Supershepherds

Birthday Videos

2011-11-27T06:38:00.001-08:00

As promised...some videos of the big day.

Best year so far

2011-11-26T20:02:00.000-08:00

Our little man is a year old today. Amazing. As I look back and reflect on the year behind us, I'm in awe of the milestones these little ones reach and pass in such a short amount of time.

One Day Old

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

Six Months Old

Seven Months Old

Eight Months Old

Nine Months Old

Ten Months Old

Eleven Months Old

One Year Old

It's been the most fascinating thing to watch him grow and discover the world around him. Always our little chatterbox, he's full of things to say and has been since he was but a few weeks old. Perhaps one day he'll be a great orator, but for now his cute little voice jabbering away is simply music to our ears.

First word: Gobbum-- noun-- usually used in reference to good food, or food in general since he's never really been picky. Fine, so it's not an actual word, but one of his own vocabulary, but still...he uses it with specificity. Other words: Da-da; ma-ma; gog (dog and most other animals); hruh (truck)

Number of States Visited in 1 year: 4 (Nevada, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia) including 4 trips on an airplane. Pretty well traveled for a year old, thank you Delta Air Lines.

Number of teeth by 1st birthday: 3 and a half (the latest one is being fairly pokey about coming in.)

Disposition: Generally happy unless you're wiping his nose, which thanks to another cold is happening a lot this week.

He's strong-- every diaper change is a wrestling match. He's smart-- quickly figures out how his toys work. He's our little super-Talan. This has definitely been our best year so far and we're all the more excited for those yet ahead.

I'll try to post a couple videos of his birthday today. Together, they're a little long, so it will take some time to upload...and at this point it's late and I'm tired, so more to come.

Here's a teaser

Happy Birthday buddy. We love you!

Some videos of how I coped with turning 40

2011-07-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

2011-07-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Talan is getting more and more adventurous in his dining selections. We've tried mashed potatoes, ice cream, pineapple, tomato, pickle, beef stew, chicken and rice, and today...

spaghetti.
Yummy!

Ride the Lightning! Yee haw!

2011-06-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

I was teaching a CPR/First aid class at work on Monday and was getting ready to do the section on severe allergic reactions. We have a spent epipen in our supplies so people can check out how it feels to use one. I pulled out the pen and blam! The spring loaded needle shot right into the bone on my left thumb. The pen deployed and I instantly felt the reaction. My heart rate was about a thousand beats a second and I could feel my pulse in my eyeballs. I was trying to pull the needle out of my thumb, but it was lodged in the bone so hard it felt like trying to pull a nail out of wood with my fingers.

That's what the needle looked like after I finally got it out of my thumb. There was even a small chunk of bone stuck to it. Sticking your thumb with an epipen feels like jumping out of an airplane while getting electrocuted. (I've done both, not at the same time). I also felt kind of like this guy...

Luckily we have a nurse at work who looked online for how to deal with it. It made me feel slightly better to know that this happens so often that there is a name for it--Epipen-thumb syndrome. Apparently you have a 1 in 50,000 chance of doing this to yourself. The nurse checked my heart rate, which was actually somewhere between double and triple what it should be. He then told me to head to the car because we were going to the emergency room at the nearest hospital. I assured him I was fine, but he told me I was going to lose my thumb if we didn't hurry. You see, epinephrine is a powerful vasoconstrictor , it was closing off all the blood vessels in my thumb. Sure enough, as we got close to the hospital, my thumb turned the color of concrete and got really cold. I sat in the ER for about half an hour trying to massage blood back into my unhappy opposable when they took me back and smeared nitro-glycerin gel all over my thumb to open my capillaries back up. As an added precaution they decided to take an EKG reading and by golly I was in atrial fibrillation. The bottom half of my heart was working normally, the top half was trying to keep the beat to some odd Dave Mathews tune playing out in the hallway. The kept me there for about an hour to make sure I was coming back down to earth then released me. I made it back to work just in time to start teaching my one o'clock blood-borne pathogens class. One of the people in the class stopped me and said, "Dude, you're talking really fast". I guess I was. I taught a 2 hour class in about 24 minutes. Luckily everyone passed the test at the end so I guess I was at least speaking coherently.

I left work and headed to my doctors office. See, I took a little tumble off a ladder the previous Saturday and bruised my hand. The bruise was still sore and swollen on Monday. The Dr ordered an xray. The xray tech asked me a little jokingly if I really thought my hand was broken. Then she called me over to take a look. Does it look broken to you? Here's the actual xray. Look closely at the 5th metatarsal, just above the pinky knuckle.

I think I'll lock myself indoors for the next few days. Heather said something about things like this coming in groups of three...

Mom...the meatloaf...now!

2011-05-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Talan is about 5 and a half months old now and we decided to venture into the world of spoon feeding. The past few days we've given him some rice cereal a couple of times a day. The messiness that will be as much of a staple as the cereal will be over the next year is seriously going to challenge my OCD. It's pretty cute right now, however.

He getting stronger and stronger every day. Our little wiggle worm. Always moving, squirming, kicking. It's so fun to watch him discover new things, including his own abilities. I can't help but wish, just a little, that we had toys like these to play with as adults.

More giggles

2011-04-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Talan is getting more and more playful. It's amazing the simple things that entertain him.

It's even more amazing how he keeps us entertained by his day by day progress.

New Adventures

2011-04-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Daddy are introducing me to some of their hobbies so I can have new adventures.

Mommy took me on the airplane again. This time I was big enough not to sleep the whole time.

I got a little hungry but all I got was milk, instead of peanuts and soda. I'm not sure that's really fair.

I listened closely to the safety video. My nearest exit was actually behind me. I'm glad I listened. Now I felt safe to fly.

It was a pretty fun trip. I really like Vegas. I got to see Grammy and Papa, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was 72 degrees in April. This was one of the few times I've been out in the sun. I really like the sun.

I've also been doing some work in the garage with Daddy. He showed me his motor cycle. Vroom. I think he might have to get a sidecar so I can go on rides with him.
Don't worry, we always wear helmets in our family.

My biggest hobby right now is growing. Mommy keeps comparing me to a weed, although I don't quite understand the comparison. At my last visit to the doctor I weighed 16.5 pounds and was 26 inches long-- in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Daddy says my smile is in the 100th percentile. I guess I'm growing pretty good.

Talan Laughs

2011-03-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

It is like music to our ears. Our little chatterbox is starting to giggle and laugh. I had to be super cheesy/goofy to get him to laugh the other night, but I was able to get a little bit of his laugh on video.

Talan's Blessing Day

2011-02-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Joshua blessed Talan yesterday in our Sacrament Meeting, joined by our Bishop, Joshua's Dad Myron, his brother Justin, my brother Josh, and brother-in-law Bus (Benjamin). It was a beautiful blessing of hope, love, and a life full of goodness.

My heart and mind were of course racing during that special ordinance. It was all I could do to contain the love and deep emotion we already feel for this little guy. When you're standing in the sun, soaking up it's warmth, it's hard to imagine there will ever be moments of cold, darkness, lonliness, etc. How grateful I am for the knowledge that Heavenly Father has provided a plan for our family to be happy, despite the difficulties life may send our way, and more importantly--to be together forever.

Not to deviate from the stirring heartstrings, but since this is also to chronicle real life, the day was not all angelic bliss for this little man. I'm not sure if it was due to all the hustle, bustle, and excitement of the day, but mixed in with all of Talan's smiles and generally cheerful cooing and gurgling, we also had to deal with diarrhea and projectile vomit.

The poor guy caught some sort of intestinal bug. It started in the morning, luckily before the white suit went on, with a liquefied bowel. I was a little worried that there would be a part 2 during the church meeting (in the white suite) so I had bit of McGyver-esque inspiration and fashioned some extra protection out of a diaper (general coverage) and a sanitary napkin--with wings (for additional coverage up the back). We made it through the service without any leakage!

Later on in the day, while feeding Talan, he looked directly at me with all of his pure cuteness, and proceeded to projectile vomit all over me. Luckily his diet is solely breast milk, but I had no idea he ate that much with each meal. It was like someone turned on a garden hose and sprayed me 3 times.

The amazing thing was he smiled through the whole day, despite these minor challenges. He really is such a darling little boy. Oh how we love him.

Talan smiles...

2011-01-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

Talan just keeps on growing. He's putting on about 1 pound a week and was 12 lbs last time we checked. He gets cuter every day and recently learned how to smile. The challenge now is to keep a camera handy to catch the cuteness. We got lucky a few times, check it out...

First Month-- A Month of Firsts

2011-01-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Talan is already 6 weeks old. We've had a few adventures in our first month with our sweet little boy. Some were more enjoyable for him than others.

First bath at home

We've graduated to being submerged in the bath and he likes it a little better than sink-side. He doesn't care much for the getting in and out part, being naked and all, but he seems to like being in the water. Maybe we'll have a champion swimmer someday.

First Airplane Ride

We took a quick hop down to LasVegas to spend some time with Joshua's family. Talan handled the security screening and the flights like a champ. His parents were a little frazzled with the extra planning and packing now required, and the enhanced security pat-down for requesting our breast milk be searched manually and not by x-ray. Taking a "quick trip" out of town is now a little more complicated than it used to be, but we're excited to be able to show him a little bit more than his corner of this big world.

First Christmas

I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't get more pictures of his first Christmas. He's so little and really didn't know the difference, but I have to get better about having the camera handy. We spent Christmas with Joshua's family in Vegas and were just tickled to have our little guy with us for Christmas this year. He was the best present either of us could have asked for.

First night in his own bed.

Well, we're still working on that one, but we noticed that when he is in his crib, he sleeps with his arms up above his head. Perhaps he's dreaming about scoring touchdowns, who knows. It's pretty cute though.

He's even managed to catch his first cold. Luckily it was nothing serious, just a little nasal thing, despite his parents best effort to keep the germs away.

Every day he's more and more alert and responsive. He has a variety of facial expressions he's trying out. We're pretty entertained by this little man.

Introductions

2010-12-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. My name is Talan Joshua Shepherd. I was born on November 26th, at 12:59 pm. I am 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 &3/4 inches tall.

This was Mommy on Monday, still with two and a half weeks to go. But little did she know I had other plans.

So this getting born stuff was hard. Daddy talked me into coming 2 weeks early so we could go ahead and get started on play time. I picked a cold time of year to be born, so right now jammies and hats are my general wardrobe selections.

Mommy is a little camera happy right now. If I'm awake for more than 5 minutes, she's generally got the ipod n my face snapping pictures. Not the most professional photos, but then she can look at them over and over.

I get lots of play time with Daddy in between sleeping, eating, and getting changed. He's super excited for me to be here and hasn't stopped smiling since Thanksgiving night, when I started to break loose!

The hospital part wasn't my favorite, but everyone was really nice and took good care of me and mommy. Check out my cool hairdo. It's a lot like mommy's hair.

But maybe I'll have Daddy"s blue eyes. They're still pretty dark, but seem blueish-gray. I'm very alert and even though everything just looks like blurry shapes right now, I'm still busy checking everything out whenever I'm awake

I was pretty tired after the big debut.

I know Grandma Michele was excited for me to come.

And Grammy and Papa drove hours and hours in bad weather to come meet me.

Mommy and Daddy are pretty awe struck with me and amazed at how cool I am. (Don't tell anyone, but I think they're still a little nervous to be official parents.) But overall, I think they're pretty excited to have me in the family.

I mean...look how cute I am. How could they not be excited?

Heavenly Father uses bubble wrap

2010-10-25T17:28:00.001-07:00

This post started out on Facebook, but was simply too long. I had what I would call my most precarious drive home, ever, this afternoon and I seriously think the Heavens have put a protective bubble around the baby and I today.

20 minutes from home: I hear squealing tires and see a car in the lane next to me swerving toward me. It comes literally within a couple of inches of side-swipping me, corrects, over-corrects, and comes even closer, over-corrects again and smashes into the curb opposite from where I am and hits 3 other cars. I miss the entire fray by inches.

15 minutes from home: A pickup truck behind me speeds up, and changes lanes a second before rear-ending me and starts jockeying with another bonehead, obviously locked in a road rage standoff, both of them jumping in and out of my lane, nearly clipping me over and over. Again, I continue without incident, but just barely.

10 minutes from home: I'm stopped in first position at a stop light. I hear a siren and look everywhere to find where it's coming from. Looking left, right, forward, backward--nothing. Light turns green so I cautiously proceed through the intersection with my blinker on to merge to the right and suddenly the cop jumps out of oncoming traffic directly in my lane. Luckily I was able to merge to the right and get out of the way, but my heart was already pacing from the first 2 episodes and this didn't help.

5 minutes from home: I'm stopped at the drive-through window waiting for some tater-tots. (Not because I like them, I just needed change for a $50- obviously.) Suddenly a 15 foot ladder propped up on the awning ahead of me blows down and comes within about 6 inches from crashing directly on the hood of my car.

Have you ever seen that movie, Final Destination? I seriously was wondering if I would make it the last 2 miles home without choking to death on a tater tot. I found myself chanting my thanks for some seriously divine protection the rest of the way home.

It's my birthday

2010-10-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. It's not that there haven't been events worth the time and effort. On the contrary, it's been a marvelous year full of daily adventures. Unfortunately there isn't always time to organize my thoughts about them. But today, I'm taking time for me...because well...it's my birthday.

The day began with our son dancing on my bladder to the tune of "Happy birthday to you." At least that's what it felt like. Don't worry son. Soon it will be your big day and we can't wait to celebrate you.

Joshua had to work tonight, so we went out to dinner last night with some good friends. Sadly, there are no pictures to mark the gathering, but rest assured we thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy, Sherrie, Stephanie and Sydney's company and some yummy grub at Texas Roadhouse.

This morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast while we watched the LDS General Conference and played with my birthday gift-- a new Ipod touch.

I've had an Ipod shuffle for about 5 years and it's still kickin' but Joshua wanted to spoil me a little with a new gadget. I told him it will be perfect for when I'm out on maternity leave. I can shut off the work blackberry completely but still have access to the internet and other handy apps when away from the house--as I'm sure I will be quite often after just having the baby. Haha. I do love it though.

Then Joshua threw on an apron (figuratively) and made me a Reeses-Oreo birthday pie. He made it for me when we were dating and with one bite today, I literally fell in love with him all over again. Wow it's good. Don't you wish you were here to share it?

Thanks for a great day babe. Love you.

Vids from Montana

2010-07-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

2010-02-16T19:26:00.000-08:00

I love my valentine. He loves me enough to remember I don't prefer roses.

San Antonio

2010-01-19T18:15:00.001-08:00

Joshua and I went to San Antonio this weekend and spent a very warm, relaxing weekend with April and Antonio (picture below). It was warm and sunny, which was a welcomed reprieve from the cold and smog back home.

You know you have great friends when they'll come pick you up at the airport at 12:30 AM. You know you have great friends when you wake up to homemade french toast with raspberries, scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage. You know you have great friends when you can spend the entire weekend just chillin' and laughing.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Alamo. I'd seen it before, but figured Joshua needed it in his repetoire-- given the history buff that he is. You expect it to be bigger than it is, and the self guided tour goes pretty quickly; it literally it took us 10 minutes to get our fill. But there it is. The last tragic stand against Santa Anna by Jim Bowie, Davey Crockett, and many many others.

The day was so nice, we took a riverboat tour around the river walk in downtown. Sadly I didn't really take any pictures, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon and see the architecture of the buildings.

We ate great food, napped, watched movies, laughed at their pets, played video games, laughed at each other and just thoroughly enjoyed being with April and Antonio. See how happy we look.

Thanks for a great weekend guys. We can't wait until we can host you here in SLC.

Ahhhhh.....

2009-12-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Inhale

If it were possible for your soul to take a deep, cleansing breath...

Mine finally did this week.

It's been rough at work the past few weeks but then at the end of it all, I attended our leadership meeting at a beautiful hotel in Florida. (it's amazing the deals you can get in Florida during hurricane season!)

The lobby of the Ft. Lauderdale Westin Diplomat, all decked out for Christmas

and Hanuka

Holiday palm trees

This was the view of the pool that night from my hotel room

I slept with the balcony door open and listened to the waves crashing all night. Sigh...

This is what I woke up to:

I went for a walk along the beach before my meeting. Oh how I wish I could do that every day.

Found a few new friends along the beach

It was 85 degrees there instead of 30 degrees back home. I wish Joshua could have been with me to enjoy a few moments in paradise. It was still pretty great.

Exhale.

And then there was light

2009-12-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

If there has to be winter in Utah, at least we have the lights at Temple Square. I always remembered them much more brilliant when I was small.

They're still fun to see and a great tradition that we were happy to share with Gina, April, James, and the little people this year.

Kellan looks like he's caroling...

We went the day after Thanksgiving and OH the crowds! April, you better know I love you. I braved those crowds just for you...

Okay, you and the view... (My apologies to Shannon, my professional photographer friend who hates photos taken on cell phones. This was the best I could do.)

I didn't get any pictures at the square with little Max, but here he is at dinner. What a scrumptious little smile.

It was a beautiful night and I was happy to share it with my wonderful husband who braved the crowds and walking in the cold...with a bad back. Love you babe.

forever and ever.

Oh the weather outside is frightfull

2009-11-15T16:10:00.001-08:00

If it has to look like this outside, like it did yesterday...

(That says "Boo" by the way, not 800)

...then I'm glad we had one of these inside:

This was the first time in nearly a year that we lit the fireplace. After all the issues with the house after we moved in last December, we didn't dare lite it for fear of the whole house going up like a roman candle. We had it serviced last month and decided to give it a try. The only thing missing were some marshmallows. Otherwise, it was perfect.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

2009-10-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Having a tiny car sucks big

Having a tiny car with a tail light that doesn't work

and wont pass the safety inspection, sucks bigger

Having to crawl into the trunk of a tiny car from the back seat (because the trunk doesn't open) so you can fix the tail light sucks biggest

My husband is awesome!

I guess we'll never be smart

2009-09-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Joshua and I just got back from Nashville/Knoxville and I'm sad to say that I suck at taking pictures. Plus it rained all day on Saturday when the little people would have otherwise provided ample photo opportunities. We did spend a beautiful day with Joshua's parents strolling around the Cumberland River (I think) before we came home. I wish Utah had more trees.

We also thought this was noteworthy. We saw a Smart Car outside our hotel and had to take a picture. Joshua and I will never be "Smart", as in owning one of these, so long as his wingspan is longer than the car itself.

Does this strike anyone else as ridiculous? Bring on the Jeep Grand Cherokee, if you please!

Cultivating

2009-09-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Our garden is thriving, still with weeds but other stuff too. This morning I went out early to gather some yummy goodness for breakfast omelets.

I came back with tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, and carrots. They were good omelets.

The strawberries didn't really take this year. I think we got about 3.

But we've also got 2 pumpkins that we'll be carving up next month.

Their blossoms are so pretty.

I serve my God and my country

2009-09-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

In general, this message speaks mostly of things I believe in. Things I would venture that Jesus Christ taught. However, they had me up until referring to:

1) Ending 200 years of slavery-- if by that you mean the American Companies that hire undocumented workers who have immigrated illegally and pay them a laughable wage because they wont argue--then yes. I too pledge to end slavery. However, somehow I fear your "white guilt" implies that African Americans are still slaves in this country. I disagree. I came from a poor, single-mother family in a fairly high crime part of town (not Detroit, but still) and I put myself through college, have a hard but successful career, and am a home owner in America. All because of the choices I made and the mother who taught me how to make righteous ones. Every American has the same opportunity to make the choices and sometimes sacrifices that give them access to "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I take offense to your implication that anyone of any ethnicity who chooses not to pursue happiness through righteous choices is a slave.

2) I recycle my plastic bags at the grocery store, my cereal boxes, the few plastic bottles I purchase. I map out errands so as to conserve gas. I put a sweater on in the winter to keep the thermostat lower. I do a pretty good job of reducing my consumption and increasing what I cultivate (so far...about 10 zucchinis from our garden). How many new, belts, Prada handbags, hybrid cars, houses, pairs of ugs, electronic gadgets, sparkly bracelets have you, Cameron, Demi, Ashton, etc., bought this year? I drive a 10 year old car that gets 30-35 mph, hardly a gas-guzzler, or "obnoxious car". I wear the same shoes and jeans as last season because they're still in good shape. Trying to be more green, doesn't mean you are doing a good job consuming less and cultivating more.

3) I am not a servant to my President. I pledge to serve my God and my country. My President took an oath to serve me, as a citizen of the United States of America. Did you forget that oath, Mr. President? Or did you not believe in the words of that oath? Okay, in fairness, I don't think President Obama created this message, but if he sits back and allows this understanding of "Change" to be perpetuated by those that live in Hollywood (and by that I mean the fairytale world it represents) instead of the real world (where Mom and Dad work two full time jobs for less than $100,000 a year) then he's guilty by omission.

Shame on the school principle who thought it was appropriate to indoctrinate Utah children with this blatant, one-sided propaganda. If their parents believe this message, it is there right to give it. It is the school's responsibility to teach: reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, government, and world events in an unbiased way so they may learn critical thinking skills and choose their own beliefs.

Caught ya!

2009-08-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

So I'm upstairs cooking dinner and hear my neighbor's grand kids out playing. Cute giggles and shrieks, obviously having a great time. Then when the noise in the kitchen died down I thought to myself, "Huh, they sound awfully close. Is that splashing water I hear?" I opened the front door and saw four little rug rats, 8 shoes, 8 socks and 3 volleyballs standing/floating in our front yard fountain. All I could do was laugh instead of being the serious adult who should tell them they've been naughty. I wish I could have taken their picture because the only thing more priceless than their faces was when one of the rug rats (maybe 4 years old) said, "We've played here lots of time, you just didn't catch us."

I promptly sent them home to explain their drenched-ness to their parents so I could laugh in private so as not to send them a mixed message.

Busy Keeping Their Jobs

2009-08-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Doctrine and Covenants 121: 39

Shame on Senator Barbara Boxer and all of our leaders who have forgotten the responsibility in which they have been entrusted. I hope she actually heard what the General was trying to report over the self-aggrandizing in her head.

Fruits of Our Labors

2009-07-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well...vegetables actually. I picked a bowl full of peas from our garden today. There were so many that the pea plants were drooping quite a bit. Hopefully they'll bounce back for another harvest this season.

Before:

After...yummy.

Too Tense? A day of testosterone will cure that.

2009-07-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

So a man came up to me and said, "I'm a wigwam. I"m a tepee. I'm a wigwam. I'm a tepee." So I said to him, "Take it easy dude, you're two tents." Ha ha. This was Joshua's clever quip when we discovered we literally have 2 tents, and we're not sure why. So if we borrowed one from you and never returned it, let us know. We didn't remember there being such a killer deal that we bought one and got one free or anything, but the fact remains...two tents.

We went camping this week and set our 2 tents up in duplex fashion. It worked out great. Since they're both just 2-person sleepers, there isn't much room for changing clothes so we'd crawl from one into the other to get dressed. Pure genius.

It was a nice camp spot, right on the upper Provo river in the Uintas: It was close to the road, but pretty secluded with all the trees and a nice flat spot for the tent. We brought our bikes along to check out some trails.

The only problem was there were tons of mosquitoes. And even though we were covered in Deep Woods Off they would just hover by your face, waiting for you to open your mouth. So because of that, plus the fact that we forgot to pack pillows--which made for an uncomfortable night's sleep-- we decided to head home and kick it.

We stopped by Provo River Falls on the way home and found what may have been part of the bike trail...um...a little steep, so we'll just walk. It was a beautiful morning though.

So today, after a comfy sleep in our king size bed, we headed back out for a day of testosterone (insert caveman grunt here). First we drove out to a little gully Joshua knew about, basically in the middle of nowhere, to shoot his gun. Turns out I'm a pretty good shot. Joshua is better, but I did okay and won a few more "awesome wife" points.

Next, back to the Provo River. This time it was the bike trail along the river in Provo Canyon. I discovered I am way out of shape, but we had a nice ride up to Bridal Veil Falls. I'm glad the trip back to the car was downhill!

Nothing like checking out some real bikes to end a great couple of days. We stopped at the Harley Davidson store in Lindon, UT for lunch at Marleys on the way home and it didn't hurt that they had many many awesome bikes to look at too.

One for Joshua:

And one for me:

Just kidding. All we purchased were a couple of sliders and shoestring fries. Though it was tempting.

And how cool is this...the tables at the restaurant were covered in these old soda bottle caps under the glass. I'd never heard of half of them.

Sadly, back to work tomorrow. Although, taking a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday off is kind of a nice break in the week, when everyone else still has to work. Nah nah.

Sweets for my sweets

2009-07-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ah, summertime. How in the world do you keep 3 kids busy? I thought I'd help my sister out by offering a suggestion to get them out of the house. Last week we tood the little people on a tour of Sweet Candy Factory in Salt Lake City. It's about a 40 minute tour around the warehouse, with a few samples along the way and a store with oodles and oodles of yummy goodness at the end. Despite the "lunch lady" look, aren't we cute?

Heather's run-in with the law

2009-05-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

Technically it was a run-into the law...as in...with my car. Yesterday, I decided to make a quick Costco run before painting the bathroom. Anything to put off painting, which I hate. I embarked on my short (so I thought) journey and missed the turn I would usually take to avoid major road construction in West Valley City. Instead, I turned off the highway, right into the DOT mess.

Now I ask you, when a 6 lane road has been reduced to 3 and the "lanes" are lined with construction cones, and you pass a sign that says, "Caution, severe drop off" and there are people with hard hats walking all around and trucks entering and exiting the construction sight and you NEVER drive on this road, isn't it possible that you, too, might have missed a tiny thing called a red-light?

Well, I did and continued proceeding through the intersection at the same time a West Valley City police officer was entering the intersection on his opposite green light. I mostly bumped his tire/hubcap but did leave a small dent in the lower passenger door frame and door. My front fender is a little scratched but no one was hurt, unless you count both of our egos.

Of course, not one additional office came to file the report...but 4 or 5 additional police cars quickly arrived at the scene. You would have thought the radio call-in was "OFFICER DOWN!" There I sat, in the middle of WVC (aka...the 'hood'), surrounded by police. Passers-by probably thought it was a meth bust going down. It was humiliating!

I'm sure his ego took some bruising too, as I heard the jeers coming from his fellow black-and-whites. "Hit in the line of duty, huh?" "Way to fall on that bullet, Dennis!" Poor guy.

So I called Joshua, and he laughed, sympathetically of course. My insurance agent laughed. The other police officers laughed. Since it was yesterday, I'm laughing a little bit more. Lesson learned, next time just stay home and paint the bathroom.

Our 2nd Anniversary Stay-cation

2009-05-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

It's was our 2nd anniversary earlier this week. It's gone by fast. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. We really do have a lot of fun together and have accomplished a lot together and learned a lot about each other. Thanks for 2 great years babe, I can't wait for the rest.

What did we do to celebrate, you ask? We did more work on the house and the yard. Not exotic, I realize, but it was beautiful weather and we got so much done.

Monday of course was Joshua's birthday. We worked in the garden and flower beds and pulled quite a pile of weeds. I gave Joshua a good laugh for his birthday when I fell head first into the big green-waste garbage can. I can't really describe how I managed this, but needless to say, gravity was not my friend. It hurt, but I'm sure was hysterical to see.

Tuesday and Wednesday we worked on getting the swamp-cooler up and running after deciding we did not want to go into debt to have air conditioning installed. Joshua, bless his heart, is an amazingly patient and resourceful man. The swamp cooler was not an easy fix and it took many trips to Lowes and up and down the ladder to get it working, but working it is and our house is hopefully ready for the looming summer heat.

Though he didn't get much time to use it, he hung his anniversary gift/hammock in the yard. I'll lose the honey-do list next week so he can have some time with a good book in the shade. He totally earned it!

Yesterday, we took an us day. We slept late, played on facebook (totally addicted to Farm Town right now) and then went to the new Terminator movie--like it.) Went to dinner, ate on the patio (the weather couldn't have been more perfect this week) and then went for a drive up Butterfeild Canyon. It was finally a relaxing day in our stay-cation.

Today, I'm back in painting mode. My sister Holly came over to help me get started. It's about half way done, but I still have to do some plastering and sanding before I can do the rest. Elizabeth and James, I really do hope it's done before you get here. But if not, we'll share the upstairs bathroom.

This stay-cation has been more exhausting than any trip around the world I can possibly imagine. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. We do feel accomplished but look forward to taking a camping trip somewhere where there's nothing to do but relax.

Happy Birthday to My Guy

2009-05-24T19:27:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my guy, my so-cute-you-could-cry guy

My easy-going, just-hangin-around guy

My never-a-frown guy

My loves-the-outdoors guy

My helps-with-the-chores guy

My honorable-knight guy, my always-choose-the-right guy

My as-smart-and-deep-as-the-ocean guy

My still-not-too-tough-for-emotion guy

My ready-for-a-good-tussle guy

My super-strong-muscle guy

Happy birthday to my guy, the love-of-my-life guy.

Day 130 in Our House

2009-04-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, we've owned the house for 130 days. I haven't chronicled all of the progress in the past few months but it is coming along. I've continued to remove wallpaper from the kitchen and it is almost ready to paint. We've hung some pictures. We've repaired the kitchen and bathroom sinks. This weekend, Joshua and his brother Mike built a door frame to add a door in front of our furnace closet. Previously this was covered by a thin piece of wood paneling, I think with some sort of deer pattern on it. Ugly. We took that down and covered it in plastic, but it poured cold air into the house all winter.

Behold, the new door (they even added the vent--awesome!)

Over the past couple of weeks, since we actually had a couple of nice spring days, we've been trying to get the yard cleaned up. There are many, many weeds (dandelions mostly) and a lot of junk awaiting a city dumpster to be delivered to our driveway in another couple of weeks. Today, we paid another visit to Lowes and then spent the afternoon in the yard, planting the garden.

Here's our plan: We've got all the critical components of really good salsa, though I will still need to plant some herbs, maybe on the back porch. We'll also hopefully have the makings for salad, zucchini bread, jack-o-lanterns, and watermelon seed spitting contests.

It doesn't look like much yet, but we'll invite you over later in the season to enjoy the fruits (or veggies as it were) of our labors.

Who does that?

2009-04-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

We've been in our house for 4 months now. We've walked up the stairs countless times. Today was the first day we noticed the gum on the underside of the railing/banister. 4 pieces left behind by the previous owners. Ick. How did we not see it in 4 months? Better yet, who does that? I'm willing to cut them some slack and assume that maybe small children did it. However judging by the munge we've had to clean out of so many other places, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't children at all. It did chisel off quite easily, but again, ick!

Jared's Trip to California

2009-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

My awesome nephew, Jared, invited me to join him on his first big trip away from home because he knows how much I love to travel.

It was his first time on an airplane. He looks like a natural to me.

It was his first trip out of the state of Utah. Legoland in Carlsbad, CA hosted the event.

Seriously. I don't know if the legos are glued onto models, but it's still pretty cool.

Check out Miniland:

Southern California New York City Mardi Gras, New Orleans

The Las Vegas Strip

San Francisco

The White House

We rode a few rides, had lots of junk food and then headed for the beach. It was his first time there too. How did he know how much I love the beach?

Then it was off to the hotel to wash the sand off our feet and sleep a little.

Then it was time to fly home again. Wow, that trip went too quickly.

Jared, when can we go again?

Principle #2: I believe in God and He is the center of my life

2009-04-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Really I believe this should be principle number 1.

I do believe in God and am grateful that he is the center of my life. If anything else were, it would not be a center but a fleeting spark driven by the wind; temporary and unstable. With God as my center, I married the most wonderful man in the world. With God as our center, we have the opportunity to be with our family throughout eternity. Our world is in chaos and many have what they think is the way to put it back on track. They have sparks.

The first Easter morning, one of atonement and resurrection, is the true center from which all things are possible. "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" "He is not here for he is risen, as he said." The miracle of all miracles to which I add my testimony with so many others--that he is the Savior of the world; That through him, we can be redeemed and return to the Father and enjoy life everlasting.

Happy Easter

Principle #1: America is good

2009-04-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Arrogant, Mr. Obama? No, just aware that I live in the greatest country in the world.

I've been a little miffed at Mr. Obama's recent European tour. Mostly for one comment, "Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." While I don't entirely disagree--we quite often take for granted the great opportunities this country affords us all--I cringe when the leader of this great nation fails to acknowledge that America is still the beacon of hope to millions around the world. He acknowledges the "good that America often does around the world" but fails to stand up for a country that more often than not leads the rest of the world in development, enlightenment, and ultimately freedom. These roots certainly run deep, across oceans where our ancestors came from, but it is the unique spirit of America that draws millions from around the world to flourish in this garden.

Mr. Obama, I pray each day that the Lord will help me to not be arrogant, dismissive or derisive. However, I also thank him each day that I live in a country where this does not still happen:

The Right to Peaceably Assemble

2009-03-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Joshua and I attended the "We Surround Them" even held at Noah's in South Jordan, UT. It was the introduction to "The 912 Project", hosted by Glenn Beck. It was an impressive gathering of over 1000 Utahns joined by 1000s of other across the country to stand up together and proclaim "We don't agree with the direction our Federal Government is taking this country."

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, as they were taken by my camera phone (sorry Shannon...I know you hate that.)

While the event was motivating, I don't consider myself to be a political activist by any means. Joshua is more vocal than I when it comes to matter of politics, though neither of us plan to quit our jobs to camp out in front of the White House any time soon. However, we, like many Americans, have accepted the challenge to be the type of citizen that rallied on 9/12, 2001 and said to ourselves, "We're Americans! We're not going to sit idly by while someone threatens our freedoms." There are 9 principles and 12 values that form the character of a 9/12 individual. (probably more, but this is the 9/12 Project so just go with it.)

9 Principles
1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

12 Values
Honesty
Reverence
Hope
Thrift
Humility
Charity
Sincerity
Moderation
Hard Work
Courage
Personal Responsibility
Gratitude

These are the faces of two Americans who hope to embody those principles and values. If we don't fully today...we will endeavor to improve ourselves until we do.

Cracked me up

2009-03-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

I happened upon this comic from a daily desk calendar. It cracked me up... still chuckling.

Hooray for the little things that get you through the day.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

I love my valentine. Not so much because it's Valentines day (even though this post is 5 days late) but because...well...it's Thursday. Just another day I think, "Wow, how did I get so lucky as to find someone as amazing as Joshua?" Deep down I do think that Valentines day is just a conspiracy by those selling flowers, chocolates and lingerie. I feel sorry for men that there is so much pressure on one random day. Still, I told Joshua that the only thing I didn't want was a stuffed Teddy Bear. After that, he was on his own. Joshua bought me flowers and I made him a giant, heart-shaped, chocolate-chip cookie and got him a new hair trimmer kit. I know, I'm so romantic! We went to dinner and just had a great evening together.

Look what I found today...sigh... Two years later I still say it was the smartest thing he's ever done. (tee hee). Okay, my saying yes was the smartest thing I've ever done too.

House Update

2009-02-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

Day 70 in the house. My how the time flies when you're having fun. Here are a few updates.

We finally bought a new bed. King size and softer than the ream of paper Joshua said our other bed felt like. It barely fits in the bedroom, but is well worth the sacrifice in space.

Um...babe...which side is mine?

We retired the card table and folding chairs and actually bought a table. We got a great deal at Furniture Warehouse so now we can actually have company over for dinner.

Pot luck anyone?

Today was one of the best discoveries so far...the fountain in the front actually works!

Yes, but will that gun kill rodents?

2009-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

**WARNING** this post contains graphic content with implied violence.

Why the barbaric question you ask? Maybe one day I'll need my husband to protect our family and food storage from would-be thieves, but today I need him to protect me from mice. You may think the bazooka featured in the previous post is a little over the top for this purpose, but I don't think so.

See how they stare at you with those sad eyes and fluffy cheeks. They can't fool me. No, I know what filthy beasts they are and they've been crawling around in my silverware drawer. That is sooo over the line. I had seen a couple of other slight traces in the past couple of weeks, but dismissed it thinking I just hadn't cleaned out the drawers good enough when we moved in and there were still remnants of birdseed pellets (which there were previously.) But this morning was another story. When I found multiple mouse droppings in our silverware drawer (pardon me while I vomit and then rewash all the silverware) I knew we were sharing our space with something not paying rent! So a little peanut butter in the $3.00 mouse trap from Lowe's...wait 30 minutes...and

SNAP!

After hearing the very loud snap so quickly after setting the trap, I thought, oh I must not have set it right...they are sort of tricky and it snapped twice before before I even got it in the drawer. Oh no! This time was the real deal, and in fact, the tail was still twitching when I pulled open the drawer. I screamed and jumped around hysterically for a moment and then called Joshua at work to tell him he had a chore to do when he gets home at 11pm tonight (sorry love, but that's a man's job) Even now...I'm shuddering with the heebie-jeebies. Yucky Yucky Ew Gross!

MY WIFE IS AWESOME!!

2009-01-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

It was a cold, cloudy day as he left the correctional facility where he'd worked for the past two years. The stars and stripes flapped fitfully from the flagpole in the parking lot. Was it the icy January wind or a deep sense of patriotism that brought a solitary tear to his eye? He didn't know. He had one thing on his mind...a shopping list. He had two stops to make on his way home; two items of monumental and competing importance. He had to buy an assault rifle and he had to buy a toilet...

What a great start for my first post to our blog, right? Actually that was my drive home today.

We have a new house with plenty of room for food storage. We've started on that and I think it put Heather in survival mode...or she just wants to keep our food protected from marauding bands of miscreants and malcontents. She told me the other day that we should probably stock up on bullets. After I scraped my jaw off the floor I explained that I only had a small lever action hunting rifle and a handgun in so-so shape. She suggested I consider something a little more intimidating (Wow! Gush! etc) I shopped around and found this:

I ordered the gun and made a down payment today. It'll take about 6 months for it to arrive so it will make a perfect birthday present. I hope it's not illegal to own one by then. Heather also mentioned that I should get a gunsafe to keep my fledgling arsenal from falling into the wrong hands. It's just another reason to love her. Lucky me!

Tagged! Again.

2009-01-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm being lazy today and catching up on all my tags.

Lisa tagged me on her blog. Here's the game:
Go to your picture folder, or wherever you store your photos.
Go to the 6th folder, and select the 6th picture.
Post the picture and tell the story that goes along with it.
Tag your friends, then post a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged!

Here's 6th of 6 on my laptop. This is me standing over Joshua at Ice Box Canyon near Las Vegas. We went hiking there Thanksgiving 2006, when we were dating.

And I'm not forgetting to tag anyone else, but since I only know a handful of other bloggers, most if not all have already been tagged. So I love you all, don't take it personally.

Tagged (again) QUIRKS!

2009-01-24T08:32:00.001-08:00

I know I'm not the only Heather that Katherine knows, but since I'm pretty self absorbed, I'll assume she meant me. She "Quirk" tagged me. It seems pretty simple, you list your top 5 quirks, so here we go:

1) STORIES: I can be very impatient with people's stories. The more details, the harder it is for me to keep focus. I generally love the short-short version, but it's a quirk I'm working on for the sake of other people's self worth. I'll listen...go ahead and tell me your story. I promise, I AM interested.
2) MATHEMATICAL OCD: Nearly every night I do some sort of mathmatic analysis on my cell phone calculator while I'm laying in bed. I don't know what it is, but it helps my mind unwind when I can crunch some random numbers. (I'm seriously a geek). It's usually a review of our household budget.
3) NOSE BLOWING: If there is anything that makes me cringe, it's the sound of someone else blowing their nose, especially around food or dining areas.
4) POTTY TALK: Not potty mouth, potty talk (though potty mouth bugs me too.) I can't have conversations with my friends when one or both of us are in a bathroom stall. I need some "pee"ce and quiet please.
5) SOCIAL INEPTITUDE: I'm often puzzled by behavior that makes me think, "If my mother saw me act that way." I have very little patience than when I see adults acting like children or simply lacking awareness of anything outside their own bubble. Driving in traffic, shopping in Costco, etc. Seriously, your own agenda is not more important than everyone else's.

And I TAG...Michelle, April, Lindsy, Kristin, Carly

Day 27--Sanctuary

2009-01-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

This week I'm on vacation from my "job" job, and working instead on the job of getting the house more livable. My friend Joni gave me some great advice. She recommended at least getting our bedroom finished so we could feel put together somewhere, at some point in this whole process.

Behold...our sanctuary. I finished the Bedroom (with boring white paint).

Well...almost. I have yet to hang pictures and the curtains are taped up for now since privacy is a necessity and we were both too tired tonight to deal with the mini-blinds. I know...ghetto!

And if you came to visit, you would have a place to lay your head too:

Look Mom! I found a spot for the coveted "cricket" chair!

I've also been searching for contractor/repair companies to get our stinky water damaged wall fixed. While we are in the process of getting estimates and waiting to get the work done, my washer and dryer still aren't hooked up. Thus, I've been reacquainted with the world of coin operated laundry.

I should go into business and open up one of these bad boys myself!

$3.50 for each washer and $0.25 for 6 minutes in the dryer. Cha-ching!

I've lost track...Day 21?

2009-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

It snowed again, the day after Christmas, and Joshua had to go to work. So what he couldn't finish shoveling, I finished later. I'm seriously over the winter already.

I spent the next couple of days patching nail holes and gouges in the wall, so it's ready to paint next week.

In general, it's been sort of slow going as far as the house goes, but we've still been busy. Joshua found someone at work that does general contractor type stuff who was going to come fix our leaky plumbing in the garage and tear out/rebuild the damaged wall (years of water damage from previous owner.) But, with the holidays he's been a little tough to get a hold of, so...no new wall yet.

We finally went and cleared out the rest of our stuff in the apartment, cleaned it, patched nail holes in the wall, etc. and trailered Joshua's motorcycle over. It was a busy few days, made all the more interesting by discovering all the stuff in closets we forgot to pack and a car key that broke just as we were ready to load up the motorcycle. But we figured it all out and turned in all the keys to the apartment yesterday. Hallelujah!

So since then, we've torn out the icky garage wall, and painted, grouted, and scrubbed the main, upstairs bathroom so we have one in working order. Previously we had been using the toilet upstairs and the shower downstairs.

Joshua's demolition handy work in the garage...the lack of insulation should make for an

interesting gas bill this month.

My painting expertise...or lack thereof. Yeah, really exciting photos, I know. Before After (will strip and paint the vanity another day.)

A minor casualty...paint on my new carpet:

Next week I'm on vacation and the priority is painting out bedroom. We're currently sleeping in one of the smaller spare bedrooms and as you can see, there's only room for the bed.

Day 14--Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

Since Joshua and I both had to work today, and it's Christmas, we didn't work on the house. Instead, Joshua shoveled about a foot of snow when he got home from work.

And I cooked a very nontraditional Christmas dinner: Chicken, mashers, stuffing, and salad. We dined on the borrowed (from Mom) card table and chairs in the living room since the kitchen is the staging area for all the home improvement projects right now. It's not quite a Christmas goose, but it will do.

Day 13--Taking a Christmas (Eve) break

2008-12-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you darling sister for convincing us to take a much needed break from the house to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family...in a place that doesn't smell, and isn't full of semi-unpacked boxes. We had a great time.

Day 12-- We can breath a little easier.

2008-12-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

If you've lived in your house for a while or buy a "new" older home, I highly recommend having your vents professionally cleaned.

A HEPA Vac can get some serious work done, more so than our little Bissle for sure.

That's what we've been breathing during these past 12 glorious days. Worth every penny to have it gone.

Joshua went back to work today, after being off due to a knee injury for the past 2 weeks. He said he wasn't happy to go back, but I know deep down he was happy to escape the house for a few hours. In his absence, I braved Costco to get holiday supplies for work, and SuperWalmart to get a little grocery shopping done. Soup and bread for dinner every night was getting a little old. Talk about a Crazy Train. What was I thinking, Walmart and Costco 2 days before Christmas. I think the house has given me brain fever.

I also had to set up a fan to dry out the water damage from Day 10, try to insulate some of our pipes to prevent more water damage down the road, wash a load of laundry, and set up a PO box because our mailbox wont stay in the ground and we have bigger fish to fry right now.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to be in a home that is warm (even if it smells like pee), and I am grateful to have the health and strength to do the work that needs to be done (even it it is exhausting and depressing.)

Day 11-- It's real porcelain!

2008-12-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Joshua is turning out to be a home repair genius. Yesterday, he replaced the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. This one actually flushes without having to hold the handle the whole time. And a word of caution, when you buy the "Toilet to go" from your home improvement store of choice, it's a good idea to open it at the store and verify it actually has all the parts it says it should. (and he's not really using the john, just celebrating the installation victory with a demonstration.)

While Joshua was busy with the toilet situation, I began painting the bathroom. White for now, until I can decide on what color to change the lovely green vanity to. Pictures of white paint are about as interesting as watching white paint dry, so I will spare you more photos for now.

Day 10-- The adventure continues

2008-12-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

This was both a blessing and a curse. On Sunday, after our first night in the new house and our first showers, we discovered Old Faithful erupting right in our garage. We had both taken showers and the house, thankfully, wasn't smelling much like urine which we had previously attributed to pets of the previous owners. We had sealed the floors before laying the carpet, so we expected the smell to subside. Well, suddenly Joshua asked me if I had noticed the increased odor of putresence. I did, but couldn't figure out why until I heard water running in the garage and discovered that our water heater was spewing hot water from the emergency pressure valve. The water had saturated an already previously soaked and subsequently rotted wall, which was repaired on the garage side but not on the side of the wall behind our bathroom cabinet. The blessing, we finally know the source of the pee smell. Every time the furnace (right next to the area in question) heats up the wall, it stinks. The only solution we can think of is to rip out the bathroom sink and replace the wall and flooring behind/underneath. Ugh, that would be the curse part.

What a mess:

Joshua, the ever-handy He-Man of our crumbling Universe.

The water heater is fixed and there don't appear to be anymore leaks. Can we call it now? Can we pronounce this house DOA? A Lemon? (Pardon me while I start silently chanting my de-stress mantra here, "I can do hard things, I can do hard things, I can do hard things.")

Day 9--Moving Day

2008-12-22T21:44:00.001-08:00

In all the hustle and bustle, we forgot to document the hysterics. The few pictures we do have were thanks to my sister, Ivy. (Vote for Ivy for class historian!) We got up bright and early to shovel snow and continue packing up a few more items. Yes, we were that family you hate to help move because you show up and they're still packing things on their way out to the U-Haul. We just figured we'd do the move in stages since we had so much going on.. Hello! Who's bright idea was it to move in December?

There were a few items the guys had to wrestle with: An oversized sofa-sleeper (Heavy) and a BowFlex were probably the worst.

"Maybe if we angle it this way..."

"I think we had to take it apart to get it in the first time..."

"Finally. Now, who picked the 3rd floor appartement again?"

"I'm good with the boxes...thanks."

I might also mention that we got a couple inches of snow that day and it was terribly cold. I think I went to bed about 7:30 pm and slept for about 10 hours (the onset of a head cold didn't help.) We were beat. Thanks much to Josh, Bus and Ivy for the extra hands and muscles that day. We'd still be trying to get the sofa down the stairs if you hadn't been there.

Day 8-- Packing Hell

2008-12-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

'nuff said.

Day 7-- Carpet and more Wallpaper

2008-12-19T18:38:00.001-08:00

Joshua spent the day getting the new carpet installed and the new-ish old carpet cleaned. Hooray...our house doesn't smell like cat pee anymore!! A shout-out to Venturi Carpet Cleaning for cleaning the new-ish old carpet and treating for the pet smells. The new carpet is courtesy of RC Willey. We thought we had a pretty good match on the existing carpet color...but alas...not so much. Oh well, it's clean and new and after a few days, we wont even notice. You might when you visit, but we'll just deny it and tell you that you need glasses.

The RC Willey guys:

When I arrived later that afternoon, we started to tackle the wallpaper in the kitchen. Some of it was actually hot-glued together and all of it was ugly.

Some spots had multiple layers of extremely stubborn stick-to-it-iveness so here's my product endorsement. DIF works pretty well but can get very messy/goupy. We found it a Lowe's.

Day 3, 4, 5, 6

2008-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Even The Good Lord took a day of rest. His was day 7, ours was Day 3. I had to fly to Atlanta, and Joshua had to give his mending knee a rest.

Day 4 and 5 are just a few of the reasons I love my husband. While I was in Atlanta for work, Joshua was tearing out flood damaged walls, replacing floorboards (with the help of our brother-in-law...thanks much Bus!) and coating the floor with sealant to encapsulate the icky pet odors. What a trooper. Here's some of his progress:

Hallway before Hallway after

Bedroom/Closet before Bedroom/Closet After

Today is Day 6 and Joshua took a well deserved breather. I went over to finish up coating the floor with the sealant. I'd say it smells better, but right now it just smells like sealant. Time will tell.

Day 2

2008-12-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

The day started out pretty well. We met one of our new neighbors, Jeff. He stopped by as he was driving home from what we guessed was an early morning workout and introduced himself when he saw us in the yard. He seemed like a nice guy, offered his help if we needed, etc. etc.

Then came the appliances:

Then things got exciting. We found where Jimmy Hoffa was burried...in our wall. Actually we discovered that the reason for the tiki wall, was to hide a doorway that was filled in when the kitchen cabinets were built. Yes...it just got interesting.

While Joshua was 'playing in the mud', I started tackling the wallpaper in the bathroom. It's too bad really, it's such a pretty pattern. Green and pink ribbons. Do you love the Hunter green vanity and the pink medicine cabinet?

I didn't get any pictures, but Joshua also ripped out the carpet in the living room, hall, master bedroom and closet today. Bless his heart. He was covered in dust from disintegrating carpet pad and tore up his fingers on tack board, staples, etc. I wont go into details, about the extensive water damage we found underneath the carpet in the closet and hall near the bathroom. Needless to say, the house got downgraded from "needs a little love" to definite "fixer-upper."

While it's certainly not remotely as bad as this, I'll leave you with the vision that kept coming to my mind with each new "discovery" today.

Day 1 in the New House

2008-12-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Closed on Wednesday, picked up the keys on Thursday, and today...the fun begins:

First the tiki wall...the throwback to the 70's has got to go

Going ... Going ... Gone

Then there's the wall paper in the bedroom

notice the adjoining walls are two different patterns...

Much better, and ready for some paint

The good news is, not all the decor is ugly...well, never mind.

We made 3 trips to Lowe's today. 1 after discovering the refrigerator needed replacing. Then for mud to smooth out the filled in door we discovered underneath the tiki wall. Then to buy a new range to match the new fridge, after we discovered the existing one also needed replacing.

Come back often to see our home come together...slowly but surely.

We're back on, baby!

2008-12-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

We called in a specialist to check out the mold situation and discovered it was not severe enough to scare us away. The seller agreed to replace the offending walls that had all the water damage, so we have some new walls, some new carpet, a new furnace, some plumbing improvements and just a few days until closing. You can bet we're so excited!

We're making a Home Depot shopping list, and checking it twice.
It gonna be dirty work but the result will be nice.
Joshua and Heather are going to own a home!

Our dreams may be dashed by Penicillin

2008-11-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well...black mold actually. Our home inspector called today with the results from the mold test we had done due to some rotted drywall behind the toilet in the house we were preparing to buy. He reported it came back positive for the "bad mold" or toxic black mold.

It's amazing how a little thing like this:

Can turn into this if left untreated:

Yuck! Needless to say the amount in the house we were checking out wasn't near this bad from what we could see. Without opening up the wall we wont know for sure and we just don't want to go there. Ugh... back to square one I suppose.

We're trying to buy a house...hooray!

2008-11-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

Joshua and I finally got serious about trying to buy a house for the ultimate Christmas present to ourselves. We found one last Saturday and started the ball rolling with making an offer, being countered (yuck), raising our offer, and then crossing our fingers. We're on to the financing phase, we think. Here are some initial photos. Can you picture us there?

Cons: The typical Utah split entry, smallish (only 1500+ sq. feet), ugly wallpaper, ugly tiki-hut wood panneling, ugly carpet, fence needs repair/replacing, way out west.

Pros: seemingly good neighborhood, large yard (.23 acres) with pretty good landscaping, new kitchen cabinets, 2 car garage, affordable, new deck, spot for a garden, fireplace, bigger than our apartment, and it would be ours.

We plan to close on the 10th of December. Grab a moving box, a paintbrush and c'mon over. We'll buy the pizza!

The little people are comming

2008-11-11T15:31:00.001-08:00

It is unfortunate that it was a flooded house that ushered in April's visit earlier than planned, but hip hip hooray...the North Carolina little people are coming. After we left them in sobbing hysterics after our very brief visit (less than 24 hours) last month, I've seriously been craving little punkins. T-minus 2 hours...and they'll be here!

(Not pictured here...little Max. I don't have any pictures...yet.)

Boo...winter has begun.

2008-11-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

It's snowing and cold. I must fly south soon.

If the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity...

2008-11-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

I'm not jumping on the doomsday bandwagon, but I do think our nation is walking a very fine line in recent years. I've though much of late about the words of Mosiah (29:27) when he taught the people that, "...if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."

I watched this video of Elder Bednar that came in my LDS Living email today and I think it's some worthy food for thought regarding California's Proposition 8 and the "ripple effect" that comes from these choices. The "voice of the people" is making me more and more nervous.

Yes, I kicked your bumper!

2008-11-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took my car in for an alignment. Since Firestone was just a 1/2 mile or so up the road, I dropped it off and walked home and walked back to pick it up a few hours later. As I approached the intersection, I checked both ways before crossing and made sure the light still indicated my right of way...because I know how to obey traffic rules. Suddenly out of nowhere, a car came barreling around the corner and missed hitting me by just a few inches. Now my first instinct of course was self preservation, so I quickly jumped out of the way. Amazingly, she wasn't stopping. She was either clueless to my near death experience, or just so self-important that it didn't matter to her. My next instinct, after realizing the woman (on her cell phone) had slowed ever so slightly to complete her turn, was an outraged kick to her bumper.

Well of course this caught her attention, though nearly killing me didn't. She pulled over and rolled her window down and stared at me with arms in the air as if to say, "Did you really just kick my car?" So I shouted, "Yes you self absorbed idiot, I kicked your bumper. How about checking for pedestrians next time." I quickly regained my senses and kept walking, leaving my almost-assailant staring in disbelief.

I'm not totally proud if the little scene I created, but the moral of the story is this: If you think your agenda is so important that you don't have time to follow simple traffic rules, (like yielding to pedestrians) you need a swift kick in the...uh...bumper.

Fall Trip 2008

2008-10-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Joshua and I just got back from a whirlwind trip visiting family back in North Carolina and Tennessee. Our visits are always so short but since they're free (airline travel anyway) we try to do as much as possible and see as many loved ones as possible, in a short amount of time.

We visited Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, TN with Justin, Betsy and the kids, and Betsy's whole family. Our group of about 17 adults and 10 children, explored these cool caves, saw blind-albino crawfish that live in an underground pool of water, and tried not to giggle through the light show near the end.

At the bottom of the cavern, they have the "undergound ballroom" where they perform bluegrass concerts. There was a very "Phantom of the Opera" type pipe-organ likeness (hooked to electronic sound equipment) and a chandelier suspended 60 feet from the caver floor. Imagine your senior prom at the bottom of a cave.

Joshua even found a little cave-imp in our explorations. We called him Seth.

We also visited with Joshua's parents, playing Dr. Suess fruit bocci-ball while we waited for them to finish their missionary duties for the day. Have you ever see a mock orange? They smell like lemon cake. Very strange.

We fed the ducks and geese at the park as well. I never knew ducks and geese like Cheesy Puffs.

This was Mr. T duck..."I pitty da fool who eat my bread crumbs!"

This was Don King Duck..."If you cast your bread upon the water and you have faith, you'll get back cash. If you don't have faith, you'll get soggy bread."

And here's a new idea for your Thanksgiving feast...I give you Durkey.

Oh how I miss the aweful-waffle! Joshua had his first Waffle House experience on this trip. You have to love a pecan waffle with hasbrowns smothered or covered and folks with southern accents as thick as the grits they serve!

We enjoyed some yummy southern barbeque and even visited a pumpkin patch in the afternoon.

Then we were off to Charlotte for little Maxwell Moore's blessing. Congratulations April and James, you have another beautiful member of the family to be proud of. We wished we could have spent more time in Charlotte witht April, James, and the little people, but alas...the dwindling seat availability on our flights beckoned and off we flew.

Despite the few naps we took along the way

This was how we felt when it was all said and done. We hope to visit all y'all again soon.

HOV Getaway 2008--San Antonio

2008-10-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

I know that most of the people who check my blog were on the HOV trip, but for those that weren't there, don't you wish you were?
May I just say: Cave exploring, chocolate cake, diet coke, the Alamo, mexican food, birthday gifts, chick-flicks, M&Ms, window shopping, giggling, french toast, and great girl friends!

We missed the rest of the HOV. Can't wait for next year.

Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation

2008-10-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

After a trip to Costco, navigating the Salt Lake City and Atlanta Airports, and flying for 3 hours in an airtight metal tube in the past 72 hours, I've decided that people--all of 'em--need an annually recurrent training in manners.

I understand that jumbo TVs and cereal boxes can be distracting. If you're going to meander, leave your ego at the door. You are not the most important person there. Your agenda is not more important than everyone else's. You will have opportunity to try the chicken pot pie sample another time. May I please pass?

I know that dealing with parking, hauling luggage that can break your back and dealing with the TSA can be tiresome, but most people in the airport are not there for a leisurely stroll. When you stop in the middle of the concourse to take in the sights, please be aware that the people tripping over your luggage while rushing to make their very tight connections are not loathsome creatures who deserve your contempt.

When the baggage in the overhead bin shifts (as the flight attendants advise on EVERY flight) do not tug someones computer case half way out so it teeters precariously over someones head. Do not yell at the person, in front of all creation, who rescues said bag because it shifted in flight and smashed your jacket that you shoved in the dirty overhead bin without a second thought.

Seriously. I don't know what goes through peoples minds when the act the way they do sometimes. No, I'm not perfect, but I do think I generally act right and can handle being let out in public--unsupervised. But for those who could use some gentle encouragement in the direction of civility...a 16 year old George Washington (what a stud!) offered the following:

There are 110 "rules" but these were my favorites.

1st Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

2d When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usually Discovered.

7th Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Drest.

12th Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs rowl not the Eys lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.

13th Kill no Vermin as Fleas, lice ticks &c in the Sight of Others, if you See any filth or thick Spittle put your foot Dexteriously upon it if it be upon the Cloths of your Companions, Put it off privately, and if it be upon your own Cloths return Thanks to him who puts it off.

23d When you see a Crime punished, you may be inwardly Pleased; but always shew Pity to the Suffering Offender.

45th Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or in Private; presently, or at Some other time in what terms to do it & in reproving Shew no Sign of Cholar but do it with all Sweetness and Mildness.

54th Play not the Peacock, looking every where about you, to See if you be well Deck't, if your Shoes fit well if your Stokings sit neatly, and Cloths handsomely.

56th Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad Company.

60th Be not immodest in urging your Friends to Discover a Secret.

73d Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring out your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly.

76th While you are talking, Point not with your Finger at him of Whom you Discourse nor Approach too near him to whom you talk especially to his face.

90th Being Set at meat Scratch not neither Spit Cough or blow your Nose except there's a Necessity for it.

97th Put not another bit into your Mouth til the former be Swallowed let not your Morsels be too big for the Gowls.

108th When you Speak of God or his Attributes, let it be Seriously & wt. Reverence. Honour & Obey your Natural Parents altho they be Poor.

110th Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience.

Happy Birthday to Heather

2008-10-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

So according to Joshua, I just turned....30 something! 30 was bad enough, but 30 something must be just aweful! Oh well. What are ya gonna do? Either way there are presents involved, so it can't be all bad.

Joshua got me an awesome attachement to by Bosch mixer. Behold...the food processor. It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries and can still cut a cow in half.

Then I treated myself to a Heather day. I took the day off work and was determined not to be in a hurry all day. I took my time getting ready for the day, got a hair cut and a pedicure. My good friends Stephanie and Sherrie treated me to the Pedi and for once, I didn't go with the conservative French tips, instead...Big Apple Red baby! Aren't my toes sexy?

By then I was simply exhausted (arm strewn dramatically across my forehead) so I took a nap, read a bit, and then had a wonderful dinner with Joshua. Sigh...I guess if I have to be 30 something, this is the way to do it.

Udderly rediculous or does Ice cream do a body good?

2008-09-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

So, would you buy ice cream, even Ben and Jerry's if this was on the label?

PETA has proposed that Ben and Jerry's make ice cream with mother's milk instead of cow's milk. C'mon. That's disgusting, in fact that might be the only way I might stop eating ice cream. If you don't believe me, read the article yourself.

Salt Lake Tribune Article

Is Heather a masochist or scholasticly malnourished?

2008-09-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today at work Iaccidentally messed up our database. I'm one of the few that everyone else generally relies on to be technilogically savy. I've been wanting to learn how to use MS Access and have even signed up for a class with communtiy Ed 3 times, only to have to cancel because of my work schedule. So today I decided to teach myself. So I saved a copy of our database in my personal drive, so as not to corrupt the working files. I've done this a hundred times with other files and applications, but something went horribly awry. The changes I was making in the practice drive were somehow saved to our working drive. The bad news is I have no idea how to fix it other than calling our technology people to see if they can restore it. The good news is the applications I accidentally removed are ones we haven't used in two years and they are seriously outdated. The other good news is the one application we actually still use is still in tact. The irony is that's what I was trying to accomplish, just not permanently. So, my new project is to teach myself how to use Access. Does that book look really thick to anyone else?

Seriously

2008-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

I find my self often faced with scenes that I can only respond to with, "Seriously!." I'm at a loss for how people act sometimes. (Being that I'm so perfect and all) And yes April, I too think of the kid from Stand By Me (Vern)when "Seriously" pops in my head.

I saw a little situation today which litterally mirrored this video:

While at work today on the concourse of the SLC airport I witness a women standing at the threshold of the smoking aread, sucking on her cancer stick, talking on her cell phone, and yelling for her two year old todler who was running away down the concourse. I wanted to help this woman reassess her priorities. The suggestion in my head was, "I know the cancer sticks cost like $1 a peice, but stamp it out, tell your friend on the phone that you'll call them back, and go get your kid. You are actually allowed to leave the smoking area."

Seriously!

Bored

2008-09-16T17:36:00.001-07:00

One day I'm actually going to invest in Photoshop. I got bored last night and started playing around. The result...I give you SuperShepherds!

I hope not

2008-09-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this in my friend's blog and thought I'd try it. I really hope our kids actually come out cuter than this.

One tomato, two tomato, three tomato...more?

2008-09-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

...Yeah, probably not. Joshua started a patio garden for us this summer. He planted 4 tomato plants in pots and a herb garden in a small planter box, on our 6 ft x 10 ft patio. Of the 4 tomato plants, we have 3 whole tomatoes. Well, we had one tomato, which we already ate. We shared it, all 3 delicious bites of it. The other two tomatoes are still tiny and green. It's already September, so I don't know if these two will make it or not but we are hopeful. Can you see 'em?

As for the herb garden, well, it mostly looks like grass. The basil sprouts never got any heighth to them at all. So much for homemade pesto this year. I think we started a little late in the season. This just make us all the more anxious to find a house ASAP, with some yard space for a garden.

I just don't get it

2008-09-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Temple of the Jedi Order is the nexus of Jediism
The real Jedi religion of
The Living Force Of Creation

Yeah, so Joshua found this article about a "Jedi" wedding here in Utah yesterday. The brother, a real "Jedi" Reverend, officiated the wedding. He stated, "Catholics carry crucifixes, and we carry sabres," . I have to say, this has puzzled me for a whole day. So I went to their website and I have to say...I think Jesus Christ and his prophets have said it better, over and over. Sigh...why is it so hard for the world to acknowledge that the "Force of Creation" is a who, not a what?

Although, Joshua says a light sabre of his very own would be cool.

Joshua's Modeling Career

2008-08-23T13:35:00.001-07:00

We just discovered this beautiful print, Committent, by artist Julie LeFevre of Utah. Julie was a friend of Joshua's back in his BYU days who began painting this picture using Joshua, his brother Justin, and his roommate Bob, as models. It depicts Christ in Gethsemane with the angel, the moment of committment before the atonement. Can you see Joshua in this rendition?

This picutre is a few years earlier. Joshua was about 21 or 22 at the time. It's Brian Durfee's rendition of Galahad and the Holy Grail. Posing with roommates Bob Craghead and Brent Nielsen. Supposedly this is hanging in a church down in Alabama.

Montana Trip 2008

2008-08-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

So we just got back from about 5 days in Montana. Joshua's Dad has some land up there, which I had never seen, so we decided to camp out for a few days. Given how spoiled I was at girl's camp (condo camping) this year, we really made up for it on this trip. There's much to be said about showering in the wilderness, almost stepping on a rattle snake while hiking and hearing birds at night that I swear sound like bears.

We did have a couple home cooked meals at Aunt Vonnie's one night and Uncle David and Aunt Dorothy another. We even slept over at Dave and Dororthy's one night so we could go to church with them. So we had a few breif intermissions in our wilderness adventure.

We took a drive up to the Bear Tooth Mountains, where you get up about 12000 feet--where the tree line ends if you can believe it. Breathtaking! We enjoyed absolute peace and quiet for 5 days, drank fresh spring water, read some, slept some, rejuvenated much!

The drive home...not so much our favorite. We detoured through Yellowstone, which added about 5 hours to an already long drive. That part was great, but then driving home through Wy-freaking-oming, behind major slowpokes, we couldn't get home soon enough! Other than that, this was an amazing trip and we can't wait to go back.

Near brush with greatness

2008-08-19T19:00:00.001-07:00

So, do you ever have those moments when you think of doing something, you talk yourself out of it, and then you realize later that had you gone with your first instinct, the outcome would have been big (good or bad)? We'll last week, my boss and I took a business trip to San Diego. As I booked her flight home to match mine which had been booked for a week, I thought to myself...I should change my seat and give her the exit row. Not wanting to risk loosing both our our seats while switching them around, I figured, eh...I'll just trade her when we board that day if she wants it.
Well, being the gracious person she is, she declined my offer to trade seats and she took her seat one row behind me. Suddenly...on walks Governor John Huntsman, Jr. and he proceeds to sit right next to my boss. Dang...coulda been me! I would have loved to ask him about this freaking 4 day work week he's put in place.

We're debt free!!!

2008-08-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Yay for us and yay for everbody! As of today, we've paid the final payment on any and all of our consumer debts. We wont say how much, but in a year of tight budgeting and blessings from the Lord in our finances, we have pulled the balance on two credit cards and a motorcycle to ZERO! The next step is to find a house. Yikes. It may be short lived, but today and until we sign mortgage papers we are no longer slaves to someone elses money. Yippee!

Elizabeth tagged me with this get to know you quiz

2008-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

1. What is your/his name? Heather Joy Nichols Shepherd and Joshua Brent Shepherd
2. Who eats more? Joshua overall (thankfully since my appetite is not small)
3. Who said I love you first? Joshua. Heather had a little trouble with the "L" word for a while.
4.Who is taller? Joshua is 6-1 and Heather is 5-10. Our poor kids have no chance at being petite.
5. Who is smarter? Joshua is always using those $12 words he gets from all the book learnin' and can remember EVERYTHING! Heather's no dummy, but enjoys the challenge of Joshua's mind.

6. Who is more sensitive? I probably am, though Joshua has a huge heart underneath the tough exterior.

7. Who does the laundry? Mostly me but Joshua will always help when I ask.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I generally sleep on the entire bed, but Joshua manages to push me to the right side at some point in the night.

9. Who pays the bills? Heather

10. Who cooks more? Heather does...loves exsperimentin' and Joshua generally doesn't mind.

11. What meals do you cook together? Any one I ask him to and when he's in charge of burritos, I help a little.

12. Who is more stubborn? Joshua says he is...whew!

13. Who is first to admit when they are wrong? Joshua says he is, in fact he says, "when have you ever admited you were wrong?" Hey now, I'm sure I have...once or twice...sometime
14. Who has more siblings? Heather 6--Joshua 3

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Let's put it this way, he wears the pants if they aren't in the laundry. See question #7.

16. What do you like to do together? Bike riding, reading, movies, camping, traveling.

17. Who eats more sweets? We're pretty equal here, unless it's chocolate chip cookies or ice cream and then he totally wins.

18. Guilty pleasures? Chocolate chip cookies, Ice cream, video games (Joshua), pedicures (Heather)

19. How did you meet? Shopping. You know like at Ikea (dot com), or Target (dot com)

20. Who asked who out first? He did, thinking he was all kinds of "da man". Who got him to agree to dinner with Heather and her roommates the very next night? That's right...uh huh!

21. Who kissed who first? He kissed me. Swept me right off my feet.

22. Who proposed? He did...once again, Heather was having a little trouble with the "M" word too.

23. What is your/his best feature? He says my eyes, smile and hair. I think his eyes, his overall physique, his smile.

24. What is your/his best quality? Tough to pick one. Heather's always in awe that found someone who has the high moral standards and positive attitude that he does. Someone who makes Heather want to be her best self for him. Joshua says Heather is very ambitious and driven.

Now I tag... Kristin Anderson, Lisa Pulsipher and Ivy.

Judo Chop

2008-07-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

Joshua has begun the Judo Chop. I answer the phone when he calls..."Judo Chop." He answers the phone when I call..."Judo Chop". I walk into a room..."Judo Chop." Sadly, I'm not very good at this game of stealth hilarity and though I've been Judo Chopped into itty-bitty pieces, I love how he makes me laugh. Ah Ha! Judo Chop you!

Girls Camp 2008

2008-07-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

So, having just been called as the Lauel advisor in my ward a month or so ago (along with a brand new presidency) I just got back from girls camp. Because of the short amount of time they had to organize everything, we sucked it up and went condo camping. Hey...I'm not afraid to say we are blessed by modern conveniences. All good gifts come from the Lord, even condo camping.

Seriously though, what a joy these girls are. Their testimonies and friendships were so strong. I'm so blessed to have been in their company this weekend.

They grow up so fast

2008-07-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of sending off our first missionaries this morning. Joshua's Mother and Father, Jeanne and Myron Shepherd, have been called to serve in the Nashville, TN mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They'll be working with the Church's welfare program and employment services in a region covering parts of TN, MS, AK, KY with headquarters in Atlanta, GA. They stayed with us this weekend before reporting to the MTC this morning. The goodbyes were tearful, but well worth it for the opportunity they have to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How sweet the arrival home will be in 18 months.

Camping 2008

2008-07-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Motorcycle Rally

2008-07-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

In June, Joshua and I went on a motorcycle rally to raise money for Children's Miracle Network. It started at the Delta Hanger and went about 150 miles around the Oquirrh Mountains. This was a poker run as well and at each of 4 stops we each got a card for our poker hand. The best hand at the finish won a two night stay at the Marriott Hotel in Toronto, Canada. Our hand...a strait--King high, won!

Testing...Testing...is this thing on?

2008-07-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Um...okay, so one of my dearest friends (cough...Nicole...cough) said she'd boycott my pictures unless I started blogging. I've always figured blogging was the passtime of stay-at-home mom's to keep them connected to the world, and college students exploring their more existential selves. Perhaps I aspire to be one or both of these one day, and perhaps I just don't want to be left behind. At any rate... it's not much yet, but Nicole...I hope you'll stop boycotting me now.