Trek for Nate

For Nate's birthday, I drove after work up to Heber to spend the evening. The boys didn't know I was coming so it was a fun surprise. Micah's first question was if I'd come up for his birthday too. Nate had been enjoying his steak dinner so much that he'd told his mom they should have invited someone else to enjoy it too - like T! Good thing I came because the steak was delicious!

Jenny had prepared some surprises for Nate as he opened his presents. The first one he was given was a very girlie barbie doll. He was mortified to think they thought he wanted that for his birthday. He and Jeremy got a joint present of a foosball table, there were a few more presents, and then his last present was a video game he wanted. Jenny wrapped up multiple boxes and had them placed inside of each other. The real game she taped to the bottom of the biggest box and inside the smallest box, she had wrapped up a children's video game that they already had. Nate was so polite he acted excited about his old game! Then got a BIG smile for the real one when he found it.

The fruit pizza topped off his night of smiles. That and being on the winning team of foosball with me against Brett and Jeremy of course!  =D

Scary Snow

As I got off the elevator at my apartment building into the parking garage, three older women were standing there looking out the doors at the snow. They asked if I had four-wheel drive, and when I said no, they said they were going to watch me go to see if they'd be able to make it. The snow was bad enough that if they hadn't been standing there watching...I would have gone back up to my apartment and curled up under a blanket with the fireplace going. Instead, I was forced by pride to show I could make it and creep along the road to Church. I made it; it was scary; and I don't even know if the women decided to go after seeing me! Stupid pride!

Movie Makeup

This long weekend was a good time to get caught up on a few of the movies I haven't been able to see lately. Three movies in three days. Hereafter with Matt Damon - I cried my eyes out. When we walked out of the theatre, my mom's eyes were all red and watery too. She denied crying during the movie until we pointed out her mascara-less eyes. Turns out, she wasn't crying because of all the death going on in the movie. But, because in the last three minutes, she thought it was so romantic and it made her think of my dad. I'm pretty sure they're already making plans to go and see it together now. We got a good laugh out of it.

We also went and saw Harry Potter. I think it was a good thing that I haven't read the books in so long because I thought the movie was great and followed the book, which I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Lori and I went and saw Burlesque. Cher is one scary looking...person. But the movie was okay, if predictable.

My uncle is living in my parents basement which means we share the downstairs when I sleepover at my parents' house. As I went to my room, I saw the Christmas tree he has up. I actually love it!...and kind of want one.

Charlie Brown tree

Happy Thanksgiving!

My great-uncle Bob and great-aunt Adele are in town so my parents and I made a big breakfast for them and my grandma. Then immediately afterward we started cooking enough for 30 people...though only 5 were going to be at dinner. Turns out my oldest sister, Jenny, spent Thanksgiving with the inlaws again and this time invited them to her house and cooked. Jon briefly stopped in with one of the little boys living with him to say hello which was nice of him. Dana had his inlaws over to his house. Lisa of course is in D.C. so we didn't get to see her (soon to be remedied at Christmas!), and Lori went to her inlaws, but came over to play games later. So, Jodie, mom, dad, grandma, and myself ate together. TONS of leftovers! I guess I just find it interesting that the married kids don't ever invite mom and dad over to their place for Thanksgiving. IF they spend time with my parents on the holidays, they expect it to be at mom and dads, with them doing all the preparations for it. Made me feel sad for them, but they put a brave face on. Dad had us all share our reasons for being thankful before we ate...so that justifies me being able to rant here.  =D

Snow Day! Part 2...

How quickly things change...

The nice walk home from work

Two hours later the view from my apartment

First use of the fireplace in my apartment



Snow Day!

It is officially a snow day for employees at the Church Office Building. Due to the storm blizzard coming in, all employees were allowed to leave at 1 pm today. There were a lucky few who had to stay to man the phones for the rest of their department. I am Lucky. I think it has something to do with the fact that I walk to work and don't have to drive in the hazardous road conditions. This is what the storm is looking like so far at 2:38 pm:

View out of the COB 4th floor window onto North Temple

I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it up the hill to my apartment!



Flowers, Flowers, and More Flowers!

There was a bridal shower at work today. Somehow I ended up with all the flower arrangements...and when I say 'somehow', everyone knows I'm the person who waters all the plants and loves arrangements to brighten up our desk space. Laralynn even agreed to a few at her desk! Baby steps until I have full assimilation!

Elder Kikuchi is of the opinion that the flowers
have been placed at my desk so that I'll be next.

Laie Hawaii Temple Rededication

Today is the rededication of the Laie Hawaii Temple. I did not get to go.

Cheese-y-licious!

Turns out more people know about my love of cheese than I thought. On the same day at work, two co-workers gave me rather large containers of cheese. Cheese curds, and the leftover nacho cheese sauce from a party. The curds are gone and I'm already half way through the cheese sauce. Lip smackin good!

It's Official

It IS official. The plane tickets for my next trip have been booked. I will now be flying out Christmas Day with my mom to go to New York City. A friend with an apartment in Manhattan is heading home for the holidays and has offered me her place to stay while she's gone. So, we'll stay there a couple of days and check out some of the sites downtown that I've always wanted to see at Christmas time like Rockefeller Center. Then, we're going to travel down to see my sister and her family in Washington D.C. We'll stay a couple of days there and explore the city a bit with them. Then, it's back up to NY for Times Square on New Year's Eve! See, I CAN see a light at the end of this cold illness tunnel...of course being on antibiotics now helps too.

The boys in D.C. we're going to see...

Grant

Matthew

Death Warmed Over

I AM death warmed over. Finally going to head to Instacare to kick this sickness...

El Salvador del Mundo

The play Savior of the World in Spanish = Good Times (though apparently I still don't understand as much Spanish as I thought I did!)

Dinner beforehand at Appleby's. Considering I spent the entire first part of the day in bed due to a sore throat, it was a good day!

Touring the Square

I got a phone call from my nephew this afternoon inviting me to go to dinner with him and some of his family after they were done touring the State Capitol. We had dinner at the Nauvoo Cafe and then went from visitors center to Assembly Hall, to the Tabernacle to visitors center. I LOVE the videos of the Church commercials. They are so cute and funny! The miniature cutout replica of the Salt Lake Temple is pretty cool too. I couldn't believe how long the kids sat in the Assembly Hall listening to a harp concert. They were transfixed. Good times!

In work related news:
- I was offered a job this morning at the Draper Utah Temple.
- Jodie was hired for a job finally! She starts Monday.
- Rossy was laid off from her job after working there ten years. :-(
- Two guys base-jumped off the Church Office Building and made a quick
   getaway in a waiting SUV before security could grab them. They're in
   the process of being tracked down.



Sick

I thought if you get the flu shot you aren't supposed to get sick? Granted, I have a sore throat, but still! A warm, fluffy blanket courtesy of the Compassionate Service Committee in my ward, the soft couch, watching all my stored DVR shows, while indexing at the same time makes for a recouperative (sp?) night. I still wish I could sleep more!...But, my weekly dose of Castle is in check again.

Dinner?

My visiting teachers invited me over for dinner...or did they?  The menu was a casserole made of tofu, beets, onions, carrots, a few potatoes and parmesan cheese, salad with cucumbers, green peppers, avocado and shredded beets on top, and dessert of pomegranate seeds. Now if you take into account that I don't like parmesan cheese and think beets taste like dirt, it was surprisingly good! I would actually eat it again...but maybe puree the pomegrante seeds with some ice cream for a smoothie.  =D

Belated PEI and Salem Pics

Here are some of the pictures from our time on Prince Edward Island and in Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween.

Watch out! Apparently the moose will trample your car!



Welcome to Prince Edward Island!



Causeway to Prince Edward Island.








Cold Hearted S-s-s-snake!

My niece's baptism happened this morning. It was a great experience, and my brother Jon even came! I played the piano for the musical number with Jenny on violin and the kids singing. After we had a brunch all together at Dana's house, and then reconvened at my parents' house for the November birthday party. Nate got a dart gun as a present with thirty shots before you have to reload. They went to play outside and then returned a short while later to say they'd discovered something. Snakes. Nine of them. In. One. Window. Well. We went to check them out and I still have chills going up my spine. I tried to take a picture of them, but it didn't take very well. My cousin Bryson loves snakes so he came over as soon as he got the call and jumped into the window well to get them out. He handed them out to his kids to put into the garbage can they brought over. The plan was for them to take them home to play with for a bit and then they'd let them go in their yard. His neighbors must LOVE him! Chills.

Pile of 5 snakes on top of each other.

Jon and Tiffany after Bailey's baptism.

My Micah boy.



Frantic

Don't get me wrong, I like to be busy at work. But yesterday there was a...franticness...if you will, (if that's a word?) to the work. We'll see if today will be any better. Though the morning so far does not bode well. I was so tired last night that I fell asleep on my couch with my computer still running and sitting on my lap. That meant oversleeping, a rush to pack up an overnight bag for my parents this weekend, and then a few drivers on the road who didn't know how to operate a ticketed entry parking building. It actually took ten minutes to get into the conference center and park rather than just one minute. (And yes I drove to work since I'm leaving immediately after work for my parents.) I really just want to go home and actually put on pajamas and curl up under a blanket!
Good part of the day yesterday though? My mom brought the Spanish ward boy to Primary Children's again so she took me to a quick lunch. The bad part? My trip plan was veteoed. They REALLY want to do it, but don't have any money because of all the people they are supporting financially right now.  :-(

Tricked?

It's my brother Dana's birthday today. He called to see if I was busy tonight. I was vague and he said he was wondering because he was going to be in SL for the Jazz game tonight and since he's never seen my new place, he wanted to stop by and check it out. I said I'd be home then and he said good, we'll stop by. By the way, can you watch the baby while we go to the game? I walked RIGHT into that one! Good thing she's super cute!

Early Start

We had to get up at 3:30 am to make it to the airport for our early flight. That is 1:30 am Mountain Standard Time. Mom picked me up from the airport and I presented my PLAN for the next trip. She loved it and is now considering the feasibility. Yay! We went for an early lunch at Hagermann's so I could get my FAV sandwich the Turkey Pomodoro. Then she dropped me off for work and I was able to get six hours in. Which is good so then I don't have to waste any of those vacation days...  :-)