The Hair and Now

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years 2011

2012-02-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Jeff and Erica flew out from Connecticut for Thanksgiving this year. It was so good to see them! It was actually the first time we were seeing new baby Adam. Jeff, Erica and I had dinner with Suzie's family. It was a great little dinner. Lyle and Andrea's family came the next day.

Everyone IS Thankful for her!!

Ellie loves her new brother

Following tradition I spent a lot of time watching the Turkey Tournament basketball games. Lyle did the book for me one of the games so I didn't have too.

Jeff at the clock and Lyle at the book.

Owen at the sidelines.

Family team at a time out

The family team played for the championship but was not able to win. Better luck next year.

Little Adam was blessed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Owen blessed his baby Luke that night too so we had a big, fun family get together. We missed my Mom being there and she was a little homesick to be with her kids that day too. We of course missed Scot's family too.

Such a handsome little guy

Christmas

It has been a tradition for a few years now to look at the Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve. My nephews love it. Well wouldn't you know it there is an app for that. I happened to be looking right when Santa was in Cedar City, which I thought was cool. Luckily the kids were in bed so Santa could come.

Christmas morning was pretty fun at this house.

When Shelayne saw that stroller, she let out a squeal and tried to push her brothers out of the way.

Santa found these boys for sure

I think they were all happy about their presents

Anyone that knows my brother knows he likes to tease. I opened my present from his family an it was this:

A SIGNED copy of his latest research paper. Tucked inside was a 25 dollar american express card. He is a dork.
Later we drove over to Orderville. The boys were tired after getting up so early. My Grandma had a potluck dinner that night so we got to hang out with a lot of my cousins. It was fun. We stayed the night at Suzie's.

Jeff and Erica didn't come out. Erica's family went to the Dominican Republic on Christmas day. Jeff sent this picture of Ellie walking through the airport. She is so darling.

New Years

I'm not sure if this picture was really new years eve but I thought it was cute.

She loves her Daddy!

We ate a lot of good food and played Yahtzee until it struck midnight. It was fun.

Towards the end the kids were getting a little tired.

Almost time.

Marshal (6) is a little obsessed with calendars. It was 12:04 am when he said "We need a new calendar." It was pretty funny.

The holidays were fun but it is kind of nice to get them over with and get back to normal life.

Road Trip November 2011!

2011-11-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago(Nov 18-20) me and three of my friends took a road trip to Flagstaff, AZ. SUU was playing football at NAU and we decided it would be fun to go watch the game and spend some time in Flagstaff. I had never been there and had heard good things about it. On the way there we hit a wind storm that was blowing tumbleweeds allover the road. It looked like a game where you were supposed to try to avoid them. But we weren't able to.

Libby and the tumbleweed.

We had some problems finding our motel when we got there. The GPS on my phone led us to a place that looked like a motel converted to apartments. They looked pretty dumpy and we were really hoping that was not where our reservations were. We finally found it. The motel ended up having nice beds and I slept pretty comfortably.

The next morning we went to historic downtown and did some shopping and looking around. They had some really cool stores. All of the store clerks were incredibly nice. We decided that everyone we talked to in Flagstaff was. It is just a nice place. For lunch we ate at a place called Brandy's Restaurant & Bakery. It had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives so we decided to try it. I really liked my food.

Garlic Fries and Quiche

This is where Guy Fieri sat

After lunch we headed to the game. NAU has an indoor football field. It was really nice. There was actually quite a few people there cheering for SUU. NAU scored two touchdowns right at the start and I worried that wasn't a good sign.

Libby and I

At half time I was able to see some friends that live there in Flagstaff. Brant works at NAU. I know them because of our mutual friend Natalie. So we took this picture and sent it to Natalie and asked if she was jealous. She was.

Me, Rianne and Jana

Kyle, Libby and I. Camaree wouldn't get in the picture

The game ended up being really good and SUU won 27 to 24! It made it worth the drive. It was probably the football game that I paid the most attention to.
After the game and shopping at a goodwill store (another wrong turn because of GPS) we ate at Stromboli's. It is a pizza and pasta place one of my clients told me about. It was pretty good.
That night we played girl talk. It is a game that I remember from my childhood and Camaree still had the game. Yes Kyle was a good sport and played with us. If you fail the task you get you have to wear a sticker zit.

Camaree had zits too but she wouldn't get in the picture.

Don't ask me what Kyle was doing here.

Sunday we decided to take a detour to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I have only been to the North Rim and that was only once. I know, it is a shame considering how close it is to where I grew up.

It was breathtaking! I was really glad we went.

This is what Libby and I did while we were driving. Yes we are like old ladies.

We also stopped for a minute at Lee's Ferry.

We had made a road trip CD and I think the two songs that ended up being the themes from it were "Meet me in Montana" and "Let's here it for the Boy". They were the fun ones to sing along to. Kyle didn't love the latter but he was a trooper with us three girls so we dedicated it to him. We finally made it safely home and I think we all ended as friends still. :)

My Favorite Picture of All Time

2011-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

This picture is of me and my Dad. I don't have a date for it but I assume I was three or four. I post it today because today is the day he died thirteen years ago. I'm not looking for sympathy I mostly just wanted a reason to post the picture because I have been wanting to make sure I preserved it. The first time I ever laid eyes on this picture was the night before my Dad's funeral. My Aunt and Uncle found it in their collection right after my Dad's passing and made a copy for me and my Mom and brought them to us. It has become quite famous in my family. My Grandparents wanted a copy and I think most of my siblings got one too. It has hung on my bedroom wall ever since. My niece was about that age at the time of my Dad's death and she looked a lot like me. We displayed it at the funeral and people kept saying what a cute picture of my Dad with his Granddaughter. I corrected them, don't worry. I mean looked at those awesome sunglasses in my hand! Those were so 1983 not 1998. :)
I love the emotion you can see in his face. It makes me feel very loved. I've always thought that I must have been thinking, "Yes, I have him wrapped around my finger." I think about him a lot and especially this time of year. He is a good man and I miss him everyday.

Halloween Present and Past

2011-11-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across some old Halloween pictures. So I decided to keep them close by and add them to this post. I had to scan some of them in so the quality of those particular ones is not great. But get excited because there are some great pictures ahead! ;)

This is the girls at the salon this year. Megan was a hippie, Becky is a pirate, and then you see me and I know you are thinking "She didn't dress up!" Oh but I did. My sign says "Shirt....$20.00, Jeans.... $40.00, Halloween costume with minimal effort.....Priceless!" That's right, I was a MasterCard Ad. Crysta was Little Red Riding Hood, MaLynda was a slutty Eskimo (although not very slutty), Ashlee was a cat and Krista was a nerd. We also had a potluck that day. There was a lot of good food and we had a fun day.

This is little Adam. He is the newest member of my family. He was born October 1st. It was in Connecticut though so I haven't been able to hold him yet. He is a cute little cow.

This is my cute little Ellie fairy. She is adorable!

Here is Erica, Jeff and Adam. Jeff sent me this picture with the caption "Blame it all on my roots". It made me laugh because if you know Jeff he hates country music and everything that goes with it.

Here are the ones that actually live by me. Marshal was a basketball player, Bret a robber, Danny a football player and Shelayne was a cute little spider who smiles after you take the picture.

This is Danny in 2000. He was the same one that was the football player in the picture above. He is pretty cute both times.

This is McKenzie and Wyat also in 2000. They are now 17 and 14. I can't believe how fast time goes!

Here are the girls of Salon Divo. No we didn't really dress like that in 2000, it was Halloween and we decided to be eighties girls. There is Bree, Kacie, Dayna, Me, Tanny, Liz and Jamie.

And in case you needed a closer look at me with my awesome eighties hair...here you go.

Here is Danny in 2001. You can't tell at all that his Dad is a sports fan can you?

Here is Wyat and McKenzie in 2001. Wyat was a bear in case you can't tell.


Here I am in 2003. I had just gotten back from Hawaii and had purchased that outfit. I was super tan so I pretended I was Hawaiian. I had a picture of all the girls at the salon but the picture wasn't digital and it turned out terrible.

The next four pictures are from 2008. I realize there is a large gap but I probably didn't dress up and if I did, I didn't find those pictures.

This is Kristy as a white trash beauty queen and Kyle as a homeless man. His sign says "Needs Rich Woman (Preferably a HOT one). M-Jay is the creepy cowboy in the background. It was pretty funny because Kyle didn't even recognize him.

Erin was gum on the bottom of a shoe, Laura was a bubble bath and I was a magic 8 ball. My necklace was triangle shaped pieces of paper that had magic 8 ball responses.

We had a few games....like doughnut on a string. Jason obviously wasn't very good.


This is Todd, Mike and Clint. They weren't really dressed up but the picture made me laugh.

Here is Erin and Kyle in 2009. They didn't really dress up but some other girls came over as very modest playboy bunnies and Erin and Kyle decided to steal their accessories for a picture.

I didn't dress up either in 2009 but Ellie did! She was only about 2 months old in this picture.

I am not missing last year in case you are wondering. I blogged about it back then so check my older posts if you want to see my awesome "box of Kleenex" costume. :)

Things you don't say to single people. (Atleast not this single person)

2011-10-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

In my 31 years of being single I have had some really stupid things said to me. I know most people mean well and I really don't want to offend anyone. A lot of times the people trying to give advice haven't been in my situation so they really don't understand what they are saying. Maybe this will help someone think before they speak.

1. Well you're just being too picky. This comment is wrong on so many levels. Hell yes I am being picky! I plan to be with him for eternity so I am going to like him. Lowering my standards just to be married.........not an option. There are things worse than being single. From the words of a former stake president of mine (who is now an area authority) "You can be a lot happier single than married to the wrong person." I will stay single before I am going to marry someone who abuses me or has any other number of issues some men have nowadays. If you think I am choosing not to date someone because his ears are too big then you don't know me well enough to make this comment. I don't turn down blind dates. Guys that are divorced, have children and that are younger than me are not deal breakers. At my little brother's wedding someone said to me, "you would be married to if you didn't expect him to be perfect." That person had no idea what my dating life has been like. I have found several men I would have happily married but they chose not to be with me (which in the long run was a blessing). Don't say things like that to people, especially if you have no idea what their relationships have been like.
2. He just needs a good girl. You know what? I am a good girl and I have tried hard my whole life to be a good girl. I want an equal not a project. I do not want to date someone to try to help them change. Nobody is going to change unless they really want to. Why don't I deserve someone that is already a good person? I realize that everyone has their struggles and I am far from perfect but I just don't want to be set up with someone because I could "help" them become active in the church again (or whatever the case my be). It reminds me of a time when a woman wanted to set me up with her son who had recently gotten out of prison. The reason he was in prison you ask.....attempted rape of his mother! I just wanted to climb in her brain for a second and see what made her think it was okay to set me up with him.
3. I know a single guy. He's single and your single. Really? That is not enough in common. I really don't turn down many blind dates but I would like there to be more reason than that for you to set me up. I have had some really bad blind dates and it make me wonder what the person setting me up thinks about me. Oh well, good stories for later.
4. You're sick of dating? That how I got right before I met my spouse. Well thank you but the first time I remember hearing that was probably seven years ago and I have been sick of dating this whole time. This one also goes along with if you chop off your hair, buy a new car, get called to be the RS pres of your singles ward or finding him when you least expect it. I've chopped off my hair five times since I got out of beauty school. I have bought three new cars. I was the RS president 8 years ago, and how do you least expect it in a church where family is so important and people are constantly asking you if you are dating someone? Which brings me to....
5. Are you dating anyone? I don't hate this question as much as some of the others but it kind of depends on who it comes from. If you don't know me that well, don't ask me that. If you are just trying to get some gossip, don't ask me that. If you are someone that I know cares about me and is good at listening to my dating woes then it is okay. Besides, if I was dating someone and wanted you to know, I would tell you.
6. Have you tried online? Wow! I have never thought of that. I am so glad you brought that to my mind. (read that again with a very sarcastic voice because that is how I wrote it) No I haven't tried online. I know it works for some people but I have heard way more horror stories than good ones. Here is a quote from Dallin H Oaks of the quorum of the twelve apostles: "My single brothers and sisters, follow the simple dating pattern and you don’t need to do your looking through Internet chat rooms or dating services—two alternatives that can be very dangerous or at least unnecessary or ineffective."
7. If it doesn't happen in this life.... I know people say this to comfort but all I think about is....Well if I live until I am 90 I have 60 more years to be alone. You really think that is comforting? This one kind of goes with....Well look at Sheri Dew. Sheri Dew is an amazing lady but I have no desire to be her. In fact she came to town and spoke to the Relief Society women of this area and she is not happy about being single either. I don't know that I would be able to have as good of an attitude as she does if I stay single that long. I am not as strong as her.
8. So and so isn't married either. When this is said to me I think two things. One is that there are obvious reasons why that person in not married and you just compared me to them. Or I think.......she is a beautiful, amazing person, if she can't get married what makes me think I can. I do like hearing about the people who got married in their 30's or older. That makes me feel like there is still hope.

I have been writing this blog post in my head for months now and I knew I had to get it out. Like I said before, I know people mean well and I don't want to offend anyone. I just thought I would give you a glimpse into my head when certain things are said to me.

Summer Road Trip 2011

2011-08-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

My younger brother got accepted to NYU and therefore was moving across the country. One day in June I got a text message that said "How would you like to spend 40 hours with your brother?" I replied with "Driving to New York?" He said "Maybe." So I then asked "How will I get home?" He said, "Fly on my dime." I said, "I'm in." It didn't occur to me until the next day that Nauvoo Illinois (Where my Mom is on a mission) is on the way. So I asked my brother if we were stopping there and he said that was part of the plan. So then I was even more excited!
Wednesday, July 13th we finished packing the back of the 4-Runner, attached the U-haul trailer (which took four of us standing on the back to do it) and headed out.


Disclaimer: A lot of my pictures are taken from inside the car.


Wyoming had a lot of windmills and I found them very serene.

We hit some heavy rain just after Rock Springs, WY


The rock formations were cool.

Can anyone guess what state this next picture is from?

I hope you guessed Nebraska.

The first night we stayed in North Platte, Nebraska. We were hoping to find some good local food that night but we got there a little late and the only thing still open was Applebee's. It was disappointing.
Thursday, July 14th we got out to the car and Jeff realized that he had left the driver's side window down the whole night! Some of his most valuable stuff was inside the 4-Runner. Nothing had been touched. The drivers side was up against a fence and I don't think anyone had even looked. Thank goodness!
Right before we crossed into Iowa I realized we were pretty close to the Winter Quarter's temple so we took a detour and went and found it.

It was beautiful. There is also a pioneer graveyard right by it. We walked around it too. It was very peaceful.

Right after that little detour we entered Iowa. I think Iowa has more corn than Nebraska does. It also had very picturesque farms along the road.
That evening about 6 pm we made it to Nauvoo, IL. We teased my Mom and told her we had gotten a late start so she wasn't expecting us as soon as we got there. Her and Neal had the night off. So they fed us dinner and then drove us around Nauvoo. I wish I could have taken pictures of the firefly's. I love them, they fascinate me! In fact we hit one in the car and the guts glowed on the windshield for a minute. Only bug I felt bad about killing.

The mighty Mississippi at sunset.

They also took us to get frozen custard in town. It was delicious! My Mom was so excited to introduce us to the owner of the custard shop. There also happened to be other missionaries there that they were happy to have us meet. My Mom and Step Dad live in a little fifth wheel trailer so they had arranged for us to stay at a house of some people they know. The people had a basement with two bedrooms, bathroom and a separate entrance they would leave open for us. It was very nice.
Friday, July 15th, my Mom and Neal were busy so Jeff and I went to Carthage. The minute we stepped out of the car I could feel the spirit there. We of course took the tour so we got to see the jail and the room where Joseph Smith was last alive. It really did make everything I have heard since I was little a lot more real.

Before going back to Nauvoo we drove into Warsaw. Back in Joseph Smith's times they had a printing press there. It was putting out anti-Mormon publications. I heard that one of the church leaders told them they would never prosper. The printing press and most of the main street looks abandoned. It is kind of a dumpy little town. Jeff also wanted to drive into Missouri so that he could say he had been there. After we got back from Carthage and ate lunch we went to a show called "High Hopes and Riverboats" that was put on by the Young Performing Missionaries. It was really cute. Then we met my Mom and Neal in the grove where the guy who plays Joseph Smith in the pageant gave part of the King Follett sermon. He was dressed in character and it felt like I was there.

That night we got to see "Rendezvous". It is the cute little play that the older missionaries perform. We of course saw the one that my Mom and Neal were stars in. I loved it!!

We were lucky enough to get pictures with some of the cast. :)


This was their big scene as Jed and Annie.

Jed is not a member of the church and Annie doesn't want to date him because of some of his ways. Anyway they find out that saints need to leave Nauvoo and Jed realizes that he is on the saints side.

Here the men are singing "We'll leave willingly, because we have to"

Saturday, July 16th was my Mom and Neal's P-Day, so they hung out with us all day. It was nice. We went to their trailer for breakfast. Then we went and took a tour of the buildings that the Community of Christ church still owns. It was a good tour. We are pretty sure that the our tour guide was a member of our church which I think was a benefit to us. He was very diplomatic in how he presented the information. The Community of Christ owns the Nauvoo house, the Mansion house, Joseph and Emma's first house in Nauvoo, Joseph, Emma and Hyrum's graves and the Red Brick store. Jeff was mad that they own those sites but they are doing a good job at preserving them. It is thanks to them the graves are there at all. Emma had hidden Joseph and Hyrum's bodies and they found them and created the memorials.
Following that tour we were able to go to a little vignette that some of the pageant performers did. It was John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and others that talked about the missions that they were called on and the sacrifices made. I felt like I was back in time. It was so touching. The spirit was so strong and it brought tears to my eyes.
After that we went and did a session at the the temple. It is a beautiful building inside and out.

Later that evening we got to see the other show that my Mom and Neal are in. It is called Sunset and it is a series of little skits that the older couples and the young performing missionaries do together.

I loved this one too!! It was so cute and a lot of fun. Then it was time to go to the pageant. There was a lot of people there. I ran into a guy that used to be in my singles ward in Cedar City. That was pretty random. The Pageant was so so good. I never wanted to go to Nauvoo in the middle of the summer because of the heat and the humidity. But I am so glad I got to see all the extra stuff that they have going on during July.
Sunday July 17th we went to church with my Mom and Neal. They only have sacrament meeting. I could get on board with that except it is at 8 am. They had a visiting authority that we got to hear speak. It was Elder Costa from the Presidency of the Seventy. After church we went and walked around the women's garden that is right by the visitor's center. It is really pretty.

After that we went back to my Mom and Neal's trailer and they made us brunch. Then it was time to hook the trailer back up and head back out. Is was really hard to leave.
We drove all the way through Illinois and Indiana that day. We were still seeing a lot of corn and soybeans. Somewhere in Ohio we ate at a yummy Italian place and we stopped for the night in Mansfield, Ohio. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn. I only mention this because it was way nicer than the place we stayed the first night and my bed was so comfortable! It was the best sleep I had had the whole trip thus far.
Monday, July 18th we drove some more. When we got to Pennsylvania we made it a

The More Boys I Meet

2011-07-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Some recent events have made me think about some of my dating experiences and I decided I wanted to share some thoughts. The recent event.......the boy I spent a little time with last summer got arrested several weeks ago. Let me just state that I was not in a relationship with him (although he sometimes called it that). I think I was bored last summer and he was showing interest. I never really liked him, therefore I said whatever I wanted to him and was actually quite sassy to him. It was fun and I think he thought I was flirting but really I was just being honest. For example: He asked one day what made us attracted to each other. I replied, "I never said I was attracted to you." Snotty huh? It was fun though. Part of it was he was constantly looking for praise and when I can tell someone is doing that I can't give it to them. Maybe part of it too was I feel like I have been played and it was my turn to give it back. Poor guy, he just happened to be the one that came around right then. It reminds me of a Carrie Underwood song. The first verse says:
Wanna find some boy, rip his heart right out
First Man I see, gonna take him down
It ain't the Christian thing to do they say
But someone somewhere's gotta pay
Chorus: If it wasn't for guys like you there wouldn't be songs like this,
And if you hadn't gone and done me wrong I wouldn't go off like this,
Even I'm surprised how easy sweet revenge rolls off my lips, and if it wasn't
for guys like you there wouldn't be songs like this.

I think I really felt that way. It is kind of scary how much I enjoy "angry girl music" as I like to call it. Anyway back to the arrest. I might be going to Hell for as much as I enjoyed the fact that this boy got arrested. I do feel bad that he is such a mess though. I don't know the details but it was domestic violence against his roommate and the roommate received a broken jaw. That is all I know. I could tell he had a temper but luckily I only saw a glimpse of it the night I told him for the fourth time that we were done hanging out. I have told people about him getting arrested and the comment I get is "Well it is good you didn't get to involved with him." My response "Yes, and people accuse me of being to picky." Well people, maybe you should trust my judgement.
It has caused me to reflect on some other boys I have gone on dates with and gotten bad mouthed for not giving them more of a chance. I thought of two other examples.
When I was 26 I went on a date with a man who was 37. Number one the age difference was a little much for me. Number two, I was not attracted to him at all and I just didn't feel like we were on the same page. However, he wanted to take me out again but I politely turned him down so that I didn't waste either of our time. Someone said to me that he seemed like a nice guy and I wasn't giving him a fair chance. I wasn't interested at all. What more is there. There has to be a little desire to want to give them a second date. Well he ended up dating someone I knew for a little while. One of the problems, he wasn't active in the church and didn't want to be. She wanted to get married in the temple. Hmmm, looks like my judgement was okay on that one.
Second example. I got set up with a guy who I went on four dates with. He seemed like a pretty good guy. He was even nice looking. By the third date I wasn't feeling it. I couldn't explain why. When I ended things with him the person who set us up gave me a hard time about it. Later I met the former roommates of the boy I had been set up with. They had lived with him when he had gone out with me. They told me that when he came home from the first date with me he said "I think I found her!" Flattering, but we were not on the same page, maybe not even in the same book. Then the former roommates asked me if I had kissed him. I told them no (which was the truth). They said, "Really?! He told us that you two made out all the time." Wow, lies. I am pretty sure I would have remembered that. Then they proceeded to tell me that he told them I would call him fifty times a day and he just had to ignore most of those calls because he didn't have time to talk to me that much. The only time I ever called him was to return his calls I had ignored. Once again, it looks like my judgement was intact.
So after dealing with a liar, criminal and someone one who was inactive (not to mention some of the others), another Carrie Underwood song comes to mind:
It's not like I'm not trying, I'll give anyone a shot once
So I close my eyes, and kiss that frog
Each time finding, the more boys I meet
The more I love my dog!

Cabo Cruise Part 2 (Can you believe it?)

2011-03-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures I was waiting for. Kim, that was one the cruise also, took these. She had a nicer camera than I did and I stole these off her facebook page. Thanks Kim!

That is my arm! That is how close the "little guy" was!

Here are some of the fun friends we met.

Kelly and Leslie

Cecily, Laurel and Camille

Casey and I

Me and Michelle

Cruise to Cabo part 1 (you may never see part 2)

2011-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Recently I went on a cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!! It was so much fun! I went with my friend Camaree and two of her friends Kim and April. (Now they are my friends too.) We boarded the ship on Sunday February 20th. That evening we set sail! All day Monday the Ship was just cruising so we filled our time with various activities. That night was formal night in the dining room. So this is us dressed up. .

April, Me, Kim and Camee

Me and Camaree

This was our ship, The Carnival Spirit.

Tuesday morning when we woke up we were in Cabo! We hadn't signed up for any on shore excursions so we decided to take the ferry over to Cabo and see what we could find.

This is what we saw from our balcony. It is Lover's Beach.

We found some locals to take us whale watching! It was probably one of the biggest highlights of the trip. It was so awesome! We were just on a little boat and we saw quite a few whales.

This was one of best pictures I got.

This is a video I took while whale watching. Push play, you won't regret it. :)

After we saw this we were standing there watching for more when we heard a splash right next to us. There was a little whale right by our boat! It swam right underneath the nose and our little tour guide reached out and pet it! I was so cool that is was that close to us. I didn't get any pictures because I was so startled. Kim did and when she sends them to me they will be on part 2......hopefully!

We also made sure that we stopped at Cabo Wabo. It's a Van Halen song....... Sammy Hagar owns the bar.....anyway. It was fun. They had live music which was stuff like, Van Halen, Poison good classic music like that. We ate nachos there and enjoyed the atmosphere.

And of course took pictures.

The second day we were in Cabo we went to Lover's Beach and laid out. I was responsible and put sun screen on so I did not get as tan on my trip as I was hoping for. But the weather was perfect both days. Not to hot, not to cold and nothing like the 9 inches of snow that we got the day after we got back from the trip.

Lover's Beach

After two days in Mexico we headed back to California. So all day Thursday we were on the ship again. We had a good time on the ship as well. We attended seminars and shows, comedians, we went dancing and of course ate plenty. We met a lot of fun people and made some good friends. Friday morning we debarked and head back to Utah. It was kind of bittersweet. Now I just really want to go on another cruise!

Nomer, that cleaned our room, left us towel animals. This was my favorite.

The Hair Boutique

2011-02-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

A while back I said something about how I had moved to a new salon. I promised pictures and I am finally coming through. I love the new place! I have my own room which is so nice!!

I found these at Target and thought they were really cute.

My brother built this for me and he did a beautiful job!

Jazz Game and Ellie

2011-01-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago I went to Salt Lake. I had never been to a Jazz game and had been saying I wanted to. My brother told me to come for one but what he really wanted was a haircut. He then enticed me further telling me that his daughter could say my name. I couldn't resist. So Friday night the 14th my friend Natalie, my brother and some of his other friends went to the game. Our seats were BAD. No lie we were on the very top row. It was still fun though. The Jazz were playing the Cavaliers. The half time score was 70 to 50 in favor of the Jazz. In the 3rd quarter it was a 9 point game at one point but then in the end the Jazz beat them pretty bad. The final score was 121 to 90. The play of the game I thought was in the second quarter when there was consecutive around the back passes by two guys and then Ronnie Price hit a lay up. Not to long after CJ Miles dunked it.

This kind of shows how far away we were! :)

Natalie and I

The best part of my weekend was playing with my cute niece of course. She is getting so big. The first video is her saying my name. The second one is of her singing the Elmo song. You only need to watch the first 10 seconds of the second one. The third one is her dancing. She is cute!!!!

Isn't she darling!!!
That weekend I also went to brunch with my friend Julie. It was good to catch up with her. Saturday night I went to my friend Amy's birthday party. I am friends with her whole family and they were all there except the youngest brother. It was so good to see them all. I had such a good time. It was a really great weekend.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

You can tell she was really excited.

This year for Christmas I went to my Brother Lyle's house. Christmas Eve we were going to go to Orderville for my Grandma's annual Christmas Eve party but the mountain road was closed because of getting a lot of snow. So we didn't make the trip. Instead we went and looked at Christmas lights and then Andrea (my sister-in-law) played the piano for me so that I could play some Christmas songs on my violin. Then the kids opened one present. They begged and begged their parents to let them get up at 6 am. My Brother told them 6:30 am. Surprisingly they had to be woke up at 7.

The two older boys got air soft guns which they spent all day outside using. And Marshal's favorite gift....a pillow pet. He walked around all day saying, "It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow-pet." I asked him where he heard that and he said, "From the comarshal." That's right he thinks commercials are comarshals. He also got a game. When he opened it he said to his Mom and Dad, "Oh! This is the game that was under your bed and you wrapped it and gave it to me!" He said it very innocently like he had no idea he had done anything wrong by snooping. It was pretty funny.
I got money. Which my brother thought would be funny to give me in all 1's and 2 dollar bills. It is a very Lyle thing to do. He told me it was to buy new haircutting scissors with. Which I do need.
Later we had Frogmore Stew for Christmas dinner. It is a meal that my brother learned on his mission in South Carolina. It doesn't have frogs in it and it really isn't stew but despite the name it is really good. I made a delicious cheesecake for dessert.
Well it wasn't a white Christmas but it was pretty foggy and it almost looked like one.

This other picture came from main street a couple nights before Christmas. I thought it looked really cool with the fog.

It was a good Christmas. It is hard to believe it is over. New years was fun. I didn't take any pictures but me and my friend Libby went to dinner and watched a movie. Then we went over to some other friends house for a little party. I guess I am getting old but we came home shortly after midnight and I didn't stay up too much longer. Anyway, Happy New Year everyone!!

Christmas Stuff

2010-12-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't really had anything to blog about lately so I haven't updated in awhile. Here it is December 23rd and I hadn't even but up a Christmas background or put on my Christmas music. Anyway I decided I would take a picture of my cute little living room. Since our tree is so small it turned out nice to put it on the coffee table.

This is a cookie recipe I decided to try this year. They were kind of a lot of work but I thought they turned out cute. They were pretty good too.

And this is a scarf that I saw and decided that I could probably crochet it. I found a pattern and I have now made four of them for gifts.
It has been kind of a weird Christmas season with my Mom gone but I have loved having my brother's family here. I told my nephew Marshal that I would sleep at his house for Christmas. So he has been counting down. He told me yesterday that there was two more days until I sleep over and three more days until Christmas. I love that me sleeping over is exciting enough for him to count down.

My Cousin Won!

2010-12-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

My cousin won and will be getting free lasik eye surgery. Congratulations Ryan!! And if there were any of you that voted for him from reading my blog I say thank you and I am sure he does too.

Please Help My Cousin

2010-11-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

My cousin posted this on our family website and in hopes of helping him out I decided to post it on here so that maybe some of you would vote for him too!! I watched the video and it is the cutest thing ever. It is his daughter Sophie narrating and his other daughter Emma that drew the pictures.

Greetings Family!
So I know that most of you (if not all) have been informed about the Hoopes Vision Lasik Contest that we're a finalist in. The support that has been shown our family has been overwhelming. I know a lot of you have posted about it in facebook, on blogs, and even emailed your friends. I'm just writing to say thank you! We appreciate it so much! I have been blessed with such a loving and supportive family.

If you haven't heard.... Last month Rachel entered me in a contest for free lasik from Hoopes Vision. There were over 100 entries and we found out today that I am 1 of 6 FINALISTs!! Whoot Whoot! The winner gets free lasik valued at $5,000.00 so we really want to win. So anyways, it would be great if you could go vote for us.

Here's the details.

* Go to http://www.hoopesvision.com/contest/finalists.html (our video is in the Humorous Category and it shows a crayon picture of me in my blue striped pajamas... Emma drew it:)

* To Vote you go to the blue and white banner at the top of the page that says, "Vote for your Favorite Finalist"

* You have to vote for one video in each category (I just picked random videos in the other two categories, they don't compete against us so it doesn't matter)
* Our video is under the humorous category and it's called My Dad's Eyes!
* You can vote once a day (That would be awesome if you could do this, but even one or two votes would be great!)
* Contest closes November 28th at midnight

Rachel's brother also started a blog - http://goodreadsforgooddeeds.blogspot.com/ . He started this blog to help encourage people come get a "good read" and then do a "good deed" (by voting for my video).

Again, thank you everyone for voting! (remember you can vote everyday!)

Thanks,

Ryan

Fun Halloween pictures!

2010-11-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

I don't dress up for Halloween very often, but this year I was invited to a party and I found a creative idea online so I decided to make it.

I'm a box of tissue. That Rubix cube is my friend Libby.

The party was at my friend Laura's house and she had some fun minute to win it games prepared. We had a good time. Here are some of the other people at the party.


Kacee was a bunch of grapes and Kyle was a hell's angel

I don't know the first guy very well but the "Slim Jim" is my friend Jason. He is so funny! (He has been featured on this blog before) It just seemed like a perfect costume for him.

Then of course I couldn't leave out pictures of some of my cute nieces and nephews.

You can hardly see Bret, he was a ninja. Marshal was a soccer player and Danny a skeleton.

I guess my Brother and his wife went to a party Friday and Saturday so they dressed Ellie up in two different costumes. She looks adorable in both.

She is kind of pulling a funny face but this was the best picture of her sleeping beauty dress.

A Beautiful Day in Zion

2010-11-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

My Brother Lyle and his wife Andrea decided to take their kids to Zion while they had a couple days off for UEA. They invited me to come along since they went on my day off. It was a perfect day for hiking.

We hiked to the upper Emerald Pools. It was really cool up there but it felt nice after the hike.

When I was in sixth grade we went there for a field trip. Back then they used to let you swim in the pool but they won't let you do that anymore. I doubt I would want to now. That water is COLD! After that hike we ate lunch at the lodge.

Marshal

Then we decided to hike Weeping Rock. This was the boys playing while we took a short break for the baby to be fed.

Marshal, Bret and Danny

I love Weeping Rock! It is a really short hike and so beautiful. It is amazing to me that it drips down water all the time. As it turns out it was actually raining too.
Then we decided to go watch the 3-D movie at the IMAX. It was about prehistoric water creatures. It was a fun one to see in 3-D.
We left that morning around 9 am. When they were dropping me off about 6 pm Marshal (my five year old nephew) said, "But you haven't been to our house today." I said, " But I have been with you all day." He said, "Yeah, but not at our house." I am glad the little guy likes me because I am enjoying having them around.

Crazy September

2010-10-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

September was such a busy month! Mostly good stuff, thank goodness.
-Found out I have a good judgment when picking a horse to bet on at the horse races. I won 4 out of 6. (Friendly betting with my friends. A dollar a race.) I walked away with 11 more dollars than I came with! (Iron County Fair)

This is one of my winning picks!

-Went to Time Out for Women with my sister and her friend K-Lee in Logan. We had a great time and it was a great way to refresh! And got to see Ellie on the way home.

-Found out the salon I have been working at for the last three and a half years was going out of business. Had two and a half weeks notice. I had actually been expecting it.
-Found a brand new salon that would be opening right when we needed it too. The new owner hired all of us from the old salon so we are all still working together! (pictures to come, it is really cute!)

-Skyfest was practically in my front yard! I loved it!

-Went to the Demolition Derby in Orderville, always a good time!

-My brother and his family moving here. So I got to meet my newest niece. She's a red head and so very precious!

-Attended a fundraiser in my home town for my Uncle who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Makes me grateful for the small town I come from when you see everyone banned together like that!
-My Mom and Step-dad left on their mission to Nauvoo. I am very excited for them but know I am going to miss them a lot.

You don't have to wait for the mail anymore. My Mom picture texted this to me. :)

-Nephew that just moved here's 5th birthday.

-On the very last day of September I packed up my stuff from the old salon into my car. I was unemployed for the next four days. The new place didn't open until October 5th. It was kind of weird to not have a place to go work even if I wanted to. Thank goodness it was only four days.
My four days of unemployment consisted of sleeping in, lunch with a friend, cutting hair in my bathroom, breakfast with a friend, going to Tuachan (which was rained out), driving to Provo and back in a day to see my Mom and Neal before they left the MTC, catching up on some TV shows, attending a piano concert, and then telling the boy that took me to the piano concert we would only ever be friends. Oops, think I made him mad!
Yep, it has been a busy month and a half. I didn't even include the bridal shower and wedding of a former roommate/good friend. Hopefully life will slow down a little.

Two Mini Trips

2010-09-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post pictures from these two little trips I went on. The first one was over to the Bryce Canyon area on August 8th. My friend Jenny was there for a family reunion. She lives in Phoenix and I hadn't seen her for over a year. She has since had a baby that I got to meet for the first time. It was so good to see her and we had a great visit. The family reunion was with Jenny's husband's family and they were all really nice to me. The scenery over there was spectacular that day. It was a little rainy which cooled it off and brought out the beautiful rainbow.

Then my Mom and I went up to Salt Lake on August 26th for my niece's first birthday. Time goes by so fast. I can't believe she is a year old. We got up there late Thursday evening. Friday we mostly did shopping. My friend Natalie came down that night for dinner. Then Saturday we met my cousin Carson and his family at the Zoo. After the Zoo we went back to my brother's house for pizza and birthday cupcakes. It was a fun weekend.

This is the little tutu my Mom gave her.

This is one of the outfits I bought her.

This was after she had eaten some cupcake!

Isn't she adorable?

Called to Serve.....

2010-08-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Step Dad are going on a mission. They got their call to Nauvoo Illinois. They will be gone for 18 months and they report to the MTC on Sept 20th. I don't think I realize yet how much I am going to miss them. I know I rely on them a lot more than I think I do but it will probably be good for all of us. I am really excited for them!
My brother Lyle is moving down from Alaska to stay in their house for a while so that will soften the blow. Ironically I will pick some of Lyle's family up at the airport the day after my Mom leaves. I am very excited about my nephews and newest niece being here!!!

Lake Powell 2010!!!!

2010-08-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

My cousins invited me to Lake Powell again this summer. I had so much fun last year that I rescheduled a client and had a swimming suit priority shipped to me so I could go! Swimming, boating, tubing, sleeping and sunburning are a few of the things that happened that day. Here are some pictures of the fun:

Lone Rock

I swam up into that little canyon


That is Owen, Marv and Nick. Their antics always make me laugh!


	This is Nick. After I took this picture I told him I was going to show it to all my single friends. The only problem is girls.......he's young! Sorry! I love this picture of the two little girls sleeping. If only I could sleep wherever! This is Marv and Nick DIVING into the water. They are crazy. This is how we all felt after a long day of fun! And now my skin is peeling like crazy from all the sun. I would take a picture but believe me, you don't want to see it!

I Have a New Niece!!

2010-07-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

After such a drought of girls being born into my family we have had two in a little less than a year. The newest one was just born on Tuesday. My brother and his wife chose not to find out if it was a boy or a girl before she was born. They already have three boys so it was pretty exciting to get a girl. The bad news, she lives in Alaska (a short 2168.31 miles including ferry). So when I will get to see her in person is up for debate. Her name is Shelayne. My brother warned us it would be a different name that we would have to get used to but he wouldn't tell us until she was born. I was actually expecting something a lot more off the wall than Shelyane. Here are some pictures of the sweet thing.

About four days before she was born my brother had called and left a message on my phone that said "Hey we have good news!" I of course thought the baby had been born and couldn't believe I had missed his call. When I called back he told me he had hit a grand slam at his softball game. I told him he was a jerk. So the day he called when she really was born this is how the conversation went:
My brother: "Guess what I am holding?"
Me: "A new baby?!"
My brother: "A hamburger actually."
Me: "You are such a jerk!"
My brother: "Okay, a baby really and she is pretty cute."
Me: "It is a girl really?" (after eight years with only boys born I am a skeptic)

This one is of her and her big brother Marshal. He has been the youngest for the last four years and I think it will be an adjustment for him. When they brought her home he asked when she was going to go back. They told him they were going to keep her forever. His reply, "Hmmm, how about until December?"

24th of July

2010-07-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

My brother Jeff and his little family came down from Salt Lake for the 24th. The night before, his family, my sister's family, me and my Mom and step dad met up at my step dad's cabin on Cedar Mountain and had dinner.


I love this picture of Hoggie and Ellie!

Me and my sister's five year old stayed the night at the cabin with my Mom and step dad. The rest of the headed to Orderville. We went the next morning. In Orderville there was a parade.........

These pictures are all part of my Hoyt cousin's float. The theme was making memories and theirs was about clowning around together. That is my brother Jeff that is "The tame one" They won for best costumes. Their float was pretty cute. Even the little ones were dressed as clowns.


Isn't she adorable!

Later we went to the park for lunch and then again for dinner. The rest of the time is was just hanging out with the fam. We had a good time. It was good to see this one.........

Of course. I miss her now that she lives up north. But that is better than Alaska where the other two brothers live.

Tuachan

2010-07-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been lucky enough to attend both of the plays at Tuachan in St. George. My friend Libby's sister works there and gives us free tickets! (Thanks Jessie) I'll be honest, I hate the heat and I am kind of a complainer. Tuachan calls itself "Broadway in the Desert" but I like to refer to it as Broadway in Hell. I told Libby I would try not to get to ornery. I did buy me a squirt bottle with a fan which helped a lot.
We first went to Tarzan. Tuachan is the only regional theater where you can see this play which is pretty cool. I thought it was pretty good. Libby wished we were closer so we might go back when we can get better tickets.
Then a couple weeks later we went to Cats. I wasn't real excited to see this one because I have heard stuff about it. We decided that we might as well see one of the most famous Broadway shows since it was right here and who can beat free right? I didn't dislike it near as much as I thought I would. I actually didn't dislike it at all. It is not the best play I have ever seen (That is still Les Miserables on Broadway in New York) but it was good. The music is excellent and the lady who sang "Memory" is a Grammy nominee and a Tony award winner. At intermission we were able to go get a picture with the old cat "Old Deuteronomy". We had just been talking about how the actors survive in the heat wearing those costumes and if perhaps they strapped ice packs to themselves. Well I was sitting next to him and his side felt cool. So I asked him. He said "As a matter of fact I do." Well I am thinking I might try it next time I go to Tuachan. :)

A Tourist in My Own Home Town

2010-07-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took my friends Erin and Libby to Orderville to celebrate the 4th of July. We went Friday and slept at my sisters house. Then bright and early Saturday morning we got up and went to the annual Orderville town breakfast. My dad was the mayor of Orderville for sixteen years and I think he was the one that started that tradition. I love it! The 4th of July after my Dad passed away the park was dedicated and named after him.

Then we went to Glendale for the parade. My sister did a float in honor of my Grandpa Goulding who served in World War II. We helped her make the banners the night before.

That's right, that is me on there. My sister, her kids, my Grandma and one of my cousin's kids were on there too. My sister's oldest was dressed in one of my Grandpa's old uniforms.

I know you can't see the signs very well but if you could you would see that they look really great! :)

Then we decided to visit some tourist attractions. Our first stop was this "Rock Stop". It is not even a mile from my house and I don't think I have ever been inside. I didn't know the guy that owns it. He asked where we were from and it was kind of funny to tell him born and raised right there. He told us a little bit about the history of the place. A guy by the name of Elbert Porter built it along with some dinosaur replica's. They were all in Orderville until the late 70's when someone, maybe the state of Utah, bought them and moved them to Vernal and now they are part of the dinosaur museum there. My sister still remembers when they moved them on flatbed diesels. I had heard a little bit about that all before. In fact I told a guy I know from Vernal that those dinosaurs used to be in Orderville and he made fun of me thinking I was just trying to be a one upper.

Then we decided to go to Moqui Cave. I have passed it countless times in my life and I think I have been there once. It cost five dollars to go in. We decided to try it out. It had been a really long time since I was there. I really didn't remember anything about it. It was pretty cheesy but we had fun. They have some dinosaur tracks and some rocks that glow under UV lights. One thing I thought was kind of cool is they told us it actually used to be a dance hall and bar.

Then we went back to the park and bought lunch. There was a soup contest and we decided to help judge. Libby loved it! There were some pretty good soups. Orderville's nick name was soup town back in the day. There is a lady who has bought some of the older buildings along main street. One of them is now the Soup Town cafe and the one next to it has a replica of what the town looked like during the United Order. So we went and checked that out.

Lastly, we took a detour into Alton and not only did they get to see the little beautiful town but they got to see the Whoa sign. There used to be more but I think this is the only one left.
I really did feel kind of like a tourist since we visited some places I had never been. I don't know about my friends but I had a good time. I hope they did too.

Good Times in SLC

2010-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, June 17th, I went to Salt Lake to take my brother's car to him. I had a fun trip! I stopped in Provo and had lunch with my friend Kelly who I probably haven't seen for a couple years. It was so good to catch up with her. She recently got engaged so we had a lot to talk about. Then I headed the rest of the way to my brother's house. As you can see from the picture above my niece was excited to see me!! She is almost ten months old and I wasn't sure if she would even remember me but she did! As soon as she saw me she started kicking her legs and waving her hands. She wouldn't let me put her down for the first 45 minutes I was there. She has recently started crawling and I wanted to see it but she just wanted me to hold her. She kept smiling at me and putting her head on my chest. She missed me! I had missed her too, a lot!
My friend Natalie came down from North Ogden that night and after we went to dinner with my bro and his fam she took me back to her house. We of course stayed up late talking. The next morning we made the delicious tarts that we found a recipe for. (We made then last time she was at my house.) Then we had a fun filled day of shopping. I found some clothes I had been coveting online. :)
Later that night we met my cousin Carson and his wife Kori and their adorable little boy Cayson at a Chinese restaurant that my brother loves. He told me that he was almost as excited to eat there as he was that I came up. He decided he was 49% excited about David's Kitchen (doesn't sound Chinese, I know, but it is) and 51% excited about me being there. He is such a nice brother. It was a lot of fun to see Carson, Kori and Cayson. Cayson is two and full of energy. He looks so much like Carson and his brothers that I feel like I know him even though I don't see him a lot. He treated me like we were buddies and I loved it. He is a cutie! The food was pretty darn good too.

Natalie and I both slept at my brother's house and the next morning we babysat while my brother and his wife went to the temple. The outfit she has on is one I couldn't resist buying for her. She looked so cute in it.
After that Natalie and I drove down to the Draper Temple and did a session there. It was neat to be able to go to one of the newer Temples. I didn't know but it is actually one of the small temples. It was very beautiful inside, of course.
I have a friend that lives really close to it and I wanted to see her too. She wasn't answering my phone calls. So after I called my friend Bev to make sure I had the right number (thanks Bev!) I sent her a threatening text message. :) She got back to me and we were able to go to dinner together. I love that I got to reconnect with so many people on this trip!
I went to church with my bro and then after a sad parting from the little one my brother drove me down to meet my friend Libby for my ride home.
It was a great weekend and I think I will be making that trip a lot more than I have in the past. I can't let my niece forget her favorite aunt, now can I?

Shooting

2010-06-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

Saturday when I got off work I went shooting with Kyle and Jon. Jon had just purchased a new gun and couldn't wait to shoot it. It is a 22 pistol and it was fun to shoot. It had been a while since I had gone shooting and even though it was kind of rainy and cold we had a good time. I'm not too bad if I do say so myself. It kind of made me want to invest in the concealed weapon I already have the permit for. That's right I have a concealed weapons permit!

Kyle's sometimes likes to pretend he is a gangster, but he's not.

I Moved!

2010-06-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago my brother moved his family to Salt Lake. I was so sad to see my precious nine month old niece move away from me but at least it wasn't New York (they thought about it). But his move couldn't have come at a better time for me, no offense to him. You see me and my fellow housemate Erin needed a new place to live. Since my brother owned the condo he had been living in I told him that I could be persuaded to move there and rent it from him. For a good deal of course. It worked out for us all. The only draw back....he forwarded his mail for the Goulding family and mine has gone with it. I miss my Netflix most of all. So other than being mail-less, (and male-less hehehe) life it good. Here are a few picture of the new place. My bedroom is still kind of messy. I'll have to get a picture of that later.

This is the scene out our kitchen window.
There are a lot of prairie dogs out there

Arches Blows!

2010-05-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Erin, Laura and I went to Blanding last weekend because our former roommate Ida got married and we wanted to attend her reception. On our way there we stopped in Moab and hiked to the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It was a fun hike but the wind was blowing like you wouldn't believe! There were times that the wind almost knocked you off your feet. I told my friends that it was the only time I have been grateful for how much I weigh. :)

That is the three of us under there if you can't tell. It was really windy under there. I was a little nervous we were going to blow off the edge.

This first one is a picture of what is called the Three Gossips which we kind of thought was appropriate for the theme of our trip. :) It was a pretty day except for the wind. Laura said that the wind was almost comical which was true. We just decided to laugh about it since there wasn't anything we could do about it. When we got back in the car we could feel just how dirty we were. If you scratched your scalp, your fingernails were full of dirt. It was gross.

After the hike we went the rest of the way to Blanding. We stayed with one of Laura's friends there. They fixed us dinner and then we went to the reception.

Ida looked Beautiful! The guy she married seems very nice. We of course didn't get to talk to her for very long.

On the way home we went through Wayne County. We stopped a couple times and took a detour. The detour was down a dirt road that was a boat dock to Lake Powell. When we got down there we realized the reason the road and sign wasn't kept up. We couldn't find the water. I guess that one hasn't been functioning for a few years. We stopped my car in the middle of this bridge (there was nothing coming) and threw rocks into the Colorado river. (I think it was the Colorado)

These are petroglyphs in Capital Reef. They were pretty cool and came at a time when it was good to get out of the car again. We had a fun weekend. It has been a while since just the three of us spent that much time together. I really haven't left town much this year and it was a good little road trip!

Oh Happy Day!

2010-05-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

The picture is just to get your attention and because I think it is cute! This post has nothing to do with her.
Last night I was cleaning out some stuff because I am getting ready to move. I decided I was going to throw out some Ensigns even though for some reason it feels wrong. But I don't want to pack them and you can get it all online. There is my justification. Anyway I decided I would keep the conference editions so I was sorting through them. Well tucked between two of the Ensigns was a rainy day fund I had forgot all about. It was $100.00!!! It made my day! I guess it pays to read the Ensign! :) I am really glad I didn't just pick the stack up and throw them all out!

The Hair...Now!

2010-05-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

So my friend Greg came into the salon the other day. He was in my ward last year and I haven't seen him at all this year. He was always very clean cut so I didn't actually recognize him. He told me that he wanted me to cut his hair into a mullet and give him steps! Now normally I would be completely against this but Greg was doing it just to be funny and was only keeping it for finals week. I have to tell you though that in my ten years of doing hair, these were the first steps I have ever cut. I hope it doesn't become a trend again!

This next client is probably one of the clients I have the most fun working on because she lets me do crazy things to her hair and she always loves it. She had blond in her hair before this so it made the red really VIBRANT!

The purple piece was actually supposed to be blond but when I rinsed it out the mixture of the black (purple based) and the red made it a dark purple which she LOVED! Gotta love clients that don't think you can do anything wrong!

Her hair is always so much fun. She always tells me over and over how much she loves it before she leaves which always make me feel good.

I loved the way the back was laying. She has really thick hair so I do a lot of razoring. I don't know if you can tell, but she has an asymmetrical haircut. The right side is a lot longer. Not everyone can pull this drastic of one off but she does it great.

I had fun this week doing some new things to a couple people. Although I don't hope to replicate the first one on anybody else!

That's English, Right?

2010-04-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

I thought of another nephew story that has always cracked me up. I love when little kids are just learning to talk. I love when they don't quite get thing right. Like when they says something like, "Her said her would." Well my nephew took it to the next level with this one. We all know that when you put would not together you get wouldn't and when you put have not together you get haven't, right? Well when Danny and Bret were younger they decided to go outside together. Bret was the little brother so I told Danny, "Don't let Bret fall off the porch." He said, " I willn't." I was a little confused at first thinking he had said,"I will" But then I realized that he meant "I won't" If you think about it, his way makes more sense.

This is a recent picture of the two.

Only in Utah

2010-04-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

With the recent celebration of my birthday, it brought to mind last year, middle of March. I just turned 30 so you all know that last year I would have turn 29. Are you still with me? I was sitting in Relief Society, in my singles ward, when the RS president asked if there were any March birthday's. I wasn't going to raise my hand because I don't care if they know it is my birthday. Especially since most of them were a good 7 to 10 years younger than me. My friends threw me under the bus. Luckily nobody asked my age. But then just amongst my little group one of my friends whispered "And she will be 25." I replied with "Only 24, Thank you!" Obviously we were joking. The girl (20 year old) sitting next to me did not catch the sarcasm. She leaned over and patted me on the leg and said "It's okay, 24 really isn't that old, only in Utah." I couldn't decide if I wanted to shock her with the truth or just drop it. I just looked at her and smiled and said "Thanks." My friends and I had a pretty good laugh about it the rest of Relief Society. To her credit, at least she didn't think I looked over 24 right?

Pinewood Derby!

2010-04-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we had a Pinewood Derby for our ward activity. I borrowed my cousin's nine year old's derby car. He had won all his races with it and was a little reluctant to hand it over to me. I told him that if I won a trophy I would give it to him. That won him over.

We had a pretty good turn out at the derby. There were probably 10 people that brought cars. We had the scale to weigh them and everything. Mine was .2 ounces overweight and there was a little bit of whining from some of the boys about that. There was another girl whose weighed the same as mine. I did feel a little bad about the weight of mine when it kept winning. It came down to me, the girl whose weighed the same as mine and one other guy. To make the last race fair we let him add .2 ounces to his. Mine was still the very clear winner. That's right I won first place at the Pinewood Derby!!

I took the car back to it's owner and handed over the trophy. He was soooo excited! He wanted all the details about how far his car won all it's races by. I think he had decided he was happy he had let me borrow it. I was happy I didn't have to take the time to build my own and I still did that good! :)

My 30th Birthday!

2010-03-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today is my 30th birthday! I know what your thinking, "30? She doesn't look that old!" Thank you for thinking that. Sometimes I think I did the math wrong, but it turns out I didn't. I am really 30! I have decided that the 30's are the new 20's and this decade is going to be great! My awesome roommates threw me a big birthday bash last night! It was a lot of fun. We probably had around 20 people there and it was a really great night.
This is me and my long time friend Kyle. He loves to take these kind of pictures. That is MJay in the background. He came down from Salt Lake! (So it might not of been just for my party)Yes, we had a pinata! It was Celeste's idea. She filled it with candy and fun toys. She doesn't do things half way.
They sprayed me with silly string. Poor Natalie got it too since she was sitting by me. Thanks to my roommates for throwing me a great party! Thank you friends that came and all the friends and family that called, texted and sent messages on facebook. I love you all!

The Quiet Game

2010-03-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

The first time I went to Alaska, I saw both of my brothers. They don't live anywhere near each other. So I flew to Anchorage first and stayed in Wasilla for a several days and then flew down to Ketchikan and stayed for several days. When my brother that lives in Wasilla was taking me to the airport his kids decided to play the quiet game. They all stayed quiet for a few minutes and the my niece, who was probably three at the time shouted "I won!" Her brother of course argued and told her that she actually lost but she didn't understand that and just kept saying "uh huh, I won!" It made me laugh. Then I got down to my other brother's house and his two boys decided to play the quiet game. They were not two seconds into the game and the three year old shouted "I losed!" You can tell he understood the game and he wasn't interested in playing.

Oh the things kids say!

2010-03-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

Since I can't think of anymore Crazy Roommate Stories I decided maybe I could write about some funny things my Nieces and Nephews have said. I have three nieces and seven nephews and I have heard a lot of funny things from them. I have already told a few from one of my nephews.

The first story comes from one of my nieces when she was five. I was up in Alaska babysitting them and I was doing my laundry. She saw my bra and here was the exchange:

Kennedie: "Whose bra is that?"

Me: "Mine."

Kennedie: "You wear a BRA and you are not even married?!!!"

She was very appalled. I found it so funny because she acted so disgusted to find that out.

This next story is from the same niece but an earlier trip to Alaska. She was probably three at the time. We were looking at some old photo's and she saw her older sister wearing one of the outfits that she currently used.

Kennedie: "That is mine and Kenzie stole it from me!!"

Her Mom: "No honey, you weren't even born yet."

Kennedie: "Uh huh and Kenzie stole it!"

She just couldn't understand that it was a hand me down, and she was very upset. I love my nieces and nephews!

No Thank you!

2010-03-07T00:03:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I am really late writing this blog post and technically it is Sunday but whatever. This might be the last installment of Crazy Roommate stories because I am not sure I can think of anymore.
I've had some roommates that I have been really close to and we were really good friends while we were roommates. This girl was not one of them. I came home one day and she asked if I wanted to see her new bra and started to lift up her shirt. I quickly stopped her and told her no thank you. She kind of acted offended and said "Oh, well I showed it to *Milly." Um, I wouldn't have even wanted to see the bra of one of my close friends, let alone one that I didn't really even get a long with! What do people think!
*Name was changed to protect the innocent.

Alaskan's come for a visit!

2010-03-03T17:24:00.001-08:00

My brother and his family came down from Ketchikan, Alaska for a visit this last week. We had so much fun together but the time went by really fast. I hate saying goodbye to them because we never know when we are going to see them again.

We went to a baseball game in St. George. The whole reason was so that my brother's family could see some sun. It rains a lot in Ketchikan and they see little sun. The two older boys sat in the shade. My brother had to force them to move down a row so that they were in the sunshine. They then complained about how hot they were and started rubbing ice on their faces. It was all of 58 degrees in St. George. I thought it felt perfect!

We also had dinner at my Mom's house and my sister and her family came over for that. I was fun to have that many of us together. The only one's missing were my oldest brother's family who is also in Alaska.

This little guy was a lot of fun to see. He is four and I hadn't seen him since he was two. I went to Ketchikan right after he turned two. I had on a hoodie that said SEATTLE across it. He looked down and pointed at the E and said "E." He then proceeded naming all the letters. I was really surprised! He knew the whole alphabet! Now two years later he can full on read! I don't think it is just word recognition either. He can sound things out. We went to a basketball game and the scoreboard was flashing "Make Noise" He looked up at it and said "Make Noise?" It was so cute! He also read a whole sentence to me out of the book I was currently reading. He is a smart little thing! He is funny too. We took him to walmart and he got on one of those kid rides in the lobby part. My Mom put money in and made it go. His brothers were kind of standing on it. He said, "Get off, this is just a one player game." I started saying to him, "I think you're cute." He would respond with, I think YOU'RE cute!"

It was so good to have that many of us together. I can't believe that my nephews are growing so fast! They also announced to us that there is going to be a new addition to the family in July! They don't find out what they are having, so I won't know if it is a new niece or nephew until the day he/she is born. But I can't wait! I just hate that they live so far away! I guess I better get saving so I can fly up and see the new baby!

Ever think of that!

2010-02-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

So I might run out of roommate stories sooner than I thought. I can only think of two more right now. Maybe I am suppressing some of the bad memories, or I just don't have as many as I thought. Maybe it is just partly that even though I have had plenty of bad roommates, some of them I just don't have a particular story about. In fact the one I am going to tell today is more just a weird quirk this girl had. She had a bowl and a spoon that she used for eating all her meals with. That isn't that weird except that she never washed them. She would just rinse them off and put them back in her cupboard. I asked her one time, "What if you have something with garlic and then you have ice cream next?" She said, "Oh, that has happened before." Strangely, she got sick quite often. She always blamed it on me, saying that I kept the house too cold. Every time she said that I just wanted to yell, "MAYBE IT IS THAT BOWL AND SPOON YOU NEVER WASH! EVER THINK OF THAT!"

Last Word

2010-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

So I had this roommate that had a pretty strong personality. We didn't get a long very well because I kind of have one too. But I really wasn't trying to be a jerk when we had this fight until maybe the end. So here is what happened.

The blinds in our living room were closed and they were not the direction that I usually turned them. Normally I wouldn't care but these were white blinds that had kind of yellowed on one side so I usually just turned them so the yellow was facing out. Well I had not been the one to shut them that night. So I just walked over to them and changed it not having any idea that the other roommate cared. Right after I did it she said, "Doesn't it insulate better if they are turned the other way?"

Me, calmly: "I don't see how that would make a difference."

Her: "Why do you always have to have the last word?"

Me, still calmly: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way."

Her: "See what I mean!"

Me, now kind of mad: "I just apologized to you! If you can't take that I don't know what to tell you!"

She then stomped up the stairs and I being very sassy, yelled "Goodnight!"

I guess I do have to have the last word. :-)

AHHHHH CREEPY!

2010-02-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

So this next story is actually about the same roommate. She was entertaining! Although it didn't seem like it at the time. Especially when I woke up late at night to "Barbie Girl" But now I can laugh about it.
So when I lived down in St. George I spent a lot of time with my friend Danny. One day he told me that he thought my roommate was stocking him. I wasn't sure I believed it so I asked him why he thought that. He told me that on campus everywhere he turned, there she was. She had also shown up at his house for some unknown reason. Well I am pretty sure that I didn't tell anyone of Danny's suspicions. A couple days later my roommate came up to me and said "So Danny thinks I am stocking him huh?" I was at a loss for words because, AHHHH how did she know that if she wasn't?

Crazy Roommate Story Saturdays

2010-02-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

So I was telling someone one of the many crazy stories I have about past roommates and I got a great idea to start adding them to my blog. I can probably fill up several months of Saturdays with these stories. I have had ALOT of roommates! Don't get me wrong, I have had a lot of good roommates but I have had some crazy ones too!

The first story I will tell you is about a roommate I had when I was in beauty school. She was majoring in drama I think. I came home one day to find her reading a script in the mirror. She didn't care that I was there, she kept reading. I went in my room and remember hearing her yelling, "Your Mother never loved you!" Wow, was all I could think! Then one day I woke up to a very fake cry coming from her room. While I was deciding whether to go check on her she walked past my bedroom still fake crying. She went to the phone (yes it was the days before everyone having their own cell phones) and called someone. I hear "Is Matt there?" in a normal voice. "Matt" gets on the phone and she says "Oh Matt, I had the worst nightmare!" I couldn't help but think, "Poor Matt. Whoever he was."

The Old Gang

2010-01-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

So I got a call from my friend Jason the other night. He got married last summer and he wanted to get the old gang together for a party. So he told me that I could be in charge. That is a very Jason thing to do. I told him no and said he should put Laura in charge because she liked to do that sort of thing and was good at it. He told me that was a good idea and I thought it was taken care of. Well the day before the party Laura sent me a text telling me that she had just been invited to MY party. I told her it was Jason's party but then I got curious as to where Jason told Laura this party was. Sure enough he had told her it was at my house! So I called him. He said "Lisa, why would I have said let's have a party at my house? That is stupid." (I realize it would be a lot more funny if you actually knew Jason. He was the Gorilla in a former blog post if that helps. ) Anyway I got stubborn and told him I would not host it. So it was at Jason's house. We played a really funny game called Quelf. I am pretty sure that whoever came up with the game was on drugs but it was hilarious! Then we also played a little rock band. Here are a few pictures from that silly night. That is Jason in the wig. :)

Todd, Clint and Jason

Me, Laura, Celeste and Erin

New Haircut!

2010-01-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

Don't freak out..... Marvin! It will grow back. It always does. I had it cut today and I love it so far! This is probably the least amount of hair I have ever had. It feels weird. I cut off 10 inches and I am sending it to Locks of Love.

Christmas

2010-01-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas was really great! Christmas Eve we attended the Orderville Christmas Eve program. It is a tradition and always very good. My cousin's little girl was Mary. She sat up there very still and was so good. Later I found out she was actually falling asleep. Then we had the annual Hoyt Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Hoyt's house. It is always fun for all of us to get together. There is always something that happens there to create good memories. This year it was that Aaron's chair broke. I only wish that I would have been in the room when it happened!

Back at my sister's house me and the kids get online and track Santa. The five year old was especially loving this. He asked me if I would come every Christmas so that we could track Santa. It really is fun to see all the places that Santa has already been and how close he is getting to us. I found myself a little disappointed when I was tracking him on my own after the kids were asleep and he had already passed Utah. He is a tricky man. I didn't even see him and I was still up. :)

My nephew came down to wake me up Christmas morning about 6:45 am. I was surprised they slept that long. My sister was so good to me. She gave me the Pioneer woman cookbook and some nice jewelery among other things. My Mom and step dad came to see what the kids had gotten from Santa. They brought a present for me from Santa that they had found on the porch. :) I got a printer for my laptop. I was excited about that. I also got an Ipod nano. Before you go thinking I am too spoiled, it is a hand me down. My brother got the new Ipod touch from his in-laws so naturally I asked if I could have his old one and he said yes. He is the spoiled one, I see an opportunity and I take it. We won't get into what else HE got for Christmas.

This is my nephew enjoying his Christmas present. Once he saw this he didn't care about any other presents. I loved the way he was sitting on it.

The Christmas Spirit

2009-12-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

This is the mormon message from the Church website! It is so good so click on the link and watch it!
The Christmas Spirit

The Good and Bad of Thanksgiving.

2009-12-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

The overall weekend was fun. But I have to vent. I basically got sat at the kid table because guess what? I am not married! Yes, but guess what? I am almost 30! I don't know what 30 year old would enjoy sitting with two seventeen year olds and a nine year old. There were three people at the "grown up" table younger than me but they have said "I do". I mean no offense to anyone who might be reading this blog but it was the low point of my Thanksgiving. I have been becoming more aware of the way single people get treated sometimes. I don't think that the people who do it realize how ridiculous it is. It is almost like it is just tradition that gets passed down. Here's an example: Every time my brother and I both go stay at my sister's house he thinks that him and his wife get the bed. I would understand if that just left the couch but there is an air mattress and another bedroom. So why do I always have to sleep on the air mattress? You guessed it, because I am single. Honestly, I am getting kind of tired of being treated like there is something wrong with me. I'm single, not contagious. So I don't have another person that comes along with me. What's the big deal? Yes, I want to get married but I am not crying myself to sleep. I am making the most of my single life and I am really enjoying myself.

The Good part of Thanksgiving out weighed the bad. For those of you that don't know Thanksgiving in Orderville is awesome! (Well if you like volleyball and basketball) We have an alumni tournament. You are eligible it you graduated from Valley High or married someone who did. Guys play basketball, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Girls play volleyball Friday and Saturday morning. My team won consolation. I actually like the basketball part better. I was the scorekeeper when I was in high school and I do it for the alumni tournament. I guess I am the alumni scorekeeper. :) I did the book for all but two of the games this year. I love every minute of it! My brother kept the score clock a lot of the games and it was fun to spend the time with him. They even do a top ten and an MVP. It is a big deal! The whole tournament is for a good cause. They give scholarships to the high school seniors.

So the weekend as a whole was a lot of fun even though I vented at first.

Time Out for Women

2009-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

This last weekend my Mom, Sister and I went to Time Out for Women in St George. It is kind of a big women's conference put on by Deseret Book. It was so amazing! My Sister and I had been before in Vegas a few years ago. If anybody ever has the chance to attend I highly recommend it. It started Friday night at 6:30 and went until 9:30. Then Saturday it started back up at 9 am and went until 3:45 pm. They travel around the country and they always have a theme for the year. This years was "Sweet Assurance, the certainty that comes when you know life's truths." They had people like Hilary Weeks, Kenneth Cope, and Mary Ellen Edmonds among others. Hilary Weeks is hilarious! If you ever get a chance to see her I recommend that too. She was so funny plus her music is so neat. She is definitely the type that has you laughing one minute and crying the next. It was such a good, spiritual experience. It recharges you batteries and makes you feel good about life. I know they have already announced next years tour so if you are interested check it out. It is well worth the money and time. You can get info on Deseret Book's website.
This is my sister, Me, Hilary Weeks and my Mom.

You're from Cedar City

2009-11-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

I was recently reminded of a funny client story. She was a twelve year old which I have a hard time with as it is. I tell my Mom that when I have daughters that age I am sending them to her to keep until they are old enough to live on their own. Anyway, I took this girl to the shampoo bowl and she says "Please try not to wash off my makeup, I didn't bring any with me to reapply." Um, I didn't really plan on washing her face, just her hair. And, does a twelve year old really need makeup on anyway? While I was cutting her hair I was asking her if she had always lived in Cedar City. She told me that she had moved from Phoenix. I said something about how that must have been a big change. She said "Oh it was, I really miss all the shopping and the malls." Well then I asked her how old she was when she moved to Cedar. She says "Um, four." Realizing how stupid she sounded having just told me how much she missed the shopping, she quickly added "but I still remember going shopping with my Mom all the time." Sorry sweetie but you are from Cedar City, not Phoenix.

It's Strange How Life Happens

2009-10-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today I attended church in Orderville because my cousin who recently returned from his mission was speaking. Our families were really close. We grew up right next door to each other. I often say we were like one big family that lived in two houses. I have always thought of him as my little brother. I have been thinking a lot lately about the fact that he is now a return missionary. This is really going to give away my age but he was a third grader when I was a senior! The reason I remember that is because I was an Elementary aid for his class that year. I now have been thinking of girls that I could set him up with. Well he is coming to town tomorrow (Monday) and I had the great idea of making him come to my singles ward family home evening. He seems excited. Well this is where I decided it gets strange. He was in third grade when I was a senior and now he is hanging out with me in a singles ward. What?

I LOVE FALL!!

2009-10-11T18:24:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I love fall! I love the smells, the temperature, and the colors. I love being able to wear my hooded sweatshirts, I have a lot of them.

I remember playing in the leaves at my grandma's house when I was little. I really don't remember them being so scratchy back then.

This isn't the greatest picture I realize but I love the colors up on the "C" mountain. I wish my camera would have taken it better.

My Dad loved pinenuts and every time I smell them roasting it reminds me of him and the fall. I love them too! He always just bought them. A couple years ago was the first time that I had gone out and gathered them myself. My step dad took my Mom and I. He took us again this last Thursday. I have to say that it is a lot of fun! I love being out in the crisp fall air. It is kind of a tedious little job picking the pinenuts off the ground, and not to mention how sore my legs are after crouching or kneeling for so long. But in the end it is worth it because the pinenuts are delicious and I didn't have to pay for them. We found a lot, as you can tell. What a wonderful time of year!

Mr. Perfect

2009-10-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

I know you were all hoping I was announcing something but I am not. I just have yet another funny story from my nine year old nephew.
I was at my sister's house several weeks ago and I said something jokingly about how her and I never had guy issues with each other. Of course we didn't, we are eight years apart. My brother-in-law spoke up and said, "Yes you have, you are jealous because you are still looking for Mr. Perfect and she has already found him." Well I half teasingly said "If you are Mr. Perfect then I will stay single." That is when the nine year old said "I was going to say Dad, you are not really Aunt Lisa's type. You are pretty country and she is more, well city." I thought it was so funny! Number 1 I had no idea that the nine year old would even know about "type". I'm not sure I am exactly "city" but other than that he is right!

Playing with Ellie

2009-09-15T20:47:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't know, I am a pretty proud Aunt. I saw a thing on the Today show the other day about a lady who poses and takes pictures of sleeping babies. She says it works best if the babies are under 2 months. Ellie fits that description so I decided to try it last Sunday while she was "peacefully" sleeping. Jeff and Erica were nice enough to just let me play. Jeff did say something about "What are you doing to my baby? Um, I think you should e-mail me some of those pictures." Anyway I decided to post of few because I thought they turned out cute.

INTRUDER!!!

2009-09-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night my roommates and I were all sitting in our living room just chatting. I just have to tell you that it is very odd that we were all there together. It is very rare for us all to be home and especially all be in the same room at the same time. Well our front door opens and in walks THIS.......

We were all nervously laughing. I can't speak for the others but I was thinking "It has to be someone we know, right?" But there was definitely that doubt that MAYBE IT WASN'T! It jumped around at us for a few minutes. I really didn't know who it would be. Laura kept saying "Jason, I know that it is you!" Sure enough it was our funny friend Jason. He is the one person that I would suspect but he just recently got married so I really wasn't thinking it would be him. His birthday was the day before and his wife had surprised him in it. So I guess he decided while they still had the costume they should make some use of it. He could not have planned it better though. I can't believe he caught us all home in the living room together like that. It was pretty funny, after we got over the shock!

Ellie Roselle

2009-08-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

After 8 1/2 years my family was finally able to produce another girl! She is only the 3rd one out of 10 nieces and nephews! So as you can tell I am a pretty proud aunt! You don't have to think she is cute, she is a newborn but I think she will be cute eventually. Don't tell my brother I said that! Her middle name is after my sister-in-laws 97 year old great Grandma. They were planning on giving her that middle name the whole time and then by coincidence she was born on Roselle's birthday which I thought was very neat.

She was born last night (aug 26) at 8pm and this is her at 10pm. Pretty alert for a new one. She was only 5lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long. She is a tiny little thing.

My only other two nieces are 15 and 8 and live in Alaska so you can imagine how exciting it is for me to finally have another girl to spoil. I told her last night that I was her favorite aunt and already started working on her to say my name! :)

LAKE POWELL

2009-08-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

I went to Lake Powell on Monday with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Jann's family. We had so much fun! I was trying to think of the last time I was there and I can't remember a time since I graduated from high school (Which was longer than I would like to admit).

Just being there and playing in the water like this was enough for me to realize how much I had missed this and wonder why I have gone so long without going there. I think I would have been content to play all day just off the shore and then lay out and get tan but we had two boats and that is when the fun began!

I love this picture just because that is a typical pose for my Uncle Jim to be in.

Carson is getting the boat ready for us to go out.

This is Owen, Cassidy (their cousin on their Mom's side) and Marv. They were making me laugh so hard when they were riding the tubes. They were being funny and crazy! They were taking turns jumping from one tube to the other.

This was hilarious! Owen's was about to flip out of his tube and so he hurried and jumped on to the other one. The rode all three together until they could catch the other one and then Owen jumped back on to it.

This video is pretty funny! I had a hard time holding it very still since we were on a boat.

I got burned! It was my own fault. I only put sunscreen on my face once. I wanted to come back from the lake with a good tan. It is already starting to darken up. It has been a little sensitive but I am excited about the color I now have. I know that is bad and you are supposed to always wear sunscreen but I haven't really even been tan yet this summer and I really wanted to be.

New Car

2009-07-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

I bought a new car yesterday! (Well the bank bought a new car yesterday.) I know what some of you are thinking, "Isn't that just like her old car?" The answer is yes it is very similar. My car had given me a few problems and the last straw was that the air conditioning broke several weeks ago. For those of you that don't know me well enough, being hot makes me ornery! So I decided to trade it in for one that still has a warranty on it. But I loved my car, it was so cute and has some really nice features. So I got one that is a lot like it. This one is a Mercury Milan. My old one was a Ford Fusion. (same thing) This ones color is Satellite Sliver which is kinda cool. It looks different depending on the angle. It seems so have a light green tint to it. It has everything mine did except the sunroof which I can live without. One of the things this one has that my other one didn't is the leather seats are heated!!! I'm so excited, but I won't be using that feature anytime soon. It is a year newer (07) and only has 14800 miles on it. My payments aren't that much more and my warranty is much longer. I am excited!

SAN FRANCISCO

2009-06-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from San Francisco. I had never been there before and it was a lot of fun. I went with my cousin Troy's wife and her sister Megan.

We went down to Pier 39 and Fisherman's wharf. This is one of the first things we saw and we thought it was hilarious!

There was some beautiful views there. I didn't buy any of the fruit but I wanted too! We did eat French Crepes though and they were yummy! We also had clam chouder in sourdough bread bowls! They were excellent!

I really liked this shot because it showed the fun activity around and the street car in the background.

We made the trip out to Alcatraz. I didn't realize it is a National Park. It was interesting to see. There was actually a audio guided tour of the jail cell. That was good because then it told some of the fact and stories of the place.

Of Course we went for a Trolley ride! It was almost like a rollercoaster ride because of the rolling hills that they go up and down.

Oh, Ghirardelli Square! This was on the agenda but when we ended up there was kind of an accident. We were actually just going for a Trolley ride and this was the last stop. We had wonderful ice cream and bought some delicious chocolate!

This is Lombard street. It was kind of fun to see. There are people that live along it which I think would be really annoying since most of the people driving down it are just tourists. I kept thinking we were going to see an accident in the intersection above it because of all the people that didn't really know what they were doing or where they were going.

And finally we got to see 'Wicked'! It was really good! I read the book which I wouldn't really recommend but at the same time I was glad I had. There were a lot of differences but I felt like I knew better what was going on because of reading it.

I've got some time!

2009-06-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a follow up on a previous story. If you haven't already, read "I guess I better hurry" before you read this one.

I asked my nephew the other day just how much time I had to get married before I was kicked out of the family. I was curious. He told me that I had fourteen thousand months. That made me feel better because I was afraid the divorce from my family might be happening sooner than that. So I told him that I could probably find someone to marry in that amount of time. Then he changed his mind and told me I had fourteen thousand years. He then said "You should be able to find someone to marry by then." Then he kind of mumbled " You should be married by now!"

Best Memorial Day Ever!

2009-05-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

I didn't really have plans for Memorial Day weekend. I told someone I just might spend the entire day in bed reading and/or watching movies. You know a nice relaxing day. Well Sunday I came down with some of the worst allergies I've had in a really long time. I left church after sacrament and went directly to bed. I didn't really get up until Monday afternoon. I even tried to read and my eyes would not stay open. So my wish of staying in bed came true, it just wasn't quite as I had imagined. The nice thing about over the counter allergy medicines is they take about three days to kick in. I wish I would have known about the allergies last Thursday! Tuesday evening I finally started to feel like I was coming down off of my drug induced coma. Sorry clients I had on Tuesday!! All is good now. I feel much better!

Couch Burning

2009-05-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

So one of my friends called me the other night and said "How would you like to see what a couch looks like when it is on fire?" I said "I would love too!" I'm not going to lie though it was not my first time. I attended a bonfire once when there was three couches burned! I might have a little bit of redneck in me! I guess that is up for debate, especially after this post combined with the last one.

2009-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

We Rock!

2009-05-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today my friends Kyle, Kristi and I went to the Rock Crawls. They have them out to 3 peaks not far from my house. I had never been before and it was actually kind of fun. Not only was the actual event entertaining but so was observing the interesting people that attend! Here are some of the best pictures we got as well as a video that is kind of cool!

2009-05-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Family

2009-04-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

So I have been trying to think of something new to post but I guess my life hasn't been that exciting lately. So I decided that I could put a picture of my cute family. My two older brothers live in Alaska so we don't get to see them very often. This picture is from last summer when they were both down. It was the first time my whole family had been together in about 6 1/2 years! It was so fun for us all to be able to get together. It ended up being really good timing to because my Grandpa Goulding (the one in the hat) ended up dying about two weeks after they had been here.

Favorite story from being a hairstylist

2009-04-16T12:22:00.002-07:00

I decided that since I have hair in the title I should tell at least one story about work. This story was very memorable because it left me speechless. You know there is a joke that hairstylist are kind of like bartenders because people tell you their problems. It's true! So I had done this lady's hair quite a few times but it had been awhile since I had seen her. I was asking her what she had been up to. She told me that she was getting a divorce. I told her that I was really sorry to hear that. She said "Yea, he caught me cheating on him." I really had no idea what to say to her. She said it so casually like it was the weather or something. I've never been at such a loss for words.

I guess I better hurry!

2009-04-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

So I recently celebrated my birthday (we won't talk about how old I am). My sister and her family were in town the night before so we had a birthday dinner. Right after we said the prayer on the food my eight year old nephew looked at me and said "So why aren't you married?" He was very serious. I told him that I guessed I scared all the boys away. It didn't end there. When my Mom went to the cake I asked if she had gotten something written on it. Once again the eight year old piped up with "Yes, it says 'If you don't get married soon you are no longer part of this family!'" So anyway, I guess I better hurry!

Snowshoeing

2009-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things that my friends and I did this winter was go snowshoeing. We went up by Cedar Breaks. I had never been before and I am not going to lie, it was hard. We got our exercise but we also got some great pictures!