Summer

Summer!

Kids: They are already way off schedule, sleeping in, staying up late, being lazy and don't want to do their chores. We have planned out some fun things, now I just need to implement them.

Potty Training: I started potty training Tyler yesterday, we were off to a great start and then I left to run some errands and those in charge didn't do so great in keeping him going to the potty. I should have explained better too. Tyler is really wanting to use the potty and he knows what he is doing and he is doing good, so it's me that needs to get on the stick and make this happen!

Landscaping: Laren finally got the front yard graded and seeded with grass seed. (Yes, we are one of the few homeowners who still seed instead of sod. But we've had good success with it in times past, so why not? It does take a little longer though.) So yesterday I met him at his work and we went to a nursery and picked out 2 pine trees for the front yard. One is a White Pine, and the other is an Austrian Pine. We spent $350.00 between the two of them, expensive!!

We also picked out a couple of different grasses and some strawberry plants. Today, I stopped off at the landscaping place and will hopefully hand pick some mossy rock for the front yard. We also need to order some medium size bark and get some Aspen tree's. This landscaping is expensive and time-consuming!

Projects: I'm hoping to get some of my projects done (stuff like finishing the wood craft from Enrichment night, refinishing Alyssa's dresser, copying some pictures onto cds, etc...) now that I don't have to keep running to and from the school all day. I just need to buckle down and do it!

Weather: We've had all sorts of rainy weather this spring. Really, it's been the rainiest spring that we've experienced here since we first moved here 5 years ago. I like the rain, but I'm ready for warmth and I'm tired of having a muddy dirty yard and having it get tracked in my house!

The race results!

RACE DAY RUNDOWN!!

The Run went surprisingly well! Kayla did GREAT!! The day started at 5am when the alarm went off. We got to the park and ride in Boulder at 5 minutes to 7 this morning. But despite the early hour, Kayla ran the entire way except when we got water at the mile markers and just walked while drinking and we got back to running fairly quickly.

She also stopped to walk the last 1/10 of the final mile on the final stretch. We lost each other at that point, after keeping up with eachother the WHOLE way before that (it was not easy)!! But we found each other again at the finish line!! I'm very pleased with how well Kayla did!!

We passed SO many walkers. I was disappointed that so many people walking the course were in waves in front of us, they registered as runners and they should have registered as walkers and that wouldn't have happened. It was just SO hard to manuever around them. I am sure we ran an extra 8/10 of a mile from all the running from one side of the street to the other, weaving in and out of people trying to get around them.In a sense, the race is like a parade.

Many people run the race dressed in all sorts of silly costumes (costumes like graduation outfits, peoplewrapped in towels and their hair in shower caps, santa claus suits, bikini's,etc...). It was kind of silly and kind of fun to see all sorts in the race!! All along the course people are lining the road spraying us with gardenhoses and playing music - little bands or playing music from stereos, but mostly it is the bands. I would imagine they are people trying to get a name for themselves! Some of them were pretty good!

The race ends in the stadium on the University of Colorado Campus in Boulder. It is a BEAUTIFUL setting with the rugged Flat Iron Mountains in the background, not too far away! At the end of the race we were given a snack pack which was a cloth sack lunch bag with a velcro closure. Inside was a huge white bagel,from Thomasville, Boulder Chips, some various types of snack crackers, a breakfast cookie, some Celestial Seasoning Tea packets (they were one of the sponsors), a package of baby carrots and an energy bar. We were also given water and a Sprite. We could have opted for a Michelob Beer instead of the Sprite if we had wanted!

Then we all went back into the stadium where tons of people were all ready sitting for a special Memorial Day Tribute. 6 Skydivers camedown and landed in the stadium. They were all carrying different flags, one from each of the armed forces, an American Flag, etc... They had patriotic music playing like, "God Bless the USA." (That song always brings tears to my eyes.)


The Skydivers coming in. (This is a picture from a previous year when they had 4 F-16's do a flyover. This year we only got 2!)

Then they had a guy who is a school teacher in the Greater Denver Area sing the National Anthem. He had a beautiful voice. In the middle of his song we had a flyover with 2 F-16's. That was cool! Then they gave a special tribute to a guy from Gallup, NM who was a veteranof WW II, I think. He killed 10 enemies and then helped our woundedand then was taken as a prisoner of war for 2 years.

Anyway, it was a beautiful program, it made me very teary. We then walked for a long ways to go and catch our shuttle back to the Table Mesa parkand ride where we were parked. We got home around 1pm. Oh, I forgot to mention we ran the 10k in just over an hour - around an hour and 5 minutes. So actually we did MUCH better than I had thought we would!!

Oh, I forgot to add, while we were running just past mile marker 3 we saw a man who appeared to have collapsed from a heart attack receiving medical attention. He had just started breathing again as we ran past. I was so hopeful for him! He looked to be in his 60's. I was disappointed to read online that he ended up dying! He is the FIRST person to ever die during a Bolder Boulder, and this was the 29th year that they have held it.

Also, one other thing. Our camera has disappeared and I hope it turns up soon. Laren took pictures of us before the race and then when we went to take some post-race pictures it was gone! I hope it turns up soon!!

Bolder Boulder!

Bolder Boulder!!

Our training is winding down and the big race day is this weekend!! We hopefully are going to get in one more long run and one short one before Monday and of course we won't run at all on Sunday. Kayla is excited and so am I.

This race has many different waves (start times for various different speeds of runners). Our wave will include lots of youth since Kayla is doing this with a group for her school. I will be running with her even though there will be lots of other kids there too. It should be lots of work and lots of fun!!

We had our final meeting the other night and got our T-Shirts. They are very cool looking. They are white with Lime Green and Chocolate Brown lettering. That's always an added perk, right? If you like the shirt, the race was worth it!! (hee hee)

Today I'm going to PF Changs with some girlfriends. I'm sad to say that a couple of my better girlfriends are moving away. Though I haven't taken a whole lot of time for my friends lately, I am just getting back into my groove with it. And now, these two are moving. One is moving to Phoenix and one to St. George. I'm going to miss them!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

Wordless Wednesday...

Wordless Wednesday!

Yes, that is my 2 year old Tyler laying next to Shadow Grandma and Grandpa's Rottweiler!!

And if you must know, Momma wasn't around when this picture was snapped!

Harried Day

It's been ONE of

THOSE days...

After getting my kids off to school I hurried home to do Rilyn's (4) hair and read through the Ensign. We got the necessary things accomplished and rushed off for our first appointment. Visiting Teaching had to get done before the rest of the kids get out of school on Thursday.

I met up with my companion outside Leah's house and we knocked and were invited in. While visiting Tyler and Rilyn had a hard time sitting still, but not too bad (just enough to make their Mom crazy). We had a good visit and then went to the Tracey's house. Tracey is so fun and easy to talk to. My kids took right to her kids and they all went out in back to play while the Mom's visited. We had a great visit and I head home to grab my purse and use the bathroom before we run to Walmart.

I wanted to run to and get some cookies for Janice and Larisa (2 separate families) who are moving within the week and take them over. When I get home to get my purse, I realize my phone is blinking with a message on it. I check my message and it is the Imaging/Radiology place where I got my x-ray and CT Scan yesterday. The message was to call them ASAP. At first I thought no problem, but then I realize they'd tried me on my cell too and panic set in.

All of a sudden I was so worried that though my scans and x-ray were to check for kidney stones (which showed 2 of them on the right side) that they also found something terrible like cancer or something! I called them back immediately and got their answering machine. As I was giving the rundown to Laren's work voicemail a call came in. It was the radiology place calling to tell me they sent me home with the x-ray before the radiologist had a chance to write the report.

At the request of my doctor, I was hand delivering the x-ray film and the cd with the CT Scans. Apparently I had the ONLY copy of the film and that was their desperation! In the midst of all of this I got scared and worried that maybe there was something more seriously wrong with me.

Thankfully I got over it rather quickly because I was only left to worry for 5 minutes or so before they called me back. Common sense even told me that the radiology place probably wouldn't be the bearer of bad news, if there were some, it would be the doctor at his office. But at that moment of desperation, I was too panicked to trust myself on that!

If that was not enough, after arriving home from the store I had another scare. I had laid Tyler down for his nap; he was fussy and tired and he had eaten a granola bar and half a donut that I bought for him and Rilyn to share on the way home from the store. I figured that was lunch enough until after his nap. (Good Mom that I am! LOL)

Rilyn was in the basement playing with her toys and I was in the kitchen making me some steamed cauliflower for lunch. I was getting ready to take out the trash while the vegetables were cooking. I started smelling this strong smell of burning smell. I just couldn't shake it. So after a minute or so (maybe even less) of smelling this horrific smell my instincts kicked in to get the kids and get out! So we did.

I ran up and got Tyler while calling for Rilyn. We all got out in the van safely and I grabbed my purse, keys and phone on the way out. Funny how it is, I ran back in to get my cauliflower so I could eat something healthy for lunch in case my house burned down or something. Weird that I did that?!!

As we were back out of the driveway I called 911. In a matter of 8 minutes or so a firetruck arrived with lights and sirens followed by a police car and another firetruck. (It's nice to know that Vonage does work with 911 calls on my phone!)

I got out of my van that was parked next to my neighbors house to talk to them and tell them what was going on. They went in with their gear to check it out. I noticed them turning the fire hydrant on acrossed the street. My neighbor Hap called to see if we were alright and if he could help. My neighbor Cindy came from acrossed the street to see if she could help or give us shelter from the rain.

I declined their offers of help and told them we were fine. I had called Laren at work and left a message for him telling him what was going on when I was waiting for the firetrucks to arrive. He called back when I was acrossed the street talking to Cindy. Rilyn answered the phone in the van when she heard it ringing. And when she went to open the van door to tell me Laren was on the phone the car alarm sounded.

I ran over and put my key in the door to turn off the alarm and answered the phone. By this time I had talked to the firemen who assured me everything was fine that they had checked the house out on every level and nothing was burning. It was determined, because it is a rainy day, some homes a distance away on acreage had been burning something and the smell wafted into my house when I opened the garage and came in.

Laren was all but laughing at me for calling 911. The firemen were very kind and I expressed to them my appreciation and embarassment in which they responded with no problem, that I did the right thing. They told me to just tell my neighbors I was having a party and invited the firemen over with their disco lights. Honestly ALL that I could think of when I called 911 was that the smell of something burning is strong and I must get my babies to safety!!

I think I'm calmed down now. I've had 2 heartstopping incidents today. I just had to come and blog about it and unwind a bit. Hopefully life will not be nearly so alarming tomorrow. I really need to sit down with myself and write my talk.

Thanks for all your great comments of things to consider for my talk. I do not know why Blogger disabled my comments on yesterday's post.

A Recipe!

Nephi Salad

At the request of Victoria and Kris, here is my recipe for Nephi Salad. This makes a yummy, refreshing citrusy summer jello salad. It is one of my family's favorites!!

Nephi Salad

1 large package Orange Jello
1 large package Lemon Cook & Serve Pudding

Mix orange jello according to package directions. After mixing, place in refrigerator while you prepare the cooked pudding. Make the cooked pudding according to package directions. After completing the pudding take the orange Jello from the fridge and mix it into pudding. Mix until smooth, place into baking dish and refrigerate until set. Makes one 9x13" pan.

Topping

1 small package Lemon Instant Pudding
1/2 C. Milk
8 oz. tub Cool Whip
2 tsp. powdered sugar

Mix ingredients until well blended and use to top Nephi Salad.

**Thanks Kris for sharing this recipe with me several years ago!

Also, I have a new food find to share! Today I tried "Veggie Cheese" for the first time. It is made from Soy. I tried the Cheddar Jalapeno and it was very good. I melted it in the microwave over fresh mushrooms at lunchtime. It is 1 weight watcher point per slice.

Veggie Cheese

I found the cheese at Walmart in the produce section by the organic foods. They had a variety of styles and flavors.

ALSO, if anyone has anymore great ideas for my talk please feel free to still comment to that here or down below! Thanks for all of the great comments I've gotten already!

Public Speaking

Sacrament Meeting Talk

Ordinarily I have few problems with public speaking. I wouldn't say I love it, because it can be rather stressful but it's usually not a huge deal to me. It does take lots of time and research and thought.

Well, the evening I came home from Womens Conference my husband and I got a call to give talks at the end of the month. That is next Sunday. After coping with the misery of passing a kidney stone and then traveling back home after a busy trip I retired to bed early only to have Laren asking me if it was okay if we gave talks on the 27th. I told him I didn't know for sure to give me a day to think about it and rest and then we could let him know.

So on the very next evening I had forgotten all about the previous nights phone call and the phone rang again. I answered and it was Brother Bracey wanting to know if we would give the talks. I asked him again about the topics.

Well for Laren it was anything he wants to say about the Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, our prophet. For me, he wants me to pick 2 or 3 talks from the most recent General Conference and tell how to give a Family Home Evening centered around those talks.

I said I would and we hung up the phone. After mulling this over and over I'm still trying to figure out how to approach this subject and what material to share. I've been reading and listening to the conference talks again in hopes of gaining some insights. For whatever reason it is not coming to me.

So, does anyone else have any good ideas for me. If you were listening to a talk on this subject what would you want to know?

Life Update

My BUSY Life!

Tuesday: Laren left bright and early for a business trip. After getting my kids off to school I stopped by my neighbors to invite her to Enrichment. We were doing this cute Wood 4th of July Craft. She couldn't make it, but we chatted for a long time and her dogs ran off and so I watched her kids while she went and found them.

After school, Kayla had Activity Days for Girls where she brought home this cute pillow she has been working on for their last 3 classes. I went to Enrichment and got caught up on many things going on in some of my friends lives, including one of my friends who is moving to Surprise, AZ.

Wednesday: After getting the kids off to school I had my appt. with the urologist for my kidney/bladder problems. He thinks the bladder problems are a result of kidney stones. I go in on Monday for a CT Scan to see if I do indeed have stones. I can tell from the pain I do, unless I've passed them all. (I doubt it though.)

While we were at the doctor awaiting to be called back, Tyler (2) was with me and he got a bad case of diarrhea and his diaper couldn't hold it all and it ended up all over his pants, shoes, socks and the waiting room floor. I had to take him out and change him and clean him up. I had a fresh diaper but no change of clothes so I had to clean his clothes off with damp paper towels. Oh my, it was definitely no fun!

My husband came home earlier than previously thought from his business trip and so he and I went on a nice long (30-35 minute) run. (Yes, that is a long run for me :) ) It was fun to run together, I hope we can keep doing this.

This morning: We went to Rilyns last day of preschool. Even though it has been a good year a lot of fun, I will be glad to get that over with since I have to get both her and Tyler out of the van and pack Tyler in (he's a lot to lug!) every morning at the beginning and the end to sign Rilyn in and out.

My Mom called me and said she went to the Doctor in Medford, OR (a doctor that had been recommended to her by the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Center in Houston and this doctor who has had patients inflicted with IBC said after examining her that my Mom does not have it! YAY! That was exciting news! But boy, it has been a big stresser!

Mother's Day

I wanted to document what my kids got for me for Mother's Day this year.

Alyssa got me this cupcake she had made from clay in art. It is pictured along with her picture of how it was supposed to turn out. (She drew the picture before creating it in clay.)

Alyssa also got me this cute card and a coupon book full of coupons for things like, breakfast in bed and vacuuming the floor.

A key chain Kayla got me.

Kyle wrote me a book. This is not it, but it looked something like it. It said some very nice things and it was thoughtful!! He said his some things like his Mom is very pleasant and she is beautiful. When I went to get the book to take a picture I couldn't find it and I fear it may have gotten thrown out, accidentally!

Rilyn got me this cute little magnet with her picture and puzzle pieces to hang on the fridge!

Some of what Laren and the kids got me for Mother's Day. Pictured here is a running outfit (tank and shorts) and some earrings. He also got me a card, another pair of earrings and a red dress.

Laren, my husband, is a Civil Engineer and Project Manager in Roadway Design. One of the main clients for his consulting firm, Parsons Brinckerhoff, is the Central Federal Lands (CFL). Laren had to travel to one of the projects he is overseeing in Wyoming for CFL this week. He sent me some photographs.

Here is a picture of one of the roads they are designing/building in rural Wyoming.

It is interesting with his line of work because sometimes they are designing a busy freeway, like the E-470 and I-25 interchange in Denver, or sometimes it is a rural road like the one above. It just all depends.

Rilyn's last day of Preschool.

As mentioned above, today for Rilyn's last day of preschool and they had a fun play day and invited the parent's along. The second half of the morning was doing all of these outdoor games. Rilyn and Tyler both seemed to enjoy it.

Tyler and Rilyn playing at the water table.

Rilyn swinging.

Tyler painting the school with water!

Tyler had to go and sit down beside Rilyn. He is in red, near the left of the picture and Rilyn is next to him in purple.

Visit with my Sister

Kari and Kathy

Kathy's Visit

Kathy came on Friday morning. Tyler, Rilyn and I picked her and her grandson, Tony, up at the airport right after dropping Kayla, Alyssa and Kyle off at school. They travel light so we did not have to wait for them to get luggage from the baggage claim. I'm amazed that she could come with one duffle bag for 4 days and still manage to dress great the whole time!

We came home and I gave her the tour of my house. That is the norm these days, everyone who comes gets a tour!! We visited for awhile and I made some ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. I ate some garlicky cauliflower instead since I was saving my calories for dinner.

After lunch we went to the school where my kids were having their field day. We watched Kyle and Alyssa, Kayla's grade didn't have it since they had a track meet the week earlier. It was fun to see the kids doing their events. And we ran into some friends of ours that we met shortly after arriving to Colorado 5 years ago. They told us they are moving to Phoenix (well Surpise, Avondale) so we are sad to see them go!

We came home from the school and put Tyler down for his long awaited nap. Kathy did her homework (she is taking a couple of college courses online) and then I ran back to the school to pick up the kids and bring them home. We all visited for a bit and Laren came home from work early so Kathy and I could take off for our girls night out.

First, we had an appointment to get pedicures. Neither she nor I had ever done that before and it was a lot of fun. I'm glad we did it and my feet look SO much better!! Aside from the girl doing my feet barely speaking any English and from her constantly trying to up-sell, it was a good experience and I will definitely do it again sometime!

Kari and Kathy's feet after our Pedicure's (mine are the ones with the green flowers).

Next we went to dinner at Cinzetti's. It is an Italian Buffet and the food their is excellent! There is great variety and it has a good atmosphere/decor in there. Kathy seemed especially happy with my choice of where to eat. We discovered we have very similar tastes in food. We exchanged some yummy food recipes/ideas over dinner; they were mainly pertaining to eating veggies like summer squash and zuchinni, mushrooms and tomatoes. After filling our faces, we rolled out of there and went to Walmart and Starbucks.

Kathy got some hair color for me to do her hair later in the weekend and some coffee for breakfast on Saturday since I don't have a coffee maker at my house. We came home and showed Laren our pretty nails and chatted a bit and crashed.

On Saturday morning Kathy and Tony got ready for Kallie (my Sister who lives here) to come and get them and take them for the day and overnight. They were going to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. Meanwhile, Laren brought work home with him to do and I took the kids to both Kayla and Rilyn's soccer games and then Laren joined us for the Spring Fling at the Kids' school.

They were giving out WHOLE cakes at the cake walk and my kids didn't manage to win anything but a little candy there. But Alyssa did the dunk tank and had a ball getting soaked and then she won this huge container of sour licorice. She won by guessing the correct number of licorices in the container. The number turned out to be 225. She was VERY thrilled with her winnings! Kyle, Rilyn, Tyler and Kayla also played various different games, like the ring toss and the fish pond and went on a train ride.

Alyssa and her bucket of candy she won!

Later that night I planted some zuchinni, summer squash and 2 varieties of Sunflowers. Laren helped me make a flower bed in the front next to our front walk.

The next morning we got up and went to Sacrament meeting in our old ward. We saw many faces we knew and quite a few new faces that we didn't know. That ward is growing like crazy! It fills the entire chapel and clear back to the stage in the cultural hall.

After Sacrament we came home and I put the finishing touches on the Nephi Salad I had made from the day before and Laren cut some lettuce, tomato and onion for the burgers. We gathered the chips and condiments and loaded all the kids up and went to the park where we were to meet Kathy and Tony and Kallie and her family.

The park was packed! Not only were there a lot of picnickers but also it looked like there was some sort of dog show going on. We could not find a picnic spot with a grill so we left and tried another park. No luck. All of the picnic spots had grills but they were either all taken already or reserved. But the third time was a charm and we found a great picnic spot at a park close to our house.

3 Sisters: Kallie, me and Kathy

Laren was kind enough to grill the hamburgers and hotdogs and my Sisters and I set out the rest of the food. We had a great bbq that included the meat and Nephi Salad (jello salad), potato salad, chips, root beer and cupcakes. Everyone but me and Kallie played an impromtu game of kickball (I was putting food away and Kallie is pregnant). I did manage to snap a couple of pictures though!

My family and Kathy and Tony. Tony didn't want to stand still to be in the picture so we had to distract him by asking him if he saw Santa Claus.

We all had a nice visit and Kathy, Kallie and I called out from my cell phone at the park to wish her a happy Mother's Day. The cousins got a lot of playing in and the weather cooperated perfectly.

l-r, Me, Kathy and Kallie calling our Mom at the Park.

Then Kathy and Tony came back to our house where Kathy had another homework deadline on the computer and the rest of us kind of kicked back for awhile. The kids did manage to get themselves pretty wound up though! Then Laren, Kayla and Alyssa made us French Toast, Scrambled Eggs and Bacon for dinner and Eclair cake for dessert.

Tony, Tyler and Rilyn this morning. Like 3 peas in a pod!

The kids went to bed, but not without a "fight"!! :) And then I colored Kathy's hair while Laren called his Mom and Stepmom to wish them a Happy Mother's Day. Unfortunately Kathy's hair did not turn out as good as we had hoped and I do not blame her if she wants to get it redone. Her hair takes the color very easily and it turned out too light. I'm so sorry for that Kathy, I hope you can forgive me!!

We went to bed and I had kind of a bad nights sleep, more bladder/kidney problems and morning seemed to come too soon. I took my kids to school, except Rilyn. I kept her home so I could get Kathy and Tony to the airport in time. We chatted for awhile and then around 10:30 we headed for the airport and Kathy and Tony took off to go back to their home in California.

We were sad to see them go. Kathy and I had a great visit and I hope we can do it again sometime!!! Tony had a great time playing with my kids. He is an only child and so he is not used to having all these kids around to play with!!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

HAPPY

MOTHER'S

DAY

My Sister, Kathy, who lives in California will be here bright and early in the morning. I'm so excited to see her!! Have a great Mother's Day weekend everyone!!

AND -- take a look at THIS it is THE best thing I've viewed in a LONG time! You will not be sorry. Oh, and keep the tissues close!

My Tuesday

DMV, Walmart and School

Monday night I think I was asleep within seconds of laying my head down. I was so exhausted from the trip. Weird how it took a day to catch up with me? I was actually asleep before Laren and that is a rare occasion! Yesterday morning after getting the kids off to school I had to run to Walmart to get just a few things, including Mother's Day Cards. I only needed 4 of them, one for my Mom, Laren's Mom, Laren's StepMom and Laren's Grandma.

You wouldn't think that 4 cards could cost $20, but that's about what they cost. Luckily I was there early enough in the week to still find some decent ones. It is so hard sometimes to find a card that says just the right thing. And I somehow have a problem with sending my step-mother-in-law an overly gushy card. But I found something perfect for her this year, it even has blue butterfly's on it and she loves the color blue and she loves butterfly's!

My grand total at Walmart was $80.00 even. I don't understand how the 3 and a half bags of stuff could cost so much, but somehow it did. I had to get a few groceries, lowfat stuff for me and that is ALWAYS more expensive than the fatty stuff. It makes no sense.

I got some vitamins, including some calcium that is in the form of caramels (Viactiv). I have gotten really bad at swallowing my horse pill calcium tablets so I decided to try these for a change. I also had to get something for Rilyn's "Birthday Celebration" today.

Today is not her birthday, it's in June but since she will be out of school then we are celebrating her birthday at school today. I ended up getting some Brownies with little candies on them and some Hi-C Fruit Punch boxes.

After Walmart, I raced to pick up Rilyn from preschool and then home to drop off the groceries and then to the DMV to renew my Driver's License. Why did I need to do that? Well the one I have had is really bugging me. My picture is AWFUL and I was 30 pounds heavier and I've had LASIK since then, and the license shows that I need corrective lenses. So, after having to show my license/id a gazillion times on my trip to Utah, I finally decided I was going to get a new one THIS WEEK for sure!

And the DMV could be a blog post all on it's own. Why are ALL DMV's alike? It doesn't matter what state, or what town. They are all filled to the brim with people impatiently standing or sitting in long lines. The place is unkempt and in disarray despite the dastardly attempts (is dastardly a word? it sounded good so I'll use it...) at order by all the long lines.

And the lady at the DMV asked me my hair color.

Me: Blonde
Her: Eye color?
Me: Blue
Her: Your eyes look green to me.
Me: I suppose they might look a little green at times but MOST of the time they are blue.
Her: Do you suppose we should put down Hazel for the color?
Me: No. Because to me, Hazel is a cross of green and brown not green and blue.
Her: Well, I think you should put down green.
Me: Well, if someone were to ask me what color my eyes were I would tell them blue.
Her: I guess I'll put down blue then.
Me: Standing there aghast at her unwillingness to comply in the first place. But she seemed as though she thought I was being dishonest on everything. I realized quickly that I cannot stand being around people who do not seem to trust me when I feel as though I'm very trustworthy.

Then we browsed through Kohls just for fun and didn't buy anything, thank goodness because I spent a small fortune getting gas on the way home. The cheapest place around here is $2.96/gallon. I hope they fix whatever is wrong with those refineries soon, because I'm SICK of these high gas prices.

Womens Conference and Temple Square Pictures

WOMENS CONFERENCE

AND

TEMPLE SQUARE PICTURES

Finally, some pictures of my Weekend in Utah. Unfortunately I'm not really in any of them, except one but you will get to see some of the places I was!

Okay, so these pictures are kind of backwards, from the end of my trip to the beginning.

Here is the bed I stayed in for 3.5 hours at the Conference Center. Notice it's short proximity to the bathroom. They were so kind to me during that difficult time!

The Salt Lake Temple, notice the clouds. It had snowed a few hours earlier than this picture was taken.

Flowers on Temple Square

I Love this Statue of a Mother and her children holding hands.

This pond looks like glass to me.

In the Conference Center at Music and the Spoken Word, with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra. It had been being held in the Tabernacle since the remodeling on that was recently finished but on this day it was being held in the Conference Center because the Music required the Orchestra and there is no seating for the Orchestra in the Tabernacle.

The lone picture of me in the Cannon Center Lobby at Helaman Halls.

The view from THE GARDEN Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.


In THE GARDEN Restaurant. And if you look close you can see fellow blogger, Kristine there at the table near the right of the picture, she is in the purple facing the camera.

At THE GARDEN, they bring you the yummiest homemade rolls to eat while you wait for your food. I forgot to get a picture of my food, but I had a Garden Vegetable Sandwich that was one of the most delicious sandwiches I've ever eaten!

Our room at the Peery Hotel. Notice how tiny it was.

The Peery Hotel is on 300 S. and 110 W. and is very expensive considering there is no airport shuttle, no complimentary breakfast (not even donuts), but it is an old nostalgic, beautiful hotel that I'm sure was the Mother of Hotels back in it's day.

Hilary Weeks performing at the Concert on Thursday night at Women's Conference. I attended with my Sister in Law, Diana from Payson. Her husband is a professor at BYU. I should have had someone take a picture of the two of us, but I didn't. We had a fun time catching up on each other's lives though.

Some Flowers on the BYU Campus in front of the Library that now has the new addition that is underground. (That addition was not there when I attended.)

The dorm room I shared at Chipman Hall with my Sister, Kallie.

The dorm where we stayed, Chipman Hall on the 3rd floor at Helaman Halls by the Tanner Building.

The Cannon Center Cafeteria which served the most delicious buffet for $7.75 that I have ever eaten. They had everything you could imagine to eat in there!

The Ride/For Sale Board in the bottom of the Wilkinson Center at BYU.

My Sister and I had a great time browsing through Campus Craft and Floral, next to the Ride Board in the Wilkinson Center. It is a lot nicer in there than when I went to school there!

A picture of a picture that I'm oogling over and wish I had money to buy for my Family Room. I believe it was taken by Bob Boyd and it is only $955 and I think that is before the frame!

STAR SIGHTING!! This is Sheri Dew, her sister Cindy Pennington was one of the presenters at a class we caught the tail end of and my sister, Kallie, immediately noticed Sheri at the front of the room so I caught a picture of her as she walked by. I love Sheri Dew, she is a GREAT speaker!

We spent a lot of time waiting in lines, especially bathroom lines. This line happens to be the line to the concert with Hilary Weeks, Jericho Road, Jenny Jordan Frogley and some other guys on Thursday Night. I happened to get there early (to meet my Sister in Law) and so these lines are very short at this point!

These 2 pictures, top and bottom are of one of my favorite places, the BYU Bookstore! I could spend hours in there! I regret not getting a picture of their great Candy Counter!

The Cougar Eat Cafeteria in the Wilkinson Center, where I would eat lunch about once a week when we (Laren and I) were at BYU. Of course this is the remodeled version, it didn't look quite this nice when we were there!

What is BYU without a stop at the Creamery? This one is in the Courgareat. They sell the MOST delicious Rice Krispy Treats here. Also, they had these YUMMY chocolate mint brownies with nuts for .50 that were made especially for Women's Conference. It's a good thing I don't live close to those, cause they were very yummy!!

One of the classes I took. This was was entitled, "Behind every successful man is a great woman." It was taught by the wives of the BYU head Basketball coach (Cheri Rose), Head Football Coach (Holly Mendenhall) and the Athletic Director (I think her name was Pat Holmoe, but I'm not positive on her name). Of this presentation, I enjoyed the Basketball Coaches wife's talk the best.