Lessolee's spot

"Miles To Go"

2011-06-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here you go with another book that I have read. I just finished reading Richard Paul Evans' book called "Miles to Go." It is part of "The Walk Series." I don't know how many books this series will have but it is definitely a book worth reading. Richard Paul Evans is a good author. This book is kind of sneaky. I would think, oh I will just read to the end of this chapter and then I would find myself reading the chapter after that. I guess you can say that it is another book that I did not want to put down too much. The friend who loaned it to me, said that this book is slower than the first book, "The Walk." I found them both to be compelling and interesting. Of course, I have to wait until next year for the next one to come out. And of course, it ended with a big question mark!! (or should I do this ??) It ended leaving me totally wondering... Who is this in the book?

As a side note as well... this book makes me curious how the author researched for this book. Maybe I will have to look that up as well. It is an interesting concept, a man that starts to walk. He starts out with not much at all. He finds a lot along the way, surprisingly builds relationships and learns things about himself and others. All in all this is a good book and I am looking forward to the next one in the series to come out in April of 2012.

"The Dashwood Sisters Tell All"

2011-06-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I started reading "The Dashwood Sisters Tell All." Well later, in the day I finished reading this book. I read it on the bus to and from work, then I was doing laundry and just could not put it down. I stayed up late to get it done. It is so fun to have a book to read like that. Something I just can't put down!

My mom used to say that I should not read so fast.

Some books I just can't stop until I am done and this was one of them. This author has some other books along the Austen theme that are great as well. The others are "Jane Austen Ruined My Life" and "Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart."

This was a book about sisters(of course!), romance, discovering yourself, and some Jane Austen facts thrown in. After reading this, it makes me want to do a tour like the sisters did in this book and see those sights in England.

"The Help"

2011-05-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to read "The Help." Thought it sounded good, but just hadn't bought it yet. I saw a trailer for the movie. So I thought I would check it out again. I got on the Nook to browse and ended up buying it.

What a good book!! So powerful too. It made me think about how people are treated and how they have been treated. I like how in the book the author says we are all people. We do not know what others are going through. Characters in the book though that they knew each other and it showed that they didn't.

This was a book that I was just hooked in from the first page. It was great! I can't wait for the movie to come out. I hope it is good.

Haven't Written But I Have Read

2011-05-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

I know that I have not written in a LONG time!! I have been adding to my list of books that I am reading. That is all I have done on this blog lately!! It is crazy I know. I have good intentions and then they haven't panned out. I will write when I have some time. I guess I better make some time really soon!

So this entry is short and sweet!

Books Books Books

2011-03-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got the Nook it is way too easy to get books. I keep telling myself to stop! I will be more disciplined. I love my Nook but I have so many books now! Since I haven't blogged in awhile I thought I should add to my list of books that I have read so far this year. I was sick last week and if I was not sleeping, wiping my nose, going to the doctor, or watching a movie, I was reading. (Don't forget drinking plenty of liquids!!)

I found a new author to read during that time. I think I might have read one of her books before last week but I am not sure. It has been awhile since I blogged! I have lost track. Aside from that, the author's name is Kristan Higgins. I feel I have to warn people though that her books do contain swearing (use of the F word) and sex (I would not call it trashy). Her stories are lighthearted, humorous, and well written characters. The stories do have a lot of similarities, such as the heroines usually are close with their families, live back east (a few in Maine). One theme that Higgins likes is how a "hero" someone who is perfect. Or has the heroine just made him perfect in her eyes? When someone else comes along there might be someone better and someone who is real. Higgins probably likes "Pride and Prejudice" because the meeting of the two meant to be together usually starts on rocky territory. Then again who does not like a Mr. Darcy story once in awhile. If you know me at all, you know that I do!! So needless to say I enjoyed the books by Kristan Higgins.

Two other books I added are by Marcia Lynn McClure. She is a favorite author of mine. Her books are a great escape. I have definitely needed that with the stress of work!! It makes me smile just to type this, but you can always count on Marcia Lynn McClure for some great kisses! The other main ingredient to any of her books, is our hero to take of his shirt! I know, how silly, but very fun to read!! In "Kiss in the Dark", there is a scene in the book where three of the male characters take their shirts off!! That made me laugh, it was so cute!

"Not Just Make Believe" is a book that I found just through a search with the Nook. Darn old Nook drawing me in. It is just to easy to buy these books. I am having fun though... I am supposed to be telling you a book... Right! "Not Just Make Believe" is just a cute book. I know I have said this before! So many of the books I read are cute. This is a good one though. The heroine is a plus size girl and I like a story with a real character. She was not perfect and she is insecure. Remember me calling the story cute, though. It is not believable story I know that but I did enjoy reading it and that pretty important.

Reading is fun. Reading can be an escape. Reading can teach us things. Reading can make us laugh, make us think... Reading is so cool!

Now the question is, what should I read next?

A Contradiction

2011-02-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

Yep today is Valentine's Day. Valentimes Day. Single Awareness Day. Halloween. Whatever you want to call it. Those are just a few of the names I have heard for this day.

I like to say "Valentine's Day, I spit on you." Then I would make a spitting sound. Very ladylike, I know! That is the way I feel and I believe in honesty.

Even though I say that I still made cookies and brought them into work. You have to celebrate once in awhile. It is fun to find the fun even in a day like Valentine's. So that is why I know I am a contradiction.

The cookies turned out really good. So I thought I would share the recipe in my blog.

I found this recipe in a holiday recipe book my friend Jennifer made for me. It is from Whitney, her sister-in-law and just a cool person.

Whitney's Sugar Cookies

1 1/3 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour

Mix ingredients well in the order listed above. (If you can, do not stop mixing.)

Roll & cut thick.

Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

Frost and enjoy!

The people at work loved them!!

"Charlotte Collins" by Jennifer Becton

2011-02-13T20:25:00.001-08:00

I finished another book. I just could not put it down! It was "Charlotte Collins" by Jennifer Becton. I found it, thanks to the Nook. I love that thing, but then you already know that if you have read my other blogs.

I am sucker for anything Pride and Prejudice related. I love the movies and the books. I am not so much of a purist that it only can be a book for Jane Austen herself. Those characters are wonderful and it is great to read other stuff. Some better than others, but doesn't that go without saying? (I did just say it, or rather wrote it, typed it, whatever.)

This book is about Elizabeth Bennett's friend Charlotte Lucas, who marries the terrible Mr. Collins. Don't worry that the book is about Mr. Collins, it is not!! The book starts with the funeral of Mr. Collins. So Charlotte is now single and trying to figure out her life. Still not wanting to be a burden on her parents. Her sister Maria is in this story and Charlotte agrees to be her chaperone so that Maria may have a social life. They go through some trials and of course go to a ball or two, and you must have a game of whist thrown in there as well. This is a really good read. It was fun to have Charlotte's character developed further. I know it is someone else's interpretation and not Austen's. I thought the author did a good job with what Austen detailed in Pride and Prejudice about Charlotte. She chose for her time. Women did not have a lot of choices. Reading books about this era really make me grateful. They make me think of what women went through. So much was decided for them. They did not have a lot to pick from. I see why Charlotte would have chosen what she did with Mr. Collins. Those choices led her to what happens in this book. It is right in the vein of Austen though because the end is good. It ends with love for Charlotte, she deserves it!

"Annexed"

2011-02-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight I just finished reading "Annexed" by Sharon Dogar. It is historical fiction. A book I found on bn.com (Barnes and Noble). When I read what it was about I thought that the author was taking on a lot. It is fiction but she has created the story from Peter van Pels' point of view. Peter is the Peter from "The Diary of Anne Frank." I wondered why she would attempt such a thing because it is not like you could interview anyone. "The Diary of Anne Frank" is one of my favorite books of all time and because of that I enjoy reading about that time period. It is amazing to me what people did and what they sacrificed. Historical fiction is great too, for the fact that it makes dates in history more real for me. It is not just a bunch of facts. These are things that people went through. It makes me think more and maybe understand a little.

This book was good and moving. At first, the author portrayed Peter as a love sick teenager who might not have made it to the Annex, because he thought about running. I wondered about her portrayal, but Peter was 17 when he went into hiding. That would be a time for a boy wanting to fight and wanting to show how grown up he was. Peter worries that he will never do things in his life, but faced with your own mortality, I think that is natural. Those things made sense.

The ending definitely packed a punch. I am done with my crying now. I don't know how you can read stuff like that and not be affected. Terrible things happened.

One passage that really hit home was one thing Peter said to Anne "That's all I want to be. Peter van Pels. Not Jewish, not Dutch, not German, just me!" I know it is fiction and I don't if Peter actually said that to Anne, but it touched me. I am sure others have thought it.

The book is only 209 pages but wow, talk about heavy stuff. For my next book, I need to find some lighter reading.

Books are awesome though... what more can I say!
I am sure I could think of something, but I will stop for now!

Silly Books

2011-02-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

Books 8, 9, and 10, I feel like are silly books, but what fun reads. More books on the Nook. I love that Nook! Best Christmas present I bought myself!! (hee hee) Back to the books...

I started with the first one and just had to read the second. Then when I was checking for the third, the stars were aligned or something because I could purchase it as a pre-sale. It was being released the very next day. That was great because you know when you are reading something and just can't put it down? That was like that... I started reading the first book because I had a bad dream and had to get something else in my mind or the bad dream would start again. Sounds weird, I know but I have had some bad dreams lately and it seems to help. Anyways after that I was hooked.

I titled this, silly books because they are kind of silly. Lucy Valentine's family owns a matchmaking business. Their abilities in matchmaking are so wonderful due to a blessing by cupid himself centuries ago. Lucy's abilities have been skewed after a power surge when she was fourteen and on the phone. She can't match people up but only find lost things when touching someone's hand. There is some romance in there too. The heroine is afraid of commitment because along with the blessing from cupid, there is a curse. No one in her family has been able to have a relationship that lasts. Of course, there is a man in the story and she is afraid. There are some shall I say steamy parts... I guess that is what makes this book my guily pleasure. (Yikes, did I admit that?)

They are just so fun, I couldn't stop!! I am hoping for a fourth book! She still has not gotten over her commitment issues... Will she?

bye for now

"I Am Number Four" by Pittacus Lore

2011-02-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Last week I finished reading "I Am Number Four."

What a good book! It is about aliens. I never thought I would get into this sci fi business but I am totally hooked. I enjoyed it. It was entertaining to read from a boy's perspective. Most of the young adult stuff has a female protagonist(is that the right word?), that I have read.

I don't want to give the story away but I totally recommend anyone reading it.

The movie is coming out next week. It looks good. It is always fun to see how the special effects work with what you read and how different parts of the book are interpreted on screen.

This book is a start of a series, so I have to wait for the next one to come out. That should be a good read as well.

later, tater!

Not a Teenager

2011-01-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

Monday night is the night for "Pretty Little Liars." It is one of my favorite shows. I know I am in my late thirties and watch it. It is like my guilty pleasure or something. It comes on at 6 on ABC Family. Not really a show for the a family network. I really question the title of ABC Family. A new kind of family they say, it definitely is. The show is totally a soap opera complete with a girl coming out of the closet, a murder mystery, another character trying to have a relationship with a teacher, and another character that is supposed to be dead texting everyone. That isn't even all of it. It is crazy, I know but I can't stop watching. I love it!! It has suspense, mystery, and a story about friends. I haven't figured out who "A" is that is texting everyone, that is why I have to keep watching!!

3 Movies in 1 Weekend!

2011-01-30T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well I hadn't blogged about the book I had finished. So I did that but I wanted to blog about my weekend too! I just did not want these things in the same blog.

I saw three movies this weekend. Three that I had not seen. One in the theater and the other two in my comfy recliner.

Friday night, I worked until 5 because we are short staffed right now. So I met up with Jennifer and we headed to The District. I felt so old! All the teenagers in the area were hanging out there. I am not sure what they were going to see, maybe a new horror movie. Which I am too much of a chicken to see in the theater or at home!! Yikes! I did not even like to see the trailers on tv. I mute them or change the channel!

Jennifer and I saw the new Narnia move. I know that "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has been out for awhile but I had not seen it yet. If you like the Narnia movies, you will like this one too. What a great adventure movie. I even have a great quote from the movie for you: "Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people." A mouse says it to a boy who had been turned into a dragon but it is still a great quote. And if you know me, you know that I love a good quote!

On Saturday, Melissa from work came over and we Redboxed some movies. She brought Knight and Day. I had not seen that and it was good. Tom Cruise is way cute and really crazy. It was a fun show to watch.

I Redboxed Salt and Just Wright. Since I had seen Salt before we ended up watching Just Wright instead. It was Queen Latifa. That was a cute show. I liked it. Even thinking of buying it sometime.

It was a fun weekend spent with friends. I can't believe it is the last weekend of January. The holidays seem so long ago now, if that is possible...

Hasta la pasta!

Jane Eyre

2011-01-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

I finished Jane Eyre! I thought it would take longer. Sometimes I cannot get through classic literature like I can other things that I read. (Should I admit that!) I really enjoyed it. Seriously! I even stayed up late finishing the book. I even cried at the end. It is such a beautiful story. Charlotte Bronte is a great writer. I know classic literatrue, of course she is a great writer.

The last time I read Jane Eyre I was in high school and do not remember liking the book that much. One of those that you 'have to' read type of thing. I decided to read this because I saw that it is coming in theaters soon. So I thought that I should re-read it.

I made it through and am now working on my next book. This one is not an e-book. I am now reading, "I Am Number Four."

Until later!

Cookies!!

2011-01-23T18:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made some cookies to take to work. I have a new employee starting tomorrow and we are short staffed right now. We are actually going to get 'shorter staffed' if that is a word or phrase. We have a woman going out on maternity leave and tomorrow is the first day of that. So it has been crazy at work and it is going to be crazier!!

So I thought I would share the cookie recipe. Here it is:
Allison's Mrs. Fields Cookies (from the DMBA cookbook)

1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Cream butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Set aside. Mix oatmeal, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder well. Add to butter mixture. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well. Ball the cookie dough into golf ball size and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes. Move cookies to a cooling rack to cool before storing them. Makes about 4 dozen.

Just a note: This is how I made them. My cookies were smaller than a golf ball size but I ended up with about 4 dozen. This recipe is actually cut in half from what is listed in the book. They turned out pretty good, even if I did make them myself!!

Have a great week. I will try to do that myself!!

More Books

2011-01-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

Ok I have to admit I am a sucker for a cute romance novel. I am also a sucker for a free book to put on the Nook. So that is why I added some books on my listing for the year.

"Stuck in the Middle" by Virginia Smith is a fun book. It is a story of a middle sister, another Christian lit book. You could term this as chic lit. I am ok with that. They are fun to read. This is another romance, but still a little more than just that. The main character really thinks about her beliefs and what she wants in her life. It is a fun book and was free!

"A Very Special Delivery" by Linda Goodnight was another free book. I went a little crazy one weekend when I was sick and did a bunch of reading. This is one of those "Love Inspired" books, if you know what I am talking about. Just means it is clean and Christian. No I am not converting. I am a Christian, just not in the "I am saved" whatever... I do respect people having good values... Sorry to get off the topic. This book is another easy read on a "sick day". Maybe even a snow day because it starts out in a snow storm.

"Homespun Bride" by Jillian Hart is another romance. (I was kind of on a rut that weekend) This is another just easy read. It is kind of interesting though because the main character is now blind. She still had her independence and I liked that. It is another "love inspired."

"Hide in Plain Sight" by Marta Perry is set in Amish country. I enjoy reading about the Amish. This was not about Amish people but people that lived by them. One character makes furniture in the Amish tradition. So not enough Amish in this story for my taste. It did have a bit of mystery with it and that was good. I like mysteries as well.

Sometimes I just do not have enough to read. A few weekends ago, that was the case. I just wanted to read anything I could get my hands on. I was not feeling well so I did not want anything too taxing, so that is why I went for what is listed above. I just go in spurts of wanting to read all the time, on the bus, at home, before I go to bed... I have even gotten up in the middle of the night and read a few pages. Books are great!!

Right now I am working on "Jane Eyre." That will take longer than a weekend! I also want to read "I Am Number Four" before the movie comes out.

If you have any good book suggestions, let me know!

P.S. Do you even post script on blogs? Well anyway, I usually don't blog this much, but I thought if I was going to list the books I needed to write something about them!!

Good night for now!!

Nook Books

2011-01-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to me. I bought myself a Nook Color this last year for Christmas. It is so cool!! I love it!

I love the buying books on the Nook. It has Wifi and that is fun too. They even have WIFI on UTA. How cool is that? I can read or surf the web while riding on I-80.

So I am going to keep track of the books that I have read this year. A friend of mine had a goal last year to read 50 books. I don't have a number in mind, but I just want to see how many I read.

Here is my first: "Fools Rush In" by Janice Thompson

This was free on the Nook but I am glad I got it. I even bought the other two books in the series. That is how much I liked the book and even better because the first one was free.

A little synopsis of the book:
The main character is Bella and her parents run a wedding planning business. Her parents just gave everything over to her and now it is her first wedding. She goes through some stress of planning. This is Christian literature so there is a little of that thrown in. Her family is Italian and a little crazy, complete with a talking parrot that her uncle tries to convert. There's a little romance in the mix too. I always like that. It is a sweet story. Just a fun read and sometimes that is just what I need.

I liked it. It was an enjoyable story with fun characters. I could picture this book like a great show to tune into. The chapters are named after Dean Martin songs. The aunt and uncle are always arguing about who is better Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra. It made me think of Return to Me. "Who would be your dream team?"

This book is definitely a keeper. It is on the Nook, so I could read it again, but I don't think I have time for that. I have too many other books to read!!

Until later, alligator!

Tomorrow is Another Day

2011-01-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

Here I go with two posts in one day. I can't believe it either!!

No work today so I thought I should actually get some stuff done around the house. I did not do much this weekend, so I got some laundry done. That is something. Like Scarlett said, tomorrow is another day!

I did some shopping in little Tooele. I went to one of my favorite stores, Homebodies. Such a cute store and the nicest woman that owns the shop. I picked up a few things. Whenever I go there, I can't help but get a few things. If you are ever in Tooele, you should go, it is a great place.

Also I went to another shop that right downtown. It is "Sweet Lizzies." I had not been there before but wow, it is great. It is a candy store like no other. Or at least I haven't been to a candy store like that in a long time. (Which is a good thing, by the way!) It is a cute shop with candy that I had not seen in a long time. As well as some candy that I had not seen before. It is cool, you can buy candy by the pound or they have these great little $1 bags ready to go. I went a little nuts on the $1 bags. I got some chocolate covered Rice Crispies, chocolate covered cake pieces, chocolate covered mini Oreos, pomegranate Jelly Bellys(very good!), and gummy raspberries. I probably should not go there too often!!

Here is my yuck moment of the day... I am online in the dating world. (A lot of good it does me! (sarcasm)) I am online on Plenty of Fish (it is free and the name is great) and I am on e-Harmony. I go to check my e-mail today and I see that I have a message/flirt on Plenty of Fish. It is one of those, this guy wants to meet you. I have had a few of those recently and I have written the guy back without any results. So I thought I will write this guy. I thought, I will just see. I get a message back from him that he is still married and his intentions are not good! YUCK!!! I wrote him back to say that I was not that type of girl and I could not wish him luck because I just couldn't!!! (Usually when I write back to say I am not interested, I wish good luck) This guy definitely does not need luck, he needs a divorce or his wife is the one that needs the divorce! That just makes me mad!

What would Scarlett say? Tomorrow is another day!

I don't know what movie it is, but other things come to mind about that guy, but I am not that type of girl! (smile!)

Until later...

2011

2011-01-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

2011... I cannot believe it is here. I know you are saying it is the middle of January, Lesley, of course it is here. You have heard this all before, where does the time go and time flies... blah blah. I know!! I say it all the time too! I cannot believe it is the 17th of January. I haven't blogged in forever! A friend of mine reminded me of that a few days ago. So this is my start for the year. We will see how it goes. I don't know how well I am going to do with this.

I haven't really made any goals for the year personally. At work I have made some goals. I am having more team meetings to take advantage of the time and to work on training opportunities. I am trying to get up to date since the holidays. It is taking me awhile on that.

Personally, maybe this blog will be a goal. I am not promising anything though. (smile!)

Until later... I don't want to write too much, who knows who reads this? ha ha!!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-04-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

I know, what, Merry Christmas! I feel like I should say that with the snow we have had this week!

I love spring with the flowers in bloom. I love to see all the colors but I also love to see before all the colors. I love to see those little plants pushing through the ground. This will sound cheesy but it gives me hope. If those little plants can push the hard ground and then come up so beautiful... what can I do? What an example of creation and that things go on. It is amazing!

March Out...

2010-03-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I did a March in review earlier this month... Not much to tell really for the end of March. I am excited to be going to the Michael Buble concert tomorrow. That makes for a good end to the month, just in my opinion. If you haven't heard his latest song, "I Just Haven't Met You Yet" you should. I like to think of it as my theme song!!

March So Far

2010-03-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

So far this month... things are going pretty well. I know it is only the 8th, but you have to take it all in stride...

Saturday I went to "Alice in Wonderland 3D." That was a great show. I was looking forward to going, so I was surprised to hear people ask me if I was really going to that show. I liked it. Kind of weird wearing 3D glasses when I already wear glasses but whatever.

Sunday I taught my Primary class. I got a calling recently. I team teach with another sister in the ward. That just means that we switch weeks for teaching. The week you are not teaching you are trying to keep the kids in line. Primary bouncer or something like that. The kids say the funniest things. Sometimes I wonder if they are listening at all and then other times they something that is so profound I am amazed.

Later in the month, I am planning a trip to Idaho to visit family. There are three birthdays this month, Mike, Dad, and Dustin.

Stuff and Stuff!!!

2010-02-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

So many projects so little time. So much stuff how am I ever going to use it all? When did I buy this? What more chipboard? These are just a few of the questions that I have been asking myself lately. I have been working on my craftroom for quite awhile now. It is still not there yet. I am hoping that this weekend that might happen. I say that cautiously because I thought that a few weeks ago and I was nowhere near being done. I have gone through stuff only to find that there is more stuff to go through!! Yikes! Fill in whatever sound for screaming that you would like. I have been making do for so long that finally I was not doing any projects. After the holidays I just could not take it anymore. I started going through each bag one at a time. I go to do projects with a friend and then stuff just ends up in a bag until next time. I could take stuff out of the bag for another project day or I just get a new bag and put other treasures inside and off I go to 'project' again. So fun but it leads to me not knowing what I have and where it is!! I have taken things to the DI for the stuff that has not met the final cut. The Tooele Deseret Industries is definitely benefiting from this too. I was going through some scrapbook magazines and found a cute page element that said 'just hangin' out" and I thought I would make a card for my friend Jennifer that I love to hang out with. I scanned it and thought I could start a project blog. My project blog is lessoleesprojects@blogspot.com. At the top is the first card from my craftroom in transition!! Feel free to check out my blog, too!!

End of Year in Review

2010-01-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in so long I feel I need to do a year in review or at least the end of the year in review...

December went way too fast! It was a good month. I love the holidays. My favorite time of year for sure. I know a lot of people say that but this year was really great.

Ok I may be bragging here but I got the President's Award at work. That was really incredible. The next day I got up early to go to the conference center theater for the meeting. It was a good meeting, they always do something a little more fun with Christmas at work. The power point went ahead by mistake and I saw my name as a President Award winner. I was surprised. Then the meeting got back on line and I was announced. I walked up on stage and then I saw my whole family except my brother, walking down the steps to meet me on stage. I tell this only because that was my best present this year. My family coming to support me. That meant so much! Shelly, Dustin, and Shane live in Montana. Chris and Brian live in Ephraim. Mom and Dad are in Idaho. They all made it. I thought I was going to cry. Right now I get a little teary. I did not cry onstage but I saw tears in my dad's eyes. Everyone at work was so surprised that my family would travel so far for me. I was surprised too and so very thankful. That meant so much.

Onto other things...
Christmas was fun. We had a houseful but it was still fun. We had a cookie fest, in Brian's words. Or he did anyway. Shane got a big green tractor of his very own. Two Santa Clauses came to our family Christmas Eve party. I played tech support for my uncle so he could get back on facebook! The John Deere book I gave Dustin was a big hit. Chris and Brian gave me too much stuff. Thanks though. I love the angel and the necklaces. I am still trying to figure out where to put the clipboard Shelly gave me. I got a snuggie from my mom and dad, or Santa Claus, whichever. I had a double feature day with Jennifer. We saw "Have You Heard About the Morgans?" and "The Princess and the Frog." Both cute, both worth seeing. Also went to Olive Garden with Jennifer. Very tasty! Went to dinner with Mary Jane and caught up. Still need to meet with Melissa for the gift giving!

New Year's... not so exciting. I worked until 5 then the rest of the weekend I stayed home because I was sick. The flu is so not fun!!

There's my end of year in review... looking forward to a great 2010. Is it twenty ten or two thousand ten? Or twenty oh ten? hee hee

Blogging is such an easy thing to do?

2010-01-04T19:50:00.001-08:00

Hello!

I have not blogged. I have wanted to blog but could not blog. Passwords are such a fun thing don't you think? I could not remember my password so I could not blog. I tried resetting and that lead to more fun. Sending a few e-mails and going in circles, it was a party... The party finally ended and I am back to bloggin. Now if I can remember to blog and remember that password!!

The Holidays are Magic

2009-11-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Holiday season everyone. Thanksgiving is over. I can't believe it. Such a nice holiday to spend with family. The holiday where I think about the blessings in my life. Then I get to spend time with the people that I am most thankful for. So of course, I went to Idaho. Shelly, Dustin, and Shane came. It was nice. Mom and Dad tried to get ready for Shane to come but he found things that were not baby proofed yet. Shelly, Mom, and I even got to go shopping on Friday while the men took care of Shane. The living room looked pretty wild when we got back.
Shane is really getting big. I got the rest of his Christmas present on black Friday, the mega blocks at Wal-Mart. We did not go in at 5 but around 8 and we were fine. I should say we were fine other than trying to fit all of our purchases in my car!! That was fun! I hope you can read the sarcasm...
Rupert has a festival of trees that they call "Caring and Sharing." It is free. So Mom, Dad, Mike, and I went on Saturday night. It was nice. They probably have a couple dozen trees or so. There was even a snowman made out of quilt batting that stood about 6 feet tall!
I wrote out my Christmas cards on Friday and even got to watch 'Ugly Betty.' That is a miracle. The 'Ugly Betty' part not the card part. It is nice to get the cards done. Now I need to get them in the mail.
My house is ready for Christmas, I put my tree up last weekend. I love all of the festive music on the radio. One of the ladies at the bus stop the other day said that the Christmas music is magical. I agree with that. Maybe I choose the non cynical route for the holidays but they are magical. I know that people get carried away and all that but I choose to be of the opinion that magic is involved.

I love Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

I can't help but have the Adam Sandler Thanksgiving song in my head right now. I can't remember all the words. Do you ever just part of a song going through your head? The part I can remember is "gobble, gobble, giggle, I wish turkey only cost a nickle." Then the part at the end where he sings "I love Thanksgiving."

So in honor of the day, I would like to say what I am thankful for. My quote board at work right now has something like "Thanksgiving, afterall was not meant to be shut up in one day." I can't remember the person who said that right now. I love quotegarden.com for good quotes. That is where I got that one.

Here is my list, in no particular order:
1. My family. I am very thankful for my family, I know I can call them anytime. Even if I do not live close to them I can still feel their love from far away. They are in my heart always.
2. My job. I am very thankful to have a good job and good people to work with. In times like these I am very thankful to have a job to go to when so many people do not have a job.
3. For each day. It does not always work, but I try to be happy for each day. To watch the sun come up and to get another chance to make things better. I work on this all the time (the attitude part).
4. My friends. I am very thankful to have good friends. Friends can be the family you pick for yourself. I learn alot from other people in my life and for that I am grateful.
5. My health. I am thankful to be in good health. Working in health insurance you get to find out a lot about what others are going through and it really makes me thankful that I am healthy.
6. My parents. I know I already said family but I am very thankful for my parents. They still sacrifice so much for our family that I had to list them separately.
7. My house. I am very thankful to have a nice place to live. So many people do not have this and I need to remind myself how great this is.
8. The gospel. I am thankful for how I was raised. I am thankful for the example of others in my life.
9. Good times. I am thankful to good times. They make life worth living. Spending time with famiy and friends is what it is all about.
10. To live in such a time. Living in 2009 is pretty amazing. There are so much advances in the world. I take so much of it for granted. Microwaves, lights that turn on with a touch of a button, this computer, the internet, cell phones, medical break throughs... It is all pretty amazing. Oh, I said that already, huh?

There is so much to be thankful for!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I Love It When...

2009-11-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

I love it when things come together. Not that I am any where near done... I still love it when things come together!

This past week some of the young men in the ward came and put together a desk for me. It has been in the box WAY too long! My home teacher is the young men's president. So Wednesday was the big night. They put together the desk, moved a shelf to the craftroom from the garage, and even moved my computer from downstairs and put it in the craftroom. They got the computer hooked up and working!

They asked what they were getting paid. Just joking, I think. I told them it was good old fashioned service. It is hard sometimes to be the service project but I am so grateful that they came.

One of the boys even took a liking to my old computer desk. It was a down view model. He thought it was cool! So it is out of the house too! I asked my home teacher to take it to the DI. The boy wanted to buy it at the DI. I said that he could just have it.

So by the end of the night my downstairs was looking so different. Missing the box that the desk was in and the old computer desk out of the house. I felt like I had a new house.

Today I have been working on getting things settled downstairs. Thus the reason why I love it when things come together. Pretty soon it will be time to put up the Christmas tree. With things moved around I am thinking about trying out a new place for the tree!

I just love it when things come together. Sounds kind of like the A-Team, huh? Wait, that was I just love it when a plan comes together. Now I am showing my age... Oh well. Good times, though!!

Pen Protectors, Plumbers, and Little Devils!

2009-11-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween one day late!

I had a busy Halloween weekend! Friday was a fun day at work. I know fun day at work, am I crazy? I hope not! My place of employment really gets into Halloween. It is so fun to see so many people in costume. People bring in their cute little kids in costume. They even supplied lunch for us. Soup in bread bowls, it was so yummy! Of course for dessert we had sugar cookies. You have to have those!

The funniest thing that I saw on Friday had to be when a follow worker brought in her grandsons. She was dressed as a cow complete with udders and a tail. One grandson was pulling on her tail and the other was pulling on the udders! I laughed my head off!

I even dressed up. I am never very creative. This year I was a nerd. I had my shirt buttoned all wrong. I had tape on my glasses. My pants were rolled up and I even had a homemade pen protector. Pen protectors do exist. I saw them at Office Depot but they were clear. I did not buy them. You have to be able to see them to really play the part of a nerd.

On Friday night my dad called and said that he and mom could come help me with my craft room. I need to get it ready for the desk to be in there. I am so grateful that they came! It was great if not a lot tiring!

So Saturday around 8:30 or so my parents showed up! Dad started working on the kitchen sink that had some hard water issues. That meant we had to go to Home Depot a few times. He ended up replacing the valve underneath the sink and the faucet.

While Dad was doing that Mom and I were working on my soon-to-be craft room. It has become a catch all room. By the end of the day we got it under control. We took a couple of loads to the DI on our trips to Home Depot.

Then the craft room has also had problems with the lights. So Dad turned into an electrician as well. For awhile I did not electricity in the room or in the other bedroom but it is ok now. It is working. Mom and I had our doubts but dad got it fixed. By the end of the project, he was calling himself the master! That is my dad for you.

I was tired after a long day.

I did get a few trick or treaters. That is always fun. One little girl did not even carry her pillow case for her candy. Her mom did, she just came to the door and said trick or treat and kind of curtsied. Another little girl was the cutest little devil with her curly black hair. Then there was a couple of older girls complete with shoulder pads being football players.

Happy Birthday!!

2009-10-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

October 21st is my birthday. I am a twin, so this will be dedicated to Shelly!!

Shelly's top ten list:
1. She is the coolest!!
2. She is a great friend.
3. She is a wonderful cook. She sent me yummy cookies in the mail.
4. She is a very creative person. Her cards are the BEST.
5. She has a beautiful smile!
6. She is a good mommy to Shaner.
7. She is a planner.
8. She is a cute country girl.
9. She is so smart.
10. She is the best twin sister in the world!!

Happy Birthday Shelly! I am sorry we can't be together on our birthday! I love you tons!
Lesley

Weekend Review

2009-10-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

Friday I went to lunch with my older sister Chris. That was a lot of fun. We haven't done anything in awhile so it was great to get together with her. We ate at one of my favorites, Cafe Rio! The pork burrito is always good!

Then an exciting Friday evening complete with the rockets red glare. I live right by a high school. Homecoming game was Friday night and they started the game with fireworks, right over my house!!! Talk about a bang!!

The highlight of Friday night was Ugly Betty's premiere!! I am so glad that it started back up. It was a two hour show and I loved it!

Saturday my parents came to visit. That was nice. We drove and saw the fall leaves. I love fall and I love the colors.

Pumpkin!!!

2009-10-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

The autumnal wind is blowing when you see pumpkins everywhere! I had to use the word autumnal. I like the word autumnal. Now I have probably used it too much! ha ha

I am baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and it just smells like fall! I love it! It is great the way a smell can just bring memories back and create a feeling.

I have already had pumpkin pie from Lion House last weekend. I made zucchini pumpkin bread last month. Now I am making cookies. What next?

Fortune Cookie

2009-10-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

We went out for chinese food for my mom's birthday. This is what my fortune cookie said: "An admirer is concealing his affection for you."

My response was stop concealing yourself and let me know who you are!!!

Snow!!!

2009-10-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

I went home to Idaho over the weekend. Yesterday we had SNOW!! October 4th and have snow!! Come on! That is just crazy!! I did not know if I was going to leave or not but it finally cleared up enough that I thought I better head back to my home in Utah.

It was great to see the family! It was my mom's birthday yesterday. She is a great lady! I love her so much. She does so much for everyone that I wanted to do something for her. I got a necklace. It was made by Carrie at work and she did a great job. I just thought that my mom deserved something pretty for herself. She always is looking at jewelry and I thought why not for her.

I got to spend time with Mike, Mom, and Dad. It was nice. I wish that I lived closer to them!

Idaho Weekend

2009-08-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am back from a weekend to Idaho. I came home with a sore throat. Do not know where I got that. No one at home had a sore throat. So I stayed home Monday but now back to work with a sore throat and a runny nose.
On Saturday we had a family reunion. It was great to see everyone. The weather was nice, that is always a plus! I did get a sunburn though. Ironically 70 degree weather and I get a sunburn. How fun!
My nephew got to open his birthday presents from Chris and I. It was cute to see him open them. He was happy with his presents I think. He has some cute expressions.
The not so good thing was that Shane was being grumpy. He did not want to get too far from his mommy. So there was a definite lack of sleep on this trip.
We went to the Cassia County Fair. That is always fun. Mom, Chris, and I volunteered at the 4H building. We were hostesses at the entrances. Really it just meant we told people that they could not bring their food and drinks in the building. While volunteering I witnessed for myself that the mullet is alive and well. Remember the e-mail entitled child abuse and everyone in the cute little family had a mullet? That was almost the family I saw. The mother did not have a mullet but father and young son did. I was definitely in Burley, Idaho.

Outcome...

2009-08-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

The interviews went well. I could not believe how many applicants we had. I was the only one with a position open and now we have a few at my company. So I am glad that I am done with that now!! First it was down to two really great applicants. Talking with my boss we got it figured out. We had a second interview/meeting today. It went well even though I worried. All for nothing though, I offered her the job and she was so excited. I am so excited to have her start. It felt good to offer her the job. We even hugged afterwards and that never happens.

Interviews...

2009-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

This week I am doing interviews at work. I am so glad I am the one asking the questions and not getting the questions thrown at me!! I am so thankful to have a job! In this hard economy I feel really lucky to have such a good place to work! Looking at some of the applicants it really shows for the job market. I get the hard decision of who to interview and then who to hire. I rewrote the questions as well. It has been over two years since I last hired anyone. Sometimes the questions just don't work for some people.
So send me some good energy for a good pick!! I will need it!

Maybe the stars were aligned...

2009-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe Jupiter was in the seventh moon. What am I saying? I am not an astrologer person. It had to be something though because I went on a date. Believe it or not!! Ha! Ha! It was fun. We did the dinner and a movie thing. (That is a classic idea but why change a good thing I guess.) I do the online dating thing, not much has really happened for a very long time. I got on chemistry.com awhile ago. They send you matches and then you decide if you are interested. It was fun to go out on a date with a nice guy. They do exist!! Nice guys I mean. I was beginning to wonder. We ate at Applebee's and went to Ice Age 3 at the Gateway. It was easy to talk to him and it was just fun. What were those butterflies earlier in the day for? lol!!

Cutie Patootie!

2009-05-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here is an adorable picture of my nephew Shane! I think he is the cutest thing ever. I was not at home when this picture was taken but I saw it and loved it! He is one happy boy. We like to call him Shaner. He loves to stand and acts like he could take off running or walking. He loves his mommy so much. Everyone in the family loves him. He is one spoiled little guy! I am hoping to get to see him in a couple of weeks.

Movies!

2009-04-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is an introduction: Hello my name is Lesley. You haven't heard from me in A LONG TIME! I know sorry! I am not a good blogger! But here's one for you:

I went to two movies over the weekend. For those who know my age, you might question it after I tell you which ones I saw! ha ha

My friend Jennifer and I went to the Hannah Montana movie with her niece. That was cute. It was fun to see Rascal Flats in the movie as well. Her niece loved the movie.

After taking the niece home and getting some dinner, we went to 17 Again. Am I strange or whatever if I think Zac Efron is cute? I hope not... I still think he is a cutie! Liked the movie, it was fun.

It was fun to see some flicks this weekend!

Question my age if you want... I wonder sometimes myself!

Thanks for Good Friends!!

2009-01-31T22:41:00.000-08:00

It is getting late but I just have to say that it is great to have good friends. It is also great to connect with old friends. Today was one of those days. I met up with three old friends. Two that I had not seen in quite awhile. Michelle, Wendy, and Melissa! It was great to see you three today. Remember March 28th for our next get together.
After my trip down memory lane, I met another friend for movies. Jennifer is my movie buddy, project buddy, and just buddy! She is great. We went to Inkheart with a niece and nephew of hers. They are so cute and fun to be around especially since I don't get to be around kids much. Then after that we went to New in Town. We like to do double features once in awhile. Both movies were definitely worth it. What fun! Harry Connick Jr. is so dang cute.
I hope everyone had a great weekend!

25 Things...

2009-01-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

Whitney tagged me on Facebook. So here goes... 25 random things about me. (This is going to be hard!)

1. I worked at Claire's Boutique for awhile and I pierced ears. I hated that!
2. My first real job was weeding beets!
3. My twin sister and I sometimes get confused by each other's voices.
4. I have never been to Disneyland.
5. My dream place to go on vacation is London England.
6. I love Halloween, the cute stuff like the pumpkins and scarecrows not the skeletons and coffins.
7. My twin sister and I quote Growing Pains to each other.
8. My parents are thirty years older than me.
9. I love Christmas music and am totally ok with it played early.
10. As a little girl I thought umbrellas were the coolest. I could not wait for it to rain.
11. I love quotes!
12. Baking cookies on a Pampered Chef baking stone is the way to go.
13. I plan my Christmas cookie baking a month in advance.
14. I like to read cook books.
15. I think that a house should have a Christmas tree window.
16. I love autumn.
17. I think that summer lasts too long.
18. I was the first person to hold my baby nephew.
19. In the summer, I go to yard sales with my parents.
20. I love ribbon!!!
21. I am a fast reader.
22. I wish I lived closer to family.
23. King of Queens makes me laugh.
24. My first concert was a Garth Brooks show in Salt Lake City.
25. I love sharing my birthday with my twin sister!!!

FOUR!!

2009-01-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here is another questionaire with four things:

1. Four places that I go to over and over
work, Wal-Mart, Tooele, Roberts

2. Four people who e-mail me:
Chris, Jennifer, Kathy, SuzAnn

3. Four of my favorite places to eat:
Cafe Rio, Rumby, Hagerman's, My mom's house

4. Four place I would rather be right now:
Home, at the movies, in Idaho, in my bed!

5. Four TV shows I watch:
Ugly Bett, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, 90210

Girl's Weekend!

2009-01-12T15:26:00.000-08:00

I had such a nice weekend this past weekend. It was definitely a girl's weekend. On Friday, a couple of friends and I got off work a little early and went to Bride Wars. I do not care what the critics say, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was cute. I did not care for the comment that you are not alive until you are married but I am sure that is because "I am dead." After the movie, we went to Jason's Deli at The Gateway. The chicken potpie soup is definitely something you should try. Very tasty!

On Saturday, I hung out with my project/movie buddy. That was a great day, too. Jennifer and I worked on projects. Maybe I will post some later. Later that day we went to Valkyrie with Traci. That was such an inspiring movie.

I did not clean like I should have but the weekend was great just the same!

Oh My Back!!

2009-01-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

I know I sound like an old lady, but the snow is not good for my back. It is probably a common ailment this time of year. Shoveling that heavy wet snow is doing wonders for my back. Now it is snowing again, so guess what is waiting for me when I get home! Winter wonderland. The snow is beautiful. I do like it, really. I just do not like to drive in it or shovel it!

2009

2009-01-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is 2009! I can remember when I was a little girl and I thought that 14 was so old. I know, I know that was a LONG time ago. Then I was thinking the other day how an old roommate of mine and I used to make up mantras for the New Year. Even that was ten years ago!!! So it is 2009! 2008 was quite a year. I became an aunt. That was the most amazing thing to happen. I will never forget holding my nephew for the first time. I learned things about myself in 2008. I try not to wish the time away, because you should not wish your life away. What does that accomplish? I just have to remember that when I am going through those tough times! I haven't even thought much about resolutions. Maybe I should. Maybe I shouldn't. I have some ideas but nothing set.

Christmasing?

2008-12-22T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend, I had all these ideas in my head. I was going to do some more baking because I love to bake and it is the holidays. That did not happen. I looked at the recipes but never quite got past that stage. The only thing I made was pumpkin dip. It is so yummy! Just a can of pumpkin, vanilla pudding mix, cool whip, and pumpkin pie spice. Then you dip ginger snaps in it. So good! I am taking that to the family Christmas Eve party. So I am all ready to go.

I did get my Christmas gifts delivered to the neighbors over the weekend. So that was progress.

I watched Elf for the first time this weekend as well. I enjoyed that.

Tonight, I have to get my car packed. I hope that the weather is ok when I drive to Idaho!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Quotes

2008-12-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

I love quotes and here are some quotes that I found that I really like.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." Agnes M. Pahro

I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world." Norman Vincent Peale

"The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!" Charles N. Barnard

"Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive." Robert Lynd

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?" Bob Hope

"This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone." Taylor Caldwell

"Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." Dale Evans

"God Bless Us Everyone!" Tiny Tim, Charles Dickens

Shelly and Shane

2008-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the pics that were on Shelly's Christmas card. Aren't they cute?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

It is the Christmas season and Thanksgiving seems like it was so long ago. Ever get one of those calls that just changes everything and not in a good way? Well I did last weekend. People can ask why. You can say it is the holidays. I have learned some things though. We all take things differently. Sometimes things are hard to understand. Love is eternal. Families are forever. Sometimes you don't have to say anything to be there for someone. Friends are great to just let you cry for a minute.
So even though things can be hard, the Christmas season is a great time to remember the birth of our Savior. That He brought us all peace and mercy.

Give Me 5

2008-11-25T11:42:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I am copying Melissa, but imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and she has good ideas!

5 things I was doing ten years ago:
This is hard! I hope I am getting the time frame right.
1. I moved to Rexburg, Idaho. (Iceburg, ID)
2. Moved to my first apartment all by myself!
3. Attended a family ward.
4. Quilted a lot!
5. drove a Ford Tempo, the little bluebird

5 Things on My To Do List:
1. Get Organized
2. Make pies for Thanksgiving
3. Pack for my trip to Idaho
4. address Christmas cards
5. laundy?

5 Snacks I like:
1. chips and salsa
2. cookies
3. chocolate
4. crackers
5. ice cream

5 Things I Would Do If I Were a Millionaire:
1. Set Up a Shelter for the Homeless
2. Move to Idaho
3. Go Back to college
4. Save
5. Invest

5 Places I Have Lived:
1. Burley, ID
2. Salt Lake City
3. Stansbury Park
4. Murray
5. Rexburg

5 Jobs I Have Had:
1. Team Leader
2. Red Hanger Associate (cleaner outer of pockets, yuck!)
3. ZCMI associate in the luggage department
4. Claire's Boutique
5. Mormon Handicraft

There's some random information about me for you!
Have a happy day!

The 8 Things Tag....

2008-11-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

8 TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Ugly Betty
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Gossip Girl
4. Ghost Whisperer
5. 90210 (I know I am not 14, but so!)
6. Life on Mars
7. King of Queens
8. Dancing with The Stars

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Bajio
3. Cheesecake Factory
4. Panda Express
5. Rumby
6. California Pizza Kitchen
7. Cracker Barrel
8. Ixtapa

8 Things That Happened Today:
1. I went to work
2. I missed the bus
3. I drove to work
4. ate lunch
5. went to a meeting
6. laughed
7. listened to music
8. drank Diet Coke to keep me going!

8 Things That I Look Forward To:
1. Twilight Movie
2. Going home for Thanksgiving
3. Christmas Season coming!
4. Christmas baking!
5. New Year Coming
6. Getting my craft room organized, whenever that happens!
7. Christmas music!
8. Visiting family at Christmas

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. travel to Europe
2. a love life!!!
3. go to cooking school
4. pay off my house
5. get an MBA
6. move to Idaho
7. travel more
8. be organized

Ok 8 things are a lot of things to come up with! That was hard! But yeah! Twilight is almost out!

Family Weekend

2008-11-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

I had another fun family weekend. My nephew Shane was blessed and what a great experience. My dad blessed him. Shane is so special he has everyone loving him. How could you not? But it is fun to see. Grandpa says that we spoil him but he is right there spoiling Shane too! It is cute to see my parents as grandparents.
Even my oldest brother is getting in on it. When he goes to town with my mom, he is always finding stuff to get for Shane. A lot the toys are not age appropriate for a three month old, but he has good intentions. Mike told Shelly that he needs to figure out what he can give Shane for Christmas. It is a lot of fun to have a baby around.

Cuddly Baby

2008-10-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my nephew, the cuddly boy that he is. I am missing him! I saw him last weekend. He is so squirmy and so cuddly. He just puts his head on your shoulder and cuddles in to sleep. I thought this picture was so sweet I had to share!

Happy Birthday to Shelly and I

2008-10-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for posting my own birthday. It is a shared birthday since I am a twin so, really it is for her and me! Today we are thirty five and I cannot believe it! That is just weird to me. A blog is for stuff going on and this is something going on for me, so here goes!

Birthday Top Ten:
1. We get to share our birthday. That makes it fun to shop for someone!
2. Shelly is a mommy and I am an aunt!
3. We have lots of inside jokes with each other.
4. We can talk on the phone forever and ever.
5. According to our mom, we were born with our own best friend. So why did you ever need to invite friends over?
6. Shelly is older than me. Ok, it is only a minute but she is still older!
7. We sound alike on the phone and sometimes we have mistaken ourselves with each other. We have fooled ourselves!
8. We are fraternal twins, not paternal or maternal.
9. I really do like sharing a birthday with Shelly and it is harder being away from her on this day.
10. I have to agree with mom, I was born with my own best friend. We had to be born together because we get along so well.

I love you Shelly!
Happy Birthday to Shelly!
Happy Birthday to me!

questions

2008-10-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

The rules: Answer the following questions with one word answers and pass it on to seven others.

Here are the questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? unfounded
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? tease
6. Your favorite thing? books
7. Your dream last night?
8. Your dream/goal? marriage
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? papercrafts
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? vacationing
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? organized
15. One of your wish-list items? date
16. Where you grew up? country
17. The last thing you did? read
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? nondigital
20. Your pet? non-existent
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? positive
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? green
25. Something you're not wearing? dress
26. Favorite store? Tai Pan
27. Your summer? hot
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? unknown

Tag: Jennifer and Whitney (sorry I do not have a lot of people reading my blog!)

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

I would like to say Happy Birthday one day late to my mom and my good friend Melissa! My mom does not read this blog but Melissa does so here goes...

Melissa's Happy Birthday to you because...
10. You shape young minds!
9. You have said yourself that you warp young minds!(I do not agree!)
8. You tell great stories!
7. You are a wonderful person, no really you are a wonderful person!
6. I love your sense of humor
5. I am doing this even though you laughed at me in a line at the movies. You know why!
4. You are a super aunt to your nieces and nephews.
3. You deserve a day for yourself!
2. I am late, so sorry about that but happy birthday anyway.
1. You are a good friend!
(forgive me for the cheesiness)

Mom's Top Ten Birthday List
10. This is the year you became a grandma
9. You have a fun personality
8. You are so incredibly patient
7. Great sense of humor
6. So giving to everyone in the family
5. a good example of family
4. You love unconditionally
3. I love to spend time with you
2. I can't think of anyone else as my mom
1. I love you!

Happy Birthday to the October 4th girls!

Fall is in the Air!!

2008-10-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

It is my favorite time of year! I love fall and the fall colors. The mountains are full or yellow and some red. It is great. I like the change in seasons. I love the smells. I feel like it is time to bake too. I need to buy a pumpkin. I need to burn a candle. Back to reality though, I need to clean my house so I can decorate it for the season! hee hee! My projects kind of take over a lot! I have been thinking of the season and then we have Christmas on the way. I love this time of year!

What a smile!

2008-09-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Introducing

2008-09-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my nephew. Of course, I think he is the cutest thing! Such a sweet boy. The other day I was listening to the radio and a song made me think of love and my family. It says "that's what you get when you let your heart win." Then there is also the quote: "sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart" unknown.

All I can say is SO TRUE!!

Baby Shane

2008-09-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

My nephew is a month old now, as of the ninth of September. I can't believe that it has been a month already. I am sad that I cannot see him all of the time. He is such a sweet boy. He is always making little noises. My sister calls me on the phone and I can hear him in the background and it just makes me laugh. He is getting a little belly on him. He smiles now and he laughs a little. Who cares if it is gas or whatever. He is so cute! I know just a blog about my nephew. I am a proud aunt what can I say?! The funny thing is my older brother. He has learning disabilities and does not always understand things. The other day he told Shane's mom to put him the floor and "see what he can do." She did not know what to say to him because she did not want to call attention to it. Crawling is not going to come yet. Then again maybe Uncle Mike knows something the rest of us don't!
Shane got his pictures taken at one month. My sister is supposed to be sending me new pictures of the boy so I am looking forward to that. Having a baby in the family is so much fun!

4 Months To Go

2008-08-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

I know... I know... No one wants to hear this but today is exactly four months and Christmas will be all over! It has bugged me before when people say stuff like that. It gets me to thinking though. Where has the summer gone? This weekend will be Labor Day! Wow! Time really flies. I may sound like an old person saying that but it is true! Time does fly. You can feel the change in the seasons. I love the change in seasons. I don't like the heat of the summer anyway. I do like having all the seasons though. That part is nice about Utah. I like winter with the snow for Christmas but after that it could go away. So I like the changes but just not for very long. Fall is definitely a favorite of mine. I like the crispness in the air and the pumpkins.
I have seen Christmas stuff at the stores. That is crazy. It is a great time of year though.

A person

2008-08-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am a "person" now. I mean I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator. A man at work asked me a little while ago why I wasn't a person. I told him that I like to consider myself a person. He meant why didn't I sell Stampin' Up stuff since I have parties and love to make cards and love to scrapbook. My demonstrator friend Jennifer has been wondering this for a long time, 5 years, as well. She has been bugging me about it. Last week, I succumbed...
It will be fun though. It will be something new for me to try. I love to create things with paper and whatever. So it is just something else for me to try!

Examples to Me

2008-08-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, my mom and I went to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple Open House. We went on our way seeing Shelly in the hospital. My mom has already gone twice with my other sisters and then when I said I wanted to that was all I needed to say. We went early on Monday morning. Being members of the church we take it for granted that people serve, but there was all those people being ushers, tour guides, and then there was the missionaries. We went on our tour and what a beautiful building. It is definitely the Lord's house.
They even had water and cookies after the tour at the stake center. This was a new thing to me. It was great though. More people serving and teaching. In the cultural hall I turned and my mom was hugging a sister missionary. I had no idea who the girl was. She just happens to be there every time that my mom has gone to the temple! Such love she shows to the members and everyone coming. I was very impressed with both my mom and the sister missionary.
My dad has even been a missionary. This is not something he does. It is just a little out of his comfort zone really. A man at his work had said that he would like to go to the temple open house. My dad told him that he would go with him anytime after work. Their boss heard that and he told them to take work time and just go. So that is what they did. My dad is a convert himself. What an example to me about what he does in his everyday work environment.
With temple open houses you usually need tickets to get in. Well with this one you did not need tickets. I guess another church in Twin Falls decided to snatch up all the tickets before the mormons could. So they just made it that anyone could come in at anytime. They welcomed anyone in with whatever attire they had. They even had some protestors and the members went out to them and gave them water and cookies!
One more story I heard from my sister's visiting teachers. One of the ladies said that her nephew is in the stake presidency in Paul, Idaho. They were serving at the time with the tours and a man came up wanting to go to the temple. He had driven all the way from Carthage, IL. He had gone to Nauvoo to go to the temple but since he was not a member he was not allowed in. They told him about the temple open house in Idaho and that anyone could go in. He went and really felt the spirit. He was just so intrigued with temples that he just drove to Idaho from Illinois. It made me think of stories from Church History or something. The Spirit is strong. It works in all different ways with people.

The Strongest Woman I Know

2008-08-14T13:22:00.001-07:00

The strongest woman I know is my twin sister Shelly. Mothers are so strong. I knew that before but this past weekend taught me so much with eye witness experience!
Shane Kolby made it into the world on Saturday August 9, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces and measuring at 20 inches long.
My sister went through so much to get him here. I kept telling her that she was brave and she was! To go through all of that, she is definitely brave. She threw up, she shook, she was hot, she was up and down. She had so many IVs that I told the anesthesiologist that she was not an entertainment center! She hung in there though. She was induced on Friday morning early and had a c-section on Saturday morning.
Once the doctor decided that Shelly had done enough and that a c-section was next, they told us that only one person could go in with her. My mom volunteered me. I was glad I was there. Shelly had so many things hooked to her that I just held her thumb. Then our little boy came. It was so fast. I heard the doctor say we have a baby and it's a boy. Words to change my life! What great words! I was crying and fogging up my glasses. Shelly then asks me if I am ok. She is the one having a baby and she asks me if I am ok!
I got to be the first one to hold him. That was awesome. The nurse put him in my arms and I got to show him to Shelly. Then while she was in recovery I went with the nurse to the nursery. Then with tears in my eyes I went and told my parents that we had a baby and that Shelly was ok. I took both grandma and grandpa to see their new grandbaby. It was cute to see my dad like that. He introduced himself to Shane. It was pretty cute.
Whenever Shane starts to cry and my mom is holding him, she just says "Now, now, let's not do that." I guess she thinks that is going to work.
Shane Kolby has some light brown reddish hair. It is neat to see him with Shelly. He knows his mama already and quiets right down for her. He loves feeding time but hates to be changed! He likes to sleep a lot right now and loves to have his hands by his face. I know not much different than most babies but he is my nephew and this is my blog, so I can write whatever!
Anyways, that is all for now!

Special Delivery On the Way

2008-08-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am headed to Idaho my twin sister Shelly is having the baby! She is being induced on Friday. It is all so real now! I am kind of worried. This is my twin here and to see her in so much pain. I can't not go though. I have to be there! I am so looking forward to it. This is one of those times that you can never get back. I love her so much and she is going to be a good mother. She is so cute, she keeps doing these story problems about diapers and wipes and how many she needs and what outfit to bring him home from the hospital in. Our mom, the grandma to be is cute too, she got her hair done yesterday, so she is ready for the baby to come as well. Over the weekend she said that she better get a perm before the big day. She is going to the coach. I hope I can get some good pictures! I will not be back until the 13th, so until then on anymore blogging. At that time, I will be an aunt to Shane Kolby Baker!!!!

Weekend in Review

2008-08-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday I made my favorite bread. Orange chocolate chip zucchini bread. It is yummy. I have been eating it this past weekend a little at a time.

Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Chip Orange Zucchini Bread
Submitted by: Jules Paulus

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate
chips 1 tablespoon orange zest
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate chips, and orange rind. Blend in sifted ingredients. Turn batter into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 minutes, or until bread tests done. Remove loaves from pans, and cool. Chill before slicing.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 8/4/2008

It is so good!

I stood in line at Wal-Mart for Breaking Dawn. I have less than 100 pages to go. So today I will be able to finish I am sure.

On Saturday, I went to High School Musical the production at Capitol Theatre. That was fun.

Guess What I am Doing This Weekend?

2008-08-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Reading Breaking Dawn! Of course... You knew the answer to that. I can't decide if I am going to go stand in line at Wal-Mart or wherever and wait for 12 to buy my book. Or should I just get up on Saturday and get a book? Even my Wal-Mart in Tooele is having a wedding party. I am not doing much so maybe I will.

A friend from work also gave me a zucchini. So I have to get busy grating zucchini for bread. I might freeze some of it for later (the bread and/or the zucchini). It has been too hot to bake but maybe that is what I will do tonight waiting for Breaking Dawn the book not just the breaking of the dawn. ha! ha! Dumb joke, I know.

Have a happy weekend reading!

Tag!

2008-07-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Melissa just tagged me so I here goes... Post these rules on your blog. Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog. Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Here it is:

Joys:
1. spending time with family
2. spending time with friends
3. reading a really good book

Fears:
1. spiders
2. heights
3. ?

Goals:
1. get organized
2. clean my house
3. go on a date

Obsessions/Collections:
1. cookie cutters
2. scrapbook stuff, paper, stickers, stamps
3. Willow Tree Angels

Random Surprising Facts About Me:
1. I played Santa Claus one year at Girl's Camp.
2. I was a surprise child to my parents. My mom went to deliver her baby and found out she was having twins. I was the second one born and they did not have a name for me at the time. They looked in a baby book for Lesley.
3. I am the only person in my family with blue eyes.

Tag: Jennifer and Whitney (Have fun!)

Chic Flick Wisdom...

2008-07-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I did not go to any new movies. I did watch a few of my movies at home. Now I am not even sure if I remember them all, but I will give it a try. When nothing much is on I put in a movie.

Saturday, I watched Penelope. I think it is going to turn into my new favorite. I already have some parts memorized! From Penelope you learn that the most important thing is to love yourself. I think it is really cool that she saved herself, no one else did it for her and that she did not want to change she liked herself just the way she was.

On Sunday, I watched Hope Floats. That is always a good one to watch. There are a lot of quotes from that one to learn from. There is the one about beginnings being scary but just give hope a chance to float up and it will. There is also one about being extravagant with your chances. These both come from her mother. Such a smart woman, she just lived life her own way and was happy. In the end her daughter learns the same thing.

I also watched Never Been Kissed on Sunday. Another movie that I love and have memorized. I love it when she shouts "I am not Josie Grossie anymore!" This movie is so sweet. She is a different person and can be whoever she wants. Her brother helps her to see that which I thought was cool.

I did not know that I had a theme to my movie viewing this past weekend but there it is. I think I watched something else but now I can't remember the others. I thought I would share the wisdom from chic flicks.

One More Post for Today

2008-07-22T15:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am copying another blogger today...

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave a comment about you on my comments.

Have a happy day!

Bipolar at the movies

2008-07-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

I went and saw both the number one movie at the box office over the weekend and the number two movie. Both in the same night! How is that for a double feature? How is that for polar opposites?!
Mama Mia was great. So much fun with dancing and singing from people that I did not know could sing or dance. No really, I liked it. It was fun to see.
Dark Knight was good too. Totally different but so good. Very dark as the name implies. Christian Bale is very attractive, so looking at him is not bad at all. (am I twelve? who cares, right?)
I enjoyed both movies, action, romance, comedy, suspense, singing, dancing, motorcycles, what more could I ask for?

I miss you, Ugly Betty

2008-07-14T14:58:00.002-07:00

I was just looking online today and I found out that Henry is not coming back on "Ugly Betty." That is great because I was getting tired of him. Christopher Gorham is cute but his character was bugging me! So I thought Gio will be a shoo in for Betty! Then he is only signed on for one more episode! That is just nuts! I really liked Gio. Betty and Gio are so great together. I know these people are not real! I guess I am really missing Ugly Betty with it being summer and all. I can't wait for the new season to start. They have signed on some other guy that I don't know about. His name is Val Emmich. I have not seen him in anything. So I will have to wait and see how that goes.

Shelly Belly

2008-07-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

My twin sister is having a baby. She is really showing. She looks so cute! She is tired and all that but I think she looks cute. She is my twin so of course I think that!
I have called her Shelly Belly before but that is just because it rhymes. Now that has a whole new meaning! ha ha
She said that lots of people at her work ask to touch her belly. Why do people do that with pregnant women?
It is getting closer. She is due August 21st. I am so excited. Little Shane is on his way very soon!

Happy Fourth of July Everybody!

2008-07-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Have a happy holiday weekend!
Here's some quotes in honor of the day:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." Erma Bombeck

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." Camus

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." Benjamin Franklin

"I love my freedom. I love my America." Jessi Lane Adams

I love this country. I am proud to be an American. I am thankful for the people who serve our country and who have served our country. There is no better place to be!

Weekend Fun

2008-06-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am glad to say that I survived the yard sale. If ever I say that I want to have one just remind me that it is too much work! It was fun though. It was definitely an adventure. My sister and brother in law helped a ton! They were great to come! Thanks!
The little neighborhood kids came and spent. That was cute. I did not know they liked yard sales. We all like a good deal. I know I do!
On Friday night, it was a girl's night out. We had so much fun at PF Chang's and of course, we had fun seeing Jerry Seinfeld afterwards. I laughed so much! It was great. What fun women to hang out with.

Operation Save Yard

2008-06-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I went out to get my sprinklers going. I know that I am late this year, but I hope that I have not killed my yard. It did not look fried. So the sprinklers are on and going. So hopefully with some TLC, it will be ok. The valve box was not full of dirt this year, so no gophers to thank for that. I don't know where they have gone, but my yard is not as tempting or something. That is good. I hope it stays that way!
I called the little boy who mowes my lawn to not come on Saturday because I thought it was not growing. Then I get home later that day with a message from his mom. She said that my message was cute! He had been over on Thursday! I bet they got a laugh out of me! I am such a dork! My grass was growing, but it had been mowed. How efficient of the twelve year old!

Happy Birthday to a friend!

2008-06-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

It was my friends birthday today! It was a fun day. I am writing this late, so she might not see it until the day after, but she is great! We decorated her desk, I wrote a poem, made an accordion card, and we went to lunch. I almost could not keep the surprise of her birthday present because I ordered it awhile ago, but I made it. She is a kind, caring, creative person. Happy Birthday Jennifer!

Here is the poem:

A Birthday Poem by me!

I know a certain lassie
Who some call sassy
It is her big day
So in anyway
She should celebrate
It is the year 08
The 17th of June
Mark it with a birthday croon
Sing a song
It can be short or long
Eat some cake
A party you should make
From the bottom of my heart
Make happiness a part
Of this day and this year
May each be filled with cheer
From your friend the poet
You did not know it
Happy wishes to a great friend
Now, at last the end!

You need to ask to see her dance picture, it is so cute!

Pops

2008-06-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I am copying some other blogger friends, but I have written about my mom, so I should write about my dad. Happy Father's Day! This is late, but I thought I should add my thoughts as well.
You know the saying that I am turning into my parents... Well I know I am doing it, even though it is still kind of weird. I wanted to call my dad pops, but he said as long as you call your mother mops. It did not work. Here I am telling this story! His corny sense of humor and I am sharing it. I shared the story over the weekend, too. Mom said rather emphatically no; even though it was a retelling of the story.
I found one of those cards that opens out and tells a story with a little pictures as it goes along. My dad loves those cards, so I had to get him one. It made him laugh and that was good. He has a good laugh and a good smile. The card made me think of when I was younger, we would get him cards like that. He also got cards like that for my mom for their anniversary.
My dad is such a good example to me. He will give you whatever he has. He is so forgiving. He has a strong sense of family. He loves my mom. He cares about people. He is the hardest worker I know. He is smart. He can put things together and build almost anything. He would share his black licorice with you that he got for Father's Day but no one wants any!

Grandma to Be

2008-06-13T12:48:00.001-07:00

I am headed to Idaho this weekend for Father's Day and for a baby shower. It will be nice to have the whole family together. That does not happen enough anymore.

My mom is going to birthing classes with my sister. They have been twice and already it is interesting. It is so fun to talk to my mom about the classes. She knows she is the oldest one there. I told her that it does not matter but try telling her that. She said that it is a lot for this old mind to take in. For all of her talk, I think she enjoys going. She likes being a part. I know that my sister really appreciates her support. My dad drives them there and falls asleep in the car waiting for them. Now my mom said that she cannot quote "Gone With the Wind" anymore and say that "I don't know nothing about birthin' no babies" because these classes are teaching her a lot!

Shelly wishes that I lived closer so that I could go to the classes but living in another state makes it hard. I can't wait until the little one gets here! Sounds like his name is going to be Shane Kolby now. Hopefully, she does not change her mind about the name, but that's ok if she does.

Fabric Anyone?

2008-06-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Just an update here from the weekend... I actually worked on the craft room and all of that fabric! Yeah, me. I have more to do but there is always more to do. Story of my life!

Being Grounded

2008-06-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I grounded myself to my house. I have a hard time motivating myself sometimes because I get overwhelmed and then I don't do it. I know it is not easier that way, but anyways... So I have been needing to clean for awhile. I need to get my craft room organized! It is on its way. Still a lot to do but I am in the process. Now I just want to jump ahead to when it is all done!(don't we all, where is my fairy godmother to clean the house, but she is for getting to the ball, that is another blog)(what a tangent!) I have more to do this weekend as well. Maybe that is why I am blogging this, this will be my motivation as well. Like if you write down a goal it means more type of thing. I need to get the closet cleaned out. The room used to be the sewing room and now the fabric is going to go! I think that I have worked through getting rid of the fabric. Why is it so hard to get rid of stuff that you are not using! Ugh!! It is all so cute and I could do something with it! Right?! I know, I know... I am only going to save one tote of fabric, the rest is going for yard sale stuff! The yard sale fun will be in a couple of weeks! Wish me luck!

Yard Work

2008-05-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I worked in my yard for the first time this year. I know, I know... I am behind! I got some bark over the weekend. There was an area in the yard that really needed to be patched where the bark was supposed to be but wasn't. So I worked on that. Then a neighbor of mine came over and chatted and helped me. She is great. I am so grateful for good neighbors. Her little girl came with her. She is two and half and the cutest thing. Even she was pulling weeds. What a good mom my neighbor is to teach work and service to her beautiful little girl. So we got more done than just me alone. It looks much better. Now if I could just find a way to exterminate all morning glory my life would be great! ha ha!

A Door is a Door...

2008-05-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today I moved to an office at work! How exciting is that? It is definitely quieter! That is nice. It is really a cubicle with a door. That door is important though. In cubicle world a door is a rare and hot commodity. I even got a congratulations about my new space. That is different.

Then yesterday my sister closed a door in her life. She made a decision that needed to be made. I am glad that she did it. What is most important is that she is glad too that she made this decision.

Thinking about my sister and what is ahead for her makes me think of the quote from Helen Keller. It gives me hope for her. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." That tells me that happiness is there. It is not going to do anything good to dwell on the past. Just move forward.

Mother's Day

2008-05-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

I am on my way for a family weekend. Heading to Idaho with my sister and brother-in-law. We are combining a birthday and Mother's Day.

Here are a few a quotes in honor of Mother's Day, albeit early:
"You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around-- and why his parents will always wave back." William D. Tammerus

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." Oscar Wilde

"The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven." William Goldsmith Brown

"Sweater, n.: a garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly." Ambrose Bierce

-- This Mother's Day coming makes me think of my twin sister too. She is going to be a mommy this year. One thing that my mom has said that is hard for her is that Shelly is sick and she cannot do anything about it. Before she was able to make things better and now she can't. Another time of change for us. Life is like that.

Happy Mother's Day, even if I am early!

Got the giggles?

2008-04-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

My friend and I were having a project day over the weekend. We actually got stuff done. Sometimes we just humor ourselves and nothing gets done but watching a few movies.

We went out for reinforcements i.e. more crafts supplies and some food from Sonic. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time! How come you can't ever understand the people at the drive-thru? I was trying to understand the dude. My friend has already told me that I have my "ordering voice" so I am wondering about that. Then while I am waiting for the dude to come back and take our order, this dog yips. I am embarrassed to admit it that it scared me! I jumped, Jennifer started laughing. I started laughing. Of course, then the dude comes back at that time. I could barely speak I was laughing so hard. I did not know if I was going to recover by the time we got to the window. It took awhile but I made it! We both recovered but I could not look at her because I thought I was going to start all over again.

We got back and finished our projects. Jennifer made way cute canvases for her craft room and I made invitations for my sister's baby shower.

Here is a quote that goes with the day: "Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can." -Danny Kaye

I have people

2008-04-15T14:53:00.001-07:00

Friends are the family you choose for yourself.
I am not sure who said that right now, but it is so true!

A friend of mine is so great. Her family is great, too! They just accept me and treat me like a member of the family. That means a lot to me. Family is so important to me, so sometimes it can be hard not living close to my own family. It helps to have people.

I am a softy but the other day one of the nieces told me that she loved me. It made me think... It means something to me. What a sweet child! And I get to spend some time with her even if I am just borrowing the time with her through my friend.

a boy on the way

2008-04-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

My sister had her ultrasound! A little boy is going to join our family. I am excited. It sounds like his name will be Remington. My mom says Billy Bob. She is joking. I can't wait to meet him. Now I know what to shop for. I am going to have fun!

spring quote

2008-03-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a spring quote that is very apropos (if I can use that word, hee hee!)

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" - Mark Twain

Happy St. Patrick's Day too!

addendum: I don't know what it is with me and the formal phrasing today, I just used addendum. Earlier I said that "I was entertaining the idea of purchasing a new TV." Using apropos in my blog. I guess I am on a roll! I am not sure what I will say next!

Spring is in the air!

2008-03-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Spring! Spring! Spring has sprung... Here is my list of spring things going on for me!

1. I love the change in seasons. I like living in Utah because we get to have all the seasons. Sometimes even all four in one day! lol!

2. My best friend and I have been to Penelope twice now. It is so cute. So you could say love is in the air! That kiss, wow!! James McAvoy is just too cute.

3. Spring is in the air, too because I really am feeling like I need to do some spring cleaning. Now where is the time to do it all?

4. New season, new hope... I am being positive and moving forward with life and with things that I want to make happen. Positive energy is very powerful.

5. Just like a new year, a new season can bring new things. I can't wait for the flowers to start popping up! Makes me think of a quote from "You've Got Mail." Where Tom Hanks tells Meg Ryan's character that it would be a shame to miss New York in the spring when he brings her flowers. Daisies, he brings her daisies, "don't you think daisies are the happiest flower?"

Just some random thoughts from me...
Happy Spring!

Quotes, quotes!

2008-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

I love quotes! I love the way the words come together. The way that people put them together. I have added a quote to my blog. It is hard to name a favorite because I feel like I pick a new favorite all the time.

I think it comes from my mother. She is a quote lady. She is also a phrase person. She always has a phrase for something. The one that we always share is:"Always remember and keep in mind a bluebird's tale sticks out behind." I do not know what it means but it makes me laugh. She said it once when my sister and I were teenagers and we both said 'what?' Mom laughed and we laughed. Now at the end of letters she will write P.S. and then that phrase. It will make my day and make me giggle.

So it goes without saying that I like quotes that are serious or not so serious. I love movie quotes too! I am always asking a friend what movie a quote came from. She is good and humors me. She remembers the songs from movies and I remember the quotes!

That is one reason why I like to read so much I think. I like the way things come together. I wonder how they put things together like that. The quote from Mitch Albom is from his book "For One More Day." I have found that I can learn something from a book like that or from Harry Potter or from a movie or a play or a song.

Boy? or Girl?

2008-02-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

My twin sister has a doctor's appointment in three weeks. At that time, she should be finding out what she is having. She is pregnant and I am excited to find out! This will be the first baby in our family. It's weird but I am already attached to this baby. I love it already. I think it is going to be a boy but we have not found out officially yet. I can't wait to spoil it. I can't wait to hold the little guy or girl. If it is a boy it sounds like the name will be Cole. I am not sure how she will spell it. I saw some stuff yesterday to buy but I held back. I will wait.

Happy Halloween!

2008-02-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

I did it again! I have done this before and it has been awhile since I did it last. Today I referred to the big upcoming holiday as Halloween. Talk about a Freudian slip or whatever! It's Valentine's Day in two days! I know! Maybe it is scary to me on some level...

Jane Austen, You are My Hero!

2008-02-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

Jane Austen is awesome. There are probably better words to use to describe her but I think she is awesome. She was a true wordsmith. The way that she could put things together is just amazing. I love her stories. I love Pride and Prejudice. I hate to admit though that I have a hard time getting through Austen's books. I am not used to that language. In "You've Got Mail" Kathleen Kelly says that she gets lost in phrases like mischance and thither. (I had to quote my favorite movie!) I am intrigued by her other books that I have not read yet.

I am reading "The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen" by Syrie James right now. It makes Jane Austen so real. I have to keep reminding myself that it is not real. I wish that it was. I wish that she could have had a love story. The book is great.

I know I am not the only one that loves Jane Austen. I love the "remakes" of her stories too. They are fun. They are timeless. That is why Jane Austen is awesome!

Winter, winter, go away...

2008-02-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

It is snowing as I write this. One more storm came our way. I know we need the moisture and everything but the cold... well I think I have had enough. I have to admit it does make things look softer and more beautiful. A tree without the lush green leaves does look magical with soft snow just sitting there covering it with glitter almost. I don't like the shoveling and the ice. I love Christmas. I should remember that I live in Utah, so I should not complain. I like Utah though. I do! I like all four seasons. Winter just seems to be dragging on! It makes spring even better when it gets here. What do they say on An Affair to Remember "Winter's so cold for those with no warm memories and we have already missed the spring."

Reading

2008-01-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

I love to read! I do! I can't imagine when people say that they hate to read. How can you hate to read?! There is so much in a book. So much to learn that you would miss otherwise.

Right now I am reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I am not done yet but it is great. She is so descriptive. I can't help but think what if I looked at the world that way. The comparisons and the imagery. It is really a story within a story. It is a long story and so descriptive that I am kind of going slow just so that I do not miss anything.

I read a book and I feel like the characters are my friends because I have gotten to know them. In Inkheart, Meggie really loves books. She has been taught to love them. They help her feel safe and at home. Her home is with her books. Her home is where her books are. Imagine that. It does not matter what kind of book. Meggie feels that books speak to her before she opens them, they are waiting to tell her their story.

Meggie cannot believe that Dustfinger does not want to know the rest of his story. He tells her that what is wrong with that, does she know the ending to her story? It is a work of fiction but it made me think. Just as Dustfinger can change his story depending on whether he can get back in the book, Meggie is living a story. I am living a story. It is not in a book, but right here. I can choose to change it, too.

Tagged!

2008-01-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

I am supposed to write a letter to myself when I was thirteen...

Lesley,

Hello!

Don't be afraid to be yourself! Have fun. Laugh and make memories. Make friends, do things.

It is hard to write to your younger self, because they say that hindsight is twenty/twenty. So maybe I should write this and take it to heart now.

I am glad that I do not have to be thirteen again. What is it that the little girl says in Hope Floats? You spend the rest of your life trying to get over your childhood. A thing that I have learned is that each time of life can be fun. Be yourself! No one is better qualified. Someone said that once, but I can't remember who. Be it thirteen or thirty-four if you want something go out there and get it. Work! Try! Live! Laugh! Love! Life is great! We are meant to have fun. We are meant to learn and grow. Not that it is easy, but you have to keep at it!

End note: I guess I am part of the blogging world now! Thanks, Jennifer. She tagged me and now I am hooked.