A to the ngry

BeWaRe. This post isn't going to be fluffy, sugary or even nice. I just needed a quick outlet to vent about today. Yes today. June 3, 2010. First off, today wouldn't have been such a bad day had the scheduled U2 concert actually taken place (mind you, I have had tickets since FEBRUARY!!!). We were slated to have the dry wallers come to start the last major step in completion of the basement. Here it is 4:00 PM and no dry waller. No call. No returning of messages. Nothing.

Thirdly (if you are keeping track of today's tragedies) Rue Mclanahan died. Most of you know I am a rabid "Golden Girls" fan. Sad day. Poor Betty White the last of the girls. Thank you for being a friend, Blanche. And, thank you WETV for 24 hour reruns.

Fourth...just found out that someone stole pieces from my air conditioner on my house in Arizona. The crappiest part about that, we paid to have it charged and tuned prior to leaving and now we get to fork out more money to hand over our house to someone for $100,000 less than we paid for it. Awesome! Seriously, you stole pieces from a 10 year old air conditioner. I hope it was worth it. God Bless Dan Larsen for bailing us out on this one.

Fifth- Mckinley so craftily and sneakily 1) poured bubble solution all over my fabric couch and 2) drew on herself, her microfiber chair and the "Grouchy Lady Bug" book with a gel pen.

Seriously. My hair is frizzy. My legs are iridescent. I need a pedi. Ididn't get in a run this morning. I still have to vaccuum.

Bonus- today is almost over.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

I love holiday weekends! Mark headed off to the Motorcycle races this morning so that leaves me and Mc. I headed out to Wal-Mart @ 7:00 AM (a little trick I learned from Mrs. Cosseboom). No one was there, it was quiet and I was in and out in an hour.


We had a BBQ @ G & Chris's on Saturday. Mc loved playing outside with her cousins- it was cold but we are reminded again how much we have missed being around family. We celebrated my Dad's birthday this weekend too. King Crab Legs, Grandma Cookie's toffee and good times with dad. He is a good sport! We love you Papa!


I just found some bedding I liked and some new curtains for the kitchen (gotta love urban outfitters).


















The house is coming along nicely....you can see a before and after of the front door. We still need to paint the outside of the door black and need to put on the new knob but a MAJOR improvement. BEFORE
AFTER- Shutters, new blinds, new front door, paint & some Williamson TLC :)

Highlights

So this week and last zipped by. I heard an interesting thing in Relief Society today from our teacher that "time is moving faster, possibly so that we don't have to deal with the monstrosities of the world for very long"....that may be true, and may be wonderful but sometimes, I wish it would slow down. Mc is really @ a fun age- this is a picture of her on the train @ the Hogle Zoo. She LOVED it. She is learning so much and is such a joy to be with (most of the time..). Some highlights of the past weeks...

1. Pee in the potty. Yep. It wasn't a lot, Mc probably didn't have a clue she was doing it but hey, small victory.

2. Dinner with roommates. Times don't change how much I care for these miraculous women. They were with me during some of the weirdest, soul finding days of my life and I love them.

3. Community yard sale. It was great. Found a $5 antique metal chair for my porch.

4. 2 warm days in a row. A little sunburn, yard work and Mc playing in her Fisher Price "choo choo" (really a car) in the driveway.

5. My little sister's birthday. Although, not so little @ 23, I am so grateful that she is here and for her precious little family.

6. Mc learning her colors...everything is "red".

7. "Sense and Sensibility"...never had seen the movie. Rather touching and heartfelt (and Hugh Grant couldn't be more debonair).

8. "The Help"- a poignant book that I finished in 2 days. If you haven't read it, buy it, borrow it....well worth the read.

9. Mother's Day- what a day to remember the amazing women I get to associate with in my life. My own mother who taught me so many valuable lessons and endured so much to make me the person I am today. My wonderful grandmothers who are sweetness personified. My mother in law in her infinite "wisdom" (wink wink) and for being such an angel. Sisters, aunts, friends...all wonderful.

10. Work- still not 100% up to speed but getting there. How lucky I am to be connected with University of Phoenix. Such a blessing in my life.

On to another week and hopefully sunny days.

This being my "porch"- two yard sale gems. My plant stand (last weekend) and my chair from this weekend. And look Mary Ann...the flowers have made it a week!! :)

Lucky Number Seven

Here it is Saturday 2:54 PM. Funny thing, this time seven years ago, I can't really remember what I was doing. It was the day before I was to be married. I am sure I was frantic about an unexpected zit surfacing, probably didn't eat a thing so my dress would lay beautifully over my stomach and I was thinking about Mark, coming to pick me up first thing in the morning-the beginning of a new life. So tomorrow, not only do I celebrate my 7th wedding anniversary, but I also celebrate my 2nd Mother's Day. What a lucky girl I am. Tonight, Mark and I head to engorge ourselves on succulent meat and grilled pineapple @ Rodizio Grill and then to see "Iron Man 2". He surprised me with an IPOD dock today- Mc is delighted as she is quite the dancer and can hear the music throughout the house now. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. He really is my soulmate and I can still remember seeing him across the altar and knowing that I couldn't spend eternity with anyone else. Here we are four apartments, two houses, a dog, a kid, and seven years later. Love you snookums!

You've got to fight, for your right...

To potty! Yep, we are venturing into uncharted waters and attempting with the early stages of potty training! We aren't pushing it too hard. Usually, just letting her sit naked on the toilet before baths and jammies. Nothing has happened other than her realizing her toes and her sippy cup fit nicely in the hole. As you can see it is quite the family affair. Even Cory got up in the mix.

Running Against the Wind

What a wonderful weekend! I flew out Friday afternoon to head for sunny Phoenix, Arizona. My bag was packed with the new DownEast capris (LOVE) and short sleeved shirts and flip flops as the weather said it would be a scorcher. Touched town in Phoenix around 6:00 pm. Went to dinner with Heidi @ Cafe Rio (yes, I know they have those in Utah but Heidi had never eaten there and it was tasty) and then we headed to Bahama Bucks. For those of you that have not tasted of the sweet nectar known as "Bahama Mama Rama" you must. Think really thin shaved ice, covered in sugar flavored to your liking then cream on top all nestled on a bed of vanilla ice cream. I have had something similar in Hawaii but these top the charts.

Saturday morning we got up @ 5:00 AM to head to downtown Tempe Diablo stadium for the 6th annual Pat Tillman Race. It was AwEsOmE! There were 35,000 people there to run/walk. It was so cool being surrounded by so many people and crossing the finish line @ the stadium. Seriously, one of the best races I have finished. It was quite ironic as well that we finished the 4.2 mile race in 42 minutes which is also Pat Tillman's number. Heidi and I then hit the yard sale scene and I scored quite a few .25 gems for Mc. Needless to say, we hadn't showered since the run so the car smelled great every time we got in and out! :) We hit lunch @ Chic-fil-a because we got free sandwich coupons @ the race ($1.78 for lunch, not bad). That night, all us ladies headed to Joe's BBQ. Man, I really miss that place. The mac and cheese alone is enough to get me to come to AZ. It was good company and lots of laughs. Miss you ladies!


















This was how far we were back from the starting line...there was a a line of people that stretched for miles behind too. @ Mile 3, we looked over the bridge and some people were just starting. Me and Heid just after crossing the finish line.

The clan. Bruce- thanks again for letting me steal your wife for the weekend and wearing the camo shorts so you could carry the camera!




















All the ladies @ Joe's.
In no particular order, Joanne, Lacey, Lindsey, Michelle (G and C), Kim, Heidi, Mindy, Ashley,Paula and Lisa. Salt of the earth these ladies.


Sunday I got to go back to the old ward. There is such a different feeling there. I am truly grateful and have a strong testimony of the power of a cohesive ward. It felt great to see old friends and to catch up. I headed back to the airport not too long after church and boarded the plane to head back to Utah. I know this might sound weird, but it almost felt like the opposite. That I was getting back on the plane to head to Phoenix. Back to work. Back to Clovis Ave. (speaking of Clovis Ave, still now sale on the house but someone did take the liberty to steal my planter box off the front of my house). I was glad to come back to Utah. It was surprisingly warm. We went to my parents for a BBQ and just sat in the sun. I am excited for summer in Utah. It will be a welcome change. I don't know when I will be back in AZ but it was definitely a wonderful trip. I was glad to come back to my hubby and Mc and on to another week!

Tip Toe By The Window

What a great April we have had thus far! We have lived in Utah for two months now and have adjusted to the weather (we have been saying that March came in like a lamb and is leaving like a lion because we have had so much snow!). Mark and I had the opportunity to go to conference during the Easter Sunday Morning session. Truly an amazing experience. It really hits when you haven't gone to conference @ the Conference Center in years and being back in Utah surrounded by so many people of your faith. I have a testimony of our Prophet, Pres. Monson. What an amazingly loving man. His presence filled that conference center to every corner and I still wish I could meet him and just hug him.
Easter was fun this year too. Mc doesn't really get the gist yet of egg hunting. She just loves to be outside running and if she happens to stumble across an egg with candy in it, extra bonus. She has discovered she LOVES Sixlets (the blue ones leave a particularly wonderful hue on her face when she is done) and she also loves bubbles. We got to have a fun Easter Egg hunt @ Grandma Mary Ann's between Saturday sessions. Mimi also gave Mc an Easter basket (notice the gloves which are an Easter MUST) and thanks to the new Liberty of London line from Target...a darling dress.

Being back in Utah means friends and family are really close and we have really enjoyed that. We got to go to a cousin's baby blessing today and spend some quality time with them. We also aren't a state away from the Blackhursts which means we can get together for bowling/family home evening.




















We have been making some major progress on the house. We have finally come to the decision that some of the work we are going to pay someone else to do so that Mark has more time @ home with Mc after work rather than having to work on the basement. Plus, we can't be super loud once she is asleep so it pays off. We have a framer coming to do the basement in about a month and then we have a major undertaking- the drywall repair. We love our shutters in our living room. It really makes it look expensive and clean. And as you can see, Mc loves to just max and relax with her daddy.