MostlyJen

What's keeping me from blogging

2011-12-10T13:34:00.001-07:00

In the three months since I last blogged, these are the things keeping me so very busy:

A beautiful wedding

A Ruby Trip

A new housemate

A new job (car wash training in Florida)

Chicago

Las Vegas

Another Ruby Trip (all international participants)

Global Convention

Snowbird weekend

Washington DC

Arizona

Thanksgiving

Costa Rica

It's been a great year, lots of good stories and experiences that I'd love to share if life ever slows down again!

Summer Sendoff: Dew Tour 2011

2011-09-19T12:35:00.000-06:00

I always look forward to the Dew Tour in Salt Lake City as the last great weekend of summer. It's usually still warm and beautiful and we have so much fun spending the day outside watching the competitions. This year we kicked the weekend off with the Nu Skin summer party. We had a fabulous time riding our favorite rides (Wicked 3 times in a row making Gary sick), and being with some of my favorite coworkers. I especially loved going on rides with Lucy, who you may remember as one of my bff's from Florida. She's getting so big and so brave, she was hilarious at Lagoon.

We only went to the Saturday events of the Dew Tour this year. They didn't have BMX Park at all, which disappointed me, but Skate Vert and BMX Dirt landed on the same day and made it easy to go up for the afternoon. It rained just after the indoor Vert competition, so we went to the Gateway for lunch and to watch college football. The day was a win win for both of us.

The one and only Shaun White, he took second to Pierre-Luc Gagnon who we then passed shopping at the Gateway. It must be great to be an anonymous professional athlete!

My traditional gate photo, except no skate deck with autographs this year.

Heading into the dirt competition. It's gorgeous on tv with the SLC Temple in the background.

Waiting for BMX dirt, notice Gary's die hard attire.

The sunset post rain storm was so pretty when the riders got started!

I really love going to watch bmx and skateboarding. They are they perfect mix of talent and insanity, but they make it look so easy and so fun. The Dew Tour is truthfully what inspired me to take up snowboarding. However, kids today make me crazy and ruin the whole experience for me. They are rude, trashy, and think they are so freaking cool. The crowd hardly knew what they were watching or what to cheer for. It was a bit aggravating and I think it was probably our last Dew Tour weekend. An end of an era, I'd rather be running an event than attending one most of the time.

My Silly Dogs

2011-09-18T21:33:00.003-06:00

Here is yet another round of dog pictures. I think we all know what kind of mommy-blogger I'm going to be if this is how much I like taking pictures of my dogs. What can I say? Monkey and Coco lead adorable and fascinating lives!

This is Monkey after a few hours with our nephews. She was very kind and patient, and then she was very sick of having 4 kids in her house.

Here is Coco testing out the door Riley installed. It has been life changing to have a dog door.

Recently both dogs renewed their interest in their Christmas bone. Coco likes to try to carry it around and jump up on the couch with it.

Monkey takes shelter from our smoke alarms in the give-away pile of my closet.

Both dogs taking in the sights and barking at bikes at a stop light.

The toy mess after their first ever work-day home alone! Leaving them home is also a life changing thing for me, even if we are only doing 1 or 2 days a week right now.

Labor Day swimming in Grandma Liz's pool (they prefer a lounge chair and towel post swim).

When Gary goes somewhere they watch the door until he comes back. Even if it's 2 hours for basketball.

Monkey, sleeping under the down comforter (probably hiding from Gary's snoring).

Coco got a little cut on her paw and wore a baby sock for a few days. Pretty funny.

Monkey is the loving dog...

She spends a lot of tv time snuggling me.

We let Monkey get on the counter to sniff the new fish.

The Fun Part of Work

2011-08-22T21:48:00.008-06:00

Last week I was able to join some of my coworkers on the East Coast half of a tour doing distributor meetings, book signings, and shooting some videos for our convention. We went to Washington DC, New York City, and Miami/Boca Raton. I love traveling for work, but I love it even more when it's traveling to awesome places.

In Washington DC I visited my friend Melissa and met her 2 Frenchton puppies. We took them up to Capitol Hill to walk around and get some amazing dinner at We The Pizza, a restaurant by Spike Mendelsohn from Top Chef! One of the really yummy things about this place is the homemade soda, I had the best Shirley Temple on the planet. The next day we shot our video right at the Jefferson Memorial, it was perfect!

In New York City I had just a couple hours between arriving and working, and I seriously skipped lunch to just walk around Midtown. I walked through the diamond district, went to the Sweetery truck for a brownie, then walked to Times Square to sit on the red steps and watch for "I'm a Mormon" ads and cabs, then I walked around a little more and made a stop by my favorite place, Bryant Park. Since I pride myself on being a cupcake connoisseur, I absolutely had to have a Crumbs cupcake (banana split eaten for breakfast at JFK), and also got one at Metro Cafe that was like a giant hostess cupcake. After our meeting we ate dinner at Bobby Flay's AMAZING Bar Americain, where I tried duck for the first time and had the best sweet potatoes known to man. Another super short visit, but I think I fell more in love with the city.

Favorite pic of the trip, by far! We flew from NYC to Miami to film some incredible distributors at their home right in between downtown Miami and South Beach. I love meeting incredible people who have compelling stories behind their success. After filming we rushed out to Boca Raton for our meeting that night and I was more than amused that the South Florida crowd still felt like NYC. Believe Seinfeld, it's all true. The night before we flew home we got to spend a couple hours walking around South Beach and seeing sights like the Versace Mansion, Miami Ink, and the art deco hotels.

My job is a lot of hard work and sometimes we are greatly rewarded by doing the hard work and long hours in beautiful places. This was the kind of week that reminds me why I wanted this job so badly!

P.S. Still no camera, all these pics brought to you by my iphone. Special shout out to Kyle for taking pictures of me and never making fun of me until I cry over our 6 days together.

300th Post!!

2011-08-21T22:58:00.003-06:00

I can't believe this is my 300th blog post. I guess it's safe to say I'm sticking with this thing!

I just wanted to share some pieces from Tina Fey's new book. I always post the books I'm reading on my sidebar and you may have noticed that it takes me half and eternity to finish one book. Well, for my work trip last week I decided to disregard those other books I'm working on and put Bossypants on my Kindle. I literally couldn't put it down and laughed out loud (awkward on an airplane) several times!

One part that I love in this book is Tina's experience with motherhood and the struggles of choosing to work. It's great for someone to acknowledge how rude people who have chosen to stay home can be, saying condescending things about a woman going back to work like they don't love their kid enough. You should know that even prebabies, this is a sensitive subject with me.

I feel like I took a lot away from her explanation of the rules of improv. The Rule of Agreement requires you to always say yes in a scene, and generally you should say "yes, and..." to keep things moving. Here are two quotes that I took from this section and felt would be perfectly applied to marriage:

But the Rule of Agreement reminds you to "respect what your partner has created" and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you.

...To me YES, AND means don't be afraid to contribute. It's your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you're adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile.

This book is really so great. It made me laugh but also inspired me in ways I didn't expect. If you like Tina Fey and are willing to hear her opinions on life, this is a must read.

Vegas Vacation

2011-08-03T20:40:00.002-06:00

We got really lucky in July to go on a second vacation. Our friends Brett and Lauren had a family timeshare we could stay in, so the four of us figured the hottest time of the year sounded just fine to head to Vegas. While walking around the first night we stopped at Coke World and got the Around the World tray with 16 sodas from various countries. Yep, we totally passed each cup around all 4 of us tasting all that soda. It was really fun, I would seriously recommend it to anyone.

We decided to make our second night our big fancy night out. The highlight had to be dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel. It's a French steakhouse with spectacular food. Even the baguettes are heavenly, but if you are wondering we loved the baked cheese app, French onion soup, and I loved my Steak Bourdelaise. Gary was even kind enough to wear a dress shirt in the sweltering heat, what a handsome guy.

The next couple of days were spent at the Mandalay Bay Beach. If you ever want to go there, just know you better get a room or be willing to pay an arm and a leg. The water was ice cold, which was nice when it was 105° outside. We also went to the shark reef at Mandalay Bay, which I personally would never recommend to anyone unless you love wasting money.

One afternoon we headed from the pool to the Fashion Show Mall, and while at the far end of the strip decided to walk the Wynn, Palazzo, and Venetian. We didn't make it to any store other than the gigantic Forever 21, I loved it! Walking through the Wynn is so incredibly beautiful, and I've always loved the Venetian. If you've seen me since the trip I'm sure I've told you at least 5 times how crazy I am about the stracciatella and spumoni gelato in the Venetian.

Later we caught a hypnotist at Planet Hollywood's V Theater (only $18 to upgrade from our free tickets) after having dinner at Lombardi's Romagna Mia (I had pizza, it was awesome).

My one major request on this trip was to go to the Hard Rock Hotel and eat at the Pink Taco. Call me crazy, but I love Mexican food more than most things in life. We didn't eat much at the Pink Taco, but I was a big fan. Hopefully we can go back sometime.

Since we were running out of ideas for fun and free things to do, we had a beyond interesting visit to Fremont Street, the original Vegas, on our second to last night. The Golden Nugget actually has an incredible shark tank at their pool, other than that it was your typical sketchy tourist trap. But fun to experience.

On our last day in Vegas we went to a store in the Forum called Stars Live 365. It's an awesome sports memorabilia store owned by Gary's family's best friends where they always have a celebrity signing autographs. Sam (said store owner) had arranged for us to meet Dick Butkus and have a photo taken with him. This is a picture of the picture, because he autographed our picture! Very cool, he was super nice, thanks Sam!

After Dick, we went to the real Pawn Stars shop. I've heard that the line is often too long to wait in, but I guess in the middle of an insanely hot day no one is there in line! Since visiting the store we have become addicted to the show, despite often disagreeing with how much they screw people over.

For our very last night our friend Sam got us comped tickets to the Tournament of Kings (huzzah for another free activity) for dinner and a show at Excalibur. We were in the evil knight's section and we totally loved every minute of the show (no pics allowed sorry)! Overall it was a little hot, a little random, but a lot of fun and nice break from work. Here are some of my random shots around town. I promise I didn't google them, they are all my random phone pictures!

Life via Instagram

2011-08-02T21:14:00.002-06:00

Back in April I took my camera on a trip and discovered that my screen was totally busted. I have absolutely loved that little Kodak, but it would cost about as much to fix it as it would to get a new camera. Fortunately, I got an iPhone 4 right around the same time and have made due with that camera ever since. Obviously I mostly take pictures of the dogs and love my Instagram app.

Our dogs also picked up soccer with Aunt Danna this Spring. I think it's hilarious.

4th of July Vacay!

2011-07-08T22:49:00.006-06:00

We took a spontaneous trip to California for the 4th of July this year. I was extremely burnt out (and literally quite sick) from working HUNDREDS of hours in the month of June. I just needed a break and some sun so Riley and Sandy's house was the obvious choice. They were gracious enough to cancel their much better Independence Day plans and let us and our furry children invade their home. It was honestly my favorite trip ever to their house, usually I don't get to use the pool!

{Pictures above are Riley & Sandy's pool/fire pit in their backyard, Palm Springs Aerial Tram and Mount San Jacinto park at the top, the Shield's Date Farm, and fireworks on the 4th.}

For as long as I have visited Palm Desert, I have wanted to ride the tram up the mountain. It's about 6000 feet, so the temperature is 30 degrees lower on the top and pretty wonderful in the summer! The mountain is really pretty with giant pine trees and lots of cool boulders. I'd love to go up there again in the winter. The date farm was also really fun for me. I learned so much and was absolutely fascinated by date growing. The shakes were great too! It was a perfect get away for rest and relaxation. The dogs seemed pretty annoyed by the long drive, but all in all I'd say it was definitely worth it.

Strawberry Days

2011-06-29T23:21:00.002-06:00

Last year I missed Strawberry Days, so I made up for it by going to the carnival 3 times this year! We went on my Grandma's birthday before visiting her grave, it was my first time seeing her headstone. I felt like she would appreciate that we celebrated her with strawberries and cream!

Over the weekend, I managed to weasel my way into the Roderick family tradition and serve strawberries and cream with them at the parade again. This has got to be one of my all time favorite activities. I love the Roderick family and have such a blast serving up the delicacy of the week!

Later that night we introduced Ryan and Bryndee to J-Dawgs for the first time. Seriously people, you must eat there because it is the most amazing, delicious, wonderful hot dog on earth.

Then we caught some fireworks in the car and called it a night. Good Saturday with the Slades and a great celebration of Stawberry Days!

So funny...

2011-06-28T22:17:00.001-06:00

At least we think we are. These are some of the recent pictures captured at work, we just don't get tired of the jumping pictures. The first 3 are from April and the last 2 are from June, after Fallon had baby Noah and went on maternity leave. These people are really why I do my job, they are the best!

{yes Kyle appears to be fake chloroforming pregnant Fallon. yes we think it's funny.}

On that same trip we did an Amazing Race which required a 160 foot banner that we rolled out at 2 am, 3 foot balloons originally filled with helium then filled by me. Also, we noticed the stained glass windows at the Zermatt depict Will Farrell. Awesome.

Other happenings at work included a training event in Park City that nearly killed me, pictures below.

We organized this fun family bbq with amazing food from Five Star BBQ, then right as everyone arrive we had a crazy thunderstorm roll through. By the time we were done eating the rain was gone and this double rainbow appeared.

After the bbq we hit Jupiter Bowl and had a fantastic time despite the slightly sketchy locals there for "industry night"!

While working my post at the team building activity, some moose came wandering through Cascade Springs. I was happy to get out of there as fast as possible.

Jen's Birthday

2011-06-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

I turned 26 this year (so weird I can hardly remember when people ask), and really had a nice birthday. We had no idea what to expect from the NBA lockout which greatly affects our income, so we decided to just keep it simple and stick to using some gift cards for dinner and a few gifts. My boss took me to an amazing lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and my team bought me the cookbook I have wanted forever, it's seriously the BEST. We decided to just hang out at home the night of my bday and my neighbor Kim surprised me with a box of Sweet Tooth Fairy! Then over the weekend we had my traditional meal at Outback, which never seems to get old.

My gifts this year included the perfect running hat (which I've hardly used), a Babycakes mini cupcake maker (way over used), and balloons. I'm a sucker for balloons and would take them over flowers any day. I'm so blessed to work with amazing friends and have a husband who knows how much my birthday means to me! Most of all, I can't wait to use the gift my parents gave me: money towards our Christmas plane tickets!

Five Year Anniversary

2011-05-15T21:57:00.000-06:00

This post is currently just a placeholder because neither of us remembers where we went on our anniversary. It was that good! Just kidding, I'll update this when my memory comes back.

Couldn't have said it better...

2011-04-02T22:17:00.000-06:00

I appreciated Quentin L. Cook's message today about how incredible LDS women are. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by great neighbors, friends, and family who are examples of wonderful LDS women in every type of role. The women I work with, much like my mom, are particularly inspiring for the goals I've set for myself. I LOVED these two points in Elder Cook's talk:

"First, no woman should ever feel the need to apologize or to feel that her contribution is less significant because she is devoting her primary efforts to raising and nurturing children. Nothing could be more significant in our Father in Heaven's plan.

"Second, we should all be careful not to be judgmental or assume that sisters are less valiant if the decision is made to work outside the home. We rarely understand or fully appreciate peoples' circumstances. Husbands and wives should prayerfully counsel together understanding they are accountable to God for their decisions."

Isn't it awesome that we can associate with women in various circumstances and draw strength from the fact that we are all still daughters of God with great value? I love that I have friends who are inspiring moms with great patience and diligence. I also love that I have friends who are successful in their jobs while balancing all the other demands of life. I hope that my friends will appreciate and respect me for the very personal decisions we have made for our family, just as I respect them.

Coco's Surgery

2011-03-20T22:12:00.000-06:00

Coco got fixed right about the time she hit 5 months. It was uneventful, she did great and Aunt Danna took excellent care of her at daycare. The pictures of her cone and IV bandage were just too cute to not post.

Gary's Birthday

2011-03-15T21:58:00.000-06:00

Gary turned 32 this year and after 7 torturous birthdays of me throwing him a party, I decided maybe it was time to let him have a birthday his way. Literally, we did nothing. I went to the Jazz game and we sat together, then we came home and had Maggie Moo's ice cream cupcakes while Gary opened his two new pairs of basketball shorts. Over the weekend I made a homemade version of Gary's favorite food, Kneader's Chunky Cinnamon French Toast! It was so good, but seriously it's a better deal to just eat it at Kneader's. So that's the thrilling recap of the big 3-2.

Gary got some birthday treats and this adorable note from the little girl across the street, who we teach in Primary. We love her.

Big Girl Work Trip: San Francisco

2011-03-13T21:27:00.015-06:00

For a few months after January Kickoff Meetings, some of my bosses were traveling around the country doing some meetings in our key cities. Obviously, as the events team, we were the supporting cast for these meetings. I opted out of much of the work/travel to focus on recognition trips (I think we all know how much I love a week in Midway, UT), but luckily I still had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco for what I like to call my "First Big Girl Work Trip" because it was my first time traveling alone to run a meeting for Nu Skin, and a city I'd never visited.

A meeting of 400+ Nu Skin distributors is seriously a walk in the park compared to navigating and sightseeing San Francisco for the first time, completely alone. It might have been my least favorite trip based on frustration alone. To be perfectly honest, it just wasn't as impressive as I was hoping it would be. The Painted Ladies, or the Full House street, were so tiny in real life. Ghiradelli Square was no cooler than the one I went to at Downtown Disney. Don't even get me started on Chinatown, which people said is like New York's and couldn't be further from the truth. The only two things I really loved were the Wharf and the Bridge. I still dream about having another freaking amazing fish sandwich.

I would have loved to tour Alcatraz. Hopefully someday I can go back and have the money to shop and the company to show me a good time. I'm not writing the Bay Area off, I'm just saying my one day there didn't knock my socks off.

This is the lovely sunrise over the water outside my hotel. I had to help set up the room super early in the morning, then stay in the meeting until the minute I left for the airport. That is what had me up early enough to catch a sunrise.

The one really funny thing about this trip (this story will show how lame the trip was) is from when I went to Chipotle to get dinner the night I was there. Since I was alone and exhausted that seemed like the best option. The boys that were working started asking me all these questions about what I was doing and why I was alone and in the Bay Area, etc. They were really nice and gave me my food for free! When I tried to argue with them they said they just wanted to make sure I came back again next time I was in town. Thanks teenage boys for making my day!

Jazz Games

2011-03-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

As the NBA season begins to wind down, I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of a few of the games I've been to this year. My first game of the year was actually for work, shocker, we brought a large group to a game and dinner. After that I've only really been to a handful of games, just enough to keep me in the running at work for most games attended this season.

This was my first time sitting in our new season tickets! It took 3 whole seasons of waiting, but we finally got our opportunity to buy in the lower bowl, such a nice change of location.

After Christmas we got lucky and had some suite tickets, of course we had to call our stand-by Jazz game buddies the Slades! It was Miss Ella's first game and we even beat the Lakers!

Court side for the second time! Thanks to Nu Skin I got to sit on the second row twice in one month. That was the first time I've ever gotten the cool Nu Skin tickets, I was so excited! The second time I had them was actually Coach Corbin's first home game as head coach and Deron Williams' last home game before the big trade! It was cool to sit so close and watch the dynamics of the team and the attitudes/energy on the bench.

Once again, no photos of Gary who refuses to be photographed.

I know this is blurry, it's from my lame phone. The first time I had Nu Skin seats I went with our friend Kylie and the second time Gary was my guest of honor.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2011-01-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

When our Orlando Kickoff Meeting ended on Saturday, we got ready for a work-family vacation for the next few days! We were super lucky that Fallon's mom offered us her timeshare so we had a 2 bedroom condo in a really nice resort. Yes friends that's 7 adults, 2 children, a beach ball, and lots of Snicker's ice cream bars all in one condo. Don't worry, it was a ton fun and we all still totally like each other! The main purpose in our extra stay was to spend two wonderful days at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

Shelley, Lucy, and me riding One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

The entrance to Hogsmeade, dream come true!

Butterbeer is truly the highlight of the whole experience. Seriously, delicious!

Butterbeers at the Three Broom Sticks

These are a couple shots of the resort we were at, there was a crazy storm with tornado warnings and pounding rain (note previous pics) the last night we were there.

Staying for those extra days was such a great idea. I wish Gary had been there, but at least I had great friends to talk serious Harry Potter with! We even took it upon ourselves one night to do some "sorting" which of course landed me in Slytherin. Universal has a lot of fun rides and cool stuff to do, I think we all would highly recommend eating at Mythos, riding the Hulk and the Forbidden Journey, and drinking lots of butterbeer!

January Kickoff Meetings

2011-01-29T17:28:00.012-07:00

In January every year my team plans Kickoff meetings to get our distributors excited and ready for all the fun things we are focusing on during the year. We do one in Los Angeles and one in Orlando, back to back weeks. Thankfully we are all good friends and enjoy working together, otherwise things could get ugly after that much travel. This was my first time experiencing Kickoffs and I thought it was a lot of fun to have events of a different scale in different places. We incorporated a lot of fun stuff to promote our new product Vitality, like a jumping photo shoot and a Kinect station. Who wouldn't love to play Kinect at work? In LA our event was at the Los Angeles Convention Center, our loading dock was against the player entrance to the Staples Center where both the Clippers and Lakers played during our event. We also got to stay at the amazing JW Marriott downtown, which is very beautiful, modern, and has amazing food. LA Live is a brilliant complex with a million places to eat and hang out downtown. It was nice to be so close to all of that stuff that was open late when we were done working. The most disappointing thing about LA was finding out that if we had gone to Beverly Hills to get Sprinkles cupcakes the night before we left, we would have seen the whole set up for the Golden Globes! I couldn't believe I flew out of LA on an award show day, but I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming of the day I get to plan one of those!

I was home less than 36 hours when we left for Orlando, just enough time for some laundry and Kneader's french toast. Orlando was fun because the event was in the Walt Disney World Hilton, Downtown Disney was right across the street! Orlando turned out to be much colder than LA, which was disappointing. I spent the majority of my time at both events working the Run for Malawi Challenge table. We are encouraging everyone (distributors, friends, employees) to join our challenge on Nike.com and help us accrue miles towards our goal of 50,000 by the end of June. For ever 1000 miles our group runs, Nu Skin is donating 1 secondary education scholarship for a child in Malawi through our non-profit Force for Good Foundation. I worked on fund raising for Malawi last fall and feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the great needs our foundation is fulfilling. I think this project is really cool, education is so important yet unobtainable for a lot of people.

Our mantra right now is Go Double, so naturally we had to have the National Champion double dutch team perform. This is my friend Kyle jumping in during their practice. He was a natural.

One important lesson I learned on these two trips was that I am incapable of jumping and not making a stupid face. You cannot imagine how many of these pictures I took that are so much more embarrassing than the two I posted. All in all, it was a crazy month but a ton of fun. The three days we stayed in Orland after the event were a well deserved break from two weeks of hard work. Our hours are long and demanding, but we get to have a lot of deliriously funny nights eating at Denny's, walking around a new place, or just sitting around the pool telling good stories. 10 months in and I still love this job.

Here are a few videos from our events. The first is the Palindrome Kyle did an amazing job writing. He just thought of it one day and did it, which is incredible to me. The second is an amazing video we made of all the staff who work directly with our distributors. They are the people we work with the most on our trips and events, so I think you'll see why we have so much fun at work (start watching around 1:13). The last one is just a highlight with some clips of the speakers and things from LA. Our keynote speaker has a great clip at the end of the video that is very Hitch.

2011-01-03T00:53:00.001-07:00

I'm still working on filling in my missing months! Back-dated posts are slowly but surely appearing below!

Christmas Vacation 2010

2010-12-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

We had another great Christmas in California! I don't know how Sandy manages to keep topping herself, but we had an absolutely amazing time and got spoiled rotten. We started the fun off at Disneyland, per family tradition. We've got Disneyland down to a science, there are never crowds or lines when we are there, the fast passes aren't even working because we go on such an empty day. A lot of Southern California was dealing with floods and mud slides, and magically there was hardly a puddle to be found at the Happiest Place on Earth.

We've been taking these pictures every Christmas, the "O" is this year's. I'm hoping we can complete the word California someday, only 7 more trips to do it! (Am I the only one amused that G has the exact same jeans on in all 3 pictures? He loves those babies.)

This is by the fun Toy Story ride in California Adventure, longest line of the day but so worth it! Ironically this is the only family picture we got all week with the 4 of us. I think it's a great one!

The rain cleared out and we ended up having a beautiful day! When the sun finally broke through Gary got some really pretty shots with his iphone.

Part of the crazy topping of past years was the dinner we had in Disneyland. Sandy has been talking about eating at the Blue Bayou inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride for years, and this time she pulled through and made a reservation! Seriously, it might have been one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. The ambiance was so cool, my steak was amazing, everything about it was good enough to call that my Christmas present then and there! I think we would all recommend eating there, just make your reservation before you get to Disneyland because it's very popular.

We had a great day with so much fun, we couldn't have asked for more when...

We found Mickey! You are never too grown up for pictures with Mickey and Minnie!

The rest of our trip to California was very normal and relaxing. We had a great day shopping and ate at some really great places, particularly Goody's Cafe, and had an amazing Christmas morning. I got a Kindle with a pink case, I've absolutely loved it for all my traveling and reading while I workout. Gary, Sandy, and Riley all got iPads! Christmas with Sandy-claus is like going to Oprah's favorite things, it's okay if you are jealous! Thanks Riley and Sandy for another amazing Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

So one time we got family pictures taken that were really cute and I made a Christmas card online then lost the gift card I bought to pay for them. They were going to be really cool and sparkly and shiny! So instead, please enjoy this collage I love that Bryndee made for us to give our parents and grandparents this Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family, including our newest little one Coco!

The Real Housewife I want to be like:

2010-12-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Meet my new favorite Real Housewife, she is of Beverly Hills and her name is Lisa Vanderpump. I love her, she has class, she is smart, she loves puppies, and she has impeccable style! She got married at 21 and has stayed married 28 years...that does not happen anymore! She's a really smart successful lady and I wanted to share 2 bits of advice from her that I just love.

On work: My motto in life is find something that you love to do and then you won’t have to work a day in your life.

On marriage: It’s like running a corporation. A business venture. You have to go into it knowing that it could fail or it could succeed beyond your wildest dreams and make you rich… If the employees don’t share the vision, believe in the vision and work together, the endeavor will fail. Some businesses will get rich. Some will barely make ends meet. Some will never make a dime. The money does not measure success. The sense of accomplishment will come from the daily struggle… the love of what you do, working together day in and day out.

She's quite a lady, not at all like that wack-a-doo Camille Grammer. Does anyone else LOVE this show?

Lisa's Beverly Hills home and closet...I want to be like her in more ways than one!

P.S. If you haven't noticed, as I catch up my posts are back-dating so they appear chronologically correct.

Family Pictures

2010-12-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Coco(is)nut(s)

2010-12-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

For along time we have debated getting another dog/sister for Monkey since she is so social and loving. While I was in Copenhagen in October I got some exciting news from our breeder with these darling pictures:

Monkey's mom Lucy had a litter of pups born early and Coconut was the only survivor. They knew that we wanted a biological sister for Monkey and hoped that we would take this poor little thing and give her a great loving home. After I got back we went to visit Coconut to see how Monkey reacted and to see if we really liked this other little dog. It was fun to see Monkey with her dog family, her face is so much like her mom's and her dad is the prettiest white pom!

After a lot of thought and a few flip-flops on the name issue, we finally decided that she would join our family and go by Coco, after all Monkeys and Coconuts go together. Monk and I went to Petsmart for all the supplies we'd need for the new dog. She's a very helpful shopper, we seriously let her pick her own toys out and she picked out their new bigger bed.

Finally we brought Miss Coco home! She is definitely more defiant and ferocious than Monkey ever was, it was a tough start but eventually we got use to her and she calmed down after spending a lot of time with Aunt Danna (aka the dog whisperer) and her super obedient big sister. I love her more than I thought I would, it's so crazy to love them both so, so much in different ways. They are a lot of fun and seem very happy to have each other.

The totals...

2010-11-21T01:10:00.000-07:00

7: times I slept in my own house in 25 days

1071: number of pictures I need to sort and blog

15,245: the number of skymiles I earned in the month of October

5: number of Sundays I have missed church and Sunbeams :(

31: number of days until my next trip (Christmas/Disneyland)

0: number of things I would change!

Come back soon, I can't wait to share my stories!

Love at first sight...my first time in NYC

2010-11-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

New York is a city that loves what has been called the "Type A" personality: always feeling the press of time, aggressive and competitive, a workaholic, dedicated to achievement. - Dr. Anthony Zito

I don't know where the crazy idea came from, but Melissa and I decided that as long as I was in DC it would be a shame to not make the quick (ya right) bus trip to New York City for my first time. How I lived 25 1/2 years on this earth without visiting NYC is beyond me. Had I gone there at a younger age my whole life would have been different because I never would have left! Nothing has been the same since going there and all I can think about is how I can get back there over and over for the rest of my life.

Side note: Feel free to stop reading now and only look at my pictures. The writing is really more for me :)

We decided to take the Bolt Bus because it's like $20 each way. Due to circumstances beyond our control (a.k.a. the bus leaving early and a ton of metro traffic) we got stuck in Union Station for 3 hours and barely made it there before dark. I was pretty sad about that because I really wanted to see the buildings in Soho and take pictures on the Brooklyn Bridge. We had a great hotel in Midtown which was incredibly convenient. Maybe I'm a crazy type A person, but when I planned everything I wanted to do I made the plan in order with a subway/cab plan. It actually worked out perfectly and between the two of us we had no problems getting around. On the night we got there we went to the Brooklyn Bridge, Canal Street/Chinatown (where I totally scored 3 purses and a bottle of Givenchy cologne for G), Little Italy, Shake Shack in the Theater District, Times Square, and Lord & Taylor (Christmas window event). You know when you are first dating a guy you really like and you can talk forever and stay up ridiculously late just to be with him? That was me and New York City, I did not want to go to bed.

The next day we had to catch our bus at 7 pm so we really had to pack in the activities. We headed to Rockerfeller Center first thing in the morning to go on an NBC studio tour and to The Top of the Rock. The Today Show was still filming and I knew my dad would be ticked if we didn't at least try to get on tv! I called and said Kathy Lee and Hoda are about to go on and we are standing outside the window. The rest is history, we were on tv waving like crazy fools and my dad has never been happier! The NBC tour was awesome, it's exactly the kind of thing I think is so cool about New York, and The Top of the Rock was that moment when I went, holy crap I'm really here! After that we walked up Fifth Avenue to Tiffany's so I could buy a taxi cab charm for my bracelet, the perfect souvenir for my first visit. I could die happy in that store, it was amazing. We strolled through a few stores and went to Forty Carrots in Bloomingdale's for frozen yogurt, so good.

From there we wandered through some cute areas near Park Avenue and saw lots of rich kids leaving their fancy private schools. Park Avenue was really different than I thought it would be, but I loved it. Then we went to the Met and literally sat on Blair's steps because we were too tired to go inside or even walk to the cupcake cart nearby. Next time...I'm dying to see the Costume Institute Collections. After purchasing the best umbrellas ever, we walked into the park and ended up going to the Loeb Boathouse to get some food. Sitting in the park looking at the fall leaves and the tops of the buildings, I felt like I could live there forever and never get sick of it.

I had the same exact feeling an hour or so later (after picking up some Magnolia cupcakes) when we were sitting in Bryant Park. It was so fun to watch all the different people and just think that I was sitting where the Fashion Week happens (or use to anyway)! We killed our last bit of time in Bryant Park before picking up our bags and making a mad dash to our bus. I will never ever forget my first time in New York, it was short and rushed and the absolute amazing thing I've ever experienced! If ever there was a doubt, I'm definitely a City girl at heart...oh and "The yellow ones don't stop!"

Anything is possible. This is New York. ~ Carrie Bradshaw

Washington D.C.

2010-11-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

After all the conventions and trips died down, I was really excited to have a week to run off to the East Coast to play with my friend Melissa! I'd never visited Washington D.C. and was looking forward to running Melissa ragged seeing everything we possibly could. My dad made a fabulous suggestion that we do a trolley tour first to see everything and then decide what to go back to. The tour was great and we both learned a lot before we spent a few days at the monuments, Smithsonian, and Mount Vernon. It was a fast trip and there are definitely a lot of things I would still love to see, like the White House and the inside of the Capitol. I'm so jealous that Melissa lives where there are so many cool things to do for free, thanks for letting me crash your lives Dave and Melissa!

A few of the things we saw from our trolley: the hall where Lincoln's second Inaugural Ball was held (now a Smithsonian museum), the Capitol, Union Station, Library of Congress, Jefferson Memorial, and the Supreme Court.

The National Museum of American History, our first Smithsonian stop.

Michelle Obama's Jason Wu dress and Jimmy Choo shoes for the Inaugural Ball. The First Ladies exhibit was completely amazing and I could have died looking at these historic dresses.

At the National Museum of Natural History the Harry Winston Gallery was full of breathtaking jewels and tons of fascinating information. The National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum are off the Mall in Downtown in a really amazing building. This was probably our favorite Smithsonian with all the collections of portraits and photos of famous Americans, presidents, and champions. The American Art Museum had an exhibit called Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I LOVED it, it really changed my perspective on Rockwell's work and made me totally fall in love with it.

Ford's Theater was another place that made an impact on me. I love Lincoln and after visiting his Library, home, first office, and tomb over the summer, it was amazing to visit a new museum that had different facts and stories. The museum in the basement is one of the best I've ever seen!

Library of Congress, one of the most boring places I've ever been. I guess National Treasure and Dan Brown built it up to be something else in my mind. Maybe it would have been cooler if we went to the Reading Room to find some secret information to get us out of trouble...do I watch too many movies?

The US Botanical Gardens were starting to set up their special Christmas exhibit when I was there. All the displays of Washington Monuments and buildings were made out of plants pieces and they were identical to the real buildings.

I loved this view of the Washington Monument as we were leaving the Holocaust Museum.

World War II Memorial, I love that we went at night because it was so reverent and beautiful.

We took a day to drive out to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. I heard that he said he'd rather be there than in any court or with any of the powerful people in the world. When you go there you totally get it. We sat on the hill overlooking the Potomac and as I ate my apple in the beautiful weather, I seriously thought that it was the most perfect fall moment you could ever ask for.

It was fun to tour the house, servant quarters, visit the farm and the warf, and of course George Washington's tomb. It was a nice relaxing day learning about a great man.

Copenhagen Part 3 aka Work

2010-10-30T23:23:00.000-06:00

Seriously, we were in Copenhagen to work. There were 3 of us from the events team and we brought 2 of our guys from the awesome AV company we use. We ended up running all of their general sessions except their recognition night that was outsourced to a company with actors, dancers, and singers. We pretty much lived in the dark and only communicated by headsets and worked about 15 hours a day. It was a great learning experience for me. Shannon and Shelley know how to roll with the punches and tackle whatever comes up without losing their composure. As weird as it may sound, being a headset girl with a clipboard was like seeing myself on The City or Kell on Earth, basically yet another dream come true. Who dreams of standing behind a curtain saying "Go"? Me.

Eating Danishes in Denmark...we think we are funny.

This is me with the winner of Nu Skin's Got Talent. She sang an original song that could honestly be on the radio here. I loved getting to work with all the performers but she was by far my favorite!

Here we are getting ready to sit back and enjoy the final session of the convention.

Every chair in the room had a flag from one of the countries in Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa who were all participating in the convention. People collected their flags to wave during recognition and at the end the staff filled the stage with their flags. I thought it was such an awesome moment to see people from dozens of countries all coming together and celebrating. We loved it and thought it was a great way to end our stay with our lovely European co-workers.

Copenhagen Part 2

2010-10-30T23:20:00.000-06:00

Wednesday morning we had a couple hours before we went to the Nu Skin Copenhagen office, so we went to see Rosenborg Castle with the Danish Royal Jewels and the oldest royal gardens in Denmark. The castle was first built in the early 1600's as a summer house for the royals, it's Dutch Renaissance style for those of you who know what that means. Like everything in Copenhagen, it has burned down at least twice! Other than the amazing jewels, another castle highlight is the Long Hall on the top floor which is like a ballroom out of a movie with the tapestries and a throne. I absolutely loved visiting this castle and wish I had seen all of the castles in Copenhagen!

In the Royal Garden, we were so lucky to see the gorgeous fall colors!

This is the Marble Room that was being restored. The difference between being restored and renovated is that all the original elements must stay intact and be put back exactly as they were. They have to take it all apart, clean the pieces, and put everything back. Crazy.

One corner of the incredible Long Hall.

I was dying over the jewels and numerous china collections, it was all so amazing.

I was enamored with the mote, I mean seriously it's a real castle mote! Unfortunately after this it started raining buckets and we got lost...so that was awesome.

There was a McDonald's across from the office and that was all I wanted after wandering the city in the rain. Call me Ricky Bobby, but that was pure American comfort right there in that Big Mac.

Several days later we finished with our convention responsibilities and stole a couple hours to see one last sight that we were all really interested in. The original Bertel Thorvaldsen Christus statue (the one at Temple Square visitor center) is in a church in Copenhagen. We piled into a cab and arrived just a few minutes before the church closed. Again, this was a building that had burned and changed over time, but it's current Neo-classical style complements the statues of Christ and his Apostles and it's just plain beautiful.

This is the street outside of the church in front of a university, so cool.

Happiest moment of the whole long week, we found churros with soft serve ice cream! When we were there several days before I was just walking around saying "I smell churros!" Ha, I knew I was right!

Copenhagen Part 1

2010-10-28T00:27:00.000-06:00

In October I was really lucky to be sent to Denmark to help with the European convention a couple weeks after our US convention. It was my first time going to Europe, so I was nervous but really excited, at least in Scandinavia everyone speaks English so it really wasn't going to be very tough. We left Sunday afternoon and arrived in Copenhagen Monday evening, that flight really sucked. After checking on all the convention set up, we were able to do a little sight seeing part of Tuesday and a couple hours Wednesday morning before we went into the office. Copenhagen is a really environmentally friendly city where most of the people ride bikes and the harbor is so clean they can section it off for swimming. They have about 3 castles, and all the old royal buildings are turned into museums or theaters. I really loved everything about Copenhagen and wish we had more time to see and learn about such an old and beautiful place. Now, a million pictures:

Fransk hot dogs (holed out baguette pumped full of sauce with a hot dog) for breakfast, like the locals!

Nyhavn, the 17th Century waterfront

Going on our fabulous canal tour.

Sights of the harbor tour...the Black Diamond, missing Mermaid, Amalienborg Palace, Opera House, etc...

Shopping on Strøget, the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe

Københavns Rådhus, Copenhagen town hall right outside of Tivoli Gardens (which was closed while we were there!)

Hans Christian Andersen is a pretty big deal around there...

This was a weird sculpture we found while out looking for a dinner one night...I still don't get it. So that was day one (or 3 if you count all the travel days) in a nutshell!

Halloween Date Night

2010-10-16T01:05:00.000-06:00

After convention I was home for exactly 2 weeks. I was going to miss Halloween, one of our favorite holidays, so we had a jam packed date night to get all our fun in. We started by going to Frightmares at Lagoon, it was UEA weekend so that was basically a huge mistake. I've never stood with Gary in such long lines for rides, and we've been to Disneyland together 3 times! We went on about 3 rides, hit a haunted house, rocked some funnel cake, then went through the other haunted house. It was fun, but not the Halloween festivities we had hoped for so we decided to go to Nightmare on 13th on our way home. It was so much fun, a date night like the good old college/unmarried/not-paying-a-mortgage days. It was also exactly what I needed after a week away with 3 weeks of travel coming up! Sometimes you just need a good time out with your husband!

This thing called Convention

2010-10-10T23:40:00.000-06:00

The first week of October (and many, many weeks before) I gave my life to working my first convention. I have to say it was an experience I've looked forward to ever since I started at Nu Skin but didn't expect to be doing so soon. I love my job for so many reasons and the best part is seeing things come to fruition. There were so many times when I sat in meetings thinking we would never get something done in time, I would look at lists and diagrams and just couldn't imagine what it would actually look like or how things would work, but it all did! The team that I've been lucky enough to join this year is so talented, I have so much to learn from them and I am so glad that I get to work with them, even if it's for seemingly endless days at a time, living in hotels, and eating lots of Build Your Own Grand Slams! (Normally I'd have hundreds of pictures to share, but we were seriously so busy that this is all I have.)

Fallon and me looking as fabulous as we were feeling by the end of day 2. This is at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Nu Skin opening in Canada. Fallon is Canadian, so naturally she planned the most awesome Canadian dinner with entertainment, lots of fun swag, and don't even get me started on sitting with her darling 18 month old daughter all night!

My friend Missy at the Styx concert with me. She played the piano for our Diamond Reception in the Jazz 100 Club earlier that evening. After we did a big recognition session for our distributors we finished off the convention with a Styx concert.

This is Styx on our stage, they were really awesome and I think everyone loved it! My job is a ton of work, totally wears me out, but it makes me really happy! I mean who gets their picture taken with Styx and meets Steve Sanders all in one evening at work?

Wedding Fun

2010-10-04T22:53:00.000-06:00

Remember Melissa's super fun wedding back in February? Well one of my fellow bride's maids, Jessi, got married in October and gave us a great reason to be all together again! Jessi had her reception on a Monday night (family schedule issues) which happened to be the night I was suppose to check in to my hotel in Salt Lake for my big convention. Luckily, I was able to put off work for one night and have fun with these awesome girls! Jessi's wedding was so beautiful, all of the dresses were custom designed and made by her family, they had the most amazing engagement photos, and they had the cutest typewriter to leave notes to the bride and groom! I've also never been to a reception with so much dancing. Jessi and all her sisters were the life of the party, it was so much fun! Congrats Jessi and Don!

Me, Melissa (flew in from DC) and Missy...bride not pictured :(

Dew Tour 2010!

2010-09-20T22:07:00.000-06:00

The day I got home from Vegas I had to hurry and get to the Dew Tour! I love the Dew Tour and look forward to it every year. This year was a little bit different, I wasn't sure if it was because I met all my favorite athletes last year, because I was worn out from Vegas, or just because I felt dumb fighting 10 year olds for autographs. The first night we were in Festival Village I saw 2 athletes I'd definitely never met before, Kyle Korver and Deron Williams! I ran up to Kyle Korver and asked to take a picture with him, it was so exciting!

The rest of the weekend was the usual, bmx and skating awesomeness. BMX dirt is way better at night, and I wish they hadn't changed it. We still had a ton of fun and it was incredible to see a 15 year old kid named Brett Banasiewicz dominate the competion!

BMX DIRT

Gary wasn't able to go with me to see skate vert and bmx park, so my friend Amy came. It was so cool to see Shawn White back on a skateboard, and we had a really great day watching the competitions.

Blue Diamond Trip

2010-09-17T10:44:00.000-06:00

Recognition trips are one of the main things we do in my job. When the Nu Skin distributors hit a certain level they get these awesome all expense paid trips that my team plans and runs. I was really lucky to help with the Blue Diamond Trip in Las Vegas this fall. I hadn't been to Vegas in a few years and I definitely had never stayed anywhere as nice as the Bellagio! We had dinner at Olives overlooking the amazing fountain and water show. I think this was the highlight for me because the water show is so iconic and I would never imagine having the chance to see it from that perspective.

After we picked our distributors up from their helicopter tours of the Grand Canyon, we took them to a place called Pirate's Cove. It's a private residence owned by a very successful Nu Skin distributor, and it's basically a water park. I had seen videos and photos of Pirate's Cove, but you can't even begin to grasp the scale and detail of it until you go there. We had a great time and it was the perfect close to the amazing experience the distributors had that week. Just when I think I can't love my job more, we have another amazing event!

311..."I've had them longer than you."

2010-08-31T00:46:00.000-06:00

Gary's favorite band in the whole world, 311, made their annual stop through Salt Lake on July 21st. I was lucky enough to be Gary's guest this year, giving the band a second try after my first concert experience with them was terrible to say the least. Let's just say when I was a teeny tiny 20 year old, I was not fit for a mosh pit. Anyway, this year was so completely different and I had an amazing time. We have discovered both suites and VIP parking at USANA, thus decreasing the amount of time you have to spend in direct contact with complete morons and improving your concert going experience.

The Offspring opened, a band that literally formed before I was born. I wasn't sure I knew more than the Fly for a White Guy song, but I was surprised by how many awesome songs they have and loved their performance. Then 311 came out and played a great mix of old and new music. Their latest album, Uplifter, has been one of my faves for the last year and their old stuff really never gets old. I spent about 15 minutes of 311 standing in the ATM line (which would go twice as fast if people were not so wasted) so that Gary could get the greatest souvenier shirt ever: Gary's sports number on back, Jazz/311 logo on front!

Great show, great date, all around super fun night! Thank goodness I married a fellow concert lover! Here are my two favorite songs on the newest album if you are interested:

*You may be wondering where the title of this post comes from? Well my friends, our 1 year dating anniversary fell on the 311 concert in SLC way back in 2004, and that was Gary's explanation of his plans for that day. He may have had them first but I have him forever, ha ha sucker!

Monkey's 1st Birthday!

2010-08-30T00:11:00.000-06:00

Monkey is still an only child in this family, therefore she gets a lot of torture that would be otherwise dumped on a human child. For her first birthday (July 17th) I decided we were going to have monkey cupcakes (people recipe) and a monkey cake (dog recipe). Sadly, the dog recipe wasn't exactly a cohesive cake, so when I tried to take it out of the pan it crumbled to pieces. We still gave Monk a nice chunk of it and took her picture like any parent on their first child's first birthday.*

*Yes I know how weird I am and yes we will eventually have a real baby.

Here are some other recent and adorable pictures of Monkey:

People who never have pets have no idea how much love they are missing out on! Our dog is the greatest!

Final Family Vacation Post!

2010-07-10T23:44:00.000-06:00

I thought I should post all the funny random pictures we took in the motorhome over the week!

This is dinner one night, my mom did an awesome job of planning really yummy meals that we could cook in the campground at night. She made delicious meals easier than cooking is for me in my own kitchen!

And this is me sitting in the navigator seat, which I was actually banned from and then mocked all through the trip because I of all people should be able to navigate (Geography degree you know...) but we also had 2 Eagle Scouts and a gps so I don't feel like I was more qualified than anyone else!

The final thing we got to do on this trip was see my very best friend Krystal! We met for dinner at the Mall of America, and found out that the whole place closes way early now...weird since it was the cool weekend place when we were younger. I love hanging out with Krystal and just wish we did it much more often!

We had a great time and love getting to be with my family. Next year, we are looking forward to a trip to Wisconsin with less activity, more family time, and hopefully a trip to the Dells!

The Field Trip Continues...

2010-07-08T23:26:00.000-06:00

On the day that we left Nauvoo, we went through Iowa to visit the film site of the movie Field of Dreams. Gary was so excited that we were going to see the actual field and had so much fun walking in and out of the corn and all around the bases. It made me want to watch the movie, I don't remember anything about it since it's as old as my brother!

After Field of Dreams my parents wanted to stop in an amazing old historic town that they are in love with. Galena, Illinois has a downtown street of never ending shops and restaurants, you can take a trolley tour of all the historic buildings in the town, and the area is filled with bed and breakfasts and spas. It is the ideal weekend get away because they are always having balls, events, and different theme weekends!

The great trolley tour of the historic buildings in the city, some of the buildings we saw were the pre-presidency home of Ulysses S. Grant, and the oldest continuously operating post office, which was also built from the exact same quarry as the Nauvoo temple!

I know this is a little blurry, but I love this pic of my family all walking in Galena:

Maybe a historic town doesn't sound like a ton of fun, especially when it's disgustingly hot and humid, but I LOVED it and can't wait to have a girls weekend there someday!

Nauvoo

2010-07-07T22:13:00.000-06:00

While in Nauvoo we did a typical tour of some of the historic buildings and homes that were once owned and lived in by significant members of the Church. We visited the graves of Hyrum, Joseph, and Emma Smith. After visiting there, Gary decided that as strange as it may be, he really loves visiting graves because it helps make a historical figure real.

We went places like the bakery, brick yard, and blacksmith's shop. One of our favorite places was the Jonathan Browning home. His story was really touching to us, like my ancestor John Tanner, he was a prominent person who found and believed in the church and made many sacrifices to be a member. As far as we have heard, the Browning family is still not only active, but generous and giving and true to the memory of Jonathan Browning's sacrifices. We were also really impressed that he was smart enough to build his well access into his house and a storage area within it, essentially giving his family indoor water and a refrigerator way back in 1842!

Our last Nauvoo activity was attending the Nauvoo Pageant! I absolutely loved it, felt the Spirit, and was so impressed by all the actors! It was pouring rain through the entire thing, but you never would have known the difference in the performance. It's such a great way to make Nauvoo come to life and help you feel the spirits of those spectacular people who built Nauvoo, lost their great prophet, and after so many trials faithfully crossed the plains.

All in all our family had a great time in Nauvoo. For Gary's first time he said he liked it so much more than he ever expected. I could see him becoming interested in the stories and we all felt the Spirit so strongly. I am so grateful that we have been blessed with the preservation of our history so that we can have a glimpse of the greatness we share in our church history. I am especially thankful to be a direct descendant of so many remarkable pioneers!

Nauvoo Temple

2010-07-06T22:53:00.000-06:00

This is the first thing we did in Nauvoo! I hadn't been back since the temple was rebuilt and it was so so beautiful! Once again, I have to give background straight from Church history:

The Prophet also received an important revelation concerning the teachings, covenants, and blessings that are now called the temple endowment. This sacred ordinance was to enable the Saints “to secure the fullness of those blessings” that would prepare them to “come up and abide in the presence of … Eloheim in the eternal worlds.” After receiving the endowment, husbands and wives could be sealed together by the power of the priesthood for time and all eternity.

Even after the murder of the Prophet Joseph Smith, when the Saints realized they must shortly leave Nauvoo, they increased their commitment to completing the temple. The attic of the unfinished temple was dedicated as a part of the structure where the endowment would be administered. The Saints were so anxious to receive this sacred ordinance that Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and others of the Twelve Apostles remained in the temple both day and night, sleeping no more than about four hours a night.

Almost 6,000 Latter-day Saints received their endowments before leaving Nauvoo. As they turned their eyes toward their western migration, they were bolstered in faith and secure in the knowledge that their families were eternally sealed together. Tear-stained faces, ready to move on after burying a child or spouse on America’s vast prairie, were resolute largely because of the assurances contained in the ordinances they had received in the temple.

When the temple was rebuilt they did everything possible to make it exactly the same as the original. It's amazing on the inside and it truly has such a special spirit, knowing these people rushed to complete the building only to abandon it for a journey that would require the ultimate sacrifices of their homes, possessions, and in many cases their lives. I had ancestors on both sides of my family who went through the original Nauvoo Temple. If it was so important for them to make the sacrifices to build the temple to go through one time, how often should we, with our easy lives and plethora of temples, be attending the temple and appreciating the blessings!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be in the temple with my whole family. After we went to the temple we set up camp and got dinner ready. Before we ate we watch the movie Treasure in Heaven, about my mom's great (great great great...) grandfather John Tanner, who was an early member of the church and gave up all his earthly possessions to see the church move forward and fulfill the Lord's commandments. The whole evening was great and started our time in Nauvoo with such a perfect attitude and spirit.

Carthage Jail

2010-07-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

We went to Carthage Jail on our way to Nauvoo. This place is amazing, and the best way I thought I could explain it was to just take from church history. It's a little long, but every word is amazing and breaks my heart every time I hear it:

On at least 19 different occasions, beginning as early as 1829, Joseph Smith told the Saints that he would probably not leave this life peacefully. While he felt that his enemies would one day take his life, he did not know when. As the spring of 1844 became summer, enemies both within and without the Church worked toward Joseph’s destruction. Thomas Sharp, editor of a nearby newspaper and a leader in Hancock County’s anti-Mormon political party, openly called for the Prophet’s murder. Citizens’ groups, apostates, and civic leaders conspired to destroy the Church by destroying its prophet.

The governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford, wrote to Joseph Smith, insisting that the city council members stand trial before a non-Mormon jury on a charge of causing a civil disturbance. He said that only such a trial would satisfy the people. He promised the men complete protection, although the Prophet did not believe he could fulfill his pledge. When it appeared that there were no other alternatives, the Prophet, his brother Hyrum, John Taylor, and others submitted to arrest, fully aware that they were guilty of no crimes.

As the Prophet prepared to leave Nauvoo for the county seat of Carthage, about 20 miles away, he knew that he was seeing his family and friends for the last time. He prophesied, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer’s morning.”

Shortly after five o’clock in the afternoon of 27 June 1844, a mob of about 200 men with painted faces stormed the Carthage Jail, shot and killed Joseph and his brother Hyrum, and seriously wounded John Taylor. Only Willard Richards remained unharmed. Upon hearing shouts of “the Mormons are coming,” the mob fled, as did most of Carthage’s residents. Willard Richards cared for the wounded John Taylor, both of them mourning their slain leaders. Hyrum’s body was inside the jail, while Joseph, who had fallen from a window, lay beside the outside well.

President John Taylor recovered from his wounds and later wrote a tribute to the slain leaders that is now section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants. He said: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. … He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated! … They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward” (D&C 135:3, 6).

Joseph was a true prophet, he died for what he believed, and this is holy ground. Visit it if you ever have the chance!

Spontaneous Stop in Missouri

2010-07-06T21:21:00.000-06:00

After we went to Springfield we had to camp overnight before going to Carthage and the rest of the way to Nauvoo. There was a slight mix up in the directions to the campground my dad had reservations at (no judgment on the Geography grad being banned from navigator position), so we decided to go to a place we knew had good campgrounds...Hannibal, Missouri! If you've never been there, it's the home of Mark Twain and you can tour the caves that were the inspiration for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We camped right by the cave and toured it before we left in the morning.

Hannibal has a huge Tom and Becky contest every year and the kids who win tour the country as Tom and Becky. I think we have this exact same picture, but with Zach about 10 years ago!

If you ever have the chance to visit Hannibal on the 4th of July, they have fireworks over the Mississippi that are some of the best I've ever seen.

Honest Abe's Town

2010-07-05T23:50:00.000-06:00

The first stop on our big family road trip was Springfield, Illinois, the hometown of one Abraham Lincoln. We toured the Presidential Museum where we were accosted by an elderly volunteer for alleged picture taking where such things were apparently prohibited (lame). It was interesting to see things that actually had Lincoln's writing, things he used or wore, and places he actually worked, like his first law office which still exists. The area has been well preserved and restored, especially Lincoln's home. We didn't get to go inside because the tours were full, but I made sure to sneak in the backyard to see his outhouse...

My family is baffled by how low to the ground the "seats" are, given Lincoln's height. That must have been so uncomfortable!

We also visited Lincoln's tomb, which has a very reverent spirit about it. It's amazing to go there and know that such a great person is buried there along side most of his family.

Everyone rubs the nose on this for good luck, but I honestly don't know why. My dad told us that's what people do, so we did it.

We were at the tomb right before it closed for the day, and Zach saw a worker going over to take the flags down. First he took the Lincoln flag down (maybe it was an Illinois flag, I have no idea) and he just folded it and stuffed it in his pocket. We sat there watching and wondering how he was going to properly fold the American flag by himself. I guess Zach couldn't stand the idea of our flag being wadded up and shoved in a pocket, so he ran over and asked if he could help. As he quickly folded the flag into a perfect little triangle the man asked if he was in the military and Zach said, "No sir, Eagle Scout." What a kid.

Seeing all of these historical sites was really cool because in my mind I think of the Civil War being so long ago, yet it happened after a lot of the Church history that seems so close and real to me. It was definitely good background about the country and people of that time to take into Nauvoo and understand what those people went through.

Family Reunion

2010-06-28T23:17:00.000-06:00

Every June we have the Robinson Family Reunion in Manila, UT near the Flaming Gorge. This year Gary's parents were in charge, so we loaded up and went out a day early to help with the piñata and other critical tasks! This was the first time that we have been the majority family, Riley and Sandy had 3 sons, 3 daughters in law (2 named Jen), 9 grandchildren, and one grandpuppy in attendance. It was so much fun to spend some time with the Texas Robinsons and get to know their smart and hilarious kids! Brooke and I especially bonded, she is one of the silliest girls I've ever known. The trip was Monkey's first road trip and she handled it like a champ. She got pretty sick of kids touching her and had a rough time making friends with Sandy's cats, but other than that it was a great trip!

Before we drive home, we usually drive way up the mountain to the Red Lodge for a great meal. It's a very beautiful drive and their food is really good! This year I convinced everyone to order dessert, and I think it should definitely be added to the tradition. Monkey came to the restaurant and was so good while we ate, she didn't even mind all the chipmunks and birds running around her.

We really enjoy having this little get away every year. You wouldn't think that Manila, UT would have a whole lot going on, but Riley and Sandy manage to spoil us and make it a lot of fun!

Recent and Random

2010-06-24T00:40:00.000-06:00

A bunch of random recent pictures of myself...because I think I'm that cool?

Monkey and me on Memorial Day.

Just at home, maybe going somewhere if G has sunglasses on.

Utah Olympic Park for work.

Working my Amazing Race station at the Homestead Crater.

Staying at the Newpark Hotel in Park City for the training I helped with.

5 Hour Vacation

2010-06-23T00:46:00.000-06:00

In between hotels and events, I had one afternoon to be with Gary and have some fun. We had a big family dinner for Father's Day and my cousin Sean going into the MTC, followed by me getting to unpack and repack for the next event, so Gary and I literally had 5 hours out of 7 days but we tried to make the most of it!

We started right across the street from Zermatt, where I do my work trips, and went to check out the Homestead Crater. It's really incredible on the inside, not too pleasant of a walk up though. Hopefully we will get to SCUBA dive in it one day so that we can truly appreciate the wonder of it! The views from the top are pretty awesome, Heber Valley has got to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

After the crater we headed up to Park City to eat at my favorite Mexican Catina and decided to go check out the Olympic Park, this time off the clock so I could really explore and enjoy. I guess Gary was feeling like an adrenaline junky that day because we ended up with a pass to do everything at the park, including the bobsled! It's pretty cool to say we've been down the Olympic bobsled track at 69 miles an hour! We can't wait to go back in the winter and do it for real on the ice!

I'm so lucky that my job opens my eyes to the awesome stuff I have access to close to home! We are hoping that we can make this a summer that we spend our weekends on vacation here in Utah because there are a lot of interesting and fun things that most people don't take the opportunity to visit. It's sort of like New Yorkers who have never been to the Statue of Liberty. I would strongly recommend people go visit Olympic Park, and if anyone has any cool suggestions of stuff to do I would love to hear them!

JJ Turned 25...

2010-06-07T23:41:00.000-06:00

Here's a recap of my big 2-5!

The morning of my birthday my friend Kristen wanted to be the first person to give me a present so after we went running she gave me this cute green shirt to wear to work! Gary took me out to Mimi's for breakfast, then I had the rough task of going to Lagoon for work. It's not quite as exciting as it sounds, we were there to plan a scavenger hunt not ride the rides! But we did go out to lunch and I got some delicious cotton candy at the park, as well as the fun surprise of my desk being decorated. A couple of days after my birthday we had some of our friends in the neighborhood over for a bbq. Sadly, when you live at the point of the mountain the wind is crazy, so we didn't get to make a fire in my the fire bowl I got for my birthday! It was still a lot of fun, we are so lucky to have the coolest neighbors!

On Sunday I had the traditional combined birthday party with my cousin Logan. His wife Kristen has been my birthday cake maker for 3 years in a row now (maybe more?) and I appreciate it so much!

The Tanner's gave me an awesome gift to go with my new fire bowl and yard: tiki torches, roasting sticks, and s'more supplies!

Basically it was a good birthday. My parents sent me a Dairy Queen gift card since the Blizzard and I turned 25 together. I'm hoping that one day I'll find a DQ while I'm with Gary...supposedly there is one in Sandy but we can't find it. Anyway, thanks to all my friends and family who showed me so much love for my special day/week!

The Yard!

2010-06-06T17:21:00.000-06:00

As you might have guessed from my last post (forever ago), we finally got our yard in! My parents drove to Utah before they went to Oregon and my dad got things moving on our sprinkling system. Gary and I leveled and spread top soil so that when my dad got back they could trench, build the system, and put it in the ground. It was a amazing to see my dad just go to work and do something he knows so well. I think Gary learned A LOT from the process. The next weekend we laid sod! We still have to work on a couple garden patches in our front yard, but other than that everything is looking great. Hopefully we will get a fence because the wind is just out of control at our house (point of the mountain), but other than that we are loving being outside and having grass to chill on.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped in anyway!

Memorial Weekend Concert

2010-06-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

Kansas. Foreigner. Styx. Petersons & Rockwoods.

I had to steal this cute collage from K's blog so you could see what hilariously crazy people we were at this concert. Pretty sure we were the entertainment in our section, taking pictures and photobombing each other, since we couldn't see anyway! We absolutely love the Rockwoods and how they will drop everything (literally, their other friends must hate us) and come make something we are doing a million times more fun! I was going to see this concert for my job because we are looking for a great band to play our convention in the fall, and we got lucky with extra free tickets because Gary's company owns the venue! Really, I will admit that I knew like 4 songs, but I had a ton of fun!

Gary and Brandon were watching this lady dance for a really long time and just cracking up over it. Finally they showed us what was so funny and we decided to go dance with her for a song and she told us we had to stay on the beat! Don't mind how stupid I look, I was trying so hard to mimic her and got the worst side ache from dancing, I do not know how she did it through the whole show!

Come One Come All

2010-05-21T09:05:00.000-06:00

This stuff arrives at my house Saturday! We don't know exactly what time until later Friday, but we are going to need some help and plan to be done by 5 if it ends up being afternoon. I will be "firing up the grill" as requested, and what I make will certainly depend on the help we get! If you are available for our awesome sod party...

Please comment, text, email, facebook, whatever you want, just let me know and we'll tell you what time we'll be starting. Our yard is SUPER small, so if we have 5-6 guys it should take a couple hours or less!

Come on friends, this is the last step before I can start inviting
you to real bbq's and puppy play dates at my house!

This Guy Again...

2010-05-19T23:58:00.000-06:00

Well guess who I finally got to see?

Yep, this guy again...Mister Antics himself, ZACH! And guess what? He hasn't changed so don't expect it. However, he gives wonderful prayers, says I love you to his sister, and plays and sings beautiful original songs with his new guitar. He might be my favorite brother even if he farts a lot. Oh, and we almost look related now:

He was at my house for 2 days total, 4 days in between each. Here is our whole family together again:

And here's a picture of just Gar, me, and Monk because it's part of this batch of pics:

My parents went back to Oregon with Zach last week to visit some of the great people he met on his mission. The stories are incredible and we are so very proud of this boy! I am also incredibly grateful that my dad took it upon himself to do my sprinkling system in the ONE day he was here, and that Zach helped pleasantly, and that Gary was able to learn a ton from the experience! But that's a whole other post still in the making!

Playoffs...

2010-05-19T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well we made it two rounds and had a heartbreaker against the Lakers. Speaking from game attending experience, Laker fans are the worst (but not you Wendy). Oh well, life goes on! Here are pictures from the 3 playoff games I went to:

Denver Game 3: Nu Skin Ruby Trip

(Jazz game + overtime + seeing husband for the first time in days = I love my job)

Denver Game 4: Ryan and Gary

Bryndee and Jen

Watching a game at home: Gary in full green gear with the Monster.

Laker Game 3: Jen and Kristen

We'll greatly enjoy the off-season so we can get our yard done, lose some weight, get normal amounts of sleep, see friends more often, go on vacation...honestly I just count the days to the end of the season because I get the less high-strung version of Gary back!

Anniversary Recap

2010-05-15T00:13:00.000-06:00

For our anniversary we ate at Carrabba's, it's in the special events rotation with Outback and Cheesecake Factory. What can I say? We know what we like and you might not think it's classy or fancy, but it's always dang good. Plus you can wear jeans, basically a requirement for Gary since he considers that to be dressed up outside of work.

Gary also gave me a ring that I've wanted for a while! He has been on a serious role the last year with gifts. Gone are the days of giving me useful, but mutually beneficial electronics! I am so very appreciative of his love and thoughtfulness!

{Disclaimer: picture taken after wearing the ring, it's silver so it scratches.}

4 Fabulous Years!

2010-05-13T09:57:00.000-06:00

In 2004 this was us, dating 8 months (not exclusively) and obviously smitten. When I got this film developed and saw this picture for the first time, that was the exact moment I knew I was going to marry Gary.
I saw this picture and just knew I wanted to be that happy forever.

In 2006 this was us, different temple in the background but still so happy:

May 13, 2006 (2 days later), sealed for time and all eternity:

I feel like we started this marriage off on the right foot and never stopped having fun:

Yesterday I asked Gary to come up with a song that makes him think of me or us. After he was done being confused at such a weird request, he chose the Dave Matthews Band song below and I chose the Jack Johnson song. When he said this is my song and hit play, my heart skipped a beat and had a 7 year flash back! I know sometimes it may seem like all we do is pick on each other and make the other one crazy, but we really are ridiculously happy and blessed to have a wonderful life together! Happy Anniversary GP!

We sure love our moms

2010-05-09T21:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Mother's Day!

(With my mom in 2005, one of my favorite pictures ever, and Gary's parents in 2009.)

We need this one

2010-05-08T11:15:00.000-06:00

Today is a very stressful day for us, we NEED the Jazz to win. I'm not saying we're praying for them to beat the Lakers in the whole series, we just really need them to put up a fight or Gary has a very long and difficult summer of sales ahead of him. I don't care what team you love, if you hate the Lakers please send all the positive vibes you can to our team tonight! I will "Bring the Noise" from my living room, come on over and cheer with me!

Me in Threes

2010-05-05T19:19:00.000-06:00

Thanks for tagging me Kristen, this was fun! I felt like I needed to add my favorite TV shows since I was listing my favorite movies. All friends, feel free repost this even if I didn't tag you!

Three names I go by:

Jennifer

J.Pete

Jenni-Banana

Three jobs I've had:

Winger's

BYU Events Management Team

Nu Skin Marketing (events woot woot)

Three places I've lived:

Lester Prairie

Helaman Halls

Branbury

Three favorite drinks:

Diet Dr. Pepper

Sobe Lean Cranberry Lime

Virgin Margaritas

Three favorite movies:

Mean Girls

Pretty Woman

Talledega Nights (anything Will Ferrell)

Three TV shows:

Gossip Girl

Cougar Town

The Biggest Loser

Three places I've been:

Jamaica

St. Thomas

St. Martin

Three places I'd like to visit:

Europe

Dominican Republic

New York City

Three favorite foods:

Chips and Salsa

French Fries

Pitas with tzatziki sauce

Three makeup products I can't live without:

Clinique Blended Face Powder

Cover Girl Lash Blast

Flirt! Eye shadows

Three things I'm looking forward to:

Navuoo with my family

Experiencing all my events for the first time

Having a backyard

People I'm Tagging!

Bryndee @madeslade

Rachel @nathancbarrettfamily

Julianne @julianneburr

Addendum to last post

2010-04-30T11:15:00.000-06:00

I failed to include my dear friend Kristen Rockwood in my previous post of things that make me happy. I took Monday off to recover from my trip and was lucky enough to spend the day with Kristen. We went to Cafe Rio for a late birthday lunch (I missed both of her surprise parties over the weekend), then did a little consignment shopping, and finished off the afternoon by taking our dogs on a walk.

Kristen, I love hanging out with you and it does indeed give me "fuzzy wuzzy's". LOL. The only reason I didn't include our lovely day in my post is the lack of photo evidence because someone looked gorgeous but thought they looked terrible (not possible at all). Maybe next time you should not declare yourself "not picture worthy" when we hang out and you can get on my blog!

{ha ha ha but really I do love you, happy late birthday again!}

Latest things making me so happy

2010-04-29T22:07:00.000-06:00

My sweet little Monkey. She's recently learned to play dead, which puts us at 3 official tricks. Too bad she still can't figure out what "Come here" means, and she's also started running away. But when she's all worn out she curls up like this and is just such a little love bug.

Going to Jazz games, cheering for our team that might just make it to the next round to face the Lakers, and being with great friends! I went to the last 2 playoff games, one with work and one with the Slades!

Living in this beautiful place that can't decide if it's summer or winter! This is seriously the only place where people could snowmobile on 6 inches of fresh snow while other people golfed and got sunburns 30 minutes away (yes that happened on my trip Saturday). May is my favorite month in Utah because it's the only month that it's really green, and usually the weather is just right. Hopefully that weather will show up soon because I'm sick of being cold!

My new coworkers and job! I spent last Wednesday-Sunday on a work trip. Part of my job is doing recognition trips for Nu Skin distributors, and I can honestly say that it was so fun I almost felt guilty turning in my time card. I worked about 80 hours last week, got very little sleep, laughed my butt off, and had the most fun since working events in college! People keep asking how I like my new job and all I can say is that there just aren't words for how happy it makes me! My team wanted a simple group picture and it turned into quite the production, ending in what we call our "album cover". When this picture was taken I was laughing so hard I was crying, which is basically what happened every single day! Mark my words, I will liz at least once in this job.

I am blessed beyond words to be where I am in life right now! I heard the Jordin Sparks song One Step at a Time on my drive down the canyon Sunday afternoon and got such an amazing feeling of how all things work together for our good. We never know what small opportunities will lead us into great things, I can only imagine what Heavenly Father has planned for my next 25 years! For now I'm focusing on exciting stuff in the next few weeks with my family coming to visit (including Zach!!), and my 4th anniversary with Gary! Maybe we'll even get crazy and finally paint some walls and put our backyard in...one can dream!

Crazy dog...

2010-04-21T00:46:00.000-06:00

My dog is insane, and maybe part cat. We borrowed this from my Grandpa's house, it's a seat that Monkey thinks is the greatest toy ever, she will seriously do this for 20-30 minutes.

I'm off to Midway to in the morning stay in a lovely hotel for work. This is my first recognition trip, it's way smaller than usual because all the Europeans are grounded from the ash. I'm really excited to get to know the other staff and spend time with my awesome co-workers. Not going to lie, I will miss Monkey like crazy (and Gary). Luckily, we are all going to the Jazz game Friday so I will get to see Gary before I am back home Sunday. Wish me luck, I really have no clue what I'm in for!

Flashback: I was robbed

2010-04-09T00:13:00.000-06:00

At work on Thursday we were talking about modest dance dresses and it made me think of this random flashback tangent to share...(nothing to do with modesty except that my parents thankfully spared me from the sleeves rule because I would have been ridiculed.)

Homecoming

Prom

I was furious my senior year that I had been in every "court" and never won. I didn't expect to win Homecoming, I had high hopes for SnoFest, and I thought Prom was in the bag. My friend Dane and I should have been Prom King and Queen, but we were totally robbed. Guess what? No one cares anymore. Isn't it funny how important things are to us in the moment, especially when we are young? It wasn't about the crown, or the attention, I just have a weird thing with proving I'm the best. There were some girls who made my Homecoming nomination quite a dramatic thing (the police had to be involved), and I'd like to know if they still feel justified or now look back and wonder why they were so ridiculous? I love this prom picture for three reasons:

We took a decorated ASTRO VAN to prom!
I took a boy from my stake who lived 40 minutes away, and paid for myself.
I wore a borrowed dress and shoes.

Even thought I was upset that I didn't get the crown, I think those 3 thing show that actually I had a good head on my sleeveless-shoulders, and that I was starting to get over the "important" things of high school. When we are in the moment it's easy to think something is the biggest deal ever and thankfully we all get older and realized that those unfair, unhappy, or unpleasant things really just DON'T MATTER. That is something worth growing up for.

{Please recall that I was in a graduating class of less than 30 so this crap was a HUGE deal and the whole town came to our coronations and we were in the newspaper and everything. Now please feel free to LOL.}

More Monkey!

2010-04-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

In our neighborhood there is this stupid collie that is always off its leash roaming around! Whenever it goes behind our house Monkey stands up on the glass door and barks, which it can hear so it runs up on our back porch and Monkey freaks out even more! They had a bad run in when Monk was a little pup so I was really surprised when Gary called me outside for this one Sunday:

This is another one of the great pictures Kali took. When we were asked if we took pictures without Monkey I realized that maybe we should have since Monkey got to take pictures without us!

This is the latest trick. Don't worry, when I have kids I will probably post videos of them doing things everyone's kids can do, and I will think it's amazing because it's my kid. Just like this (watch her snarl on the second roll):

Look, I sit and listen to the non-stop kid and baby talk, so I think you can all endure my dog posts. :)

Family Pictures!

2010-04-01T00:02:00.000-06:00

Yep, we're those people...the we-don't-have-a-baby-so-we-treat-our-dog-like-one people. Sue me.

The pictures Kali (dear love from the Winger days) took of us turned out so great! If you want to see the highlights check out her photography blog, or come to our house (in a few months when we get around to decorating) and see them framed. It's way too much work to load all the ones I like on the blog, but Monkey is definitely the best accessory I have ever bought!

Thanks Grandma Thiele...

2010-03-30T23:45:00.000-06:00

For the eyebrows (and eyes for that matter)! My mom sent me this picture today from my "portfolio" you know from when I was like 11 and got signed to a modeling agency and had to take classes on walking and posing and had to practice every-stinking-day but never got a job! But seriously, these were the eyebrows I was born with, and if you look at a more recent picture (with Kristen at the Jazz game a couple weeks ago), it almost seems like they might be getting thicker! Don't worry girls, it's totally fair because the rest of me is getting thicker, and that's in my genes too. I just thought this was funny and wanted to share, you know because I'm just super random!

P.S. I'm thinking about getting permanent eyeliner to save time in the mornings...any suggestions, comments, or opinions on the matter?

Dreams...

2010-03-22T14:35:00.000-06:00

When I was in high school I was always trying to organize group dinners and group activities. Maybe it was the influence of For the Strength of Youth, or maybe I just like being bossy.

Then when I got engaged I planned everything on my own. Some people gave input and LOTS of people did the work, but the general color scheme, decoration, schedule, order giving type stuff was 100% me. The control freak began to be exposed.

Then I worked on the Events Management Team at BYU, a.k.a. the source of my epiphany that this was what I was meant to do with my life. I lived and breathed events. I thrived on deadlines. I was a checklist, Excel, walkie-talkie maven. I ran a team, learned to stop making other girls cry, and found my "people person" instincts.

It's been nearly two years since I graduated and had to leave that glorious job. I've toiled away ordering office supplies, taking meeting minutes, and ordering lunches. I found ways to fulfill my event bug with department parties and off-site team building activities, but I've really just been patiently waiting.

The wait has finally ended, I am now a real life corporate event planner! I've just been hired to work in Marketing at Nu Skin dealing with Events and Recognition, which means conventions, distributor trips, product launches, all that fantastic stuff! I seriously could not be more excited! This job is going to be such hard (but still fun) work, which will be incredibly rewarding! It's really cool to work for a company that is easy to believe in and get excited about. This job is the front line of excitement, working to motivate, reward, and empower the amazing people who sell our products. I'm beyond blessed to know my path and actually be on it at such a young age! I've worked so hard for this, it's truly a case of opportunity meeting preparation and I feel so LUCKY!

Flashback: How we met

2010-03-19T11:38:00.001-06:00

Since it was Gary's birthday on Sunday I've been thinking about how OLD I'm feeling! He turned 31 and I'll be 25 this year, which makes it just sound completely crazy that we met 2 weeks after my 18th birthday, June will be 7 years since our first date! Some of my friends know our "story" but some of you don't, so I thought it would be fun to share! Just to warn you, this is totally an Alexis (Real Housewives of OC) story because I can't stand to leave out any details of how the Petersons came to be!

So my senior year of high school basically sucked really bad and I couldn't wait to get out of my small town and move back to Utah. I was originally accepted to BYU for summer, but was later changed to fall and just decided to move out here for the summer anyway. 2 weeks after graduation and my 18th birthday my dad loaded my car and drove me to Utah. The next day we went to Los Hermanos with my Aunt Danna. When I was little I always wanted to work there so when we went to eat they gave me an application. Part of the way through our meal the host came over and said he needed me to come back to the lobby to get something else for the application. He sat me down in the lobby and next thing I know, my waiter is sitting down next to me and asking if I like Dave Matthews! Well I didn't, I actually had a long standing grudge against the band for beating Nsync at the Grammys (solid reasoning) but I lied because I didn't know anyone and needed to start getting dates! So I gave the waiter my phone number and went back to my table. Seriously, it was one of the weirdest things that had happened to me to that point in my life!

Well come to find out, Gary thought I was cute when I walked in and he got his friend Eric to set the whole thing up so he could be our waiter and get me away from the table to ask me out! The next day we talked on the phone for the first time and the next week we hung out for the first time. I remember every detail of my outfit, pulling up to Gary's house, meeting his best friend Brian who was about to go on his mission, what I ordered for dinner, all of it! We stayed up all night talking (I got in big trouble for that), and then had our first official date a couple days later. When Gary came to pick me up he brought me a stuffed Nemo. I had mentioned how much I loved Nemo and he made the terrible mistake of being thoughtful and buying me something, because after that he was never getting rid of me! I think this was also the beginning of our "fish thing" together because, as our friends know, I was with him when he got his freshwater tank and I have been with him through all the saltwater fish!

{Jen 18, Gary 24}

This picture is probably a month after we first met, at the Dave Matthews Band concert. Gary had given me a DMB mix of all his favorite songs, which of course are now all my favorite songs. Sometimes I'll randomly hear The Space Between or Satellite and my heart does a little dance just like it did 7 years ago when it was all brand new!

{Gary 25, Jen 19}

This picture is one year later, at another Dave Matthews Band concert. I can't imagine my life any differently, and it just keeps getting better!

Lazy Post...

2010-03-17T10:54:00.000-06:00

It was Gary's birthday over the weekend and I didn't take any pictures, which he probably appreciated. We ate at Outback with a gift card (thank you Heather Clark we love you), then had a crepe party Sunday. Everyone came and I loved it and Gary felt loved. Having a house is great.

Monday we invited our new friends Brandon and Kristen to the Jazz game. Want to know a secret (Kristen I hope you laugh)? The first time we ever went to our new ward I saw Kristen and told Gary I wanted to be her friend. Ha ha ha! They are great, but maybe they didn't expect me to talk all through the game...um FYI Rockwoods, I never stop talking. Kristen blogged about it (the game not how much I talk) on her cute blog, which I am linking here because I'm too lazy to load my own pictures (on my laptop at home, I'm blogging at work!). Thanks K!

That's all the news I have for now. Here's a picture we took last week after church, Monkey is getting so big!

Millions of Melissa's wedding pictures!

2010-03-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

(All but 4 of these pictures are by Cassia Denton, she did an amazing job, I hope Mel doesn't mind that I posted them all!)

Freezing at the Draper Temple:

Brunch (they danced and sang and I cried, a lot):

(The centerpieces were one of many things I happily helped with! Aren't they great?)
Photo Booth!

(For the record I'm only hamming it up that much because I follow photog direction well, he said "scrunchy face"!)

Fun at the Reception:

I absolutely love it when my friends allow me to be a part of their weddings! I think it is such an honor to be included with family on such a special day! Even though Melissa has now moved far far away to Washingting D.C. (where Dave is a civil engineer), we still talk everyday! So far she calls me whenever she goes to Target, and when she wants to cook something! Hopefully she'll get a cool job that she likes and hopefully I'll save up my pennies to visit! I already told her to start scouting delicious places to take me to eat! If you have been to or lived in DC, and have any fun tips I can pass along, please share them!

P.S. How lucky am I that I loved all 3 girls I was "stuck" with for this wedding? We were fast friends!

Our Growing Girl

2010-03-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

Activities at 7 1/2 Months:Digging 5 inch deep holes at Aunt Danna's (aka daycare)

Being smothered by mom cause dad works late.

Using 2 liter bottles as toys, even if we are the same size.

Still hate baths, but getting better at staying in the tub.

Chewing all my toys to pieces, but thankfully entertaining myself more.

Tug-o-war with my leash! Even if it's hooked on the coat rack I think it's pretty fun! Also, when I bring you a toy, I am not going to leave you alone until you play with me!

*Mom and dad are still obsessed with me because I am awesome.

Long post...might produce tears

2010-02-28T23:35:00.001-07:00

{My BYU graduation, 60 years to the day since hers! I know she was so proud.}

I've finally decided I just have to force myself to write this. There is no way I can do my Grandma's legacy justice with a little post on my blog! That is actually one of the most beautiful things about her, she didn't live a life of words but of actions. I've never seen a better example of life long service to family and friends and perfect strangers. She cared about everyone, people in the store, people in her ward, people who attended her 3rd grade class decades ago!

Here is the background on her situation, for years my grandpa has had health problems and we have been bracing for his passing. My grandma has been prepared to be a survivor, to be strong and carry on. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer shortly after Christmas and given 1-3 months to live. I don't know exactly how she felt, but I for one was blindsided. She immediately took on a positive outlook and went to work completing all things she wanted to do for other people. The closest I ever saw her come to complaining was one day when she tearfully told me that she was suppose to be the survivor but that the Lord knows what's best. From diagnosis to death was only 5 weeks.

Just before Christmas I volunteered to take dinner to my grandparents on Saturdays. I thought this would be a very short service until they were both doing better. Right before we received her diagnosis I agreed to continue Saturday meals as long as was needed. I'm so thankful that I was not scrambling to make up for lost time and make my peace with her just because she was sick. The time I spent with her was absolutely priceless. I will remember her by her strength, positive attitude, and example of putting others first. One Saturday I spent at the house with my Aunt Mary, preparing the Christmas gifts for this year. My Grandma said "Get out anything that is Christmas and give it away!" We have 70 people in our family, it took 10 hours just to do all the girls presents and start the boys! She would send us downstairs with the phone on intercom and say the exact aisle and shelf then describe the exact thing she wanted us to find for specific grandchildren! Once the Christmas gifts were done she directed all the preparation for our family's Cousin Camp, then she prepared all the birthday stuff for this year. When all of that was done and she still had stuff to give out, she had a "Be Happy" box made for every member of the family to be given at her funeral. Did I mention there are 70 people in our family?!

All she cared about was getting things done to make sure everyone knew she loved them. I know she must have felt utterly exhausted and had great discomfort, if not sever pain, yet she was so attentive to all her visitors. On my last visit to her house I had decided I wanted to learn to sew and was telling her about my new ambition since she was a spectacular seamstress her whole life (much to my aunts' dismay at times). A couple weeks later, the day after her funeral to be exact, I found out that she had made a note on her list of last wishes or instructions and that I am to receive her sewing machine so that I can learn to sew! I know it probably doesn't seem like anything huge, but it was just another testament of her never failing concern for others and the fact that her ultimate joy came from making other people happy.

As I discussed my feelings and memories with my parents, we talked about how some people spend their lives trying to build a "legacy" in business, real estate, and reputation. Her legacy lives in each person whose life she made a little better by sending them a card or letter, calling on their birthday, or just loving them with patience and concern. We have a huge family that could easily live charitable lives with positive attitudes to carry her torch, and I hope they do! Beyond our family, there are probably 10 times as many people who have been effected by her service and I hope that those people will feel inspired to pass it on and keep her legacy alive.

Since she left the earth I know she has gone to the spirit world where she is taking advantage of her perfect "health" to teach the gospel and organize the service that is needed on the other side. I've personally felt a stronger positive influence in my life. I've been happier, more grateful, and more willing to serve others. Maybe it's that I actually learned something from her, but I'd like to think that she's checking in on me, and where she might have sent me an envelope full of inspiring quotes, now she can send my heart a little boost of happiness to keep me moving forward in my attempt to follow in her spectacular footsteps.

I love you so much Grandma! Thank you for teaching me what class really is, and that the only difference between being bitter or better is "I". You will always be in my heart reminding me to wake up and do something more!

{Our last family picture, taken Christmas 2009}

Working on it...

2010-02-22T23:19:00.001-07:00

I'm working on a post about this beautiful lady. My Grandma Thiele passed away on February 12th, and last Thursday we had an amazingly beautiful funeral celebrating her life. I can't even begin to narrow down my thoughts and feelings to put on my blog; I wish everyone could know her and be inspired by her like I was. In the mean time, you should read my mom's blog post about her and how a lot of people felt after the funeral. Be especially sure to watch "The Dash", it's such a good poem.

Available for Hire...

2010-01-31T23:35:00.001-07:00

Seriously, remember how I wish this was my job? Not that I don't love Nu Skin, because without it I wouldn't have been throwing this Bachelorette Party for Melissa, but this was really so much fun! We had a Bachelorette Slumber Party so Melissa could get gifts for when she's married and the rest of us old maids could gear up for Valentine's Day! I went with a pink, black, and silver theme with lots of candles, feathers, and balloons. We got the feathers with all the feathers for Melissa's reception centerpieces, so I thought it was a fun tie in. I also got really lucky and got tons of those cute light up hearts from my Grandma Thiele's storage room (it's magic like Mary Poppin's bag), and they were the perfect last touch.
I used my AppleTV to make a slideshow of all of Melissa's bridals set to some rockin' party music!For dinner I teamed up with the other bride's maids. I hate showers without at least decent sandwiches when they happen right in the middle of dinner time! We had amazing bruschetta, strawberry and poppyseed salad, fresh bread, baked ziti with spicy tomato pesto sauce, baked farfalle with alfredo, raspberry lemonade, and CUPCAKES!
We played games, but they were run by our consultant Brooke, who also had great prizes!
We also gave a prize for best dressed so everyone would match and be super cute! Party tip: if everyone dresses in your party colors, the guests are like extra decorations! I loved it!
Oh and you know Monkey had to get dressed up too! Melissa and I found this dress and could not resist! (I know, I know, poor dog. Get over it, she has a great life.)So if you ever want me to help you plan a party, or you want to become one of my best friends so I'll throw you one, let me know!

Last week was a good one!

2010-01-31T23:31:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Bryndee and I attempted to craft, but just ended up having a fun day together discovering how sold out Valentine's craft supplies were. We decided we needed to get together more often. Luckily Bryndee is far more cleaver than me and she suggested Waffle Night at our house, halfway between hers and Eric and Cassi's. We love seeing our friends and their cute babies, although it would have been better if we had time for a little Super Mario Brothers, but I guess that will have to be next time.Then on Wednesday I had an opportunity through Nu Skin to go to the Food and Care Coalition in Provo to serve lunch. It's really a humbling experience to not only see these people in need, but to be around the people who spend everyday serving them. The center is in a brand new building, parts are still being finished. They serve 3 meals a day, on my lunch we served nearly 100 people, yet they only spend $10,000 on food in a whole entire year. This is a fantastic private organization that thrives on donations and volunteers. They have great programs to help people learn to be self sufficient and and get through these hard times. I'm looking forward to going back and hopefully finding more ways to get involved in helping them.
And of course we've been teaching Primary and actually enjoying, mostly. We've taught 3 weeks and every week we've had at least one cry through opening exercises. We have the newest Sunbeams who aren't quite use to Primary yet. Once they have a week with us they love us, but it's getting through that first 20 minutes that's killer. The other thing we don't love, is Sharing Time. Our kids hate it, they squirm, they flick paper, the hop forward on their chairs, it's pure chaos. Once we get to class we have a good time coloring, eating goldfish and marshmallows, and this week we sang "Do as I'm Doing" for about 5 minutes straight. Please ignore that I look horrid in this picture and just notice how adorable it is when the kids gather around. They are pretty darn cute when they stop crying!

Flashback Day

2010-01-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

I've never done a Flashback Friday on my blog, but I've been wanting to talk about Lester Prairie for a while so here we go. Probably most of the people who read my blog didn't have the privilege of growing up with me in my spectacularly small town (truth be told I lived there 4 years and beelined it back to UT). A lot of people are from cities of about 25,000 and say oh I lived in a small town. Sorry guys, our town was for real small, 1200 people, no stop lights, one school for everyone K-12! To make matters worse, Lester Prairie is in the middle of no where (look at a map). We had full size lockers but none of them had locks, we had real study hall where you just hang out for an hour of your day, we had first graders in our Homecoming court, we a dinner for prom and the dance was at our all night party at school. It was another world, but I love that I got to grow up that way.

My graduating class was in the 30's, we didn't even fill an entire charter bus. I know that fun fact because our senior year we used the money we had saved from fund raisers since 8th or 9th grade and took a bus to Florida for an entire week of Disney, Universal Studios, beach, and fun. Seriously, hotel, dinners, amusement parks, it was all paid for! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

(About half of us in Florida, me top right)

(The whole huge class at graduation)

Another thing that was so fun about living in a small town was being in any activity I wanted. I played JV basketball and the first day of practice I had to ask what a lay up was (I scored 2 points my whole first season)! I got to be in the musical Bye Bye Birdie and I couldn't carry a tune if my life depended on it! I also cheered for varsity football for 3 years. In our school we made locker posters for every football player for every game, we made huge signs to put up around school, and we held "Pep Fests" on game days where we cheered and had contests and skits (Let's hear the spirit of 2003, 2003, 2-2-2-2-2003)!

(I'm pretty sure this was the last game of my senior year)

My senior year the principal moved his office into the senior hallway (one of 2 hallways that connected the 7-12 side to the k-6 side), and he let us have our "independent study" classes in there, as well as lunch and naps. Really, who skips class in the Principal's office? Oh, me. The main thing we use to do in Mr. Miller's office was copy homework! The smartest kid in our class, Adam, did science homework for all of us. He's a doctor now so I guess that paid off for him. My friend Kristi was the one who did all our English reading and took copious notes so that we could all study for our daily quiz. Wait, did you understand that part where all of this took place in the Principal's office? I know I can't believe it when I think about it. By the way, my real class motto was "Why do today what we can copy tomorrow?"

For Homecoming and SnoFest we had spirit weeks with all different theme days like a normal school. But unlike most schools, we had an activity day during SnoFest where we could choose to go to the Mall of America or skiing for the whole day. My senior year we had some sort of group dress up day for SnoFest and my friends made up a gang called the Saltines (you know cause they were total crackers), our colors were red and black. Another group made up a gang to make fun of us and called it the K-Swisses, their colors were blue and white. At lunch time we went to the school lobby to have a "rumble" where we really just posed like we were beating each other up while other people took pictures, the principal even got in on it! Yeah, we had a school sanctioned gang fight.

(These were the girl's gang outfits. That was the most popular girl in my class and I still disagree with that fact, but that's a grudge for another post.)

(SnoFest Coronation, BFF Krystal, me, friend Erin)

I have so many stories and memories that are fading away until I come across something that sparks them. You have got to read my brother's quote book from before his mission, and mostly going to school in Lester. A lot of it may seem like an inside joke, but you might get a good feel of the student-teacher dynamic from some of his quotes in there. I may have to start writing my high school stories regularly because I am just starting to think of a million stories I could share that would more fully illustrate what a unique experience I was fortunate to have in high school. In the mean time, please enjoy these fabulous old pictures and how much I haven't changed!

Huge Pictures, Monkey, Etc.

2010-01-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

Guess who learned to make pictures post HUGE? Thanks Michele, it only took me like 5 tries, but that had nothing to do with your instructions and everything to do with me following them!The picture above is of the hilariously huge bone we got Monkey just after New Year's. It was nearly as big as her but she loved to carry it all around the house. I don't know if she is just a super determined little animal or really loves bones, but I swear it's all she ever does. She will chew that stupid thing until 2 am! The picture below (from my cell phone) shows how far she's gotten on that bone, but it also shows how worn out she was tonight. We had a hard morning...This morning I got up nice and early so that I could be on time for work. Around 8:05 I start loading all my junk in the car. Purse, book, gym bag, dog crate, Monkey, oh but I forgot dog food. You see Monkey goes to puppy daycare at my Aunt Danna's, and she was all out of her food at Danna's house. So I put Monkey in the passenger seat of the Trailblazer, turn it on, and run back inside to grab her food. Do you see where this is going yet? I run back out to the garage with the food and a dog treat, pull the handle on the door and it's locked! Whoa, wait, didn't I just open this door to put Monkey in? This can't be happening.

I run around and try every door, all locked. Gary didn't leave very long ago so I'm sure I can just call him and he'll be back with the spare keys in no time, except that my phone is sitting in the locked running car with the dog. Panic. Okay, no big deal, I'll just run to the neighbors. Of course my wonderful neighbor Rachel lets me in and I use her cell phone, but of course Gary doesn't answer. I leave a message and go back into the garage to try to get Monkey excited enough to jump on the lock switch again, and of all times to be a spaz, she just sits there and stares at me! So then I run back in the house and frantically utilize every form of social networking and mobile communication I can think of! I send Gary an email, I Facebook people to call him, I Google "send text message online" and text him from the first free site that comes up! I go in and out of the house, Monkey is freaking out in the car, I'm on the verge of losing it, right before I burst into tears, halleluah Gary pulls up! He got the text and came to save us! Monkey was stuck in the locked running car for about 30 minutes.

A very similar situation happened to my parents with Scout, but in Wyoming in the snow. I already promised to never mock them again. This was seriously the most stressful and scary things that has happened to me as a puppy momma, and as Danna so kindly pointed out, now I know not to leave my kids in the car. Is it any wonder Monkey is wiped out?

Also, one more thing about Monkey if you can stand it. Monk loves to take toys through Danna's doggie door and she loves to dig up the backyard. Recently, she's found a way to combine her 2 favorite pastimes. She takes a certain duck outside and moves it all around the yard with her to each of her little projects. I think he is her friend, like Calvin and Hobbes. If you ever watch her play in the yard it's almost impossible to not believe she is out their playing imaginary games. She's the happiest puppy alive I swear.

I am so thankful for this dog in my life. You have no idea how much love and joy she brings us. Both sides of my family have encountered their first detours this year, and it's these times that we look for Heavenly Father's hand in even the small things to bring us joy and remind us of how blessed we are to be eternal families and know His plan. Oh yes, I believe my dog is part of my eternal family, but I am thinking more of my sweet Grandma Thiele and Uncle Verl at this time.

Delurk!

2010-01-07T12:38:00.001-07:00

It's National Delurking Week!
(good thing Goddess reminded me)
Let's be friends! I know you are visiting my little blog so just leave a comment and say who you are and how you found me.

Spiritual Google Maps

2010-01-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

The other day my dad asked me how I did with my 3 goals for last year and I couldn't quite remember what they all were. I seriously can't find that post either, so weird. I think they were something along the lines of "Move Up, Grow Up, Live Up". Well, we did move into a house, I grew up a lot, but I don't really feel like I've learned to "Live Up" to my potential yet.

For me, setting goals is like mapping a course to a destination (you know how I love to think in geography terms). After all, what is this life but one long journey? When you are driving somewhere there is generally a specific set of turns or actions you must take to arrive exactly where you intend to go within the planned amount of time. The problem with this method of setting goals is that life often has its fair share of surprise detours and traffic jams, and at the end of the year you may find yourself in a completely different place than you had intended. However, don't assume this is a bad thing. Imagine that your trusty Tom-Tom is actually Heavenly Father (but with up to date and accurate maps). He has the ability to reroute us and make sure that we not only get where we are going, but that we take the path He knows is best for us. Last year I accomplished a lot, but I also faced trials I never would have imagined. Luckily, I was rerouted and brought to a better place than I had planned on my own. Heavenly Father watches out for us, He teaches us, and He's there when life takes an unexpected turn.

As I thought over what my goals for 2010 might be (besides the standard desire to lose 10 lbs!), I felt that my focus should really be on living a more Christ centered life. When I think about making better use of my time and trying to live up to my potential and just being happy, the answer is to focus on Christ and everything else will fall into place.

That being said, I found "Three Goals to Guide You" from President Thomas S. Monson, which serves as my "Spiritual Google Maps" for 2010. The 3 goals are: Study diligently (spiritual and secular), pray earnestly, and serve willingly. It kind of sounds like back to basics, but sometimes that is how we learn and grow the most. As I start this new year I have the word s of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin in my mind (and posted up to remind me):
"I urge you to examine your life. Determine where you are and what you need to do to be the kind of person you want to be. Create inspiring, noble, and righteous goals that fire your imagination and create excitement in your heart. And keep your eye on them. Work consistently towards achieving them."

I'm so excited to start a new year to work a little harder on being the kind of person I want to become. I hope that all my friends and family know that my faith in Jesus Christ and my membership in His church are the things that define me and make me happy. There is a distinct peace, happiness, and order that only come to my life from living the gospel. I hope I can live it and feel it this year, and then everything else will fall into place!

Quote:

2010-01-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

"Of all accents Minnesotan accents sound the most friendly! I mean, 'Ooh, come an oover foor some hatdish some time!' How could you not want to be friends with that?!" ~ Said by my new friend and fellow Minnesotan today at church. I love it!

How to tell if Dave Roberts has been to your house...

2009-12-31T17:20:00.001-07:00

1. Everything you own now has a hook and a place to be put away:2. Your basement is super clean and all the "storage" (a.k.a. stuff you threw in the basement when you moved in) is totally organized and stacked along the walls.
3. Your cold storage has a new light and newly built shelves with 3 months of food storage (this was our official Christmas gift from my parents).
4. You have soft water. This is the easiest way to tell my dad has been here working hard! He made a new electrical outlet, installed the water softner, and ran a water line to our fridge. Our ice maker still isn't working, but he took it apart and ordered the broken part for that too!
He's still going to build me an extra shelf for my laundry room, but first he has to completely replace the relay light system in my grandparent's house. He's the reason the table and chairs made it here for Christmas, oh and he's shoveled the driveway every day this week. My dad is quite a guy, it's okay if you are jealous.