got some extra pork and a tortilla, for lunch tomorrow, but after the enchiladas, I was still wanting more, so I ate it all tonight. Oops.

Some of the ingredients for the lip balm

About 9:00 o'clock tonight I decided to try making handmade lip balm. I have had the ingredients for it for many months, but I never got around to actually trying it. For some reason, it sounded fun tonight. Sadly, it has been so long, I didn't have my original recipes, so I just looked some up online. I ended up making two batches, and I decided I needed a little practice before I start my lip balm making business. You have to be fast - the beeswax and oil get melted, then you have to mix the other stuff in and get it in a container before it starts to harden again. I am not fast. My lip balm is not smooth and nice looking, like you would see in the store. But, it was my first try, and it was fun and easy. Here are the two recipes I used, that I copied from elsewhere online, and partly just added stuff as I felt like it. I haven't tested out the results yet, because I wanted it to get set up really good.

Easy Lip Balm
coconut oil - about 2 tsp (recipe I was using called for 2 Tbsp, I read it wrong)
beeswax - about 2 tsp
peppermint essential oil - about 6 drops
Vitamin E - 2 drops

Raspberry flavored tinted Lip Balm
coconut oil - 1 tsp
cocoa butter - 2 tsp
beeswax - 2 tsp
raspberry extract - 3 drops
Vitamin E - 2 drops
Mae Minerals Blushing Pink color Blush - tiny bit for color
(probably should have put some essential oil in, but I knew I didn't want peppermint, and forgot I had eucalyptus, don't know how good that would have been)

The mess I created with my lip balm making.

The three containers of lip balm I made tonight

So, that's the fruit of tonight's labors - 3 little lip balms. Maybe I'll get better and make some to give away for Christmas presents.

Here's a few pictures of my night with the Bennett's on Wednesday. Lindsey and Hailey were putting on shows for me, and Lindsey came down in the Batman costume, which looked hilarious on her, so I had to get some pictures.

Hailey came up with this outfit, which did have a mickey mouse magician hat included, but Rhys stole the hat before I got a picture. It was quite the ensemble - prom dress, baseball jersey, hippie vest - you get the idea.

Hailey looks like a little Jeanette in this picture, don't you think?

Her last costume change of the night.

We had fun just chillin at their house after dinner, while Matt & Jeanette went to see The Help for her birthday. I love those kids! The two girls and I ended up having a slumber party in Lindsey's room, with Hailey on a mattress on the floor. It was fun until we woke up in the morning and the girls started doing gymnastic tricks on the bar above the bed I was still in. Let's just say that got me out of bed quickly.

So long for now, my friends

Grateful for computer smart friends

Two nights ago, I was online, doing what I normally do, when my computer started going bananas. Telling me that I had a trojan, that I needed to click here to get anti-virus software, etc. It scared me. I'm not a good updater, or back-up-er. I don't take good care of my computer.
Don't worry. I learned my lesson. I took my computer in to work, and my friend Ty worked his magic and got all the viruses off, and updated everything. He gave me a lecture this morning when he gave it back to me about how important it is to run the anti-virus software weekly, and backing up often.

I am very thankful that I didn't lose anything. He was able to put my computer back together. I wouldn't be typing this today without his help.

I am going to be better about taking care of my computer, so that it will be nice to me and I won't have to go through this again.

I learned my lesson.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

- I just watched Biggest Loser, while eating some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I should have gone to the gym, but my couch was too comfortable.

- I am trying to be a little 'unplugged' this week. Not so much TV, less playing on the internet, etc. I did good yesterday, because my cousin and his family came over for the evening. Today was Biggest Loser, and I told myself I could watch that - my one show of the week. But now I want to watch Parenthood, too. It is hard to change your habits.

- I have quickly found the love for Pinterest. So many ideas. So little time to do all of them. The one thing I am going to try is the trick for hemming jeans.

I am short, so I can never find jeans that are the right length for me. I hope this trick works. I have always wondered if there was a way to do this, but I've never tried it.

- I am coming up with ideas for all the pears and apples off my trees this year. I picked a box of pears yesterday, and there is probably another box still on the tree. And I have 2 big trees full of apples, which I think are going to be yummy this year. I am thinking I should dry some, maybe freeze some, eat them every day until I can't stand it, make some mini caramel apples (although my apples are red, not green), give some away, and whatever else I can think of to do with them. Any good ideas for me?

- I want to take this class, Onward & Upward, but I am scared I won't finish the class. That is what I do. I start something, but rarely finish it. But, I really think this would be a good class, and i want to do it. I have to decide this week, since it starts next Monday. Maybe it's time for a new habit for me, of finishing things.

- I had my first lesson in 'gauge' for knitting this week. I made a fingerless glove, using a chunky yarn, and a size 10 needle. The pattern I used called for a size 7 needle, and worsted weight yarn. My glove is a little, or a lot, too big. Who knew it was important to use the right size needle and yarn? Now the question is whether I am going to undo the glove and start over. I haven't decided yet.

Finally Friday

Hey, world, it's me - Diana. I really am alive. Thought I would try blogging again. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head about what I want to blog about. And I have been reading lots of awesome blogs lately, and part of me just wants to be that cool, too.

Lily and Grandma Carol

I know that's not likely right now, but a girl can wish, can't she?

So, just for tonight, I will give you a rundown of my day.

5:15 - alarm went off
5:22 - got up, decided not to go walking, checked FB, blogs, pinterest, email
6:30 - showered
7:08 - left for work, which is much earlier than I have been leaving
7:45 - stopped for gas
8:00 - work
4:15 - left work, took an hour or so to get home, stopped for a milkshake on the way (JCW's - the best milkshakes around, in my opinion, but so bad for me)
6:30 - home, watching NCIS, checking email, FB, reader
7:15 - thought I heard kids out in my backyard, so went upstairs to investigate. But, then wondered what I would do if I actually saw someone. I decided it was my neighbor's grandkids getting a ball out of the yard. It made me feel better to think that, rather than any other option.
7:30 - emptied dishwasher, loaded dishwasher, took out garbage (very stinky!)
8:15 - back downstairs, working on blogger, watching NCIS

So, there you go. My exciting life. What does your Friday look like?