Why I love blogging...

I've neglected my blog lately for other mundane things, like packing boxes, being sick with bronchitis, working etc... but tonight I laughed & laughed & laughed some more. And then I realized that I needed to apologize for my selfish self. What kind of meanie was I back in the day? Was I so insecure that I needed to be a recipe hog? Sadly, after being so hoggish with my chicken marinade recipe (that I got from someone when I worked at the hospital in Provo eons ago) I haven't made it since my days in California.

So... tonight an old roomate found me on Facebook. I'd just been thinking about this person & wondering how she was so I was excited. Then I found that she had a blog - how fun to go back & read about what she has been up to. Sadly, I found mention of myself in this blog & my behaviour was anything but positive. So... in an attempt to clear my name & prove to the world that I can share a recipe I share the post that made me laugh & laugh & laugh. I love blogging as it allows us to see into the personalities of those we meet along the path of life. And so I thank Lisa for providing me with some much needed levity & I hope that she's forgiven me after all these years.

http://lisaann-whatscookingatourhouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/copyrights-and-wrongs.html

Last preview pictures ...

We're getting close to the end - Yeah!! these are the last preview pictures I'm going to post. We're scheduled to close on Oct 20th and we are beyond ready! Last weekend we rode our bikes over for a peek & met our new next door neighbors. Apparently they are as excited as we are & had come to check things out. I guess that's what we all do on the weekends as there were at least 3 people there that day.

I think some cleaning needs to be done before we move in. Oh & a few appliances are needed. You can't see the wood floor as they have it covered up to protect it.

The view from the living room. You can see the staircase coming up & then going up more. Bottom floor has garage, 1/2 bath & boys 'man cave'. Middle floor - kitchen, living room, dining room & 1/2 bath. Top floor - 3 bedrooms, 2 baths & laundry area.

A very empty & lonely living room ... perhaps it will be happier when we move in!

Just a different angle to see the kitchen - from the living room.

New pics...

Just a couple of updated pictures...



I had my first inspection walk through yesterday with the field manager. He walked me through all the mechanical stuff... and made sure we were all on the same page with chosen options & different stuff.... Today they started the sheet rocking. It's going to be very nice & I am absolutely thrilled at this opportunity!

Quick House update

This is how it looked when we got back from Colorado

Looking for suggestions on window coverings for this 9 ft window!!!

This is how it looked today... less than 2 weeks later. It's getting exciting!

I did something today I don't normally do...

As I was leaving downtown tonight, traffic was a bit crazier than usual due to construction & a woman on her cell phone was blocking the lane in front of me & that made me grumpy, but after getting past her I was stopped at the light - just ready to get on the freeway. I glanced over to the corner & there was a woman with her sign up "Need Help, Will work..." I don't remember as I didn't really glance at the sign. It's not an unusual sight in downtown Minneapolis as panhandlers are out every day, but as I glanced at this woman I saw such a look of weariness, of embarrassment of where she was & my heart ached for her. How close to that position are any of us really? As I caught her eye & quickly reached out to give here a mere $5 & wished her well she had such a look of gratitude as she thanked me. As I drove home I realized I didn't know how or on what she would spend my tiny pittance, but I imagined her buying milk for her children or perhaps she would spend it foolishly, but I hoped that my smile and small gift would help her day be a bit brighter & less lonely. I know that she had helped me put things a bit more into perspective.

House Update

We finally took some more pictures of the new house - we're getting excited!

This YouTube video was just sent to me & I wanted to share. It's your 'wisdom' & inspiration for the day.



I'm not sure what stake was performing, but I'm so glad that John was able to participate in the LDS Encampment this year. He got sunburned, bug bitten beyond belief, wet & filthy... but what an opportunity for him. He made lots of new friends from different wards, survived in the wilderness (one of the nights it rained), learned orienteering & other things from great leaders & now has lots of new stories to tell. I couldn't have found a better place for him to have spent the week.

I know people come here for my amazing words of wisdom - ha! and all I do is show off my digi scrapping layouts. I'll work on wisdom... it make take some time though!

While I don't like pictures of me - I thought this turned out fun!~

While John is gone - something has happened to Ben. He's turned into John - the kid who doesn't spend much time on the computer has spent ALL his time playing Rome Total War. Bad parenting - today when I called him he told me his assasin was killing all the people in Macedonia & Rome. Thankfully, someone came along & took care of his 'assasin' before I got home from work. I'm repenting of my poor parenting tomorrow & he's going on a field trip with the school for a day of bowling & laser tag.

Perhaps I should explain Ben's errant behaviour. This summer J & B are attending Peak Adventures - it's the middle school daycare. The beauty of it is they are signed up to attend only 3 days a week, which saves me $$ & allows them to have 2 days of lazy home time. He is also signed up for the Boys Reading Book Club at the library lest you think they only play computer games :) I think they get tired of me calling them all day when they are home alone, but it gives me peace of mind & I know the neighbors are always there if needed.

Ok - have I justified that I'm not really a bad parent? :) :) :)

J & B made it back from Canada & after doing John's laundry he left again - this week he is at the Scout Encampment with all the stakes from Minnesota. It's extremely hot, so I'm hoping he's finding ways to stay cool - but he should be having lots of fun. Here are some pictures of their trip -

A lighthouse on the north shore of Lake Superior - they look like tourists!

I love this picture - I think it completely sums up their personalities. They just got on the ski lift to take them up for a ride on the Alpine Slide. John is looking up with excitement & anticipation for a new adventure. Ben has a look of worry, wondering if he really wanted to get himself into this. He was upset with John that he wouldn't immediately put down the protection bar.

While John is gone - Ben is enjoying having the computer all to himself. Monday he went to work with me - and was very patient when he got a bit bored. Today he stayed home by himself - but I came home early & we went to the movie "Up". I highly recommend it. Cute story & fun message.

John & Ben are off on a short adventure to Duluth, Lake Superior & Canada with their dad. I'm completely relaxed, but perhaps too relaxed to accomplish much :)






I had this 60 year layout printed out & it looks GREAT - so much better than on my computer monitor!!!

Today is the last day of school ... Ben's last day of elementary school & my last day as a parent of an elementary school student. Can you sense the struggle I'm dealing with? But... as a wonderfully fun way to send the 5th graders off - there is the annual 5th grade egg launch.

Prior to the launch... Eggward is seatbelted in & ready for launch...

And there you have it! Eggward still had the smile on his face though appeared to be nervous by the amount of perspiration on his face.

House update: While the foundation is complete this picture was taken a week ago . J & B are sitting on the new steps

Geocaching is fun!!!

And just so you can get a true perspective of life at our house...

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I don't make this stuff up... I merely report it...

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.And I shall introduce you to...

BULLSEYE BOY & NUN MAN!!

My latest creations...

After I had completed this layout I noticed that you can see Ben down climbing on the rocks in the picture I used for the background. Love it!

I blurred the faces - didn't think that was cool to put my coworkers on my blog!

The sad day finally came that I was released as Primary President. I was extremely sad for a few days - Primary was in a sense my security blanket at church (please don't psychoanalyze!), but as the news set in I felt an enormous sense of relief. I knew that many changes were going to need to occur & now I no longer needed to be the person to worry about it. I will miss the kids tremendously... but as with all things.. change is necessary. Here's a letter that Jennie E. wrote for me - is this just the sweetest little note? Put a smile on my face for sure...

How fun is this?

What do you look like?

http://www.eatmyname.com

I really need to update the look of this blog - I had such good intentions at the first of the year - oh well - we all know what I'd rather be doing :)

I have actually changed the title on this (for the copy to be printed) to be 'I can do it' after Jen told me that's what she always says. I just didn't make a new web copy.

The first photos of our new house

Ben is standing in the foundation of our home... It will be fun to watch as it's being built. Pretty exciting for us, considering that a mere 3 months ago if you told me this was going to happen I'd have laughed at you like a crazy woman! Needless to say, we are enjoying this moment.

Exciting News...

After my latest layouts...

We are buying a house - ok, a townhome, but the financing just went through & so it's good to go. It's currently a hole in the ground, but by October it will be a brand new townhome ready for us to inhabit. Reasons we're excited... John: my own bedroom Ben: everything ... space, new, i can paint my walls! Mom: kitchen, space.... lots of space... more space... my own bathroom... big kitchen... garage door opener... did I mention the kitchen & the frig ... oh & more space! Stay tuned.... pictures to come.

Mom's Day

Last week a new stake was formed in Minnesota - the St. Cloud Minnesota stake. While it's exciting to watch the church grow it was a funny week for our ward. They used our building for all the goings on associated with the new stake & so our ward was kicked out for the day :) We met with another ward. It was nice to only be 5 minutes from this building as it usually takes us 15 min to get to our regular building (wow! that still sounds so much easier than if I lived in ... oh I don't know. Africa!) Anyway... our Primary is much larger than the ward we were 'visiting' & they were NOT EXCITED about us joining them. I even offered to do everything - 2 Sharing times. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! They insisted we all meet separately. Well - I'm not big into having Jr. & Sr. together so I opted out for fun... I loves having me some fun in Primary! We made our Mom's Day gifts. I love the internet - in my world all good ideas come from the internet. I'm just good at taking someone else's idea & implementing it. So my idea came from...

http://sofiasprimaryideas.blogspot.com/search/label/Mother%27s%20Day

So, with the help of my handy dandy printer (see below) I made the following

label - on the outside of the ziploc bag

Poem that described the game to play with M & M's

Each child wrote a letter (drew pictures, scribbled) for their mom. Bag of M & M's & popcorn and papers went into the zip loc bag with the cutesy label on the front. I thought it turned out cute. Kids thought it was fun!