More Random Thoughts

These are pictures of my friend Jennifer's beautiful twin babies. They are about 2 weeks old now. I loved taking pictures of them.

Thanks to my friend Nora, I got to spend the day skiing at Deer Valley yesterday. It is so beautiful up there. It's a really fun resort with lots of easy runs. I can definitely see why the rich flock to that area. I got to go with my friend Mindy Thygerson. We laughed the whole time. It was great! I skiied through the trees and up a bunch of different little shoot outs off the trail. I even tried some little jumps! It was so much fun!

My husband and kids spoil me :)

I have been to a LOT of extra church meetings lately as part of my church calling. My favorite was two visits to the Samoan Ward in our Stake. Part of the meetings are in English, but several speakers spoke in Samoan. They also sang in Samoan. I personally love attending church meetings in different languages because I feel like I can concentrate even harder on feeling the spirit. I love knowing that so many of us around the world believe the same things and can worship together even when we don't understand each other's languages.

I have attended some meetings in Mexico in Spanish where I didn't understand a single word and I loved that too. I believe it's important to be at church on Sunday no matter where you are.

I have one more church meeting tonight. I would be excited if I didn't feel like I had already left my kids too much the past couple weeks.

If I could be anywhere this minute I would want to be surfing somewhere warm. Anywhere. By surfing, I mean attempting to surf :)

I can't wait for the open house I'm holding this weekend. I hope you can come!

Random

*I love all the words Megan says incorrect. I'm starting to get really emotional each time she says a word wrong because I know it's not going to last much longer. My favorite is butsept instead of except.

*I love the Jordan River Parkway! I have taken my kids there a couple times lately. They ride their bikes while I roller blade. We ride from one playground to another, then another. It's so much fun and such great exercise for the kids. I don't know how far we go but it is probably 2-4 miles and I'm so proud Megan's little legs make the journey.

*I signed up for a bike tour associated with the SLC Marathon. I'm trying to make sure I am ready for it because I need to ride 26 miles in an hour and 45 minutes. I still have no clue how possible this is because I haven't actually ridden 26 miles in at least 8 years. Keith is making fun of me for this. I've taken two long bike rides so far in the past couple weeks but my bike computer wasn't working either time. The first ride I'm guessing I went 20 miles in 2 hours. It wasn't a great test though because it was on the Jordan River Parkway and who knows how much the turns and people slowed me down. The second ride I thought my computer was working but it wasn't so I decided to do some steeper hills instead of a long ride. I went 8 miles from the Draper Park to the Draper Temple then east on Highland drive and back to the park.

*This weekend was gorgeous and I wanted to ride my bike but got to work the Scrapbook Expo instead. It's so much work preparing for those shows! Ugh! The weekend went well, and I'm glad I did it. I love meeting so many cool people and talking to so many old friends and customers.

*I get to go to the Draper Temple in a few hours to see it dedicated. I'm really excited to see what happens at a dedication. Once it's dedicated the temple is closed to the general public.

*I'm really excited for spring, but need to go skiing a few more times before I can be ready to say good bye to winter.

*My house is a disgusting mess. How did I become this person?

*My feet really hurt from standing on them so long this weekend. I've been able to relax this morning which is great.

*I can't wait for the Digital Scrapbook Memories Retreat in May. I bought tons of prizes for it and can't wait to give them away.

*I really REALLY wish I could go to a surfpark. They look so cool. We have a really fun Flowrider place nearby, but this surfpark looks extra cool.

Not Now

Geez. I am just not in the blogging mood this week. Things are going well and I have plenty to blog about, but I'm just not in the mood.

Swashbuckler

This is so cute and so true!

Where Was My Camera?

I wish I had my camera at 7:30 this morning. The full moon was absolutely beautiful going down behind the Oquirrh Mountains this morning. The mountains were covered in snow, the moon was a stunning light peach color and the sky was a soft baby blue. I was at the top of a hill and it was still just dark enough to see all of the city lights too. Wow!!!

The Magic Forest

Thanks to some chatty boys from Miton, UT we learned about the magic forest at Sundance yesterday. It's so fun. There are 3-4 trees with faces, an owl and a magical tree with an elf. If you get off at the lift stop and go to the left, you'll be in the magic forest.



Another face... look close.



Here is the tree the elf lives in. Apparently if you knock on the door 5 times before noon an elf will come out. We weren't there in time to try, but the boys said they saw the elf so we know it has to be true :)







Here is my crazy boy skiing through the magic forest. I can't quite get him to try anything but a snowplow yet. He did ski without his edgie-wedgies for the first time though, and did a GREAT job. If you watch the video in the post below you'll see these little clips on the fronts of his skis. Those are edgie wedgies.

Before the Cliff

This is a video of Luke sking one of the flat sections of Cliff's Run at Snowbird. I am so used to turning the camera to take pictures, I turned it for this video. Oops. Tilt your head as far as you can to the right and brace yourself for motion sickness. The tough section I mentioned in this post is the cliff you see us approaching. I can't wait to take Luke hiking here in the summer.

Never Before

Picture by Philippe Sainte-Laudy

I have never enjoyed a winter as much as this one. Everytime it snows I am so excited to look outside and see it's beauty. I have especially loved all of the days where the snow packs down on the side roads and the entire neighborhood is a gorgeous white. Today the snow was a different kind of beautiful. The thick snow flocked all of the trees and yards, but quickly melted on the sidewalks and roads. It was even more perfect because we had beautiful blue skies. Ahhhh! It's almost all melted now, but I enjoyed it while I could.

I think taking the time for winter sports has certainly helped me enjoy the winter more. I'm also enjoying this winter more because I am happier. The past few years have been frustrating, but I've been trying much much harder to find joy in everything. It's taken a lot of work to change my mindset, but after several months it's working and it feels so good.

Coming Soon

Easter Kit created by Shannon Freeman for Digital Scrapbook Memories

Girls and Sports

I first saw my little almost two year old neice "S" carrying these around and laughed out loud. I think it might have been Megan's idea first but I think both girls are totally cute and creative. I love that they turned ski helmets into cradles.



ETA: I hope the title doesn't sound negative towards girls. It shouldn't since I AM a girl who loves to participate in sports. Female athletes are AMAZING!!! I just love how a little girl can turn anything "girly".

Beautiful!

I just found this picture on my cousin Jenny's blog. She is such a great photographer! I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

My First Album

Emily tagged me, and since I'm a sucker for wasting time I did it. It actually has something to do with what I was going to post on next anyway. I am going to post about graphic design through the ages. Any of us are capable of the graphic design they were doing 30 years ago.



To make your own album, follow these instructions:

band name: go to wikipedia, hit "random article" (or click here and click on random article). the first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. -- mine was Tokatee Klootchman State Natural Site, but I think you'll agree it was best to shorten it.

album title: go to "random quotations" (or click here and click on random quotes). the last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album. --mine was "Absolutely No Good"

cover art: go to flickr and click on "explore the last seven days" (or click here). third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. Truthfully, I cheated and did not use the third picture. I kept hitting refresh until I liked the third picture I found. Photo by Kretyen

Use Photoshop, Picasa or any other program to put it all together.

Marathon???

I was talking to a friend yesterday who has done 13 marathons. Apparently he WALKED one of the marathons with his wife. I didn't know you could walk a marathon. I called the SLC Marathon office today to see how fast you would have to go. Apparently they have an early start at 6:10 a.m. and then you would have until 1:00 p.m. to finish before they open the roads back up to the public. That's almost 7 hours to walk 26.2 miles or 3.75 miles an hour. Hummm.... could I do that? You can actually finish after 7 hours, but it wouldn't be as much fun after the roads open up. I ran 2 miles in 28 minutes today... ha ha ha ha! Not very impressive. Could I keep that up for 7 hours?

Another option is that they have a bike tour. It's not a race, but you follow the 26 mile marathon course. You have 1:45 to complete it. I'm not sure I could go this fast or not, but I would have a blast trying. The idea of riding my bike through the wide closed off streets of SLC sounds so great. Ugh! I would love this. Maybe I should give it a try.

Does anyone want to try with me? I have a family conflict that day, but I think my hubby would forgive me if I really wanted to do this.

Also, if anyone wants to go to Planet Fitness with me for super cheap (maybe free), let me know.

Church Magnets

As I have probably mentioned before, my current church calling is in the Stake Relief Society presidency. I enjoy working in the stake and visiting all of the wards from time to time. Today was the first of the eight ward conferences I'll attend this year. The ward I went to is the one my cousin Katie and my mother and father-in-law go. It was fun to go to church with them. I made these magnets to hand out after the lesson in Relief Society. The top one is for this year. The bottom was is what I gave out last year.



The bottom magnet is kind of small to read here. You can read the scripture here. Click on Book of Mormon, then Mosiah chapter 15 verse 5. If you are curious about our scriptures, you are welcome to ask questions.

Don't say you can't afford Photoshop

Megan skiied by herself today for the first time! It was only on the bunny hill, but I was still anxious to document the moment. It was so bright outside and I had my sunglasses on. I didn't realize the picture looked so bad when I took it. Fortunately with a levels, curves and saturation adjustment the picture isn't too bad. It's so exciting to rescue a poor photo.

Now, don't say you can't afford Photoshop. Many of you have written that in the comments. The truth is you can get Adobe Photoshop Elements on Ebay for pretty darn cheap. I've bought older versions there for as low as $10. New copies of Photoshop, just older. You don't need the full version for $600 to be able to scrapbook the way I do or enhance pictures like this. Any version will do.

Flashback

This is a scrapbook page from my paper scrapping days. It would have been so much easier to do digitally, but it was still fun. My favorite scrapbook pages have lots and lots of pictures. This page was to document the things Luke liked at 1.5. I'm so glad I did this page because there is so much I would have forgotten. Scrapbooking, journaling and any kind of personal history is cool.



BTW - I just won lift tickets to Sundance! I'm so excited! I know Luke will love it there. I can't believe how inexpensive this year's skiing has been!

40 Things

I decided to copy Stacy and Jill and post these 40 things. It was fun reading their answers and I enjoyed writing mine.

1. My uncle once: told me zebras were horses that went to jail. I believed him for longer than I should have.

2. Never in my life: have I thought any cola drink tasted good.

3. When I was five: it was 1980 and Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton John, Billy Joel and Michael Jackson were big stars.

4. High School was: a lot of fun but I really wish I was involved in more sports. I completely gave up the first time I got cut from a team and I will always regret that.

5. I will never forget: the day my children were born.

6. I once met: a man who said his closet was as big as the store I worked in. I still can’t figure out why he thought that was so important to tell me. The store was about 1000 square feet.

7. There’s this girl I know who: lived in a flat with a view of a castle (my sister, Angie).

8. Once, at a bar: I hit my head. Actually it was a big beam in the mall and I walked right into it when talking to my friends.

9. By noon, I usually have a new goal in mind, but sadly I don't write them down or follow through as much as I used to.

10. Last night: I played these brain benders with my kids.

11. If only I had: a house in Australia.

12. Next time I go to church: I am going to try harder not to be late.

13. Terry Schiavo: is fortunate to have people that love her. I feel sympathy for both sides.

14. What worries me most: is that someone I love might, one day, suffer a lot of pain.

15. When I turn my head left, I see: A Canon MP620 and a Canon 30D.

16. When I turn my head right, I see: HP Laserjet 2100 and a Sharp FO 5800.

17. You know I’m lying when: I say my car battery is dead and my friends are helping me jump start it now, and then I still don’t come home for an hour or two. I didn’t think through how long it would really take to jump start a car and get home. I was just trying to buy more time with my friends in high school.

18. What I miss most about the eighties: Olivia Newton John and dancing to her music.

19. If I were a character in Shakespeare, I’d be: lost without someone explaining the story to me.

20. By this time next year: both of my kids will be in school.

21. A better name for me would be: Perfect. Ha ha. I’m totally kidding. I like my name and I'm not perfect.

22. I have a hard time understanding: physics and chemistry.

23. If I ever go back to school, I’ll: study business. I would also take a few English classes because I need help with my writing and grammar (I had to spell check grammar). I would love to go back to school for graphic design, photography and art too.

24. You know I like you if: you know me. I like everyone.

25. If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be: without question, my parents.

26. Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: are not super interesting to me. If I wrote the questions I would have liked to have heard what people had to say about Corrie Ten Boom, Gerald Coffee, John H. Groberg, and maybe Bill Gates.

27. Take my advice, never: spend much time feeling bad for yourself.

28. My ideal breakfast: would be at an open air beachfront restaurant with my family eating crepes, eggs and orange juice.

29. A song I love, but do not own is: No Air. I really love Chris Brown and wish I hadn't heard any rumors about him.

30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest: ice skating at Solitude, skiing at the Canyons, sledding at Gargoza Park and seeing the lights at Temple Square in the winter. In the summer I would suggest dozens of awesome hikes including Timpanogas Cave and the Red Pine trail, getting a day pass at Snowbird, biking at Deer Valley, waterskiing at Jordanelle, camping in Payson, visiting the Flower Gardens at Thanksgiving Point and tubing down the Provo River. I have so much more I could write. I love the opportunities here.

31. Tulips, character flaws, microchips, & track stars: Tulips are my favorite flower, character flaws are usually understandable, microchips are awesome, and track stars are inspiring.

32. Why won’t people: give me their money?

33. If you spend the night at my house: I would need a lot of notice so I could clean like a mad woman.

34. I’d stop my wedding for: nothing. I’m sure I would have postponed it a month for the right amount of cash though.

35. The world could do without: a crime I find too sad or disgusting to write about.

36. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: hold a cat. Well, I'd at least consider licking the belly of a cockroach to avoid holding a cat.

37. My favorite blond is: Luke or Megan.

38: Paper clips are more useful than: a lot of things! My dream would be to come up with a product as useful as a paperclip.

39. If I do anything well, it’s: the ability to see the good in people. Every story has two sides.

40. And by the way: I think it’s ridiculous I like to talk about myself. I do enjoy learning about others though. Let me know if you post this on your blog.

Monster Trucks and SkyDiving

On Valentine's Day our family went to see Monster Jam at the Energy Solutions Center. It was a lot of fun. I don't know why I like those things so much, but I do. We got to see some motocross in the middle of the show too. Those motorcycles are so much fun to watch, although I'm terrified someone is going to break their back in front of me.

After the show Keith surprised me and said he would take me to do something else. I chose to go to the Salomon Center in Ogden. I've always wanted to go there to watch (or participate) in the indoor skydiving and surfing. I'm still smiling that he went with me. Unfortunately the Flowrider was under construction, but we still got to see the skydiving. Keith even said I could do it if I wanted!!! Wow!!! There were no openings so I didn't get to do it, but I still had a blast watching. When we first got there we watched some kids. I'm guessing they were 6, 8 and 13 or so. They were really good. Clearly they have been practicing. My kids LOVED watching the younger kids and Luke can't wait to do it himself.

Unfortunately, we found out that the $49 introductory price is for ONLY TWO MINUTES total!!! $25 a minute! The kids we were watching apparently are part of a family that buys time in there in 10 hour chunks so it's cheaper, but that is still probably thousands of dollars. $49 seemed worth it to me when I thought you got 15 or 20 minutes, but TWO? Sheesh!

The Flowrider is fairly expensive too, but nothing like iFly. It's worth every penny. If you ever go I would totally recommend paying more and stay a while until you really get the hang of it. It is so much fun! I got to do it on a cruise about a year ago.

Here is an iPhone picture of the Monster Jam. Do you like how they painted the hill and cars pink and white with hearts? I thought that was great. Too bad they had to smash those hearts into pieces.

Flashback to 2003

Wow. It's amazing how fast time flies. This is a picture of Luke and his cousin Kaden almost 6 years ago. These boys are playing the Wii in the other room right now. I should get a picture to post next to this one, but I'm lazy right now. I'll do it another time.

I'm Really Thirsty

Our water started tasting REALLY bad 3-4 days ago. It actually made me feel a little sick. The water company tested it 2 days ago and were supposed to give us the results yesterday but they never did! Ugh! I seriously don't know if it is safe to drink. It has a metal or chemical taste to it and has a crazy aftertaste that makes my stomach feel weird.

The first two days I was so thirsty because I only really like to drink water and never made it to the store for bottled water. I can only drink so much milk and juice. Yesterday I finally got smart and remembered I keep a water supply in the basement in case of emergency. I've been drinking my water storage and realizing how quickly my water storage will go if there really was an emergency. I better store more water. Are you all storing water?

Our main water line was replaced a few years ago and our neighbors don't notice a difference, although some drink bottled water anyway. I'm so anxious to see what is going on. Apparently the city opened up some new wells or something on the day we started having problems. It may not be related though.

In our first house there were a couple days when the water litterally came out YELLOW! It was horrible to think public water in the United States had those problems. Bottled water isn't always better though either.