And the Winner is .....

SHANNON!!!

Oh this was so much fun! Thanks for playing everyone. Lets do another one again soon!

Tis the Season!

GIVE-AWAY!

I thought it would be fun to do a give away! It is the season of giving after all! These are some tile coasters that I made (the picture does not do them justice!) If you would like to enter the give away just leave a comment saying how you know me. In a couple of days I will put every ones name in a hat and draw a name. Oh isn't this fun!

Here are a couple more things I have made recently.
(more coasters)
a bowl
Enter the give away!

FRIENDS CHRISTMAS PARTY 2008

..... 18 years and counting! I am a girl who love her traditions and this is one of my most favorite! I look forward to this weekend all year long. We eat (thanks Julie for the amazing dinner!), we exchange gifts, we laugh (until we make some cry), we talk and share all that has happened in our lives over the past year, we reminisce (that can get very embarrassing) this year we pulled out some videos from our high school days. That was funny! Really people ... I was NOT very cute!, and then we eat and laugh and talk some more! No one wants to go to bed because we don't want the party to end! But then we remember how old we are and that 3AM is just too late for us these days! I have mentioned many times on my blog how blessed I am go have these girls in my life, to have have such wonderful friends! I love these girls with all my heart!
all the eating and laughing and lounging and picture taking and talking!

Some are shy and some ... are not! Ok, none of us are really shy! Hands down the picture taking is the most hysterical part of the night. For some reason it is just pure entertainment!
Part of what I look forward to the most is Beckie coming to town for the whole weekend! After the friends party our party keeps going ... pedicure, shopping, dinner, movie ... you know, the usual! It really is my favorite weekend of the entire year!

Merry Christmas everyone! I will start the countdown for next years party!

We missed you Holly and Sandy!

Thanksgiving Beach Week

It was a week of family, beach, relaxing, food, games, walks, movies, and love! It was such a great week. There was no agenda which made it a perfect week for us to just relax and enjoy being together. It was sunny and warm and perfect for being on the beach.

Thanks to mom and dad for the great week! We all had such a good time and will treasure our memories!

Rupunzel

This is just to show the progress of my hair growing out! The first picture is from one year ago and the second picture was taken last week at the beach. Can you believe how much it has grown in just one year! It even has a little curl to it ... who knew???

Thanksgiving Week

My family is spending Thanksgiving week at a beach house in southern California. We are having such a great week! Here are just a couple pictures from our week so far ...

first stop ... Costco!

you know right now it is going to be a good time!

we built some pretty awesome sand castles. don't worry .. we let the kids help!

the beach house

more pictures and details about the trip to come

FOR SALE!

It is official ... my house is for sale! I love my house but feel like it is time to move on. For now I am going to just list it by owner and see what happens by word of mouth. So if you know anyone that is interested have them get in contact with me. Here are just a couple pictures of my cute house. Some of them turned out kinda dark so I will work on getting some better ones up soon.

1400 sq ft Townhouse

3 bedrooms

2.5 bath

fireplace, custom lighting and painting, tile floors, upgraded appliances, jetted tub just to name a few of the features!

I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl.

Last week I took a very spontaneous trip to New York.

Cass, Em, and my Dad were having their Tree of Life show at the Greenwich Gallery. Of course my mom was going with them and I was starting to feel very left out of all the fun. So when Delta had JFK as one of their weekend deals I just had to jump on it! I called Hun (Cass) and talked her into staying a couple extra days ... she called Em and before you know it we had a sisters New York trip planned!

Sisters

We had many adventures on our short trip.

I have always wondered what was down these things ....

We looked at lots of cool art! I love the Met!


We laughed and laughed cause we are sooo funny!

We shopped. All three of us got cool shoes!
Of course we ate lots of yummy food!
(look buddy, I'm wearing a hat!)

We had such a fun weekend just being together as sister!

I HEART Topamax

The beginning of September I started a migraine prevention drug called Topamax. Yesterday I got my second headache in 6 weeks! (that is really good compared to the 3 or 4 a week, or the ones that would last two or three weeks I had been getting!) While I am pretty sure yesterdays headache was stressed induced (I had my district content day which I was in charge of for all the art teachers in the district as the District Art Coordinator, and pretty much everything that could go wrong ... did! Luckily those in attendance didn't know that and according to their reviews it was a great content day!) Anyway, back to the headache, I was reminded yesterday how awful those headaches are and how much I don't like having them! So while Topamax has its not so pleasant (and pleasant, I have lost 10 lbs) side effects, I heart it right now because it is working and for the first time in a long time I am not having headaches more than I am having them! And that is GREAT!

Hiking with the family.
This is my favorite hike. We ride to the top of Sundance and then hike to Stewart Falls and then back to down to Sundance. It is a beautiful hike to do in the fall.

As I watched the debate last night I thought .. how about that Obama!
I find that man downright scary! Is there anything he does not want to regulate or control? He leads the polls! Do people just not get it? Are they not capable of running their own lives? Are they simply tired of making their own decisions? Do we really have a nation of people who just want someone else to "take care" of them? Well I for one do not want the government regulating and controlling every aspect of my life. I am quit capable of controlling my own life and I would like to keep it that way! I don't want to live in a Socialized country thank you very much!

San Fran

Who doesn't love a weekend in

San Francisco?

One of those weeks ....

This was just one of those weeks ... it was emotionally, physically, mentally exhausting! It was Friday and I was SOOO glad this week was over! I had a pretty kick back day ahead of me at school and then a free weekend! I get to school and turn on my computer. The normal log on screen did not pop up! That's weird, so I leave it for a bit and go do something else. When I come back it still hasn't booted up right. So I call our IT guy. He comes in as I am starting class. I see him at my computer typing away. He can fix anything and I am really not worried. Until .... he softly says my name and then says,
"it's gone! it's all gone!"
"What do you mean?" I say. "What is gone?"
"Your hard dive has been wiped clean. Everything is gone!"
I actually remained very cool. Less out of self control and more out of shock I am sure. I know the first thing you want to ask me is if back up my computer. Well, kinda. I backed up everything about two years ago. So not EVERYTHING is gone. Just everything I have done in the last two years of teaching! The part that makes me want to throw up the most are all the powerpoints I have lost for teaching my AP art history class. About every 10 minutes I think of some demo, worksheet, letter, handout, powerpoint I have done in the last two years that is now gone! GONE .... GONE! Hours of my life ... poof!

And that is how my week ended.

Hhmmm, what to do with a lug of tomatoes? I know!

Spaghetti Sauce!

Cass, Jennie and I spent our Saturday, our ENTIRE Saturday bottling spaghetti sauce. We didn't really know what we were doing but managed to turn out a delicious concoction! We even added some secret ingredients! Most of the ingredients were from one of our gardens. Ok, not my garden because I don't have one, but their gardens. We thoroughly enjoy spending a day together chatting and discussing topics like .. what did the pioneers eat? We did conclude that their gardens must have been huge and the food they ate in the winter was probably kinda blah! (again .. I am so glad I a was not a pioneer!) There is something very satisfying about taking home grown produce and preparing it for winter use. I felt oh so domestic! Who knew canning could be so fun!

I Heart These Boys!

You all know that I am super cool because I am friends with Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband! No really I am! They have a new video out so you all need to go check it out! Love it! Love the song! Be the One!

Boyz II Men Concert

Scera Shell

LOVED IT!

It was AWESOME!

They totally still have the best moves! Why have I not been going to more boy band concerts???

When they come back, and they totally said they would!, I am for sure going and for sure getting front row tickets!

Labor Day 2008

The official end of summer! We usually have a pool party/bbq to close the summer but the rain and 55 degree weather just didn't allow for that. So, instead we head up to the cabin for a bbq/game night. As always lots of fun! How sad I am that summer is "officially" over!

If you have not seen Seriously So Blessed check it out. So funny! A spoof on Mormon Mom Blogging.

Awww my perfect life!

The key to my happiness ... a day at the pool!

The week before I had to go back to school my mom and I escaped to beautiful southern California. It just happened that Josh, Lisa, and Tanner were going to be there for a conference that Lisa was attending so we made it a vacation! We stayed at my mom's cousins house. They live in Ritz Cove in Dana Point. This is there view from the patio. Need I say more!There is nothing like starting and ending your day with a walk on the beach!
We celebrated my mom's birthday with day in Laguna.
Tanner

Overlooking Dana Point.

He is just so stinking cute! I love that boy!

Lisa and I met up with Jennie and Stacy for a spa day. Oh my gosh! It was so wonderful. Glen Ivy Day Spa ... for anyone seeking a truly relaxing day!

We had such an amazing week. I certainly could have stayed another week or two or ten!

Sadly we had to leave this cute face and return to home and work! My mom and I took the earliest flight out Monday morning so that I could make it back in time to my first meeting. How depressing is that! I guess I just have to live on memories until the next time!