Update on my life

My sister Rachelle got married last Saturday in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. It was a great day. She looked beautiful, the weather was perfect, her reception went well, the grandkids (& brother-in-laws) decorated their car. What more could you ask for?

This is a cute picture of the happy couple with 11 of the 12 grandkids in our family. You try to get all 11 kids to be smiling and looking at the camera... an impossible feat. We took what we could get.

Her colors were pink and brown. All the men were wearing pink ties (which they all loved...) and the girls were wearing a pink & brown outfit of their choosing. It was quite amusing to hear about everyone's "options" of clothing for the wedding. All of us, including my mom, had at least 2 options. Some of us went shopping Friday night, after the Trick-or-treating party, to try one last time to find an outfit. I thought everyone looked great. The kids were pretty cute in their matching pink and brown. Lindsey even had cute brown and pink shoes.

This weekend, I went to Idaho to see my parents, and to go to Jackson. We went up Friday, which wasn't the best weather day. It was cloudy/misty/foggy most of the day. We didn't get to see the beautiful mountains. I just had to imagine that they were there. We shopped around the square, I bought a cute sweater from Eddie Bauer. I went to my favorite trinket store, Jackson Hole Mercantile (ok, I don't exactly know what it's called... something like that). Anyway, they have the cutest moose figurines in there. There is one that I've been dreaming about for a year. His name is "Clark". He is over a foot tall, so cute, dressed like a hiker. So, we went in to see if he was still there. It took some looking, but I found him. I thought he was on sale, because there were signs that said so. But, after asking the clerk how much it was, he informed us that it was just the little ones that were on sale. (I still believe that he didn't know what he was talking about.) But, unfortunately, Clark didn't come home with me, once again. Maybe someday he will come to live with me, but for now, he wanted to stay in Jackson.

And now, I'm back in Pleasant Grove. Thinking about my crazy few weeks ahead of me. I will be happy for Thanksgiving break, because that will mean we are done with our two weeks of crazy madness at work. We have something like 22 books that are going to press in the next two weeks.

Here's a random cute picture of my newest niece, Lily. Isn't she adorable?

Picture Tag

I got tagged a while back. I'm supposed to post the 4th picture from the 4th folder of pics. Let's see what I can find. Most of my pics are on my other computer, so this could be exciting.
Ok, this is a good picture. This is from last summer, at my Grandpa's 85th birthday party. It was at a park up Provo Canyon, and unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating and it rained on us most of the time. This is me and 4 of my sisters and my sister-in-law. Little Lucy is the kid in the bottom of the picture. I don't really like me in this picture, but I like it for everyone else. This was after we had all gotten rained on and were looking lovely.

Lazy Sunday

More random thoughts: (started this post Thursday night)
• I'm the new owner of a food chopper. :) I'm becoming domestic again.
• In case you didn't know, I'm doing weight watchers (have been for 2 weeks now). They are doing an "at work" program at PDC, which is extremely convenient for me. We weighed this morning. I was down 1.6 lbs. Yea!
• I LOVE Pleasant Grove! It is so nice and small town-y. I just went on a walk around my neighborhood. It just makes me happy. I like that there isn't curb and sidewalks everywhere. I know, that seems wierd, but it makes me feel more at home. I don't really know why. I like that the grass just comes and stops right at the street, with a little gravel on the side of the road. Probably because that is how the street I grew up on was. No sidewalk, just a very "lived on" yard and street. We lived on a dead end street with 16 houses on it, so it was very quiet. And, we were almost to the end, so even more quiet. We could have bike rallies on the street, baseball games on the street, fireworks on the street (without bothering anyone else). We even laid down on the street sometimes, just because we could. I miss those carefree days, so I guess Pleasant Grove reminds me of that just a little bit.
• Being more in control of my eating habits has made me feel more in control of more areas of my life. I am in the mood to set goals and accomplish something. So, my new goal is to do one creative project every week (at least one). And, I want to post it on the blog. We'll see how that goes.
(It's now Sunday night.)
We had something of a miracle happening in nursery today. We have one little girl who will not let her dad leave. When he does, she just cries and cries, inconsolable. She has been in nursery for almost a year. Today, something magical happened. She was ok! The dad wasn't. He kept checking on her, and actually came in and hung out for a few minutes a couple of times, but the little girl just ignored him. Also, we have a little boy with about the same problem. His dad could leave sometimes, after snack time, when Josh was distracted enough. Not today. His dad had to run home to get our snack bucket, and he left Josh there. And guess what!? He was ok! We were quite amazed. Maybe the nursery room was receiving extra special blessings today. Maybe because I wasn't up for dealing with crying kids today. I was a little emotional this morning. My little sister, Sharon, is having a very tough go of life these days. She had a baby almost 4 weeks ago, who is adorable by the way. But, my little sis had gall bladder surgery a week ago, and just got mastitis last night. When is it going to end? The hardest part is that she is in Arizona, too far away for us to jump in the car and go see her all the time. It is killing me. I want to go help her out. I think she will survive, and hopefully there is some lesson being learned by all involved. She is going to have some good stories to tell little Lily about her entrance into the world.
I have been working on finishing my projects from CE 08. I have lots of them almost done. I am having a bit of a hard time deciding what pictures to use on some of them. I have a super cute acrylic album basically done except for pics, but what pics to use? I'm debating- WFFD 08 or just some random pics of my cute neices & nephews. Neither of those are perfect in my head, so maybe I should wait and see if anything else jumps in my head. It is making me realize that I am much better at making the books than really scrapbooking. I LOVE putting mini books together, and bookbinding and such, but my struggle comes in actually putting photos and words together on the pages. Not my forte. But, I will keep trying. Hopefully this week I will take some pics of the finished projects to post here.
My other goal for the week: get a membership to the PG Rec Center, so I can go exercise there and be more consistent about it. They have an awesome indoor track, and a big exercise equipment area with lots of treadmills, bikes, etc, and a big weight room area. they also have classes, but I think I just want to use the equipment for now. I really wish they had a swimming pool so I could continue to go to water aerobics. Oh, well, can't have everything you want...

Random Thoughts in my Head

• I am a BAD blogger... sorry!
• I am VERY glad that my sister Sharon is seeing the sun again. I've been very worried about her this week. (She has a 3 week old baby and just had gall bladder surgery.)
• I love working at Archivers, but I don't really love sweeping and mopping after we close.
• I have too many ideas in my head, and not enough actual creating of these crazy ideas.
• I need a new car - what kind? I'm thinking about a VW Bug, or a Subaru something. I was wanting a little SUV, like a Ford Escape, but the gas thing scares me a little bit. Don't really need an SUV, just think it would be fun.
• Weight Watchers is going good. Not sure I'm losing anything this week, but so far I have stuck to the plan. I am actually cooking things, using my kitchen. I know, it doesn't seem like a big thing, but it really is, for me. I bought spices the other day. :) I'm also saving money, because I'm not going out to eat as much. And, amazingly, I haven't been too hungry, or been craving anything I'm not supposed to eat.
• Creative Escape in Chandler Arizona was AWESOME! I would recommend it to anyone who loves scrapbooking and loves being pampered and just having a great time. The classes were great, the resort was awesome. It was the little things that made the difference - fun gifts in your room at night, dessert first at the final dinner, fun Random Acts of Kindness (free products) for everyone. And I met a few new friends. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
• It was also very fun to see my old friend Brooke while I was in AZ. She's one of those friends you don't see for two years, but as soon as you get in her car, it's like it was only yesterday. Almost makes me think I should move down to AZ.
• Quick recap of my summer: Ward Trek at the end of June, Girls Camp end of July, AZ end of August.
• Rachelle, my oldest sister, is getting married Nov 1.
• We are having a big cousin party the night before, for Halloween. Does this mean I have to dress up?
Random Picture: Me and my sister Rachelle at the UVU celebration concert on June 30 with Collin Raye and other country guys that I can't think of right now. Very fun concert. One of my most favorite things in the world: sitting outside, with good friends (or sisters), listening to great music, under the stars, with perfect summer night weather. (Some good treats are always good too.)


Ok, I guess I'm all out of random thoughts. I will try to be a better blogger, but no guarantees. :)

return with awesome tour

So, Keera wants to be my friend, so she is tagged from the last post. (She thought she was chopped liver...)

Rachelle and I went to the Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand cd release concert last night. I love Ryan Shupe! and his band. Not only can they play some awesome music, but they are all hotties... (yes, I know most of them are married, but I can still think they are hot, right?) We were afraid we were going to freeze to death last night, but it actually was pretty nice. I did get a little chilly, and i had a hoodie and a blanket. We don't feel like it is summer yet. When you still have to wear a jacket, it is weird. But, we aren't complaining, because I would rather have this weather than 110 degrees. Anyway, the concert was pretty awesome! I've been listening to the new cd ever since I got it. Sadly, I couldn't listen to it in my car this afternoon cause my car adapter for my iPod was being stupid.

Today has been a bit lazy for me. I needed a day to just be a bum. I've been getting up super early to go exercise this week, so I was pretty tired (and the concert didn't get over until almost 11 pm last night). But, now I've been out running errands, spending lots of money. I found a very cute gift for my cute niece Lindsey, who will turn three tomorrow.

Now I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do with the rest of the afternoon. Do I work on girls camp books, make a skirt for trek, or read the new book I bought last night? Such decisions... Really I should clean my house, too. Or maybe I'll just go take a nap. :)

Tagged...again

Ok, I got tagged forever ago by Clarice. And everyone keeps telling me I need to update this thing. So, here goes.

List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!)

3 joys
1. My 11 (almost 12) so adorable nieces and nephews. They are the loves of my life. They make me laugh. They make me proud to be their aunt. They are the coolest kids on the planet!

2. Making books. I love the act of creating something beautiful. Finding the stuff to go together, and putting it together, and making paper and book board and glue and thread turn into a beautiful book. and then giving them away to people who appreciate them.

3. walking/running. I'm just getting back into this, but I walked tonight. It was such a beautiful night! I have just recently started walking along the canal in PG, which is pretty fun, you can see the whole valley up there. Pretty cool.

3 fears
1. Spiders. hate spiders. Really hate most kinds of bugs, especially when they are in my house. And I don't have a man around to kill them for me!

2. That my car will die on me and I will get stranded somewhere. It's getting old and a little tired, but it's still a good car.

3. I sometimes fear that I am missing my purpose in life. I just found out one of my old friends from high school is living in Kenya (doing what, I'm not sure). But, when I find out people are doing exotic things like that, I question my boring life. Is there something better out there for me?

3 goals
1. My family has just started a biggest loser contest this summer. My goal is to be the winner! I think the pot is up to about $160. Wouldn't that be fun to spend? :)

2. I want to post and sell stuff (books) on Etsy. If you haven't been on Etsy yet, you should go check it out. It's pretty darn cool. My store name is Daisy Dreamer, but don't go look at it now. There's nothing there yet. Give me a little time. :)

3. I want to get up tomorrow morning and make it to water aerobics at 6.


3 current obsessions/collections
1. Stephenie Meyer's books. The latest on "The Host" was pretty good. Can't wait for New Dawn (is that what it's called? not totally sure...)

2. all things camoflauge. Our theme for girls camp is "Boot Camp" so I've been on the lookout for camo things to decorate camp, etc. I have found camo streamers, and cute camo tins. I have some camo fabric and ribbon, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with those yet. If anyone has any great ideas, I'm totally open to suggestions.

3. a not super current one... I have a spoon collection. It started when I was pretty little, probably 5 or 6 I would guess. I collect them from places I visit, and my family has gotten me spoons from their travels, too (I have a couple from Italy, thanks to my bro, and some from Japan thanks to my sis) My first one came from either Yellowstone or Jackson Hole. There was a cool one on a ferry we were on on Lake Michigan (or one of the Great Lakes, probably not Lake Michigan... the one that would take you from Canada to New York, by Niagara Falls). I REALLY really wanted this spoon, but my mom tried to tell me we would find a cheaper one when we got off the boat somewhere. Of course we didn't even look for one. I was pretty mad (still a sore spot with me apparently, since that was when I was about 13 years old and I still remember the incident).

3 random surprising facts about yourself
1. I sleep on a bunk bed. Weird, I know. It's a bunk bed on top, futon on the bottom, and I've had it for about 3 or 4 years. I sleep on top, and the bottom bunk is usually full of my clothes. I hate folding clothes, but I don't like them on the floor, so it's a great place for them.

2. I'm going to Creative Escape in Phoenix in September and I'm pretty darn excited about it! I've been dreaming about going for the past two years, and decided this year was the year to go. I get to see my sister & bro-in-law and new niece while I'm there, too.

3. My favorite food is Mexican. (sorry, kind of boring, but it's all i can think of)


Ok, I tag my little sister Sharon. Sorry, I don't have five friends!

random blatherings

Ok, I'm back. For some reason the pictures just seem too hard for me lately. I might catch up someday. March was actually a bad month for the picture taking for me. I missed several days. But, I decided not to beat myself up over it. I'm just moving on. I think I felt like the pictures were all starting to look the same.

So, I got an email this morning from Peter Breinholt. He was recording some songs for his new cd tonight, and they decided to invite some people to come to the studio. The first 35 people to email back would get to go. So, I emailed this morning, pretty sure I was too late, and then went to work. I checked my hotmail during the day, and didn't see a response from them, so I assumed it was a no go. I went to work at Archivers for a few hours tonight after they called and begged me to come. So, I got home about 9:45. Opened my email, and um, hello! I had written them from my msn account, and I was one of the first, so I totally could have gone! But, of course, I missed the opportunity! I'm a little sad tonight. I hate missing good opportunities for fun free things!

I've decided I'm not a "purist" when it comes to bookmaking. I don't have to use expensive book cloth, expensive paper, etc. to make books. I'm not opposed to using scrapbook paper! Is this bad? I think some "purist" people would think so. I was talking to the girls at Archivers tonight about bookmaking, and one of the new girls has taken bookbinding, and we were talking to Anjulee (ok, I don't know how to spell her name!) about what it takes to make books. I said you could use scrapbook paper, and Corinne started talking about how you can't use scrapbook paper, you have to use expensive paper and book cloth. I think its fun to use the expensive stuff, but it also is really ok to use regular paper and regular cloth. ... random blathering ...

I'm taking tomorrow off! Yea! I'm spending it at the dentist. Not yea. And it's going to cost me lots of money. Not yea. But I do get to sleep in! Yea!

The goal for April: to take a picture every day.

The other goal for April: to not freeze to death in my cold cold apartment. Hopefully the weather will decide to warm up sometime.