dawg eat dawg world

three

2011-08-13T22:09:00.005-06:00

remember me? i used to blog here on dawg eat dawg. my name is heidi. i know there are only two of you that believe that i might still post something here (i still get my stats update every week). actually, scratch that...probably both of those visits are my mother.

anyway, here i am with not a lot to say. just thought i should probably let you all know that i haven't totally abandoned you. i've just been kinda busy and kinda totally off my groove.

but these three (yes, i had another child in june) have been keeping me pretty busy. i wish i could say life is all idyllic and stuff, but here's the truth: we watch a lot of tv. and i'm kinda cranky sometimes. and i yell way more than i should.

it's true what they say--three kids really does rock your world. at least, it's rocked mine! (insert laughter of my mother who had eight. or my friend stephanie who has five kids ages 5 and under.)

but i'm starting to feel like a person again, and i feel like although this will continue to be demanding that I CAN DO IT. i've starting cooking dinner again and i've actually gone to the park a few times without help. i've been to the store with all three, and quickly realized that i never want to do it again.

although it's been an adjustment, i feel a deep sense of gratitude everyday for these three little ones. i'm so grateful to be a mother and to be able to spend all my time with them. i'm a firm believer that the hardest things are also the most rewarding things. i know i'm very lucky to have this time with them, and i hope to make the most of it.

they are so sweet and so dear to me. love them so much.

and to you, please don't give up on me yet.

innovators

2011-02-01T22:36:00.005-07:00

Several months ago Jayson got a call to be in a short film for byutv. He's done a few pieces before, but they've never turned out just right. There was always something off, or they didn't quite capture who we are or what we do.

This video, however, is so different. We love it. We really feel like they captured who Jayson is and the essence of J Dawgs. It's 3.5 minutes long, but it's perfect.

Because of changes at byutv, it won't ever air on tv. But they sent us the disc a few weeks ago and told us we could use it once they put it on their website. It went live tonight, so I'm so happy to share it now.

Words don't quite describe how proud I am or how much I love Jayson.

favorite resolution

2011-01-31T20:49:00.004-07:00

(photo only somewhat related to this post, but i love the picture so whatever)

i was visiting my oldest friend today (not as in age, as in length of friendship), and she asked if i was ever going to blog again.

oh boy, it's true. ever since i had penny, i feel like i have less time to blog. and my parents came home from their mission, so i don't have to blog for them anymore. the best time for me to blog is after the kids are in bed, and by that time of day i'd rather poke my eyes out than put together a cohesive sentence. in the end, these are all excuses. and i like blogging. so maybe i'll try to be better. maybe.

we've been doing some fun things, and eventually maybe i'll post them here. but now i want to talk about what we have NOT been doing.

when i was making resolutions, i had lots of ideas of going new places. having new friends over. parties. time out with each child. date night with j--once a month (i tried to be realistic). family vacations.

after looking at all of the resolutions, i started getting overwhelmed. i had a lot of places to go and things to do. and i like being out...if i'm home too much i go crazy. but if i'm gone too much, i'm also crazy.

so my favorite resolution was born: one day a week, don't leave the house. stay at home all day. clean. snuggle. no media--no t.v., no computer, no iphone. laundry. crafts. forts. naps.

i rotate between my rooms--always cleaning the bedrooms, toilets, and living room every week, and then focusing one week on the kitchen and one week in each of my bathrooms. i've cleaned deeper in my house than i have in a long time. my house loves me. my kids get great rest and wonderful play time together. and when i got out the rest of the week, i don't feel guilty because my house is nice and clean.

i think this was one of my greatest ideas. tuesday is now my favorite day.

christmas card

2010-12-23T08:44:00.002-07:00

jayson

Life continues to pick up speed. The family is keeping him busier and happier than he ever thought possible. Best part of his day is coming through the door after work to the various forms of ‘dad’ that the two girls can muster. Feels very fortunate to have weathered the economic downturn while managing to still see steady growth with the business. The new J Dawgs space has been a blessing and is working out brilliantly. While catering, met incredible people including: M. Russell Ballard, Robert D. Hales, Steve Young, and Jim McMahon (who is even cooler than he seems). Jayson still enjoys his outlets of medium-format photography, tinkering with the never-ending ’53 Chevrolet truck project, and reading great historical books.

heidi

Stretched her lazy bone and finished a sprint triathlon in May, and a riotous 188 mile relay race with eleven of her siblings and friends in September. She didn’t finish last--and that was all she really cared about. Found her groove with two kids and therefore decided to spice things up and add a third child. Her favorite week this year was our family vacation in June. Her least favorite week was trying to get ready to sell our house. Thankfully or unthankfully, it didn’t sell so we’re staying put for at least a few more months.

mae

Started preschool on a great little farm with sheep, pigs, goats, llamas, and kangaroos. Played soccer this year and ran around the ball a lot, but also managed to score a couple goals. Took swim lessons and made incredible progress in only a few lessons. We think she has a career in cosmetology since she cut her own hair twice this year. She is incredible kind, sometimes a touch bossy, very tall, incredibly smart, and most of all an amazing daughter and a very loving older sister.

penny

Grew up very fast and celebrated her first birthday in October. Is now walking everywhere, with a spring in her step. Is shaping up to be a daddy’s girl and will yell for and run to Jayson whenever he is near--including church where Jayson sits on the stand and she sits in the congregation (much to the amusement of those around us). She is a dog lover, has a hearty giggle, and thinks she is the comedian in the family.

we hope this holiday season finds you happy and healthy. we are deeply grateful for our associations and friendship with you.

baby #3

2010-12-04T14:23:00.006-07:00

we had our ob appointment on wednesday. because my doctor rocks and because the nurses take extraordinary care of me they took a little look-sie at my baby. i was only 14 weeks, but they thought they'd see what they could see anyway (most doctors/clinics say you must be at least 16 weeks).

this little sweetie was not shy or difficult. it was quite easy to see that it's a ...

(no immodesties are shown in this pic. like you want to see that!)

boy! a BOY! a Boy! a boy! a BOY!

the genetic trend in my family is we never have more than two of the same sex in a row. so i thought we would probably have a boy...but then again i have so many friends who have 3, 4, and 5 in a row of the same sex. so i had to consider having another girl. jayson had thought multiple times that he'd be the father of all girls. and for the record, he was happy about this. many times when people heard i was pregnant, they would tell jayson they'd be praying that he'd get a boy, or they hoped he got it right this time, etc. i say to you: blah blah blah. girls kick butt. either way we would be ecstatic.

and we are thrilled that we will have a boy in the family. this brings with it several new experiences and aspects of being a parent. we welcome these experiences and are sure it will bring more dimension and love into our house.

jayson has already pulled out all of his signed jerseys and footballs and is telling me where he is going to hang them in the nursery. he keeps telling me all of the things he is going to need now that he will be the father of a boy. and how old he will be when junior goes to scout camp.

oh, and he keeps asking me what i think of the name lavell.

...because...

2010-11-02T21:45:00.001-06:00

...because I was constantly looking for my third child...that I didn't yet have...

...because I love feeling sick...

...because I think kids rule...

...because I think sleep is overrated...

...because we felt like it was what we should do...but also what we wanted to do...

...because being a parent is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us...

...we decided to do this...

...for a third time...

Baby coming our way May 30, 2011...

Team Deadrock

2010-09-13T11:18:00.007-06:00

Once upon a time I had a really crazy idea. I wanted to get a team together to run the Red Rock Relay. It is a 186 mile race through Southern Utah. Each team has 12 members who run 3 legs each. I thought my family would dig it, so I pitched the idea to them: Team Deadrock runs the Red Rock. Most seemed up to it.

Then I realized it meant I had to run. A lot. And I decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea. So I didn't say anything else about it. I hoped they'd forget. Really really hoped.

But my sister-in-law (SIL) Amy thought it was a great idea. And she saw what a neat experience it would be. She picked up where I had left off. She pulled a team together and got everything set up. She is a rock star.

The race was last weekend, Sept 10-11th. I'm not sure I can adequately explain how amazing the weekend was.

Did you play sports in high school? Do you know what it's like to cheer for your team? To scream your guts out? To be happy for everyone who plays? To hope that everyone plays their best? To be crammed into a small space where everyone reeks? To share the exhaustion, heat, cold, mediocre food, porta-potties, and lac of sleep? To have the total support of people you might not have known before?

There were a few times I was at my end. The last uphill mile of my first leg. The pitch black stillness on my second leg. And this out-of-nowhere hill on my third leg. Each time, someone showed up to help me finish. A couple times it was one of my brothers, Kirk or Kevin (who came to cheer on their wives). They ran with me step for step and made sure I made it to the finish. It was incredible to have them there. On that out-of-nowhere hill, my entire team (who had all finished their legs and were super sore and tired) jumped out of the van and ran me up the hill. My van was there every mile of my runs, screaming my name and making sure I had water. I can't tell you what that feels like. I was so deeply touched by everyone on my team--some who had known me my whole life and some I'd just met. It's something I'll never forget. It makes me never want to compete in an individual sport or race again. How would I do it without my team?

Here's a race breakdown:

There are two vans, the Snow Van and the Sun Van. The Snow Van had my sister Shannon, my SIL Tricia, two of my SIL Amy's siblings--Justin and Hanna, and Amy's BIL Art. The Sun Van had my SIL Amy, her brother Vaikko, two of her coworkers Doug and Mikael, a friend Jenny, and Tricia's nephew Jaron (who volunteered four days before the race when another one of our racers couldn't make it).

Our team started at 9:05 a.m. at Brian Head Resort. 10,500 feet above sea level. 34 degrees outside. Not a lot of oxygen in the air. You ride up the chairlift and send your first runner off (Tricia!).

The Snow Van waiting for us to load up.

The first legs of our race ran by Bryce Canyon

and through Dixie National Forrest.

Could you have a more picturesque area?

Shannon handing the baton (slap bracelet) off to Justin.

Our first legs took us from 9:05 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. My first leg was 5.8 miles with almost 700 feet of elevation gain (pretty constant the whole 5.8 miles), running at 8,000 feet above sea level. I ran the entire way and sprinted to the finish which was all I had really hoped. But I did put our team behind seven minutes because I ran so slow. I was pretty bummed about this for awhile. Then we went to Cedar City to wait for the Sun Van to finish their legs. We showered and tried to sleep a bit. This was completely unsuccessful.

The Sun Van finished around 7:30 and we started our second legs.

The evening legs took us through Cedar City and out west. We had dirt roads and mostly deserted roads. It was pretty late. We were tired. I was the last leg again. This run was 5.5 miles with about 500 feet in elevation loss (over the first 4 miles, last 1.5 miles were flat). It was really dark, I didn't have all the time I thought I would to prepare. I started out a bit frazzled. It was 12:30 a.m. and I was beat. But I ran and ran my heart out. Kirk showed up and ran the last 1.5 miles with me. I could have kissed him, I was so grateful to have him there. After I finished, I checked out my time. I had come in seven minutes ahead of schedule. I had made up my time! I had run my butt off! I was so happy with myself.

It was 1:30 a.m. I crashed. Dead to the world.

Only to be woken up at 4:00 a.m.

Our next legs took us through Snow Canyon and Washington. We hit Snow Canyon at sunrise. It was so incredibly beautiful.

Me mucho sleepy.

My last leg was supposed to be a cake walk--2.1 miles. But total exhaustion and extremely sore muscles had set in. I wasn't sure I'd even make it .1 miles. But my team, MY TEAM! They helped me through it. Shannon grabbed my hand and pulled me up the out-of-nowhere (curse under my breath) hill. Everyone ran with me until I reached the top. My brother Kevin ran with me my last half mile. What a sweet feeling to be done with my legs! And, I came in right on time. Yes! Each stripe on my arm represents one of my legs.

I was so inspired by everyone on my team. Tricia had never run in a race before. Actually, I'm not really sure Tricia had run at all before three months ago. She has fasciitis. She probably shouldn't have run, but she didn't want to let her team down. She ran her butt off and never complained one. Her last run had a monster hill.

Shannon was a more seasoned runner. She made her runs look easy. She was the toughest girl in our van. Doesn't she look it? She ran 14.5 miles.

Art (middle) ran the toughest legs of the course. He made them look like a walk in the park. It was unreal. Then when Jaron was injured, he ran Jaron's last leg for him. Oh, and he was sick. We chanted his name a lot. He was our hero.

Hannah (right) had only ran her first 5k a few weeks ago. She kicked butt. Her first run had this ginormous hill. We saw another girl puking on it. Hannah boogied right up it.

Justin (left) is running an ultra marathon (50 plus miles) soon to qualify for the Western States 100 (as in 100 miles). He ran like a maniac.

And me. The chubbiest member of the team. I inspired myself. 13.4 miles in 24 hours. I hate to admit it, but I hadn't run the three weeks before the race. Something about selling my house, a puppy, and the flu happening at my house. But I did it! And maybe someday soon I should be able to walk normally again.

We all met up at Zions and ran to the finish line together.

Doug led the way. Did I mention he runs barefoot?

I was praying that no one wanted to sprint to the finish. God answers prayers.

I can't squelch that enthusiasm! Yeah Team Deadrock!

I wish we could have spent more time with the Sun Van. They seemed to be amazing.

Here we all are, showing off our stripes.

Here are the Deadrocks (Livingstones) of Team Deadrock. Shannon, me, Tricia, Amy. All girls? Yes, I think so. I know, we're tougher than tough.

If you ever get the chance participate in something like this--the Wasatch Back, Red Rock Relay, etc--I would strongly encourage you to do it. It's an experience you'll never forget. And the sore muscles, I hear they go away eventually.

Go Team Deadrock!

for sale

2010-09-02T11:52:00.002-06:00

Today is a very bittersweet day.

Today we put our house up for sale.

We are devastated.

And so excited.

About two weeks ago, we found a spot for lease by the University of Utah. A spot for J Dawgs. Great location, cool building, great price. We found the owner, told him who we were, and he said he wanted us.

Amazing.

We love Springville and never wanted to leave. We have the best neighbors. Our house is one of a kind. We love the location, the charm, and the smaller town feel. We love the mix of people we've met here.

But the construction on the freeway is harsh. And I want to see my husband. And the girls need to see their dad. And opening a new store is going to require many many hours.

We are so sad to go. We probably won't go too far--possibly American Fork? We still have a Provo store to watch over. But we know once we leave, we won't come back. And that is just about enough to crush us.

We really hope we can find someone who loves this house as much as we do. Someone who will enjoy our brand new patio, the soon-to-open 40,000 square foot library across the street, the 12 foot ceilings, hardwood floors, air conditioning, and mature trees.

And, we especially hope to find someone who will love our neighbors. We will miss them.

swimming lessons

2010-07-01T16:29:00.001-06:00

If you recall, swim lessons are on our list this summer. I could go on and on about how absolutely necessary I think it is that a child learn how to swim. But I'll spare you. You're welcome.

We've been to three lessons so far, and I think we hit the jackpot. We love our teacher. I really think she is amazing. This is the best money I've spent in a long time. It feels so good knowing my child is learning to be safe in the water. And having fun. And building her self-esteem. Etc.

And because Mae is so proud of herself, and therefore I am ridiculously proud of her, I am posting a video we took today at swim lessons. It's only 10 seconds, but I'm not offended if you don't watch.

Did I mention this is only after her third (EVER) swim lesson?

Erin teaches out of Springville. Website here. Tell her I sent you.

summer 2010

2010-06-10T11:27:00.004-06:00

I've made my list.

You know, my list where I have very lofty goals for the summer to make it educational, fun, and extremely memorable? And I usually finish about a quarter of them?

But at least I have goals.

Summer 2010

carnival at art city days

grow sunflowers

make our own bubbles

run a 10k

stand in the ocean (ten days!)

make a pinata

grow butterflies

take a ride in a '53 chevy (this is a whole other post, but the engine is finally at our house!)

help mae start a journal

demolition derby

get glitter toes (appointment friday)

learn about and visit the smoot's bees

pick your own strawberries or raspberries (cherries?)

do the summer reading program at the library (mae AND i joined today!)

ride the carousel at zermatt (we have lots of tokens. want to come?)

go camping

do a triathlon (DONE!)

picnic at salem pond

attend the utah scottish festival and highland games

watch a movie on our back patio

swimming lessons for mae

and here are a few that have been on my list for the last few years. that i still haven't done. but i will do them this year. or die trying.

ride bikes from bridal veil falls to utah lake

go to cove fort

watch the hot air balloons

play a game of kickball

and, if i can swing it, i'd really really like to take jayson to moab this summer.

of course, i haven't included fishing, visiting thanksgiving point weekly, playing in the fountain at the gateway, swimming at veterans pool, etc because those will happen without planning.

ready, set, GO!

triathlete

2010-05-24T21:26:00.007-06:00

saturday was my triathlon, the woman of steel. and if you'd please excuse me, i'd like to toot my own horn here for a minute.

(my gear)

when i signed up for the triathlon i was six weeks postpartum. i had 29 pounds to lose to be at my pre-Penny weight (and another eleven after that). i could barely run a block or so. i had no clothes that fit. i was miserable in my body.

but i'd been there before, three years ago. and i know that bodies are remarkable and love to be pushed to new heights. so i set my sights really high. i've been thinking about a triathlon for years, but they seemed so...not for regular people. just for super athletes. but whatever, i just made a human so could it be harder than that?

so i trained. and trained and trained. five days a week for the last six months. it was my master and i was it's slave. it was tough. grueling. it was 5 a.m. mornings at the gym. late morning walks until i could run, pushing the girls in the (falling apart) jogger. it was swimming, biking, weights, running. it was counting every calorie i put in my mouth. it was learning new sport (and it's language). it was spending money on equipment i didn't know i need (hello biking shorts with PADDING!). it was choosing every single day that i wanted it; that i was going to make it happen. it was finding all new ways to motivate myself.

as the race approached i started to get really nervous. i felt as prepared as i could have been physically, considering where i had started. i did the entire race the saturday before at the gym. i knew i could swim 300 meters, bike 12.8 miles and then run 3 miles. but there was so much unknown. i've never done one of these and i only know four people who have. i called them and had them talk me through it again and again.

me: "are you sure i can't run into the bathroom and change into clothes after my swim?"

me: "are you sure i won't die?"

me: "what if my swimsuit rips in half?"

me: "what if i get a flat tire?"

me: "what happens if i die?"

me: "what if someone kicks me in the face while we're swimming?"

me: "what if someone faints when they see my body in all those (too) tight clothes?"

i think i was more nervous about the race than anything else i've done in a long time. i'd invested so much in training for the race, i just didn't want to blow it. i'd pictured myself crossing the finish line at least six times a day for the last six months. and if i didn't cross it, i'd be heartbroken.

devastated.

but,

i crossed finish line.

i did it.

jayson was waiting for me right over the finish line. i grabbed him, and he kept repeating to me, "i'm so proud of you. you did it. i'm so proud of you." we both cried, and the entire world melted away. in that moment it was only he and i. every once of pain and every sacrifice was worth it to feel what i felt then. it is almost indescribable. i was so proud of myself and so thankful for my body. it is a moment i will remember for the rest of my life. i kicked butt.

(my biggest fans)

of course, i didn't literally kick butt. i finished in the dead middle of the pack. that's all i wanted and all i expected. but, i did have the 14th fastest transition time at the first transition (i killed the transitions).

they had to modify the race since it was 40 degrees, raining and freezing. they switched the swim to an additional run. that wasn't my favorite, but i was also glad i didn't have to ride my bike and run wet. run, bike, run.

(joy, ryan, teresa and haylee came to cheer me on)

this race, the woman of steel was inspiring. it is an all woman triathlon and i saw ladies from all walks of life. some young, some old. some fit, some seeking to be fit. i was there alone, but many were there with friends and family. the energy was palpable. we got an email that included everyone's reason for doing the triathlon (we had to submit it with our application) and the reasons were varied; some were funny and some were heartbreaking. when i looked around during the race i knew we all had different reasons for racing, but that we were all seeking a common goal. to finish. to find some healing. to be triathletes.

and now i can count myself among them. i can call myself a triathlete.

i am a triathlete.

i am a woman of steel.

i'll never forget it.

photos

2010-05-01T17:31:00.011-06:00

It's just been one of those weeks.

You know the kind of week I'm talking about.

But the nitty-gritty of it is that I am extremely blessed and ridiculously happy. So instead of ranting, I'd like to show you some pictures from my phone that hopefully will bring you laughter like they do for me.

Mae is quite the fashion diva. I feel that parents and kids could fight about things often--holding hands when you cross the road, not playing with the stove, etc. Since Mae is pretty strong willed, I feel that I'd rather pick my battles. So why fight about what she wears all the time?

She changes at least six times a day and comes up with the silliest outfits.

Special attention is often paid to footwear.

She did this to her shoes on the way to the aquarium.

Speaking of fashion...I see it on other babies and I think I should do it on my baby too. But really, when I try I just think it looks ridiculous. Really really ridiculous.

Jayson was in charge of baths one night. I guess he wanted to give Penny a spa experience. Mae and Jayson got out straws and gave her bubbles too. (umbrella in the bottle?!)

I ordered a few things from diapers.com, and it all game in a ginormous box. Mae slept in it for a week.

I was in the bathroom doing my business and she came in...

Bath time!

You've seen cattle trucks on the highways. But have you ever seen what is spilling out the back? Poop, all over the road.

I was trying to take a nap...and I was so rudely disturbed.

Say cheese!

Sometimes we deface government property (j dawgs sticker on a firetruck).

Once a family member said they wanted to live on an island with a mote.......uh...don't all islands kind of have a mote? So we made this individual an island with "a mote" out of playdough.

We also made people in snuggies, because everyone in this world should have a snuggie.

I saw truck's bed piled high with twinkies and ho-ho's and covered with a chain-link fence. I was utterly befuddled. What in the world would you do with millions of twinkies?

Turns out they feed them to pigs. They come from the hostess outlets' outlet (can you believe there's such a thing?). Makes you want some pork. Oink, oink!

We need to keep an eye on Mae whenever she plays with stamps. At least she found the M.

Bubble wrap!
She rules the roost!

Hungry and tired. Guess which one won?

Remember how Jayson rented an Easter Bunny suit?

Mae has always had a tendency to run around. She was trying to get out the door at church, and her dress got stuck in it. We still had a few things to take care of, so we left her there for a few minutes. We were just happy she was contained.

Will it blend? Have you seen those video's on youtube? Hilarious. We bought a blendtec and got to see the set.

Time to swim!

Lastly at Powells Books in Portland.

My girls don't lack personality...that's for sure!

I feel better already.

please play along

2010-04-19T22:23:00.001-06:00

...(i'll explain later)...

fill in the blank:

having kids is so ____________________

Dead computer

2010-04-19T11:35:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking about my blog a lot lately.

But my computer got the dreaded gray screen of death. Pray that we can
recover all of our data...I can't remember when I last backed up and I
have all of my little brothers mission pictures on it.

So I'm trying blogging by email. This may not turn out how I think.

Truthfully, I'm not complaining too much because no computer means
more time to nibble on these cheeks.

smooch

2010-03-22T16:16:00.003-06:00

i can't handle it! all i want to do is smooch these girls all day!

did you know that...

2010-03-14T15:21:00.006-06:00

i made a quiz about myself on facebook once, and one of the questions asked where i would eat my last meal. everyone besides jayson got the question wrong--they all answered my mother's house. although i love my mom dearly, my last meal would not be at her house. it would be at j dawgs. that place is so much a part of who we are. it holds so many memories. it is our first baby. and the dawgs are delicious.

i am clumsy and awkward. i was running in heels on friday and i face-planted. in front of lots of people. and i do things like that often.

i can't spell. (oh, you noticed?)

i have super sexy ankles.

one of my many flaws is i have a hard time seeing life other than the way i've lived it. i know this about myself, and i try really hard to not be this way. but living in the dorms was really good to me, so you should do it too. and going on a mission was vital to my growth and development, so you should go on one too. and having kids is amazing, so you should do it too. i know that life happens so differently for everyone...i just forget. and i'm way too vocal about my opinions. i'm trying, ok.

i love to cook. i'd do it all day, every day.

i love to try new things. especially new food.

i have a temper. and i'm impatient.

i want to go back to school someday. social work, culinary school, or sociology as it relates to food.

i hate scary movies.

i want 2-4 more children.

my goal in life is to live (for at least one year) where i can have an avocado and mango tree. hopefully hawaii.

i love to read, but i'm a horrible reader. i rarely finish books. i started a book club to remedy this. it only works about 50% of the time.

i never want to move. i love my home and my neighborhood. but...1270 square feet, 4-6 kids, and no back yard might be tough.

when we outgrow our house, i want to move somewhere new and different. a place where people have funny accents, and where i can have chickens and at least an acre of land.

i used to have blond short hair. now i have brown long hair. i get a lot of blank stares from people i haven't seen in a long time.

i'm a very goal oriented person. that is why i signed up for a triathlon--because i knew that i would exercise consistently and thus lose weight. it doesn't work for me to "try to lose weight." i had to have an end goal.

i want to go with jayson to australia, italy, and england. and hawaii every year. i need more skymiles.

i have a hard time incorporating prints into my wardrobe.

i had lasik. twice.

i'm missing four permanent teeth. my mouth was too small for my teeth (ironic, since i have such a big mouth).

i struggle balancing raising my children and fulfilling my personal needs and wants. and i'm not saying the kids always win.

i'd buy toilet paper if apple or honda made it.

i want to be more in harmony with the earth. recycling, composting, gardening, riding my bike, etc.

i'd like snow if it only happened for a month and then warmed up. or if i never had to leave my house.

if i don't leave my house, i quickly get into a slump. i need people. i need sunshine.

i get carsick.

i have a stomach of steel. i rarely throw-up. but when i do, it is because i'm violently ill...if you catch my drift.

my favorite shows are LOST, modern family, biggest loser, psych, and the office. i'll be glad when lost is done because this is too much t.v. for me to keep up with.

i love sweets. ice cream is my favorite and pie is my least favorite. followed closely by cake. unless it's a bundt cake. i love bundt cake.

shopping is my therapy.

i am blessed far more than i deserve. i feel like that talking heads song..."you might find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife (husband) and you may ask yourself, well how did i get here?"

how did i get here?

sisters

2010-03-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

portland

2010-02-24T21:04:00.006-07:00

last monday we decided that we needed to go to portland so our girls could see their family. tuesday we set up our schedule so we could leave and wednesday we were out the door by 2 after jayson finished catering.

jayson's parents live outside of portland. both of their parents live within 10 minutes of their home. also jayson's brother and his wife, aunts and uncles, and many friends live there. we were able to visit many of them and hit all of our favorite spots. mostly we just enjoyed hanging out together.

a four generation shot with great grandpa edwards.

the girls with great grandpa edwards.

and a four generation shot with great grandma rudolph.

watching for the squirrels at mom and dad's. mae was memorized.

usually portland is very rainy. not this weekend--we had sun everyday. it was so wonderful.

at the park two houses down.

mom and dad picked up a powerwheels for free! mae loved it.

we swam in the hot tub twice.

we went downtown a couple times. the first time we walked by the river for a bit. the second time we went to heaven--a.k.a. powells books (68,000 square feet full of books) and sur la table (any kitchen thing you could ever want).

we found this fountain and mae had a blast playing in it. the clothes slowly started coming off as she got more and more wet. it was maybe 55 degrees outside.

the pants even came off. i was hesitant, but everyone said "this is portland!"

penny just hung out.

i have three restaurants i love to eat at when in portland.

1. e-sans thai cuisine.

2. bob's red mill (we ate here twice).

3. burgerville.

we hit all three and i had an obscene amount of tilamook ice cream. i was in food heaven/food coma.

sunday we had many visitors. we are very lucky to know so many wonderful people. monday it all had to end and we started our drive home. it was a fantastic trip. i found my inner hippie. we love portland!

great decision

2010-02-16T15:12:00.005-07:00

i've made a few really good decisions in my life: marrying jayson, serving a mission, going to byu and volunteering for the 2002 olympic games.

in truth, most of those things weren't decisions at all. i knew way too quickly that i wanted to marry jayson. i knew when i was 12 and my sister was on a mission that i would serve too. i always knew i'd go to byu--there wasn't another option in my family.

i remember so clearly sitting down at my computer in my dorm room the day they opened registration for volunteers. i was 18, and i can't remember ever wanting to do anything like i wanted to volunteer. i watched the olympics as a kid with the same wide eyed fascination as most. i loved the olympics. i loved that the common man could compete and become a champion. the stories are so inspiring. the athletes are so amazing. and i had to be a part of it.

i waited what seemed like forever before they sent out their invitations. i was selected to be a full-time volunteer. you probably have heard that they had 20,000+ volunteers so you might assume that everyone who volunteered was accepted. not so--my mother wanted badly to be a full-time volunteer and ended up being invited only to be part-time. it was a big deal to me that even though i would be young--20 years old, that they would let me assist full-time.

byu was fantastic and asked all faculty and staff to work with their students and employees who were volunteers. my job was amazing and let me miss multiple shifts. my teachers were so gracious with me as i missed several classes (and slept in those that i could attend). byu also cancelled school for an entire week so that we could enjoy the games.

being a volunteer was a huge time commitment. we had several training sessions before the olympics--general and job specific. we started our shifts weeks before any athletes or officials came to town. we woke up at 3 a.m. most days to be in our post by 4:30 a.m. we had to go to salt lake multiple times to pick up our uniforms and credentials.

however, they rewarded us well. we all received one ticket to a metals ceremony where a famous artist/band would play. we were invited to see the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies. we got a uniform valued at $1000. we got a watch and a participation metal.

(we saw n'sync at the metals ceremony. killer.)

but those things really pale in comparison to the experiences we had. i was based out of soldier hollow, and i got to see many cross-country races and biathlon events.

one morning the today show did a piece on soldier hollow, and guess who was there? our friend al roker.

green jello was the big joke during the olympics, so i made a poster that looked like a green jello box to be on the today show.

almost all of my friend took advantage of the week off of byu and went home. i can't blame them. but i do think they missed out on an experience of a lifetime. and i'm not just talking about volunteering--everything about utah those weeks were electric. my friend harmony stayed and we both worked at soldier hollow together.

i lived really close to the peaks ice arena and we picked up cheep tickets one evening after a hockey game started. sweden and someone. after we went to salt lake and went to a whole bunch of free entertainment events.

my mom helped put together the packets for the opening and closing ceremonies. she received a ticket to the closing ceremonies but didn't want to go alone. i told her i'd gladly go alone, so she gave me her ticket. the best show i've ever seen live.

i've been thinking about my experiences a lot this week as i watch the vancouver games. i think i was so lucky that everything fell into place for me. i think i was pretty young to grasp the kind of experiences i would have.

now, i believe they were once-in-a-lifetime. i most likely won't live in a host city again. i know how much hotel rooms cost in salt lake during the olympics and realistically i will never afford to visit a city during the olympics. watching the games on t.v. is great, but it pales in comparison to being there and experiencing it. i was so lucky. it really was one of the best decisions i've ever made.

i love the olympics.

bountiful basket

2010-01-23T16:22:00.004-07:00

today was my first experience with bountiful baskets. karrie told me about it a few months ago, and i finally signed up for pick up this week. here's a nutshell version--they're a co-op who bargains with the suppliers for grocery stores and restaurants. they buy produce in bulk, and then distribute it to various locations in arizona (hello BECKY!), utah, idaho, and washington biweekly. because they can barter lower prices, they give you large amounts of fresh produce for extremely low prices. it's a volunteer organization, so if you sign up you are expected at some point to go do your time. i plan on it.

they acquire produce "locally" meaning arizona, texas, california, and northern mexico. hey, that's better than chile, right? the food is therefore seasonal, which is a wonder to me because california seems to be able to grow anything all year long. i'm grateful for this aspect of the co-op, because one of my goals this year is to cook food in it's season.

here's the catch--you don't get to choose exactly what you get. you show up and there is a basket full of fruit and a basket full of vegetables (everyone's the same). here's my basket this week:

1 large head romaine lettuce
1 bunch broccoli
2 cucumbers
2 zucchinis
10 roma tomatoes
7 red peppers
7 bananas
8 tangerines
5 grapefruit
1 package strawberries
7 braeburn apples
11 bosc pears

total=$15

they also offer fresh bread, granola, and often ethnic baskets. this week they offered a mexican basket. it had:

1 bunch green onions
1 bunch cilantro
4 limes
1 head garlic
1 package homemade flour tortillas (oh.my.gosh. so good.)
10 tomatillos
2 yellow onions
3 avocados
6 green chile peppers
4 jalapeno pepper

total=$6

i haven't tasted everything in the basket yet, obviously. i made some salsa verde today and mae ate half the box of strawberries. i also tried some tangerine and grapefruit. i will say this. the produce is extremely fresh and very tasty...sooooooooooo much better than the produce i've found in springville.

if you're interested, go to bountifulbaskets.org and sign up on their mailing list. you'll get an email next tuesday or wednesday saying the co-op is open. sign up for a basket (you only have until thursday, i think). they go saturday morning to reagan academy and pick up your booty.

then come home and stare at it in amazement and wonder what the heck you're going to cook with all this delicious looking food.

but don't forget a basket. then you'll look silly like i did.

issues.

2010-01-20T21:14:00.005-07:00

I had a post all scripted in my head. It was all about whether I should cut my hair or not. I'm a short hair lover. Which you might think strange if you've only come to know me in the last couple months, because my hair is not short.

It's longer than it's been in at least 15 years, perhaps my whole life. It all started a couple years ago when I was going on and on about how much I love short hair, and how I think short hair looks better on me, etc. To which Jayson asked if I ever had long hair. Uh...not really. At least not when I knew anything about doing hair. So we both decided I should try it. For research, you know. I vowed not to cut until I had another child.

I kept good on my promise, but now my hair is driving me crazy and I'm ready to cut. I have all of the reasons ready to list off to you; why it's cheaper, easier, and sassier (I'm all about sassy).

But I have a dilemma. If I cut, I will look like everyone else. I swear everyone I know has short hair. Or maybe it just seems like everyone I know has short hair because I'm always admiring the bobs. Is it so bad to look like everyone else? Doesn't short hair rock? Don't I need it?

So I was searching for photos to show you what I looked like with short hair so you could give me your opinion. And I found my answer. I don't need to cut or not cut, I need to lose 30 pounds so my face is thinner again.

Thanks for solving my dilemma.

But then I found these two pictures and I have a new set of issues.

I miss this kid something fierce. I can't talk about it. I start crying. Work hard Drew, and then hurry your butt home.

And this........this...........this................. I can't talk about it. Then I might voluntarily offer limbs for someone to get me back to that island. And I kind of like my legs, especially my ankles.

resolutions

2010-01-08T15:02:00.003-07:00

today i woke up before my girls and read my scriptures (goal #1).

then i loaded them up and went to the marriott center and walked/ran for 45 minutes while pushing my girls in my $40 double jogger i found on ksl.com classifieds (goal #2).

my meals today have been clean, healthy, made from scratch, made with what i had around, and perfectly balanced.

i just got back from walking to the library. i got my book club book, the odyssey (goal #5) and three books about cooking foods in season and grown at your local farmers market (goal #7). oh, and several books for mae. don't i usually buy books? maybe frugality should be a goal because i'm doing it so well.

later, i'm going to learn how to oil paint, do yoga, and sing kumbaya.

hello new years. good to see you. it will be sweet while it lasts.

Penny is blessed.

2010-01-04T12:30:00.010-07:00

Sunday was one of the most beautiful days of my life. In the LDS Church, we bless our babies in infancy. It is an opportunity to give the child blessings and advice with love and inspiration. The baby is typically blessed in Church by the father and is assisted by family and friends. So Sunday we blessed little Penny and we were surrounded by dear family and friends. It was one of those days where I felt a tremendous amount of love from all around, especially Above.

I have kind of weird ideas about things sometimes, and for some reason I wanted to bless all my children at home. I felt like a baby blessing was a really intimate and special moment, and I felt awkward sharing that with so many people. So Mae was blessed at home and it was lovely. But after many conversations and considerations, we decided that we really should bless Penny at church. I'm so glad we did.

I also didn't understand why you would spend $$$$ on a dress or outfit for a blessing that they'd wear for one hour. Mae was blessed in a dress I found for $20, and I really didn't like it very much, but it was inexpensive so it worked (I had the same ideas about my wedding dress).

Awhile ago my mom let me borrow a beautiful tatted bonnet she wore as a baby. I've loved it immediately, and I really wanted my girls to wear it. Mae never wore it, but I was determined to have Penny wear it. I really wanted her to wear it when she was blessed, but I could never find an outfit that fit the style or color of the bonnet. I figured if I really wanted Penny to wear it, I'd have to make something. But I'm not really a seamstress, so I knew it would be a struggle.

My mom stepped in and offered to help me make a blessing dress. So we searched high and low for a pattern and fabric that we liked and would work. My mom was so patient with me being wishy-washy and indecisive. In the end, we found lovely dotted swiss fabric and a pattern that would work. My mom worked hard all week to sew Penny her lovely blessing dress. We embleshed it with lace from her wedding dress. We found the shoes that matched the bonnet that, as it turns out, were the shoes I was blessed in. And she had the bonnet. Her outfit was extremely lovely and very sentimental and special.

Here my mom and I are getting Penny dressed and ready for her special day:

With Jayson before the blessing:

We had lots of family in town--Jayson's parents came from Portland, his sisters from Provo, and his brother and his family from Lehi. Also, my parents came from Provo, my sister and her family from Long Beach California, my brother and his family from Ruby Valley Nevada, and my other brother and his family from Heber. We hosted them at our house for a breakfast before church. It was a pretty full house.

The blessing was beautiful. It's an incredible thing to see your infant taken in the arms of people who love her, and to hear the individualized and special blessings given to your sweet child. I feel, and I'm sure others do too, that it's a moment when you feel like you get a glimpse into the future of your child. You can see more closely who they will become.

Because of the nature of the blessing, I don't feel like I should share much of what was said. But Jayson did talk a little bit about her name--Penelope Kay and since I haven't shared why we named her that, I feel like I can now. Kay is Jayson's mother's middle name. We love and admire her tremendously, and hope that Penny will learn from her humility, kindess and thoughtfulness. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey and stays faithful to him (and fights off 108 suitors) for 20 years while he is off fighting the Trojan War. We hope she will develope the same fidelity.

After the blessing, we came back to the house and Penny had a photoshoot with her Pappa (J's dad). She was in an extremely good mood and Pappa took incredible pictures.

Here are the shoes (I love the peep toes!). Also, you can see some of the lace from my mom's wedding dress on the left.

Of course, Mae had to get in on the action. She really is a sweet older sister and she loves Penny.

and lastly, one of my favorite picture of the day...my girls.

i'm going to tri...

2009-12-15T18:09:00.003-07:00

joy, deb, katy, me, and teresa after the running with angels 5k

once upon a time, i was training for the moab half marathon. it was a goal of mine to run a half marathon, and i was so excited to complete it. however, i met jayson a couple months before the race and suddenly my training program tanked. when race day arrived, i didn't feel as prepared as i'd hoped and i chickened out and only ran the 5 mile race. it's been hard to live that down and i really feel like i disappointed myself.

however, i also felt during that race that 5 miles was the most i'd ever like to run at one time. maybe it was because i was so ill-prepared, maybe its a.d.d., or maybe i don't love running like i thought. maybe i don't believe in myself enough. whatever it is, i decided that maybe i'd like to try something different.

a triathlon.

it sounded challenging enough, and diverse enough to do. i've been looking for a race for awhile, but between kids, no bike, and total inexperience in the field, i wasn't sure where to begin. i don't think i've known anyone around here who has participated in a race i could enter. the only race i knew anything about was the spudman, and that seemed out of the question.

so a couple weeks ago i was feeling especially out of shape and fat and resolved that it couldn't continue. a triathlon was the answer. i had to do it. i found a triathlon in american fork in may. it is a women only triathlon and a sprint distance (the shortest). 300 meter swim, 12.4 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. i could do that. it'd take some real training because i haven't lifted a finger in 9 months, but i believe i can accomplish something like it.

last week i bought a bike.

today i registered for the race.

i'm committed.

i have two friends doing it with me so far--elisa (my bff from high school) and stephanie (my bff from my mission). my sister-in-law is almost on board too, she just needs to believe she can do it.

and now, i'm inviting all of you to join me may 22nd. my goal is to finish and lose some of this muffin top i've aquired. that's it. if you join me, i promise i'll ride my bike with you, run with you, or swim with you a couple times before the race.

if you want to enter, go to triutah.com. registration opened today at noon, and last year they sold out within two days. so if you are interested, i'd hurry on over.

i'm so excited. and so nervous.

get-r-done!

family pictures

2009-12-03T08:15:00.004-07:00

Do you need your family picture taken? I can't speak highly enough of Jon Canlas. He's the best in the state, bar none. Jon shoots 100% film, which really sets his work apart. But seriously, even if his pictures weren't phenomenal, I'd have him shoot your family pictures or wedding just because of who he is. He makes you feel totally comfortable and you will want him to be your best friend by the end of the shoot.

Last November, Jayson attended a workshop taught by Jonathan Canlas. We were so honored and flattered when he asked us to come model for his workshop in Park City in October. We knew I was going to be gigantic, but that just kind of added to the fun. Besides, all of the attendies and Jon made me feel like I was beautiful and not a tank (THANK YOU!).

Here are all of Jon's pictures. The other attendies shot beautiful photos too, but Jon's pictures are the best (duh).

Jayson and I both commented about what a wonderful experience it was to have our pictures taken by Jon. We walked away feeling more love, more commitment, more peace. And here I thought we were just going to walk away with photos.

Call Jon. He's totally worth your money.

happy halloween

2009-11-14T09:47:00.001-07:00

halloween wasn't a big deal this year--we had too much going on. so we put mae in her costume from last year. she couldn't have cared less that she wore the same thing two years, and tinkerbell fit much better this year anyway.

mae was really excited because i let her wear lots of makeup. and i told her she could take some "pixie dust" (glitter powder) to the trunk or treat.

penny and i stayed home and handed out candy to the five trick or treaters we had. i found penny's shirt, hat, and monster socks for $0.97 each at the gymboree outlet in march. i love those monster socks.

happy halloween everyone!

photos

2009-11-13T08:56:00.001-07:00

here are a few pictures of miss penelope:

penny has reddish hair. copper color, actually. it's pretty fitting, don't you think? i don't think it will stay--i think it will fall out and go blond like mae's hair, but i hope it stays reddish.

big sister mae loves penny. she loves her a little too much sometimes. but i'd rather have it that way than any other way.

here is a rare picture of penny awake. i swear she sleeps 21 hours a day.

here is penny with one of her new friends, claire. penny has many many friends born these last few weeks. we're so glad to have so many new friends!

welcome, penny.

2009-11-12T19:21:00.007-07:00

i haven't blogged much since penny made her appearance, so i thought i'd share a bit about her arrival.

i was pretty worn out and tired of being pregnant at my 40 week check up. my doctor told me that i would most likely be overdue. that didn't sound too fantastic to me, but when he offered to induce me, i froze up. thankfully jayson was there to remind me that i had said that morning that i would jump at the chance to be induced. i had wanted to let things go naturally, but by that point i was so miserable that i was ready to get this show on the road.

i checked into the hospital two days later at 5 a.m. i was so lucky--my neighbor and good friend was my nurse and saved me the "suite." my room was gigantic, and the best part of the hospital where i delivered is that you labor, deliver and recover in the same room.

they started my pitocin at 6 a.m. the anesthesiologist, who happened to be jayson's former bishop came in next and started my epidural. my epidural with mae was terrible, but this epidural was fantastic. dr. taylor is a saint. as he walked out, dr. judd walked in and broke my water (about 7 a.m.). i labored very comfortably, but penny wasn't very comfortable--her heart rate was all over the place. luckily, things progressed quickly and i was complete and ready to go by 9:15. dr. judd came in at 9:30 and penny was born at 9:59 a.m. and, i watched the whole thing (a first for me!).

this delivery was a completely different experience than mae's birth. it was incredibly comfortable and quick. i loved my nurse, my anesthesiologist, and my doctor. my epidural wore off quickly and i was up and walking around 2 hours later. i even got to take a trip to the nursery and watch penny have her first bath. i've heard a lot of people complain about the nurses checking them constantly--but i think the nurses came in twice the rest of the day. i felt so great, that we went home the next morning. really, it was one of the most amazing experiences i've ever had.

we're so grateful everything went so beautifully. she's amazing.

Penelope Kay

2009-10-26T14:11:00.003-06:00

Penelope Kay

October 21, 2009

7 pounds, 3 ounces

20 inches

We're all so thrilled.

baby horsie

2009-10-14T10:46:00.002-06:00

Mae has been insisting for a couple months that she has a baby in her tummy. She was very sure of herself--always telling me that "baby horsie" was kicking, or asleep, or crying. We indulged her for awhile, because...why not? But as my delivery date approached, we figured we had to address it somehow.

I had a conversation with her where I told her it had been really fun to pretend, but that there really was no baby in her tummy. We assured her that she would get a baby to take care of now, and that someday she would probably have a baby in there. The next thing I knew she was curled up under the table whimpering. She was so sad. So we decided to make a big deal about baby horsie's birth.

Off to build-a-bear...

...where baby horsie came to be. She adores this horse. She takes great care of her.

Oh boy, she's growing up. She's amazing.

Mae is so excited for her little sister to get here too. She tells her everyday that she's ready for her to come out so they can play. Now if only this sweet baby would listen!

summer recap

2009-09-20T21:45:00.009-06:00

in between the chaos that was this summer, i did the following things on my list:

*not cut my hair (okay, i trimmed it a couple times and once was a pretty major trim...but i didn't substantially cut it, which is a success for me)

*rode the heber creeper

*went fishing (THREE times!)

*attended my third wasatch county demolition derby. and don't be jealous, but jayson got to be a judge. ok, be really jealous.

*made a new summer playlist. we danced to it a lot.

*made lemonade out of lemons (literally), thanks to my very talented sister kendra and her appearance on the aol holiday blog.

*rode a chair lift (this was beautiful)

*canned peaches

*outdoor movie (thank you ward activity, even if it did rain)

i did not:

*walk a 5k, but i played some tennis.

*watch hot air balloons, although i did see some fly.
*sit on my new flagstone patio (no $$)
*play kickball
*paint my toenails every week. i can't see my toenails, so i had to rely on others. katy did it for me twice. thank you katy.
*outdoor concert
*go to cove fort (jayson really wants to do this)
*drive alpine loop in the BMW. maybe this week? it's perfect right now.
*go to moab. really, we still haven't been? i can't believe i haven't taken jayson here yet.
*golfing with jayson. he's catered more on golf courses this summer than actually played.
*ride bike from bridal vail to utah lake (next summer).
*batting cages. there is still time.
*go on lots of walks. this one is hopeless. my walks are 4 blocks at best.
*make ice cream in a hand crank bucket. i did get a hand crank bucket, but it's broken and i'm not sure i can fix it. but peach ice cream sounds delightful, and peaches are amazing right now. this week?!?!?!?!

the highlight of the summer was having my parents come home, and having all my family in town. it was crazy, but so much fun. this summer was chaotic, but that's how we roll. yeehaw!

changes

2009-09-20T21:21:00.005-06:00

it's been a crazy couple weeks for us.

three weeks ago jayson was called into a new bishopric in our ward. he's the new first counselor, and he loves the men he works with--bishop scott holden, second counselor steve sumsion, and executive secretary mike groneman. it's going to take a bit to figure out how everything works--for both of us. there are new meetings, new responsibilities, new commitments, etc.

this week we opened headquarters, and i think it's been one of the longest weeks of our lives. it's been so much work, but it seems like it will be worth it. we had our highest grossing day on saturday. it was busy, but it felt more controlled than other days. the extra space is nice. but, it also feels like we're starting from scratch. there are many things we need to get used to and figure out. trial and error is the only way to get things sorted out, so the next few weeks are going to be interesting. we'll have to give it some more attention.

and, today marks one month until baby penny comes. she's bound to shake things up around here too. (we're not 100 percent set on penny yet, so don't hold me to it).

isn't it amazing how changes seem to all come at once? i never thought i'd say this, but thank heavens winter is almost here because things seem to slow down a bit for us during the cold months.

but then again, that was before we had indoor seating at j dawgs.

vip open house

2009-09-19T10:09:00.002-06:00

(j holding a ticket from our vip open house)

go here for pictures from last night. lots of family, friends, and hot dogs. it was an amazing night.

it is time.

2009-09-18T08:19:00.003-06:00

pheh. it's done.

since january we've been working on a big project. and it's been a long and exhausting run. but it's also been fantastic in many ways. tonight, we open for the first time and our emotions are running high.

here is "hq" (headquarters), or j dawgs new home. it's adjacent to where we are now (858 north 700 east in provo). this new space represents a new era for us and j dawgs, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't nervous.

the shack has been really good to us. i don't think anyone could be more attached to a 10'x10' building than we are to it. jayson and i met here, spent part of our first date here, and many many hours here. it's kind of a third person in our marriage, but in a good way. at the shack we have met people from all different walks of life and made some of our best friends.

but we've outgrown it. we can't continue to operate efficiently here. it's just too small.

so we're opening up next door. it has indoor seating, a bathroom, a heater/ac, a 12 head pepsi machine, a tv to watch cougar football, and everything else you might want in a hot dog establishment. except it's not the shack, and that makes us a little sad. but we've felt multiple times that this is the right move for us and we need to make it. so we have trusted in that and moved forward.

tonight we open for those who have helped us finish this project. and as long as we don't blow it up tonight, we open tomorrow for everyone else. we're so excited.

we still don't know the future of the shack. we will keep it (absolutely), and figure out it's new role in j dawgs soon. to go orders? car hop? a new food product all together? not sure, but it's ours and no one will take it from us.

until then, come see us at 858 north 700 east. it's beautiful inside.

back to school

2009-08-10T22:32:00.003-06:00

it's back to school time around here. can you feel it in the air?

i have always loved this time of year. it always meant back to school shopping, new notebooks and pens, new classes, new experiences, new friends and most importantly, the return of old friends. i really loved the shopping back then (surprised?), but what i really miss now are the classes.

i miss the lectures, the readings, the projects, and the papers. i've been dabbling on uvu's website here and there dreaming of what class i would take this semester. sometimes i even look at degrees and dream about going back part-time.

sometimes, i almost sign up.

b-24

2009-07-04T00:34:00.002-06:00

this post deserves more energy than i have. but then again, it isn't really my story to tell....

on tuesday jayson had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; the collings foundation came to utah. they tour the country bringing the old "war birds" to local airports and offer rides on them. it isn't cheap to ride on their planes, but considering this is the only b-24j still flying you can understand the price.

about five years ago, jayson bought his dad a ride on the b-24. scott's been waiting a long time to be able to take this flight, and it turned out that this week would work. we were so excited to watch him fly on this plane, because we knew it would mean a lot to him. as time got closer, we all saw what it would mean to jayson too, so we decided that they should fly together.

from wikipedia:

the b-24 was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft of World War II and still holds the record as the most produced U.S. military aircraft. It was used by many Allied air forces and every U.S. branch of service during the war, attaining a distinguished war record.

jayson and i have both been fascinated with WWII for a couple months now, so this was really exciting to see this part of history so up close and personal.

here are a couple pictures from the day:

(all these pictures were taken with film, which jayson has fallen in love with (again) since the film is not dead workshop with the crazy talented jon canlas).

i heard the flight was unbelievable. we've been watching band of brothers lately, so jayson really tried to envision what it must have been like for the soldiers to ride on these planes.

we met lots of fantastic people that day--a gentleman whose brother flew a b-24 on d-day and didn't make it home from the war alive. also, a sweet sweet lady and her daughter who flew with jayson. we were talking to them a little bit when they got back, and noticed the lady was pretty emotional and the daughter was holding some old dog tags. as we started to listen to her story, we heard that she met a man before the war and was engaged to him when he left to fight. he flew a b-24 on d-day and survived, and went on to fly 30 something more missions. he made it home safely from the war to marry this lady and they had 7 children together. they lived a happy life for the last 60 or so years, until he passed away last month. this flight meant a lot to her and to her daughter, and it was so wonderful to hear how special this experience was to her.

i'm so grateful to those who sacrificed so much to give us the freedoms we have. this experience was something i don't think jayson or scott will forget any time soon.

see scott's pictures and recap here.

on their way home...

2009-07-01T23:12:00.002-06:00

my parents finished their mission today. i'm sure it was an incredibly bittersweet moment for them. they've been busy for the last two years serving the people in five African nations.

they are taking a week to relax a bit before they head home. they'll arrive next tuesday to a house full of excited livingstones.

we are so proud of them, and so happy we could share them for the last two years.

as always, you can read more about their adventures on congochatter.blogspot.com. stories of these young missionaries will melt your heart.

reprise

2009-06-18T17:34:00.004-06:00

so i hate to go on and on about potty training, but i am in love with this method so i just want to say a word about it.

the guiding principles of this method are love and consistency. but i might also add that there is no fighting (not because it's a principle not to fight, but because it is not possible), coercion, or bribing (that doesn't mean no rewards). accidents are important as they are how a child understands what is happening in their body. you are to remain positive at all times and there is to be no reprimanding or punishing.

as of 5:30 today, we've had one accident. it was at about 4:00. she hadn't gone to the bathroom since around 11:30, so i was waiting and waiting for her to yell "mommy, i'm peeing." that's what she says when she has to go--one in four times she probably already is going. but most of the time, it means she needs to go.

from about 2:00 on, i was anxious. i knew she had to go and i just kept reminding her, "let me know when you need to go potty." i knew her little bladder could only hold so much and that sooner or later she was going to need to let it go. in the afternoon she has a tendancy to hang on to it.

it would have been really easy for me to make her sit on the potty and tell her she needed to go. i could have told her it was time, because it was. i know there are a lot of methods out there that encourage that. the truth is i'm and adult and i understand the body and i know that she probably needed to go. but that wasn't what was important.

mae is the one who has to learn when it's time to go. she's the one who needs to understand the signals her body is giving her; what it feels like to be full. and the only way she's going to understand that is if she has accidents.

i think life is sometimes like that. at least parenthood is like that. God trusted me enough to throw me into something TOTALLY new and said, "have at it. you're in this for good; i've thrown away any crutch you might have. so here's what you should do, but you're in charge. and you're going to have accidents, lots of them. but we celebrate the accidents because that's how you'll learn."

i have a whole new outlook on accidents. they're all part of the learning process. of course we can prevent accidents, but doesn't that just dely the learning process? when accidents happen in potty training, i'm not frustrated at all. i think that has helped my whole outlook on this process. i dreaded the thought of potty training, and maybe i'm just really really lucky--but so far this has been one of the most enjoyable weeks of motherhood for me.

big girl

2009-06-17T19:51:00.003-06:00

i'm out of interesting things to blog about, so here's this post while i think of anything better to write:

yesterday at 2:00 we dumped all of mae's pullups and diapers in the trash. we've been at it for 30 hours, and so far:

success: 9
accidents: 3
false alarms: 2

she's doing great. i'm using the 3 day method because i've heard so many great things about it, and because it really makes sense to me. it has been a really positive experience for us so far. mae's been really happy and so have i. she had one pretty huge accident yesterday and two smaller accidents today. after each accident today she has had three perfect potty moments--tells me she needs to go and does it all perfectly, including compulsively washing her hands while singing her abc's.

i waited a bit longer to start training than some others, but i really believe she is ready for this now. this week turned out to be the perfect time to go at it--which is fantastic because i think if i didn't do it this week, i'd be doing this in december. which would have been fine too. but whatever...6 less months of diapers is a good thing.

i know i'm not out of the woods yet; we still need to address wearing shorts/pants/skirts, going on the go, relapses, etc. but i'm so happy with the progress we've made so far.

we've got a big girl in the house now!

moose loves corndogs

2009-06-16T21:22:00.002-06:00

mae wanted to make sure her moose got a nutritious dinner. like a corndog.

ode to summer, 2009 edition

2009-06-14T17:35:00.000-06:00

it was really helpful to have a list of things i wanted to do last summer. i did most things on my list, resulting in a fantastic summer. those that i didn't do will appear on my list again this year, along with many new additions. this summer is going to be busy since my parents get home, but i hope to make time for a few other adventures.

here's my 2009 ode to summer:
*walk a 5k
*not cut my hair
*watch hot air balloons
*ride the heber creeper
*sit on my new flagstone patio (this would require making the flagstone patio)
*go fishing
*demolition derby
*play kickball
*make a new summer playlist
*paint my toenails every week
*outdoor concert
*squeeze lemons to make lemonade
*go to cove fort
*drive alpine loop in the BMW
*go to moab
*ride ski lift at sundance
*go golfing with jayson
*can peaches
*outdoor movie
*ride bike from bridal vail to utah lake
*batting cages
*go on lots of walks
*make ice cream in a hand crank bucket

michigan

2009-06-13T22:16:00.001-06:00

i loved college. i really really loved it, and i could list lots of reasons why. but the number one reason is the people i met there. they are my best friends (for life) and no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we pick up right where we left off.

so when kimberly called me and told me she was getting married, i told her i'd be there. and then i found out that three other of my roommates were going to be there too, without husbands. uhhh...party, anyone?

we kicked off the festivities with a bachelorette party for kimmie. here she is...doesn't she look fantastic?

we had manicures and pedicures. here are the five of us that lived together at one point or another--kim, becky, ruth, me, harmony.

me, ruth, harmony, and becky. i love these girls.

after we were pampered and feeling relaxed, we went to dinner and gave kim some "gifts."

then we had a few days to relax, shop, eat, shop, stay up way too late, etc before the wedding. i didn't get too many pictures, because i was way too busy enjoying myself. thankfully, becky did!

here we are before the sealing (without the bride).

after the sealing...

since i really love these girls (becky, kim, and harmony are all from the same hometown), i went out to visit them in michigan in 2001. i stayed with kimberly's family, and fell in love with them. they're fantastic. i also stayed with the jensens for a day after jayson and i went to toronto two years ago. here i am with kim's sister, becca.

and her brother michael. i had to take this picture because a couple weeks ago we catered michael's wedding lunch. while i was busy cooking, mae was outside playing. she came running inside and said "mom, uncle drew is here!" i was pretty confused, until i saw michael. turns out he does look like my handsome brother, drew.

here are the girls again. me, becky, ruth, and harmony.

this time with kimmie.

and fine, i guess ben can be in the picture too.

harms and me.

and the sexy roommates again.

i had such a good time in michigan. congratulations kimberly and ben! have fun in mexico, and don't get sick.

honey bucket

2009-06-12T21:40:00.001-06:00

do you ever think about doing something funny, and then you do, and it flops...and then you realize it went over a lot better in your head?

a few weeks ago we were driving around in mapleton showing houses to my in-laws. we had just been out to eat and i had one too many glasses of water. if you know mapleton, you know there are not an abundance of public restrooms around. so when we saw a honey bucket (port-o-potty), i begged jayson to pull over.

i was in there, doing my business when i heard jayson moving the car. i couldn't figure out what he was doing until i heard the truck bump the door of the honey bucket.

jayson thought it would be a real laugh if he bumped the door of the honey bucket a bit to give me a scare. so he did, and everyone in the car got a good laugh, until...he realized he was stuck.

the honey bucket was sitting right over the curb. once jayson got over the curb, he realized there was a large drop off which he couldn't see. once over this drop, he couldn't get the truck to move. so the truck was pinned up against the honey bucket. and i was stuck inside.

several attempts later, the truck was still stuck and i was really really anxious to get out of the honey bucket. (GET ME OUT!!!) jayson thankfully decided that the number one priority was to get me OUT of the honey bucket. somehow we pried the door open just enough for me to get a leg out. but i didn't think i was actually going to fit through.

prying, squeezing, sucking in, please get me out of here!

i can't remember if i was still laughing at this point. it was pretty funny, but it would have been even funnier if someone else (not me) was stuck inside. while i wasn't sure it was funny, everyone in the car thought it was funny enough to take pictures. and truthfully the story gets funnier everytime i tell it. really, who gets stuck in a honey bucket?

happy anniversary, j dawgs!

2009-06-11T23:21:00.002-06:00

this year was j dawgs' five year anniversary. i have no words to describe exactly how i feel about this. i'm still amazed that jayson had the vision to create this. he started totally from scratch--no product, a dump of a location, and not much support. his story is so inspiring, i get teary every time i hear it. but i don't want to embarrass him, so i won't go into too many details. maybe one of these days we'll get the story up on the website, or link one of the lectures he's given.

mae was there, of course. and looking so great in her j dawgs shirt!

we handed out cupcakes again,

spent time together,

and really enjoyed talking to our customers. there were a lot of old timers, friends, family, and some new faces. there are so many people to thank for our success. we have had fantastic employees, terrific support and help from family and friends, mentors, etc. but our big thank you always goes out to our customers. without them, we'd be nothing. THANK YOU.

it's so hard to believe that everything i am surrounded with i owe to this little shack. because of the shack i met jayson, and then dated and married him. because of that i have a beautiful daughter and one on the way. and because of the shack i live a comfortable life. five years has changed a lot of things.

we're around the corner of a new phase at j dawgs, and i'm excited to see what the future holds for us. as soon as we're ready to open headquarters, i'll let you know. we're getting sooooo close.

here is our party from last year.

st. george

2009-06-10T22:56:00.000-06:00

bridget, jill, and i have been friends since middle school. we got together for a couple days in st. george and bridget's mom's house. it was great to hang out with these ladies, and our girls had a blast. all three of us have girls within about 4 months of each other.

here are the girls--mae (mine), paige (bridget's), and quinn (jill's).

the girls were pretty pampered--the played at the river park in downtown.

and the splash pad.

they took baths together every night,

which they really loved.

we were pretty pampered too. bridget's parents took us out to dinner our last night there, and fed us very well everyday.

jill had a baby girl recently, and bridget and i are due a couple weeks apart from each other. so far we're 5 for 6 with girls--i hope bridget has a girl too so our kiddos can all go to EFY together. ha ha!

it was so great to be with these girls, and wonderful to be out of town for a couple days! thanks again, ladies!

pre-blogging.

2009-06-09T23:45:00.002-06:00

i'm trying to post more, i swear.

there's been a lot going on (i'm sure you all can say that), but i really love to blog so i'm trying to get there. i've preblogged some things this week, so you should get something every night for the next few nights.

my camera's been neglected. i need to show it some more attention. any suggestions?

good morning

2009-05-05T08:37:00.002-06:00

good morning bridget. thanks for the tag. luckily i read this in bed this morning, because at least i have the excuse that it's still early...and maybe i might be more put together this afternoon. but lets be honest, this might be as good as it gets today.

bunny

2009-04-30T19:32:00.002-06:00

I bet your that:

1. your husband isn't as cool as mine because
2. after a very LONG Saturday at work he
3. came home and helped clean up for a half hour before announcing that
4. "HE COULDN'T HOLD IT IN ANY LONGER...HE HAD RENTED A BUNNY COSTUME FOR EASTER." and then
5. dressed up in said white fluffy suit and
6. surprised his daughter and friends who were over and
7. went around the neighborhood to visit other kids while
8. waving at all of the cars driving past. after which he attempted to
9. make out with me wearing a bunny suit, and then he
10. did it all over again the next day for his niece.

best Easter ever.

J Dawgs

2009-04-29T18:18:00.004-06:00

J Dawgs was in the news twice this week:

http://www.utahstories.com/hot_dog.html
(why do people always want to know how much we make and why do they make assumptions?)

And in the Daily Herald. I haven't seen the section in the Daily Herald, but I hear we won best hot dog in Utah Valley. Wahoo! As soon as I get a copy, I will post the article here.

One more thing...if any of you will be in the Provo area on June 9th, we will be hosting a five year anniversary bash. I'll be the one dressed up as a hot dog. We hope to be open in our new space that week as well.

sisters

2009-04-26T23:17:00.003-06:00

me and my three sisters--kendra, amy, and shannon on a cruise in 2005.

I love my sisters--blood and in-laws.

That's why when we found out on Monday that we're having another girl, I was mostly excited for Mae. Brothers are wonderful, but who else can understand you like a sister? Who plays with you better than your sister? And when you get older, who is a better friend than a sister?

Mae can't stop talking about her baby sister. Jayson is tickled to have another girl. I'm thrilled too, and can't believe I now talk about the "the girls." I'm already trying to figure out how we're going to do their room (Mae requested pink walls).

I think little Penny/Ruby/Pearl/Baby Horsie (Mae's favorite name) is going to come at just the right time. Growing a family is so much fun.

mission reunion

2009-04-18T09:43:00.002-06:00

i still can't decide about my high school reunion. but it's never a decision to go to a mission reunion if this man is in town.

to be honest, almost all of the sisters have moved away, and the elders still treat sisters like they're diseased. so i don't really see any missionaries. but it doesn't matter because i get approximately 2 minutes with presidente and sister soares. and, presidente always gives a short fireside where i am inspired again.

presidente is one of my heros. aside from patiently guiding and believing in me on my mission, he sealed jayson and i in the temple. seeing him every april is one of the highlights of my year.

portland...few words, fewer pictures

2009-04-18T09:28:00.004-06:00

it was my birthday, and we spent less than 72 hours in portland, but we took advantage.

breakfast at my favorite, bob's red mill (this picture disappeared).

afternoon at the portland zoo.

dinner at cheesecake factory. six slices of cheesecake at tyler and jessi's apartment (j's brother and wife). three slices of cheesecake were free. we scored.

haircuts the next day by the beautiful jessi.

wicked. the whole point of the trip. elphaba=phenomenal.

also...

pictures of mae by poppa.
lunch at changs.
visit to great grandma.

it was a perfect birthday weekend.

gymnastics

2009-04-16T16:55:00.002-06:00

i had really wanted mae to take a gymnastics class, but every place i went seemed pretty expensive. so when i heard that mapleton city had a class for almost nothing, we signed up quickly! mae loved going to gymnastics and sometimes would just run in circles in giddy excitement.

the class wasn't as structured as some other places, but it fit mae perfectly. she learned a lot of skills and was able to accomplish new things. one of these days i'll get a video of her perfect forward roll.

we heard about the class through our good friend toby, who works for mapleton. mae has a gigantic crush on toby, so she was so excited every week to go to his work and hoped to catch a glimpse of him.

the class had a little performance a few weeks ago, but we weren't able to make it because of scheduling conflicts. so daddy came to a couple of her classes and saw her in action. you'd think she was performing for the king.

classes start up again in fall if anyone wants to join me.

ten year reunion...

2009-04-16T16:29:00.003-06:00

my ten year high school reunion is coming up, and i can't figure out if i want to go or not.

here's a little history. i moved to utah in 8th grade. i hated it. i missed california. i was completely lost in social circles. it was different here--people didn't like me just because i was mormon. i had to be something--in the band, on the soccer team, etc. and even though i was involved in some of those activities, i never really quite found my stride. my best friends were a year older than me--i really don't think i had and real close friends in my grade in high school.

high school just wasn't my thing. i was awkward, clumsy, loud and nerdy. i was still really trying to figure out just who i was. i know that's normal--but with 6 older extremely talented, smart, and beautiful sibblings it took me a long time. i don't really feel like i found me until i reached college.

timpview is just a bit different than other schools. it tried very hard to take in a mixture of people from provo, but the reality is that most everyone drove fancy cars, wore expensive clothes, and was super polished. when i moved from california, i refused to shop anywhere but savers where i could find old grateful dead shirts and ragedy jeans.

this is one of the reasons i love living in springville. i don't run into many people from my high school. because this is always how the conversation goes:

me: "hey, do you remember me--we went to high school together?"
person: blank stare
me: "i'm heidi...last name..."
person: blank stare...
me: "at timpview...."
person: "what year did you graduate?"
me: "1999--we graduated together"
person: blank stare...

and, i don't even have that great of a memory.

so my ten year reunion is coming up, and they keep asking for a head count. it's going to cost us $80. i'm in touch with almost everyone i want to be from those days (i did find two fantastic friends who i lived with at different times at BYU). i really don't want to introduce myself 400 times and get the blank stare. i'm going to be big and pregnant. jayson isn't interested in going at all. most of the time i'm not either.

but then there are times when i can't seem to let go of it.

to go, or not to go?

coming out

2009-03-15T20:50:00.003-06:00

i was planning on waiting to tell, but since jayson told everyone today over the pulpit...

i'm pregnant!

i'm nine weeks along. this pregnancy has been quite different--with mae i felt a little queasy sometimes, and really tired most of the time. when i miscarried, i felt nothing. this time, i feel really queasy and exhausted all the time. i've been blessed with a stomach of steal so i don't throw up, although i wish i would (i think i'd feel better).

but all in all, i figure queasy/exhausted=lots of hormones=less chance of miscarraige. maybe that rumor is a falacy, but i'm hoping its true. and, i'm pretty sure it's only temporary (three to five more weeks).

mae and dad are stoked. mae tells me she has a baby in her tummy too. it's coming out on saturday, or thursday depending on when you ask.

this picture has been on my desktop for a couple weeks. mae loves to see pictures of herself as a baby and i love looking at pictures of her when she was a baby. raising her has been a blast, and i'm sure the second will be equally amazing.

and, just for good measure, i'm putting this picture on here too. just because it's one of my favorite pictures of our first day together.

babies=awesomeness. we're due october 18th.

disneyland

2009-03-04T19:07:00.010-07:00

january/february were rough months for me. i didn't do well with the whole winter thing, and i was just feeling a little overwhelmed with some other things that were going on. so what do you do when you need a boost? and sunshine?

head to disneyland, of course!

i know, i know, i was there 6 months ago. some of you might think i'm crazy. others of you might be totally jealous. i don't want to fall into the trap of only going to disneyland on vacation, but i really wanted to show jayson how excited mae is when she's there. so we left wednesday afternoon and spent thursday, saturday, and monday at the parks.

we met our favorites right off the bat when we went in. mae was thrilled. so were we!

our first stop, naturally, was dumbo--mae's favorite ride.

sorry i cut off your head, honey.

i gave jayson a little pep talk before we went in. if you want to really have fun at disneyland, you have to let your inhibitions go and sometimes be a little dorky. he caught on.

mae was still a little short for some rides. it was ok, it didn't stop us.

peter pan is one of my favorite rides.

we love heimlich's train too. especially when they spray you with animal cookie scent.

and the bumper cars, even though they only went 3 miles an hour.

saturday morning mae was way more interested in playing with her cousin allison than coming to disneyland. so we left her at my sister shannon's house and went by ourselves. and tried our hardest to hit all of the adult rides (after taking a dose of dramamine--we're pathetic). we hit most of them.

jayson was pretty stoked to see cars outside of one of my favorite rides, soaring.

mae rode the carousel six times. it was her second favorite.

we loved the new toy story ride. very fun.

the family in front of mater. love him.

and mae in front of her favorite, mcqueen!

it's a small world opened the weekend we were there, and it turned out to be one of my favorite rides. i loved it!

the first morning was pretty beautiful (notice we're all in short sleeves). but that afternoon it started sprinkling, and then it down poured for the rest of the weekend. yeah, yeah, i went for the sunshine, blah blah.

this is, hands down, my favorite place in both parks. i grew up in san francisco, and i have this unhealthy love for really really good sourdough bread. as far as sourdough goes, it doesn't get better than boudins. especially if it is full of clam chowder or slathered in butter. we ate here everyday...sometimes twice.

we saw the bugs like movie twice. mae hated it, but she looks so cute in those glasses.

the highlight of the trip had to have been this moment where mae got to meet minnie. she was beside herself. she kept telling minnie that she was her favorite. can you tell by the look on all of our faces how thrilled we were (i'm sure minnie doesn't smile that big for all of her visitors).

mae also loved to meet the princesses.

she sang for mulan (lets get down to business to defeat the hun!)

at that time, sleeping beauty was her favorite princess, so she was pretty excited to meet her.

i don't think this opened all weekend.

walt disney and the castle. (and tulips!!)

entrance photo taken on our way out the last day.

and the drive home. we left around 5:00 on monday and drove half way home. it was so great to escape for a little bit. my sister shannon and her family were so awesome to let us stay at their house and spend time with them. we had a really wonderful vacation!

(maybe i'll get pictures up from our friday excursion as well!)

kite flying

2009-03-03T18:20:00.004-07:00

today was 60 something degrees, sunny, beautiful, and windy.

perfect weather to fly a kite. specifically, the red baron kite. we loaded up in the truck and headed down to a park (most parks down here are tree-less), and let the red baron loose.

for a $10 kite from costco, she didn't do too badly.

jayson nor i haven't flown a kite in probably 20 years, so we were a little shaky on the details.

mae didn't care.

but then we really got the hang of it. let all the line out.

let it go, man.

fly it high.

(turns out i'm pretty good at this).

mae loved it.

i think we should go get her here own princess kite.

did i mention let it fly high?

mae started to get tired...

so we called it an afternoon and went to sonic...

perfect. afternoon.

potty talk

2009-02-26T14:59:00.002-07:00

all of the things i've dreaded doing with mae have been a cinch so far. taking away the binkie was fairly easy--the "binkie fairy" was a hit. the bottle after that was even easier. yes, she cried a little--but overall i'm surprised at how easy it was, especially when i imagined it would be so dramatic.

today we lost mae at costco. we were checking out, and when we turned around she was gone. we were totally frantic. katy, jayson and i split up to look for her and they paged all of the workers with her description. the point of this story isn't that i'm a horrible mother, or how completely frightened we were. the point is where they ultimately found her--

she wandered into the restroom, took off her diaper and was sitting on the toilet. she evidently needed to go potty, and didn't bother to tell us.

should i really be terrified of potty training? am i just psyching myself out of these things?

today...

2009-02-24T16:19:00.002-07:00

...i realized something very important.

i've been avoiding my blog. can you tell? there are a lot of contributing factors--real logistical things that have kept me off the computer. but a lot of it has been emotional. i'm not sure when i developed such a bad attitude towards blogging, but i did. i think i got overwhelmed reading everyone else's blogs, and just feeling like i had nothing important to contribute to the blogosphere.

there are lots of reasons people blog--make money, keep a journal, make new friends, hobby, outlet, etc. i started my blog because my parents went to africa, and i missed them. and i know myself, and know that i am a really inconsistant letter writter. and i wanted to keep in touch. and i figured this would be a way to keep in touch with them, and at the same time keep in touch with my family and some of my friends.

somewhere last year, that all became mushy in my head. i thought that i had to do something more with my blog. because my blog isn't really that interesting if you don't know me, and sometimes even if you do know me. and there are so many interesting blogs out there, that mine would get lost in the mix.

well, let it get lost.

each comment i received yesterday and today from my classic skaing post sent me through the roof. it was like i had a route 44 diet coke each time, it was a total high. i savored every word. i shared something that was, in all reality, pretty boring and some of my loved ones took the time to tell me thanks for sharing. i read a blog that often gets tens of thousands of comments--i got eight--from a couple of dear friends, a cousin, a nephew, a long lost friend, and some mission companions. i'm so about quality, not quantity. who cares if a stranger ever makes it to my blog. i don't blog for them.

i blog for you. because i love you--my family and friends, and i like sharing things with you. and i love it when you share back. it's like we're having a conversation, which is so important to me. but the reality is the day is too short to have all the conversations i want. so i can have some of them here.

thank you, as always, for reading. i count my family and friends as my greatest blessing. i hope to be more consistant here. i've missed it in a lot of ways.

classic skate

2009-02-22T18:44:00.004-07:00

I can blame my lack of blogging on several things. But excuses never really get me anywhere, so I'll save them for later.

Until then, please enjoy these pictures from our recent trip to Classic Skating. We had a blast.

Our first trip out onto the rink. Mae wasn't so sure, but aren't those skates adorable? It turns out she wasn't so hip on the whole idea. But that's really ok, because that meant she wanted to ride in the stroller. And what the really means is that I had something to hold onto. I'm a really terrible skater.

She was really hip on the couples skate. She has a really large crush on Mason.

And can you blame her?

Finally we let her try a different kind of skate. She very much preferred these skates. She was even able to move a little bit on her own. I didn't care for them because I lost my thing to hold onto.

Finally we found the skeeball, and Mae was in heaven. All those trips to the Nicklecade have paid off Katy, she knows exactly what to do.

Dance all over the game...

...and put the balls directly into the shoot.

Classic skate = very fun Friday night activity.

senior couples

2009-01-30T10:26:00.002-07:00

do you know of someone who is ready to go on a mission?

who perhaps speaks a little french? or is willing to learn some?

who's looking for an adventure? and who is ready for an experience of a lifetime?

they are desperately needed in The Congo.

it may sound scary, but all returning missionaries from the Congo say it is the absolute best mission. even missionaries who've served in switzerland and jerusalem.

hands down, the best day this month

2009-01-26T16:56:00.004-07:00

i hate to brag, but guess who i saw today....

my adorable brother, elder livingstone at the airport on his way to chile. can you tell how absolutely excited we both were?

we didn't tell him we were coming...because he's been so amazingly obedient and didn't want him to break any rules. they asked us to say goodbye at the mtc, which we did. we had no intention of going to the airport. but tyler and nancy were in town...we really wanted to see him and we had 2 pounds of leftover ribs that we really wanted to give him. SO WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, HONESTLY?

it was perfect though. we helped him check in his bags, met his companion, talked for just a few minutes and then sent him on his way. it was short, but just enough time to catch his fire. he's glowing. i've never seen him so full of love, excitement, and The Spirit. he is totally ready. i've talked to his teacher a few times, and to someone in his branch presidency and they can't say enough great things about him. his teacher said he understands and speaks spanish the best of anyone in his district, and his branch president says they have the most obedient and hard working district in the mtc.

i'm so glad we went. when i was in the mtc, my mom was a volunteer there. the week before i left, my entire family snuck into the mtc to pick her up. they were hiding in the bushes and all came running when i came out. i knew i wasn't supposed to do it, but seeing them really helped remind me how supportive my family was and gave me some extra strength during my mission. i hope we did the same thing for drew. it seems like we did. he's 100 percent focused and committed to the mission. i hope he knows how much love we're sending his way. i can't wait to hear his stories from chile.

i love him. what a great day.

ramblings

2009-01-05T22:23:00.004-07:00

i've been on a blogging hiatus. and i hope you haven't worried about me, since my last post was about consuming an entire bag of [semisweet] chocolate chips. but i'm here. and i've kicked my chocolate habit, all in the name of healthier me in 2009.

my december was marvelous. my goal was to be done with all of my shopping, wrapping, christmas cards, etc by december 10th. i was close...i think i was officially wrapped, sealed, and shipped by the 12th. i really wanted to enjoy the holiday season, and since i'm a procrastinator by nature i knew i had to give myself a deadline.

since i was done, i was open to do a lot of other things that i might not have otherwise. i spent an afternoon working with a sister in my ward who does sub-for-santa for over 90 kids. wow, i don't know how she keeps track of it all. her house is completely monopolized for the month of december. it was a really sweet experience for me. i've always participated in some way or another with sub-for-santa. but i grew up always in neighborhoods that didn't want for much. the gifts we gave always went blocks and blocks away to people i didn't know. as i sat and worked with these lists of gifts for these different children, i couldn't believe how many of my dear friends were on the list. i couldn't believe they were struggling, because they're some of the most honest, hard working, and optimistic people i know. i love my neighborhood. i love the people here--they're some of the most genuine people i've ever met. i've been here for three years, and each year i feel more privilaged to call them my friends and neighbors.

j, mae, and i spent the holidays with j's family. it was fantastic. i bonded with each member of the family. i feel so much more connected to them, i feel so much more love for them, and i have so much more respect for them. i don't have any pictures of things we did, because mostly we just spent time together. and that meant more to me than a trip to the beach or to powells.

and now i'm back in town, but only for a few days. i leave wednesday to philly to be with my sister. she's being induced on thursday, and since my mom and dad are bringing the house down in africa, i want to be there to help. i'll be gone for a week, and will leave my 2 favorites here. i'll miss them fiercly.

but it's ok, because anything i can do to make january go by faster, i'll do. i'm trying to have a good attitude about it, but this is really how i feel about it.

i hate it (the cold, the dark, the wet, the snow, the short days, the not leaving my house for fear i'll die on the road, the dirty car, etc). i'm not sure the california is out of me yet, because winter just ain't my thang.

i can't say it was exactly mae's thang either, but she sure had a blast sledding with (mae's words) "her favorite."

she actually refused to sled with anyone else besides stella. they flew down those hills, laughing all the way. we wish nyc wasn't so far away, because these two are besties.

and tonight, j, mae, and i all cuddled under a blanket and enjoyed charlottes web together. i cried, and mae wipped my tears. sometimes i think she's the sweetest and kindest thing i've ever met.

2009 might be the best year yet.

in case you were wondering...

2008-12-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

don't worry about me though. i only have one more bag left in my house.

very important question...

2008-12-15T18:48:00.002-07:00

milk chocolate

or

semi sweet?

like if you were to grab a bag of chocolate chips from the cupboard and eat half the bag...which would you grab?

not that i've ever done that. or at least done it tonight.

give aways

2008-12-11T23:59:00.003-07:00

there are so many amazing things people are giving away. i love them all. look at this bag.

and one of my favorite friends is giving away amazing things too.

if only i could find something to give away...

girls night out

2008-12-04T11:41:00.004-07:00

I had an awesome night last night. Joy, Katy, Teresa and I celebrated Katy's birthday with dinner and Forgotten Carols. We laughed our heads off, ate yummies, and got ourselves into the Holiday spirit. I'll post pictures as soon as I can steal them from Joy.

Then to top it off, I came home to this:

And I'm not sure who had the better night.

lucky duck

2008-12-01T16:15:00.003-07:00

Guess who's going to China in May?

...who has always wanted to go...
...and gets to go for 3 weeks...
...and is flying for free...
...and is going with one of his mission buddies who also speaks Chinese...
...and is so excited he can't even speak?

J.

I'm so excited for him. And I'm already planning all of the places I can go to pass the time.

thanksgiving

2008-11-25T17:11:00.003-07:00

thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. what could be better than sitting around all day and cooking? and then devouring what you've made? i love it.

we had thanksgiving last saturday before drew went into the mtc. it was fantastic. pretzel salad, jello ribbon salad, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes cranberry relish, brussel sprouts, corn, rolls, pumpkin roll, apple crisp, peppermint ice cream, etc. fabulous.

but we're doing it again on thursday, and i'm so happy to be doing it again. this time we will be doing it at our house, and serving it on my china. this will be our first holiday in our own home. we can't wait.

of course, they only had 20 pound turkeys at costco, which is way more than jayson, joy, katy, mae and i can eat. so we're looking for friends to share our day with. do you have a place for thanksgiving? if you do, is there anyone you know of that needs a place to eat turkey at? we'd be happy to have anyone.

gobble gobble gobble!

made

2008-11-23T00:56:00.002-07:00

I made her.

I still can't get over it.

and...

2008-11-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

I snagged him.

Still not over that one either.

follow up on the sads.

2008-11-22T22:45:00.005-07:00

Wow guys. I can't say thank you enough for your incredibly kind words and sympathy. I was not expecting the comments, calls, texts, gifts, and invitations each of you gave me. I was pretty overwhelmed yesterday by what wonderful friends I have. Thank you, again and again and again.

I learned a few things from this experience:
1. I love my family tremendously and still need them in my life.
2. I am surrounded by angels--friends who are in tune with what is going on and are willing to drop everything to help.
3. Miscarriage is hard, no matter how far along in your pregnancy you are.
4. The Lord watches out for me. The miscarriage happened in the best possible way and at a time that was, honestly, perfect.
5. I am so amazingly lucky to have a nearly perfect daughter who came effortlessly to us.
6. I'm uncomfortable with being sad. I repress my feelings, pretend I'm not sad, and do anything I can to fake that I'm okay. I likewise have a really really hard time asking for help. I don't think this is good.
7. Both of my MTC companions independently told me to turn to the scriptures. My mission was and still is incredibly important to my spiritual development.
8. Turns out a haircut does me right. (I didn't cut it all off. Pheh.)
9. So does Wii fit. And they're sold out everywhere (target, kmart, circuit city, best buy, walmart, and everywhere online) but Gamestop in Springville.
10. Service also helps me quite a bit. And sending a package from Art City Pharmacy to the MTC only costs $1.50.
11. I found out my husband is really sensitive and wants more children badly. And he wants camera gear, a honda lawnmower, or any firearm (check out his anonymous comment).
12. Catering at a wedding reception dominated by BYU students really boosts your self esteem. I haven't been that popular since ... well, I'm pretty sure I've never been that popular.

Thank you again, dear friends, for your support and love. Life gives us opportunities to grow. I hope I've grown over these last few weeks.

xoxo

the sads

2008-11-21T09:14:00.003-07:00

We have a phenomenon in our family (perhaps in yours?) called "the sads." It comes after we spend time together and then have to return home to life/home. It's not a recent thing--I remember getting "the sads" sending my oldest brother back to college after Thanksgiving when I was 7 years old. The sads still happen every time one of my siblings comes into town and then leave, but it's always ten times more extreme when we all get together. Such as happened this weekend.

I've been saying goodbye all week, and it hasn't been pretty. Kendra last Saturday; Kevin and kids on Sunday; Tyler and family on Tuesday; Drew, Amy, and Shannon on Wednesday, and my MOM on Thursday. Of course I miss them all, but goodbye's to Drew and my Mom just about did me in. I was a mess yesterday. Random tears all day.

I'm pretty sad.

Throw in that I put Jayson on a plane this morning to go to Portland for a funeral (I'm alone!!) and a very recent miscarriage that I'm almost able to talk about--I'm hardly eating anything but milkshakes and cookies. Which isn't helping how I'm feeling.

I cope by shopping (retail therapy) and eating crap, neither of which are really healthy. These two options are not really helping right now--I don't feel like shopping because I gained weight during my short pregnancy, in addition to commiting long ago not to buy clothes until after I had another baby. And eating crap really really isn't helping because I really don't want to gain even more weight. Pleh.

I'm not really looking for sympathy, I'm looking for help. How do you bounce back from a hard few days? How do you cope? And how do you cope with a two year old around?

I'm about to cut my hair, or buy wii fit. I have happy music blaring to try and keep me positive, but I'm afraid I'm going to do something drastic. Stop me!

elder livingstone

2008-11-19T22:59:00.002-07:00

elder livingstone (my favorite younger brother) went into the mtc today.

don't get me started on how much i miss him already.

seriously, this kid knocks my socks off. i love him dearly dearly. he's been one of my favorite people for pretty much ever. there aren't any siblings between us, so i always hung out with him and mothered him way too much. i couldn't help it, i just love the kid. now he's off to face the great big world. and he'll be a fantastic missionary. i'm so excited for him--being at the mtc today reminded me how much i adored the mtc. and my mission.

the good news is he started a blog. i posted today, but the posts should generally be written by him (posted by me). so you can all read his adventures as a missionary in the chile santiago east mission. http://elder-deadrock.blogspot.com.

if you want to catch up on my parents mission, check it out here.

and if you ever want to be blessed beyond belief, send your parents and your younger brother on a mission. amen.

love aloha.

2008-11-09T16:59:00.004-07:00

if you were wondering if we had a good time in hawaii--

today we walked into church and on the stand was the utah polynesian choir. a couple dozen polynesians in conservative suits, bright red leis, and beautiful voices. they performed in our sacrament meeting, and sang in hawaiian and english. during the first song they sung in hawaiian, jayson cried.

i unpacked after church. i opened up my suitcase and smelt the salty, sandy, wet hawaiian smell and i cried.

[taken from our patio our first morning at sunrise]

i'd go back tomorrow if i could. and i might never come back.

maybe someday i'll get around to telling you all of the wonderful things we did while we were there. but talking about it might be too painful. i know that sounds extreme--i tell you, i love that place more than i can explain here.

we're already planning december 2009. and 2010. and 2011, 2012, etc. anyone want to come with us?

downer.

2008-11-04T00:14:00.003-07:00

The only downer about laying out on the beach in paradise all day--

this. oh mercy, this.

we miss our little girl a lot, but she is loving life with grandpa and grandma. she has refused to talk to us the last 3 times we've called. we're trying not to take it personally.

aloha.

2008-10-30T00:51:00.003-06:00

laundry: done
vote: check
medical release: completed
fridge: cleaned
tulips: planted
sheets: washed
bills: paid
work: taken care of
bags: packed
daughter: staying home with gpa & gma

and now i'm ready to leave tomorrow morning to go here:

[long sighs and deep breaths].

ALOHA!

photo courtesy of Jonathan Canlas, who will be teaching a workshop Jayson will be attending.

two!

2008-10-25T23:01:00.006-06:00

Mae turned two today. What can I say about this girl? She's adorable. And spunky. And she's starting to show signs of being two. But I've never loved a little thing more than I love this girl.

I stayed up a little too late and went a tinsy bit overboard (really, 3 dozen balloons?). But I don't plan well and then in the heat of the moment I get a little carried away. Staying up until 4:30 wasn't a really good idea. I decorated, wrapped, frosted, boiled noodles, cleaned, made a bunting, did laundry, etc. But it turned out really cute. And it's all worth it for this cute birthday girl.

She loved waking up to the balloons, and a breakfast of Mickey Mouse pancakes. I should say that ever since we went to disneyland, this girl's been obsessed with the Mouse.

We then quickly ran out the door to cook dawgs at the football game. She was pretty impatient, but I can't say I blame her. It was mostly okay though because she had her new tinkerbell doll from Sheekie.

And it was okay too because it meant she could watch Cougar Football. We only stayed for half of the second quarter, but it was enough for her to see some action and get home in time for a long overdue nap.

We had some friends/family over for dinner tonight with a Mae-centered menu: mac and cheese (not really kraft), peas, grapes, and Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets.

Here is the bunting I made. Everyone seems to be making these lately, and I think they're pretty adorable. It was pretty bootstrapped since I decided to make it at midnight last night.

Mae's favorite aunts, Joy and Katy. At least the one's that spoil her WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.

I hate to say it, but her cake was pretty amazing. I was so impressed with how it turned out. It tasted even better than it looked, which is a feat because I don't usually love cake. But this one was delicious. I followed these instructions, used this box cake (and froze it, which I think helped even more), and used this recipe for frosting (probably the best part). The best tasting cake I've ever made, hands down.

The ears should have been a little closer, asthetically and structuraly (one of the ears fell off 5 minutes before we started singing). But Minnie's pretty cute anyway.

Singing and blowing out the candle.

We opened presents too. Mae got quite a bit of dress up things, including this too adorable Minnie Mouse costume. You can't really see them in this picture, but it also includes some ridiculous yellow high heels. Ridiculous=too cute for words.

She also got some "Little Miss" things (as in, little miss chatterbox, little miss naughty, etc.). We've been pretty into these characters this last month. She loves Little Miss Chatterbox, and sometimes I think it's because she's Little Miss Chatterbox.

What a day we had! She was pretty spoiled today, but I guess it's okay because we did only half of the spoiling. Mae is a loved and adored little girl and has incredibly generous family and friends.

Mae's growing up fast, and we're just trying to savor the days and take it all in. Happy birthday Mae!

bittersweet

2008-10-19T22:24:00.002-06:00

I thought I should mention that I was released last Sunday from Young Womens. It's bittersweet. I love these girls. I adore the Young Women leaders.

Being in Relief Society today was a really foreign feeling. It was a fantastic lesson and I left feeling uplifted and reflective. They took the time to welcome me back, which was so kind and thoughtful. I'd missed the sisterhood of the Relief Society during the last three years. But it was still weird being there.

The same Spirit that calls you to a position, also calls for you to be released. It was time for me to move on.

If I just didn't miss these girls so much....

my favorite new blog

2008-10-18T21:26:00.003-06:00

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

I pretty accurate composite of you, me, and about every blog I read. It's a satire, so don't be offended. Just find the humor in it and laugh your head off.

what do you do...

2008-10-15T23:01:00.000-06:00

...if you don't like either of them?

messy house, full heart.

2008-10-11T21:50:00.002-06:00

I was walking around my house tonight, totally mortified of how messy it was. Jayson and I kept wishing it was as immaculate as it was last week. It felt so clean and beautiful last week, and this week it's a disaster area.

Tonight we had a lot of friends at our house that we were not necessarily expecting. I really like to have a clean house when friends are coming over for the first time. It was so great to see them all; to eat, chat, and spend time with them. I loved it, but I can't deny that I was so embarrassed at the state of my house

After they left I started to pick up, and I had a really important moment. I realized that 95% of the mess/disaster/clutter was caused by service opportunities we had had this week. Jayson's scout bag. Our 72 hour kits (we needed some things for the last minute inactive scout who joined the camp out). My bag from staying over and taking care of my sister in law. Toys from adorable kids that we got to watch. Snow gear so our friends from out of town wouldn't freeze at the football game. Dishes from having dear friends over. You get the picture.

I would so much rather have the full heart and messy house I have now, than a pristine house and none of these experiences. It's been an unusual week for us with how much we've been able to give to friends, family, neighbors, and strangers. I wouldn't change any of it. If my house ever looks like this again for the reason it does tonight, perhaps I won't even apologize for how messy it is. Because my heart will be singing like it is right now.

I hope to have more weeks like this one.

projects

2008-10-04T09:26:00.007-06:00

General Conference weekend means mission reunions for Jayson and I. For Jayson's mission reunion this year, President and Sister Hart were looking to do something different, and Jayson suggested we do it at our house. We love parties, so we decided to make it happen.

We were really excited, but also quite intimidated about having President and Sister Hart at our home, as well as all of the missionaries. So it's been two full weeks of projects to get our house ready. We could have used two more.

If you're having a mission reunion at your house, you might:

Sand, prime, and paint your pillars and trim.
Sand, prime, and paint the bench you found in the garbage two years ago.
Paint the concrete that's been peeling for two years. We did all this to the front porch too.

Weed, weed, weed. Mow and edge the lawn. Transplant a few of your plants to new places. Fertilize.

Clean the back patio. You may not have found time to water seal the new fence.

You may also have not found a coffee table and rug that you could decide on.

But you might have FINALLY printed, framed, and hung family pictures.

And rearranged the living room furniture, again.

Painted the kitchen (Sorry Karrie, your wreath never made it back to your house. Do you want it back?)

(I love love love this color). "Quietude" by Sherwin Williams. Very similar to a color in the pottery barn catalog. The pictures don't do it justice.

We finally found a place to hang these windows. They'd been in my room for almost 2 years. I loved them, but we could never really find a place to put them. I like them in the kitchen.

We moved this desk and computer into the kitchen from the guest room. And hung the hubcap from Jayson's '53 chevy truck.

Cleaned the carpets. Don't judge us. They're disgusting, I know (this was the before picture).

And cleaned all of the closets, floors, baseboards, walls, doors, bathrooms, etc, etc. (no picture for this, sorry).

We changed Mae's room from a nursery to a toddler room. Big girl bed. No more snuggly rocking chair (it's moved to our room).

We hung Mae's alphabet (thanks K!), and set up a table and chairs for her to play at. (she loves it).

We served these adorable mini dawgs--half dawgs in their own little bun. They're so cute I could kiss them.

We also served the infamous baked beans, Laurie's salad (DELISH!), and strawberry lemonade. And desert? Smart Cookie.

I bought a few new dishes (they're not all new).

Tried new candy--candy corn kisses. Don't gag until you try them.

Then I kissed this man (how could I not?).

The reunion was a hit. I think everyone had a really good time, and we had a pretty good turn out.

And now...we're headed to the cabin to recover. I almost feel like our house should be for sale now or something, it's so beautiful and clean!

2008-09-27T16:38:00.001-06:00

have i mentioned how much i hate my banner?

(i'm sure most of you never see it from google reader).

i need some help.

3+3=heaven

2008-09-23T13:54:00.002-06:00

3 days at the cabin + just the 3 of us. amazing.

swinging.

(yes, she is wearing a dress and lounge pants. you can do that at the cabin).

lunch at the weber river.

she screamed her first ride, then wouldn't stop asking for rides on the "motocytle."

horses. mountains. trees. fresh air. wonderful.

for a good cause

2008-09-23T13:42:00.003-06:00

I'd been asking, begging, pleading for a few years. But the answer was no every time. "Not until it comes out in hi-def," was Jayson's answer. I agreed, for the most part, but the horrible personality flaw of one-track-mindedness (is that a word?) got the best of me sometimes. Jayson had recently relented and told me that if they didn't announce a hi-def unit by Christmas, that we would get one. I was pretty satisfied with that.

But yesterday was amazing.

It was the school carnival for Hillcrest Elementary where Joy teaches. We had to go and support her because she's a rockstar. The best part of the carnival was the silent auction where we hovered for a few hours. Jayson and I each had our things we were bidding on. We didn't want to win many of them, but we really wanted to prices to go high so the school would earn a lot of money.

Near the end of the auction, I was especially hovering around the wii, wishing I could bid. And then I realized...if we're going to get one anyway, I would much rather buy it at the auction where I know the money will go to the school than to target. GENIUS! How could either of us resist supporting such a noble cause?

We won. We love it. I'm so tickled. And both Jayson and I have tennis shoulder today.

p.s. I won't even tell you how many auctions we won. Or how many rounds of golf Jayson will be playing here soon.

drew

2008-09-13T17:38:00.004-06:00

After a long wait and much anticipation, my little brother Drew received his mission call. He opened his call at my brother Kirk's house, but all of my brothers and sisters were on the phone, as well as my parents (who woke up at 4:00 in the morning).

A few of you might know what this means to Drew, to my parents, and to my family in general. It's taken Drew a little bit longer to get here, but I know his experiences will make him a better missionary. We're so proud of him and his decision to serve a mission.

dress up

2008-09-12T11:46:00.000-06:00

tomatoes

2008-09-06T08:56:00.002-06:00

I've never fertilized.

I've never watered by hand.

I forgot to put up tomato cages.

I've completely ignored my garden.

And still, I get this:

handsome jalapenos.

Basil that I planted from one of those "living herb" packages you buy at the grocery store. All of the leaves were stripped off this plant one month ago when I planted it, and I've taken leaves off several times since. And still, it grows....

Rosemary. This plant has grown and grown and grown. And I love rosemary.

Tomatoes. I planted 4 little plants a few months ago--beefstake, cherry, roma, and celebrity. One of them didn't make it, but the other three exploded. I had to take out the cherry tomato plant because I just couldn't eat them fast enough. And they were crowding out the other tomato plants (whose fruit I really did want to eat).

It looks like a jungle, doesn't it? The plants are really a mess, but the tomatoes are sooooo delish. We've had salsa, homemade tomato soup, tomato mozzarella salad, and chicken rice and black bean salad. And still, we can't keep up with these tomatoes. And the romas haven't even gone red yet.

Not pictured is my greek oregano (that makes the most amazing souvlaki), my other pepper plant, and my peach tree (that has one lone peach on it this year).

Since our yard is all front yard, I really struggled with if/how to have a vegetable and fruit garden. I really wanted to give it a shot, but was really nervous because I've killed every thing I've ever grown. This year was a real confidence booster because I've succeed and not really done anything. Wahoo!

I'm already jazzed for next year. I still don't have room to grow beans, corn, or squash. But I can do tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. And that tickles my toes.

p.s. I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now. Anyone else read it? Did it change your life?

they're here!!!

2008-09-06T08:53:00.001-06:00

A new shipment of J Dawgs shirts arrived last week. We have sizes from 2T - adult 2X. Let me know if you need some.

pretty!

2008-09-06T08:41:00.002-06:00

Mae loves the girly things--shopping, clothes, etc. A few weeks ago when we pulled up to the mall, she started yelling "yes, yes yes!" Mercy, we're going to make a handsome (and expensive) duo.

She also loves makeup ("pretties"). If I am putting some on, she insists that she needs some as well. This is usually okay with me because I can give her stuff to put on that doesn't show up on her face. The problem we run into is when she finds my makeup by herself and decides to put it on.

A few weeks ago it was mascara.

This week it was lip gloss.

Whenever I catch her in the act, she looks at me with that ridiculously cute grin and yells "pretty!" We laugh hysterically, take pictures, and then I have to pull myself together and try and help her understand that she can only do "pretties" with my help. Obviously our pep talk hasn't worked.

BTW, she figured out how to open both containers. And the lip gloss was much harder to get off.

hot dogs, anyone?

2008-08-28T17:16:00.003-06:00

olympics are over, i don't have any more excuses, right? back to blogging?

ohhhhhhh....

we're just starting our slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am month with j dawgs. we have two months like this each year--april and september. they're ridiculously busy at the shack, as well as catering. we have a manager now at the shack, so its much better in that department. but the catering? oh the catering. this month is off. the. hook. we have more jobs schedule for these next 3 weeks than the rest of this year combined. and i get phone calls daily. can you cater 500 dawgs on friday? 400 dawgs on monday? 1700 next friday? people. seriously.

i'm not complaining. its amazing. but so tiring. and i am trying to pull myself together. and trying to figure out what to do with mae. i really feel strongly that if someone watches my child while i work, they need to be paid. i'm looking for a good babysitter. or daycare. or any place she can go. ideas, anyone?

hot dogs, anyone?

Don't bother me, I'm busy.

2008-08-10T16:18:00.002-06:00

Don't call me. Don't write me. Don't come by my house. Don't bother me. I'm busy. Busy with this:

Or if you do call, write, or come by, please be warned that I may not hear a word you say.

I can't think of a word to describe how I feel about the Olympics. The best I can come up with is I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove the Olympics. Original, right?

I love the Olympics so much that:
1. I signed us up for cable after not having it for almost a year. And I had to get all 974 channels and DVR so I didn't miss a thing.
2. I woke up at 2:30 Friday morning to watch the rebroadcast of the opening ceremonies, because I missed it due to a catering job (cable wasn't installed until Sat AM).
3. I sobbed through the opening ceremonies.
4. Watching me tell you about the opening ceremonies is probably more entertaining than watching it yourself.
5. I spend every second that I'm not watching TV (which is few and far between) reading about the Olympics.
6. I only want to leave my house if I can go somewhere and watch the Olympics.
7. Jayson and I simultaneously yell at the TV "come on!" "move it" and "stick that landing" like we're there and the Olympians can hear us.
8. I want to know everyone's story. Like did you know there is a swimmer from Palestine who has not trained in an Olympic sized pool because they don't have one in Palestine?

I could go on and on....

I've always loved the Olympics, but I feel a special connection to them since I was a volunteer in 2002. I feel like I'm closer to them. Like I'm an insider, or expert, or OLYMPIAN myself.

I remember riding trax to SLC during the games in 2002 and hearing a lady describe herself as "an Olympic boob." I laughed at her. Now, I fear, I AM the Olympic boob.

So if you want to hear from me in the next 15 days, you may just have to come to my house and watch some Olympics with me. But I promise we'll have a good time. I'm totally emotional and giddy, and sometimes totally crazy. It's a blast.

Bring on the games!

Megan

2008-07-25T08:31:00.001-06:00

Did you think I was kidding about standing on tables, chairs, etc and singing?

I love this girl.

miley cyrus!

2008-07-24T16:44:00.004-06:00

Back in April, I went on a mission to find Megan tickets to see Stadium of Fire. Megan is, in her words, Miley's "number one fan." I believe that to be true.

I ended up emailing people on craigslist and found a guy my age named Dainon who agreed to sell me two tickets at cost. I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe it. I was so grateful to Dainon and his kindness toward Megan and I, especially since we had never met him and since he could easily get $250-$300 a piece for his tickets if he sold them to someone else. We met briefly so I could get the tickets, thanked him from the bottom of our hearts and thought that was that.

So can you imagine how we were all floored when he called me a few days before Stadium of Fire to let me know that he had arranged for Megan to get a BACKSTAGE PASS? Yes people, a backstage pass. Amy and I both cried when we found out. It was totally and completely unbelievable. While this may not seem like the most important thing in the world to most, I can promise you that to Megan, it pretty much was.

Megan was sooooo good at keeping it a secret (because she was asked to), but she let it out when she had her chance. I guess everyone was waiting pretty quietly for Miley to show up. When she walked in the room, it took a few minutes for Megan to notice, but when she did she started screaming "MILEY CYRUS! BOO-YAH! NUMBER ONE FAN! BOO-YAH!" Everyone started laughing--how could you not?

It's been all she's talked about since the 4th of July. If you spend more than 30 seconds with Megan, you'll hear about it. And if she starts talking about it, you better believe it will end in screaming and dancing on top of chairs or tables. (I'm trying to get a video up so you can see it in action).

And Dainon, the nice guy who did this for Megan? The president of the freedom festival found Amy just to tell her how lucky she was to be there. He said he had a list with hundreds of kids on it who wanted and deserved to be there, but because of Dainon's sheer persistence he let Megan be one of the 40 kids to have this privilege. Dainon evidentially called and emailed the president almost daily asking him if Megan could have this opportunity.

Dainon still has never met Megan. I don't know if he ever will. Amy looked for him at Stadium of Fire so they could give him Megan's thank you card, and she couldn't find him. We don't know how to tell him thank you enough. We don't know how to repay him, or really put into words how much this meant to Megan, Amy, the rest of their family and all of our extended family, friends, neighbors, and even to people who were at the event (who told Amy that Megan's reaction was the best part of the night). So, thank you again Dainon. We are eternally grateful.

grotto trail (ode to summer)

2008-07-24T16:11:00.006-06:00

I would totally recommend this hike to people with kids. It's .6 miles round trip and really easy. Mae walked the whole way. You cross over the stream about 5 times and end up at a beautiful waterfall/cave. Just remember to bring some water shoes!

Thanks, Sarah for the tip. We loved our hike!

fireworks (ode to summer)

2008-07-24T15:57:00.002-06:00

at disneyland

our own home show, july 5th

[missing pics from 4th of july. watched at byu.]

...hope to maybe see some more tonight.

disneyland

2008-07-17T10:29:00.002-06:00

Joy posted all about our trip to disneyland. Thanks Joy, for doing it so I don't have to!

Some of you wondered why disneyland and why now. Here is my answer: I promised myself I would get to go to disneyland when I lost a certain amount of weight. I did it a few months back, so I decided it was time to make good on that promise. I got an email on Monday from Delta that tickets were $59 each way to Long Beach (seriously? so cheap!), which is less than 5 minutes from my sister's house. By Wednesday we were booked and by Saturday morning we were on our way. Shannon was sweet enough to pick us up from the airport, let us stay at her house (and made her kids sleep on the coach so we could sleep in beds), drive us to disneyland, pick up Mae in the middle of the day so we could stay late, watch Mae while we played in disneyland, make us dinner, etc, etc. THANK YOU SHANNON!!!

We had an awesome time. We ate way too much junk food and the money I spent on Mickey paraphernalia could feed a family of eight for a month. We can't wait to go back!