Summer Highlights

It's hard to believe that the summer is half over! Here are a few of the most interesting things I've done so far this summer.


1. The day after school got out my first born was baptized! The past eight years have gone by so fast. I'm so proud of him and the way in which he really was prepared for this. We had a beautiful day!


2. My husband and I took a giant leap of faith and bought a new business--which I'm sure I'll end up writing about extensively at a later date! The home office of our company sent us this cool welcome basket. The cookies were surprisingly quite tasty!

3. I'm learning to live on a tight budget. Not that we've ever really been living the high life, but our upcoming change in employment is going to necessitate a rather drastic change in lifestyle while we get things going. Some fun books I've read lately: "Beating the High Cost of Eating" and "You CAN Afford to Stay Home With Your Kids." I love the public library!


4. I planted a small garden. It's just tomatoes, a few herbs, a cucumber plant and some green peppers. Last year I planted only tomatoes and was so overwhelmed at harvest time that I decided to diversify a little bit this year.


5. My husband and I went to an amazing awards ceremony. Our dear friends Tyler and Meredith came home to Utah so that Tyler could be awarded the Silver Star for some impressive things he did while deployed to Afghanistan. Our friend Chad was awarded the bronze star in the same ceremony. It was actually quite a big deal. My husband is an incredible person and as an extension of that he has some pretty incredible friends!


6. My little brother got married! It was such a joyous occasion. We partied for two straight days. Thirty of my mom's thirty-two grandchildren came for the celebration so my kids got tons of "cousin time" which they love. My new sister-in-law is absolutely delightful.


7. I got to go out to lunch with "The Babes." For some reason I tend to have names for the people I hang out with. My high school friends were called "The Harem" and my college gang was called "The Babes"--I guess we were all fairly confident girls. We were so fortunate to have two of our out-of-state Babes here during the same week so we could all go to lunch together. Unfortunately one of the local Babes was out of town but we take what we can get these days (We missed you Meggen!). I love how true friends can go months, or even years, without seeing each other and when we finally get together it's like no time has passed at all.

8. I ran a race! One of my friends and I decided way back in January that we would run the Freedom Festival 5K together on July 4th. Neither of us really trained up for it but we figured that three miles would probably not kill us so we did it anyway. My sister decided to join us too, even though she hadn't trained either. It was quite fun actually. I was surprised how well I did--I honestly thought I would pass out as I crossed the finish line, but I actually felt really good. It inspired me to get into better shape and I've gone running three times this week!


Judging by the looks of my calendar, the second half of the summer is going to be just as interesting--if not more so. I think I might even be relieved when fall comes, maybe life will calm down a little bit!

Growing Up Too Fast

It's kind of hard to think that none of my babies are really babies anymore!

My Field Trip

If you look in Webster's dictionary a "field trip" is defined as: a visit made for purposes of firsthand observation.

A few weeks ago my husband and I went on a field trip. We went to Omaha to meet with the founders and employees at the headquarters of a business we were considering becoming a part of. My husband wanted "firsthand observation" of this business and the people we would be working with. For him, it was an intense find out mission. For me, it felt like a field trip to the land of the grown-ups.

For the past eight years I have been a full-time mother. Before that, I was an elementary school teacher. I started working in a local school my first semester of college and worked there almost until graduation. I have spent half my life being a kid, and the other half working with kids. So the two days I spent with my husband in Corporate America were like visiting another world.

I had the hardest time figuring out what to pack. My standard mom uniform of jeans and a T-shirt was just not going to cut it this time. I felt like Cher in the movie Clueless searching her closet for her "most responsible looking outfit!" We were told that business casual attire would be appropriate for both days. What the heck does "business casual" mean--especially for a woman who has been out of the work force for eight years?! I have exactly one pair of dress pants that I bought last year when I was invited to dinner at the Governor's mansion, otherwise all of my nice stuff is for church. In the end, I decided that it is better to be overly dressy when trying to make a good impression, so along with my good pants I also brought a skirt.

See how foreign this all is to me? I felt totally out of place and I hadn't even left my house yet!

In Omaha we were met at the airport by a chauffeur standing in the baggage claim area holding a sign with our names on it. Crazy, right? I thought that was something that just happened in the movies. We were given a short tour of town from the comfy backseat of a Lincoln Towncar. There were no crumbs on the floor or broken crayons wedged between the seats and no one was wailing "Are we there yet?!"

I could get used to a ride like that.

In the evening we were "wined (not literally!) and dined" at a well-known local steakhouse. The food was amazing but I had the hardest time getting over how expensive it was--even though I knew we wouldn't be paying! To be looking at a menu on which a single entree costs more than I spend in a week at the grocery store, is a little unnerving, at least for me. It was just a little bit outside of my Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger comfort zone.

We spent the entire next day in meetings. It was a whirlwind of new faces and talking and asking questions and scribbling notes. And all the while I'm hoping like crazy that no one sees that my cool and calm demeanor is all fake. At any moment I expected someone to turn to me and say, "You don't belong here. You're totally in over your head." At the end of the day I was mentally and physically exhausted. It's been a long time since I focused my energy so intently on one thing for an entire day like that. I'm used to days that are exhausting because I'm focused on too many different things.

All in all it was a very productive trip.
We learned a lot about this company and last week signed a formal agreement to begin a new business with them.
I learned that I can hold my own in an business environment, although I don't prefer it.
And I learned that even though I enjoy getting an occasional break from wiping my kids noses, I'd never want to be away so much that I'd miss the chance to wipe their tears.

Reflections on Women's Conference

Last year my life circumstances were such that I was in the habit of making a conscious effort to give myself "me time" on a weekly basis. I would have dinner with friends, go shopping or sometimes just spend peaceful time by myself. So when a friend suggested we attend BYU Women's Conference together I jumped at the chance for some uplifting "me time." It turned out to be, without a doubt, the most worthwhile "me time" of the entire year. I came away so focused and inspired. I had a better sense of self and a better understanding of my role in God's plan. Plus it was a lot of fun!

So this past Thursday and Friday that same friend and I again attended Women's Conference. And again I was inspired and uplifted and empowered to carry on.

Here are just a few of my favorite insights gained this year. (Most of these are not direct quotes--I can't take notes that fast!)

"We have more influence than we think. . .(As women of God) We are here to influence the world, not to be influenced by the world."--Sister Sheri Dew

The pattern of behavior used in the Temple is the same as the pattern we should have in our homes. We should use peaceful voices. Everyone is trained in their responsibility. Lots of Prayer! Kindness and order in all that we do.---President Bateman

The Lord's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Our work is the same!--Sister Julie Beck

"There is no "they" there is only YOU.--Sister Julie Beck

Fear is:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real
--John Bythyway

"Everyday is a special occasion!"--President Monson

"Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved."--President Monson

Long Lost Friends

I've been extremely blessed with wonderful friends throughout my life. I am still in contact with many of those friends, however, I'm sad to say that there are many that I've lost touch with.

So I felt very blessed the other day to run into a long lost friend at Chuck E. Cheese's of all places. We haven't seen each other for at least ten years so it was such sweet, serendipitous event.

She was one of my best friends in junior high and high school. We, along with four other friends, called ourselves "The Harem"--although at this point I can't remember why. We all had some really great times together. I couldn't have asked for better friends to get me through the drama of being a high school freshman.

Marriage and careers and life in general have sent us all in various directions. Eventually we all became moms who are super busy with our own lives--which I guess is how it should be.

But I'll always be grateful for wonderful memories.

My Bumpy Trip Down Memory Lane

Those of you who know me well know that I am generally a very nostalgic person. (I'm famous for saying things like "Did you know that five years ago today we were doing__________?" or "Can you believe that it's been 10 years since we_________?" or even more random, "Remember when we went to _________ and you were wearing _______?") I guess I've just had a really great life with lots of wonderful experiences to reflect on--and I might be a little OCD.

But over the past several weeks I've had a few opportunities to look back at some past events through the corrective lens of time and realize that either I'm getting old or my dad was right all along and I was, in fact, quite a twit.

A few examples:

1)There was a time in my life where the movie Newsies was pretty much an obsession for me. I saw it in the theater six times over the course of about a month, bought the soundtrack and listened to it until the cassette almost snapped and had an enormous crush on the main actor. My sister, knowing how much I liked the film, gave my family the DVD for Christmas last December. Since then, my children have become enamoured with the show and watch it at least once a week. It has been fun to hear the music again, but for the most part, every time I see it now I can't help but roll my eyes and think "What was all the fuss about?!" It's rather cheesy and contrived.

2)For our date night last week my husband and I went to dinner at a restaurant that was one of my favorite hang out spots as a teenager. We ordered "cheese fries" because you just have to when dining at this particular restaurant. I found them quite fun and tasty for about the first five bites and then they seemed to make me rather ill. I couldn't get over how greasy and fattening it all was--food attributes that never really occurred to me fifteen years ago. I had an upset stomach for the rest of the night and my husband had one into the next day. I just can't pack it away like I used to.

3) For most of my childhood I was preoccupied with getting my ears pierced. My parents were rather opposed to the idea and wouldn't let me do it. On several occasions I went so far as to try to pierce my ears myself but every time I either got caught or chickened out. I swore that on my eighteenth birthday I was going to drive myself to the mall and get it done. But my eighteenth birthday came and went and I didn't care anymore. (I did end up getting my ears pierced at the age of 23 during my semester abroad in the South Pacific--but that's another story.) Now I have a daughter, a daughter who is so much like me in her temperament that it's a bit scary. And you guessed it, she wants her ears pierced. I know exactly how she feels but I'm still not going to let her do it. At her age it's just too much hassle. The ten-year-old me would be shocked to discover what a fuddy-duddy I've become!

I think the most surprising thing about adulthood for me is that I don't mind being a "grown-up." I love to remember my younger years but I recognize that in a lot of ways I'm not that person anymore.

And that's fine with me.

I've been LOST!

It's been several weeks since I posted anything, and to my faithful blog readers (all three of you), I sincerely apologize, but I assure you that you haven't missed anything.

I wish I could say that I've been so busy with my very exciting life that I just haven't had the time to write, unfortunately quite the opposite is true. Although, we did take a three day I-can't-stand-the-cold-and-snow-for-one-more-minute trip to warm and sunny St George and Mesquite for Presidents Day which was very invigorating and fun but not particularly thrilling (we played at the park and took a long walk--that's about it!).

One activity that has seemed to usurp a great deal of my free time lately is the television drama LOST. A few weeks ago my husband happened to tune into it one evening and spent the next hour mumbling "what the heck is going on". So the next day he went out and rented the first season on DVD and we've pretty much been hooked since. This show is so mind blowingly convoluted and complicated that it is an absolute hoot. I get particular delight in the fact that there is a very authentic Korean couple on the show. It's fun to not to have to read the subtitles all the time and in a few instances I've had a little bit more insight on a situation because I can understand both sides of the language barrier. It's kind of fun.

I've decided that watching TV on DVD is really the way to go--no commercials, no waiting around for a week to find out what happens next and no planning my life around prime time schedules. (yes, I realize much of that could be solved with a DVR but that's not going to happen for us anytime soon!)

We're about half-way through the second season, so if you're a die hard LOST fan don't spoil it for us.

See, I really haven't had much going on. I don't blog for weeks and when I finally do it's about a TV show.

Sad.