Last night we went to have dinner with Matt’s Aunt and Uncle, Amy and Greg. They live in Mt. Green, which is not far from us in Riverdale, but we still don’t get out there very often. So finally, we were able to make plans and follow through. We had a wonderful dinner and were able to see the new addition they are adding to their house. It is really nice. Honestly, I think their new Master Suite is the size of my apartment. Sort of gets me house hungry – but that is another story. We played some games with Isaac and Matt and Greg had their usual deep discussions. I usually just watch and listen – I am good at that. But the highlight of the night – and the reason for this blog – is that Greg had Matt read Dr. Seuss – Fox in Sox to Isaac. He did a really good job, but both Amy and Greg were just laughing away. I thought Greg was going to fall out of his chair. But Matt passed the test and we now know that he can read the whole book. Even the part about “When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles......they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle.”

I found the words for this book at this link http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves/Fox-In-Socks.txt if you want to give it a shot yourself. Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

Concert-Gate

Yesterday was a mess. It was a day we had been looking forward to for a while. We were supposed to go to the Dave Matthew’s Band concert at the USANA Amphitheater. I had a training seminar in Salt Lake, so we were going to drive down together, Matt was going to go work on his Mom’s house for a while, then take our niece and nephews swimming. Then, when my class was over we would go to the concert and have a great night. OK – so that didn’t happen. We were driving out to the training and heard on the radio that the concert is “postponed” (I don’t really know what that means, I guess it is like canceled, only they don’t want you to ask for refunds). Matt dropped me at my class and went to his moms.

I called him at lunch to see how things were going (I was having trouble staying awake – good class, but taught by a CPA, so a little dry). He was still at his mom’s house, but was optimistic that he would still have time to go play with the kids. I called him again when I got out, and he was still hip deep in work. So, he took a much deserved break from working and picked me up. We went back out to Sandy and he got back to it. I helped (watched) him work on the fence gate. He did finally get it up, and it works nicely – and looks fine. Here is a picture of the proud crafts-man.

What's on Sale?

It is probably time I grew up. I am in my upper 20s, married, and have a good job. But – I still totally suck at grocery shopping. We have been trying to eat healthier at our house. This means eating out less, because as much as I want to believe that french-fries qualify as a vegetable, that just isn’t true. The problem with cooking at home is that I have to have ingredients. That means planning ahead, and shopping.

I have not lived at home for years and years, so I have been doing my own shopping for a long time. I think up to this point I have just bought a bunch of pre-made frozen meals. I didn’t worry too much about what it cost, because it was just me and I didn’t eat too much of it. But now that I am cooking for two, and trying to be a little more healthy, so I am trying to buy the ingredients separately and learning how to put them together.

The biggest problem with this is that I am a sucker when I go shopping. If there is a flashy display, or those last-minute items near the check out, I will buy it. I don’t know what a good price is for things either. If they are advertising 10 for $10 – I will buy it – even if it is normally $0.80 – and I will be happy about it! I assume that everything at Costco is a great deal. I am happy to buy anything with a bright “sale” sign on it. I am a retailer’s dream.

So to try to combat this I found this nice website where they let me know what is really on sale and what is a fake. I was excited when I found it, but I have yet to really utilize it for what it is worth. But, someday, when I actually go shopping at a store farther away from me than the Wal-Mart, I am sure it will save me lots of money. Then I can feel all grown-up and smart when I go shopping.

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/

Just Keep Swimming

We went swimming with my sister Chrystie and her kids Arden and Daxton last night. Well, Daxton didn't go swimming, but we were all at the pool together. We went out to the new South Davis Recreation Center (formally the Bountiful Bubble). I have some bad memories associated with the Rec Center - they have to do with the guy that does their accounting - but let's not dwell on that. We went to the pool and Matt and I started to dutifully follow Arden around. Matt pointed out to me later that Arden has be wrapped around her little finger. I was preparing to object, when I realized it was absolutely true - and that I was OK with that. I have always been under the impression that kids didn't like me. I just never feel like the fun one the kids would want to play with. So now that I have nieces and nephews, and they have fun playing with me and I have fun playing with them I can't get enough. I love it when I play a game with one of the kids and they smile or laugh because they are having fun - with me!

Anyway, we played around and even went down the big waterslide a couple of times with Arden. We put Arden's floaters on her arms and tried to let her know it was OK, that she couldn't sink, but she wasn't having any of that and if you tried to let go of her she just held on tighter. Arden and Chrystie took some time in the water while Matt or I would spend some good time with Daxton. That kid is So cute. I love that he is ticklish, because I can make him smile at me!


To avoid the risk of accidentally capturing an image of me in my swimsuit, I didn't get any cute pictures of the kids either. I think the risk was just too great. Maybe someday I will be OK with being seen in a swimsuit, but that day is not today - so forgive the lack of photographs, please.

Happy Anniversary

We made it! Sunday was our 1st Anniversary. A lot of changes have taken place in this past year. We both had to get used to a new roommate, a new city, and new jobs. We have new cousins and nephews. It has been a year of change, but it has been a great year.

We celebrated with a weekend in Salt Lake, and we were so lucky that Matt's mom saved our cake! We were able to enjoy that (it was still good!) as a special tradition on our anniversary.

So, that is one year down - and Forever to go.

Just for fun, here is the video I made for our wedding.

Natalie is here!

My best friend Dawn had her baby on Thursday, August 14, at about noon. Both baby and mom are doing great! Natalie was 6 pounds 11 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. I will post pictures when I get them!

Brand New Baby

In her coming home dress

She is so tiny!

Under Construction

My life is a construction zone! Everywhere I turn there are orange barrels, construction signs, closed roads, delays, and those guys with the "slow" and "stop" signs. They have been doing construction on Riverdale Road (the main road by our house) since we moved here, so that isn't too big of a deal - except now they have dug a big trench across the center, so there is no way across! Well, there is one way across, but you have EVERYONE on the road trying to turn, or turn around, there, so it is an accident waiting to happen. We have learned how to avoid Riverdale Road (except when we need to go grocery shopping) and have found a new way to work. But this week they decided to repave my shortcut. It really did need it, but boy, was it inconvenient. Signs showed up last week warning me of the "Major Delays" that I was to expect. I brushed it off, thinking "how bad could it be?" Well I will tell you how bad it was. It has totally doubled my commute time and miles. When I used to be able to just slip through this little road, now I have to go all the way around, which puts me in traffic and on lower speed limit roads. It has been really hard on me this week. I tried to go through the construction zone, but they were not kidding with their "Major Delays" and I sat there for over 10 minutes. So, now my sweet 2.5 mile commute has been extended to almost 5 miles and 10 minutes instead of 5 - EACH WAY!!! I can't wait until the construction is over and life goes back to normal.

Lightning Striking Again

I will admit it, I have a couple of phobias. One of the more prominent is a fear of lightning. I didn’t always have this fear. It was really developed and turned into the monster fear that it currently is a few years ago in Boston. My friend Lindsay and I went for a nice harbor cruise and BAM! our boat was struck by lightning. A piece of the mast fell down onto the deck and I was freaked out. I believe it was that same summer that my family went to Florida. We were at Disney’s Epcot Center, just watching some performers when BAM! they were nearly struck by lightning. I went for a hike in Yellowstone when BAM! lightning was striking the hill (I got down that hill SO fast!) I have come to the conclusion since then that lightning is out to get me. It really takes all of my power to not crawl under the nearest bed during a thunder storm. So, when we had a small thunder storm go through last Saturday night, I was unhappy. Well, unhappy is quite the understatement. I was miserable. I hate the way you can see lightning through your eyelids, so that it is impossible to go to sleep. The thunder was pretty amazing too. I wanted to close my window to help dampen the noise a little, but was too afraid to touch the metal window frame, knowing that the moment I did I would be struck! There was one lightning that I swore could have hit our house, or at least the neighbors. It was one of those where you don’t have the opportunity to even think about counting “1 Mississippi” before the thunder comes.

Now, with my history, it wouldn’t be too ridiculous to think that I was over exaggerating about the closeness of the strike. I thought that myself, until Matt called me at work yesterday to tell me that the Power company was working on the pole next to our house, because it had been struck by lightning! HA! Some fears are justified – and I really do think that lightning is out to get me.

Here is a picture out my bedroom window of the pole that was hit. You can't tell it was a victim of nature, but you can see how close it was.

Redneck Fun

It was a weekend that Matt has been waiting for all year. That is right, it was the Weber County Fair - and more importantly - the Demolition Derby! It has been a tradition for a few years that my sisters and I go to the derby at the fair. Chrystie's husband Preston comes along, and for the first time last year, Matt came too. I think he was a little skeptical at first, having never attended a demolition derby before, but by the end he was asking for more. So we were both excited when we went to get tickets for the fair and have been waiting for our chance to see the glory of the Demolition Derby again.

We did enjoy the other aspects of the fair also. We looked at horses, sheep, goats and cows. We even sat in on the Pig auction - though I have no idea what the difference between the pig that went for $2.75 and the one that went for $4.25 was. We looked at the cute bunnies and the funny pigeons (what is with those tails?). I made sure that we made time for some fair food. Oh, how I love my Navajo Taco! I wait for it every year. We didn't forget the funnel cake either (and I wonder why I gained 5 pounds this weekend.) But the highlight of the fair was of course the Demolition Derby.

To make the show a little more exciting each of us picks a car at the beginning of each round. It adds a little when you want a car to win. But even if yours is the first one to die, it is still so much fun to watch the other crazy drivers bash their cars into one another. This derby had two main rounds, followed by the mini cars, the grudge match, and then the finals. My picks did fairly well in all the heats. One of the weirdest moments was when one of the drivers got mad because two other cars had teamed up against him. So what did he do to show his anger? He took off his helmet and threw it at one of the cars. Yeah - good idea - you sure showed him. So then they had to stop the match and get his hat back on. They made him pull his flag, so it really didn't work for him if he thought he would get last hit in by using his helmet.

The end of the derby was a memorable one. I posted the video below. (by the way - the orange car was my pick - oh well).

Eight Legged Freaks

We have had a wonderful invasion of spiders in our apartment lately. Really - I guess there have only been three of note, but since I have such a love for spiders those three could as well have been hundreds. I HATE spiders. When I see a spider in the house it becomes all I can think of until I know it is not in the house anymore. I don't like seeing spiders when I am outside either, but I have come to terms with that and I don't have the overwhelming need to kill them all. But when they enter the house - that is when they lose their chance at a good long life. If they are in the house I feed them to the vacuum. Or, I used to. Now I am married to a wonderful guy that takes care of the spiders for me. The spiders lucked out too, because he catches them and releases them back outside rather than making them take the trip through the hose of the dirt devil. We had a huge "moving carpet" spider the other day. These are your house spiders - big, brown, and really fast. I call them moving carpet spiders because my parent's had brown carpet when I was growing up, and one of these spiders crawling on the ground looked like a piece of carpet getting up and moving around. But back to the story. We had one of these a couple weeks ago. Matt caught it under a glass in the hall. I didn't like him much, and could hear him clinging against the glass. I was pretty sure he was going to tip the cup over and make his escape, so I sat safely on the top of the couch with the vacuum in hand just in case. But he was removed, then the other day when I was at work I was talking to Matt at home and he said he caught another spider, only this one he had to catch under a bowl because it wouldn't fit under a glass. I don't know what picture that puts in your head, but it wasn't a good one in mine and we are lucky I ever went home. But Matt took care of him and he is happily living outside somewhere now. He just better not come back, or he may meet Mr. Vacuum.

Where has my Summer gone?

My summer was slipping away and I decided that I wanted to go to Bear Lake this weekend. I hadn’t been up there for a year, so I wanted to go back. We didn’t have any other plans for this weekend, and Matt agreed that it would be fun, so we made the plan. My parents wanted to come too, so we made a party out of it!

My parents picked us up on Friday night and we headed up the canyon. Unfortunately for Matt, I get pretty sick when I ride in a car – especially up the canyon, so I rode in the front with my Dad driving and my mom and Matt got to be in the back. Matt also was lucky and got to learn all our old car games, such as the “German Martian” signs and the “Cattle Guard – Moo!” I had trouble believing that I hadn’t enlightened him to these traditions, but I guess I was playing those close to the vest, just in case they proved to be a deal-breaker. Oh, Matt also was lucky enough to be exposed to “John Denver and the Muppets, a Rocky Mountain Holiday”. Yep, that is another tradition that I hadn’t exposed him to before. Lucky guy. He was great and said that he enjoyed watching the show. I guess he will stick around even after seeing this side of me.

But we had a good time at the Trailer. We decided to go for shakes at Le Beau’s, but I am trying to be good with my diet still, so we walked! It was fun for me, because I really like walking – though it was hot! We finished our shakes and walked back to the trailer. We drove down to the lake to see how crowded it was, and the answer was very! The beach looked like a parking lot. Cars, trucks, campers, the entire beach was covered. In some places they were three or four cars deep. We decided we were way too late to get a good spot on the beach, so we checked out the pool. It was empty so we went up there instead. I told Matt about all the good times we used to have in that pool when we were kids. I remember when we would all hide in the sauna and plot our scheme to get everyone else to leave the pool that wasn’t with our family. I think we didn’t really have to do much, considering there were at least 8 kids running around, that would be enough to get me out of the pool now. But that little pool brings back good memories, and it felt good to go swimming.

We went back to the trailer and Matt and my dad wanted to pull out the old sailboat. This boat has not been used in at least 10 years, and it has been tied in the same place behind the trailer for almost that long. I personally was afraid of what would be living in it, or under it, so I left most of the work up to the boys and I watched from a safe distance. They were able to get it untied and tried to hook all the pieces together. The boat held up fairly well and only a few pieces are missing or old-and-busted. So that was good. We are looking forward to actually taking it out on water someday – but the summer goes by so fast.