Come & See!

Open House....

Saturday -- January 29, 2011

4pm - 6pm

2908 West 1060 North, Provo

801-373-4364

Come & see the new house!

More Grown Up Than Me

Everyone likes to receive $ as a gift, right?  You can buy anything you want!!  No more settling for something that someone else THINKS you might like or want... You get what you want.  That's exciting....anything.

While thinking about what to get the kids for Christmas, and while asking them hypothetical questions one evening, Jeremy asks us if, instead of presents this year, we just give him the money.

Yeah, we know this drill...no presents, ask for the money, go and spend it on what you will.  Because he knows I won't buy him a snake. Because he knows I won't know exactly which heat light or infrared lamp bulb to get.  Because he knows he doesn't want any clothes.  Why put up with that?

But again, I was wrong. (I seem to be wrong a lot lately!)

When asked what he would spend his money on, he replied, "I just want to give it away to someone who needs it more than me.  I've got so much stuff already.  Someone else needs it more."

How do you say NO to that?

The sadness that was experienced was actually by us, because he didn't want us to buy him anything.  We did anyway, and then gave him $.

He's a lot more grown up than me.



P.S.  I wrote this while on Benadryl....if it doesn't make sense or there's some punctuation or spelling error, that's why.  Good Niiiggghhhhhh.....zzzzzzzzzz

Heartthrobs

My heartthrob in the 70's....Shaun Cassidy.  I had posters of him all over my room.  I used to write letters to his fan club.

My heartthrobs in the 80's....Steve Perry & Don Johnson.  Who could resist Steve's tight jeans & that long hair?

Who would say no to Don's casual Miami look & sunglasses?

















My heartthrob in the 90's.....     

Now, I get to experience Emily's heartthrob too.  And it's kinda fun...and reminiscent.

Choir Christmas Concerts

I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was 10 years old.  Some time around the age of 12, I began to have a dream of singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

All through Jr. High and High School, I sang.  I was even selected to sing in the Texas State Choir, ranking #6 in the state in the Alto section. When I went to BYU, I sang in BYU's Concert Choir, directed by Mack Wilberg, for 3 years.

My singing fell by the wayside for several years, while I worked and became a mom, although I sang in church many times.  I did participate in a community choir a few years ago.

When I was selected to sing in the Tabernacle Choir a year ago, I fulfilled a life-long dream.  And it has been an amazing year.  I LOVE to sing in a choir.  I enjoy singing solo, but I get much more fulfillment out of singing in a choir.  I love the harmony. I love singing with men. I love how everything fits together.  It's like magic to me.

The Choir's Christmas concert is one of the most anticipated community events.  Tickets are offered free through a random drawing process.  But there is great disappointment if you aren't able to get tickets and this year people were actually selling their tickets.  Shame on them and shame on the people who bought them.

So I've been looking forward to participating in these concerts.  It's been a long week. We had rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday night was the first night it was all put together and it was so exciting to see it and sing in it.  My family was all there and I was so happy.  However, I went to bed extremely late.

Friday's concert was even better.  It was fun and exciting.  Again, I went to bed late.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling just exhausted...like a train had run over me.  We had to be in SLC at 2p for a recording session and by that time, I wasn't feeling well.  After the session, we were served a lovely dinner...turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, salad, pumpkin cheesecake.  I ate about half of it, hoping it would help me feel better.  I was beginning to wonder if I should just sit this performance out.  After dinner, I went to lay down somewhere during our break.  That helped me feel a little better so I decided to sing in the concert.


Wrong decision.

During Song #4, I felt like I was going to pass out, so as soon as it was over, I was going to leave the stage, but then David Archuleta came out for his song, so I just sat down instead.

And then I retched....and my dinner left me.   Luckily for those around me, my dress caught and kept everything and nothing landed on anyone.  All through David's beautiful song, I sat there bent over, waiting for a moment when I could run out.  When his song finished, another one started and I had to sit there again.  My neighbor kept her hand on my shoulder and from out of nowhere, someone handed me 2 tissues.

When the song ended and the lights went down, I gather up the bottom of my dress, held the tissue to my face, and ran up the stairs and off stage....apologizing along the way to the dancers I passed who were getting ready to enter.  I made it to the bathroom, to cry in humility and call Brian to come and get me...however we live 45 minutes away.

People backstage were so kind....from finding me a pair of scrubs to change into, giving me a bag for my lovely choir dress, to wheeling me in a wheelchair back to the dressing room.  One choir member stayed with me the entire time and even sat in the hallway while I laid on the cold bathroom floor, waiting for Brian.  She helped me to the car, carrying my other clothes and my purse.  She went above and beyond the call of duty and should receive many blessings from Heaven for her kindness to me.  I even received an email from another choir member after the concert that welcomed me to the "Throw up During a Concert" club.  She also said, "You were very classy in how you handled yourself in a very difficult situation. There were very few who realized that you threw up. You were quite amazing."  That made me feel better.

I wanted my first Christmas concert to be memorable & special.  And it has been an amazing experience.  I feel so blessed to be in the Choir and sometimes get overwhelmed by the joy I feel to be singing with such an amazing group. 

Too bad it ended in such a "messy" way.  One day soon, I hope to laugh about it.  Right now, my stomach hurts too bad to laugh.

Here's a picture with David...I'm 4 rows above David's head, on the aisle.  Thankfully, this was NOT the night I threw up and thankfully I was sitting in a different place where I was not as noticeable.

The Animal Journey

Both BJ & I had dogs growing up.  Nothing too special.  Our parents took care of them mostly.
We looked forward to having a dog with our own kids, but when JBJ was little, we discovered he was allergic to everything. 

Everything, except rats... & rabbits... & mice... & birds... & fish... & reptiles... & amphibians.

So that's what we've had.  JBJ got his first rat when he was 5 years old.  Since then, he's had at least 5-7 others.  I like the little fellas.  They were clean (believe it or not!) and they were fun.

Then we got rabbits.  Our total has been 18.  That includes 2 litters.... a litter of 10 and a litter of 4.   But most of our rabbits have met an awful demise. 

We got mice because we figured the rats were cute and then the mice were cuter.  But WOW! they stink.  They lasted 3 days in the house and were promptly put into the garage.  But then they died.  I think JBJ forgot to give them water.

We've had plenty of fish.

We've had 4 parakeets.  We have 2 finches now.

Then JBJ got into reptiles and amphibians.  Over a year ago, he caught 4 salamanders at a mountain pond while we were camping.  They are still alive.... in a tank.... in his room.  Then he got a Bearded Dragon.  And he named him Norbert. 

Norbert has grown on me.  I kinda like the weird-looking thing.  I LOVE to watch him eat.  I get great satisfaction out of finding an escaped cricket in our house and tossing it into Norbert's cage....makes me feel powerful.... or morbid.

Well, today we added the ??? up-teenth animal to our collection.  A FEMALE bearded dragon named Daisy.  Guess what JBJ's plan is?  Yep, he wants to breed them.... just like the rabbits.

I read somewhere that bearded dragons can lay an average of 35 eggs per clutch.

Heaven help us.

Another House Update

Our appliances are back in place.  And work on the family room is coming along.  It's almost finished.  As much as I LOVE the tile, if I'd known this was going to be SOOO disrupting to our lives, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to go through with it. 

That being said, I really love the way it looks and I'm very pleased with it. 

Our new windows will not have grids & we are replacing the back door with a sliding glass door.   I still have to paint the baseboards and have plenty of little paint touch-ups on the walls, which I plan to do over Christmas break.  I also plan on painting my bathroom, finishing the paint/varnish on the kitchen cabinets, & possibly painting the kids' bathroom over the break.  We'll see.

This is how we eat these days.  For the record, this is the first time our table has been out of storage in a month.

Looking into the Family room.  This tile has been set.

From the Family room, looking towards the kitchen.  For the next 48+ hours, we can't walk into this room past the table.

Our friend, the tile guy, hard at work! 

Update on House Journey

Well, we live in our house now. But we have no stove, so we still have to eat at my parent's house.  The tile is done in the hallway, bathrooms, laundry room, & JBJ's room.  So now, our kitchen is getting done. 
Other good news....The window people are coming December 16!!!
And the new furnace/AC should be installed before Christmas as well.
WE ARE ALMOST DONE!

The finished tile looking towards the kid's rooms

The finished hallway looking towards the bedroom areas

The almost-finished entry way...that spot had to be broken out because it got stepped on while the setting was still wet.

The kitchen with no stove or fridge

The kitchen, after the tile was cut & laid out and after I repainted

Looking into the family room after it had been mostly emptied out

Progress on house

So the tile was supposed to be set yesterday & possibly have grout today.  That means when we get back from Thanksgiving, we can move stuff around and start work on the kitchen/dining/family room.

As a result.....we've all had our turn being sick & now it's coming back for Round 2, we may not make it to Idaho because somewhere out there is a blizzard in Northern Utah/Southern Idaho, although we've not seen ANY of it here in Provo, & we're still living at my parents with about 3 pairs of clothes.

BUT, I'm choosing to be grateful that:
#1  I have a house to put tile in
#2  I have a house that is close by to stay in while the tile is being installed
#3  I have a house that keeps me warm & out of the blizzard wind outside
#4  I have lost 5 pounds in the past 4 weeks since starting my workouts at Curves.
#5  I have a great job
#6  I have a wonderful family, parents, in-laws, siblings, friends, extended family, etc.
#7  I have a body that can fight illness


Here's your current picture update:

Master Bathroom all laid out!

Close view of tile

Hallway toward kids' bedrooms, all laid out

Laundry room, all laid out

JBJ's room, all laid out. I love how his room looks!

Journey to a New House Day 3

Looking down the hallway towards the kids' rooms

Looking down the hallway towards the entry way & kitchen

Looking down that same hallway back towards the bedrooms

A closer view of the tile

A Journey to Joy

I don't feel good.  It started last night.  My head is heavy, my nose feels like it weighs a pound, my lips are dry & I can't taste anything.

I certainly can't sing.  Although I suppose I could sing the bass part of most songs quite well right now... but I'm an Alto.

I went to choir rehearsal anyway, so I could get counted for attendance + I had to drive my carpool.  I didn't want to get anyone else sick, so I didn't sit in the choir loft. I sat over to the side, away from everyone, and am not planning to be in the broadcast on Sunday.

Sometimes during rehearsal, you get pretty involved in what's going on...you watch the conductor, you record songs, you shuffle music...you don't really pay attention much to the people in the audience who are watching you.  Today I had the chance to pay attention a little better.

I noticed a young girl being led down the aisle to a seat in the balcony.  She had that familiar white cane in front of her telling everyone around her that she was blind.  She was led to a seat & put her cane down under her legs. 

Without her cane, there was nothing spectacular about her.  She looked asian or hispanic and she looked very young.  No one was sitting with her.

But, without fail, after every song the choir "taped & timed" (which means a recording is made for the director to listen to so he knows what to work on the next time we rehearse), she clapped and smiled so enthusiastically that I found myself smiling at her.  There were several songs where she promptly jumped to her feet and gave her own private standing ovation.

It was very touching to watch.  It brought tears to my eyes. And it got me thinking...

How many others out there in the world feel the same joy when they hear the choir sing?  What am I really a part of?  This isn't just a wonderful, amazing opportunity to sing with one of the most famous choirs in the world, or be led by an incredibly talented director.  This is an opportunity to touch people's lives... To bring joy to thousands of people, who listen over the radio, who watch on TV, who can't leave their homes, who live too far away to visit SLC, who may have no other connection with members of the church, who simply want to feel the spirit of God, who may have no other opportunity to worship...

And it brings me to a state of abundant humility & gratitude & awe....

And joy.  Just like hers.

New House Journey Day 2

Master Bathroom

Looking from Master Bedroom, down the hall towards the kids' rooms.

Our 89 boxes of tile & bags of whatever he uses to stick the tiles to the cement.

JBJ's room

BJ helping EJ comprehend how heavy the tiles are.

Looking from near the kitchen, down toward the bedroom hallway.  Notice how much dirt was under the carpet. Ew!

Front Bathroom

Laundry room, with new paint!

Photos of the House Journey

Looking into our laundry room.  The new paint color will be that blue-ish color painted near the baseboard.  That is a sample of our new tile under the blue-ish color.

Jeremy's room looking into the hallway.  All carpet will be replace by tile.  Hallway will be the darker color at the top of the wall in the hallway.

Looking from the dining room into the hall/entry.  The green walls will be painted.  Those are my newly painted cabinets.  All flooring will be tile.

Entry way looking out front door...Notice the lack of flooring & the new paint on the walls.

Looking into the family room.  This is Jeremy's stuff & the laundry room stuff.  Notice the vinyl flooring that will soon be gone and the new paint color on the back wall.

The darker color is the new paint color for the entire family/dining room, entry way, & hallway.  The doors will also be painted the same color and then antiqued.  The vinyl and the carpet will be replaced with tile.

This is our front room with all the family room stuff in it, along with things that were on the walls.

Freedom's Journey

I am touched by the words to this song, "Distant Land" by John Rutter.

This song was written in 1990, soon after the demolition of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.

I see a distant land; it shines so clear.
Sometimes it seems so far, sometimes so near.
Come, join together, take the dusty road.
Help one another; share the heavy load.

The journey may be long; no end in sight.
There may be hills to climb, or giants to fight.
But if you'll take my hand, we'll walk together toward the land of freedom.
Freedom.



I hear a distant song; it fills the air.
I hear it, deep and strong, rise up in prayer:
'O Lord, we are many; help us to be one.
'Heal our divisions; let thy will be done.'

I know the time will come when war must cease;
A time of truth and love, a time of peace.
The people cry, 'How long till all our world can join the song of freedom?'
Freedom.



I touch a distant hand and feel its glow,
The hand I hoped was there; at last I know.
Swords into plow-shares; can it all come true?
Friends out of strangers; start with me and you.

I see another time, another place
Where we can all be one, one human race.
The walls will melt away, we'll come together on the day of freedom.
Freedom, Freedom.

Journey to a New House

We closed on this house on February 29, 1996 ... almost 15 years ago.  It's time to move... time for a change ... time for something new ... time for a fresh look.

But we can't afford to move.  So, we're not. (Did I scare some of you?)

Since we built our house, we've added curbing, sod, bricks around our garden, rocks in our front garden beds, a white picket fence in the front yard, a few trees, several different colors of paint, newly painted kitchen cabinets, & a large back & side patio.

Now, it's time for the biggest change of all! 

Tomorrow, we move out of our house for a week.  We are getting tile installed in 3/4 of our house.  The original carpet will remain in our front room & in 3 of the 4 bedrooms...everywhere else is getting new tile...big tile...on the diagonal...dark tile...with dark grout.

Today I have been painting like a mad woman.  My mom came over to help and EJ helped me paint the laundry room, which officially erases the original paint color of the house. (But don't look in the closet or the kitchen pantries because that is still the original color, although I hope to paint the pantries soon.)  I want to get everything painted while I don't have to worry about keeping the floor clean.  The family room/kitchen/entry/hallway is now a sand color & the laundry room is a blue/green color. (Thank you, Allison!)

A few weeks after the tile is done, the window people are coming to replace ALL of our windows and to give us a back sliding glass door...good windows...windows with no panes ...windows that will keep the hot air in & the cold air out during the winter ... windows that will actually keep the kids' rooms cooler in the summer.

As if that isn't enough, we are also adding a new furnace and an AC system.  Yes, everybody, it's true ... 15 years without an air conditioner!  The time has come to have cool air during those 100 degree Provo Summer months and not humid, swamp cooler air.

So, if we survive the mess & the chaos, you're all invited to come over on New Year's Eve to celebrate the fact that we're not moving into a new house...we will be living in one.

(Pictures will come later...haven't uploaded them yet.)

Pumpkin Poop

Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday.  There are some fun things about it.... unlimited amounts of candy (which is my drug of choice in times of need), fall decorations, little kids dressing up.

One year, JBJ wanted to be a "bwack eh-fant".  Please understand that I am not a fan of dressing up.  I don't like to pretend. I don't like to be in skits.  I am boring, and proud of it.
So I handed this assignment over to BJ.  And he faithfully & diligently took it.  JBJ was THE cutest "bwack eh-fant" EVER being pulled from house to house in a red wagon. 

I also remember the year EJ received a hand-me-down Unicorn costume.  My job was to simply put it on her.  Glory Be!!! No creativity, just practicality!!  And she was warm!

Ah, those were the days!  Going to maybe.... 10?...houses and then being done, because the math equation:   More houses = More candy   had not sunk in yet into little minds.

These days we no longer Trick-or-Treat (and I am openly JOYOUS about it!), but we go to Family Halloween Parties, which involve apple bobbing, donut eating, feasting on soup, charades, & plenty of candy.

This year, our niece cleverly handed out cute pumpkin bags filled with candy to everyone.  Attached was this tag:

Pumpkin Poop

I started to carve a pumpkin

With my carving knife and scoop,

But the pumpkin got so scared,

He took a little poop.

It looked so cute and funny,

Just like a candy treat.

So I'm sharing it with you now,

Because you are so sweet!

Sunrise, Sunset

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older.....

When did they?

When did she grow to be a beauty?

When did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday....

when they were small?

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset

Swiftly flow the days.

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers...

Blossoming even as we gaze.

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset

Swiftly fly the years.

   

One season .....

....following another,

Laden with happiness & tears.