Snowshoeing in North Fork Park

Today Jack and I went snowshoeing in North Fork Park in Liberty. We had an absolutely fantastic time! This first pic is a beautiful shot of Snowbasin Ski Resort on our way up to the park. It was an absolutely beautiful day!

It was such an absolute blast for both Jack and I. He absolutely loves the snow and had so much fun running around playing with other dogs. I had an absolute blast just hiking through the snow and enjoying the fantastic scenery!

We saw three moose, Jack was barking at them like crazy!! I was just glad that they weren't hungry!
Jack was absolutely exhausted after a long day of snowshoeing! He came home and crashed. We both had so much fun. What a great day.

Christmas Fun

The holidays were full of lots of fun activities this year. This is going to be a whirlwind timeline of my holiday's.
On Christmas eve, I went skiing with Ben and Spencer and several of their other friends. We went to Snowbasin ski resort. It was an absolutely beautiful day with a lot of fresh powder. I could not have asked for a better ski day. It was absolutely perfect. At lunch we all went to John Paul Lodge and ate cheeseburgers and absolutely delicious hot chocolate. This is a pic of me in my Arab ski gear (that is what the guys were calling it anyway) It was really cold out that day! I had to stay warm somehow!
And this pic to the left, just shows how absolutely beautiful the Christmas Eve day up here was.
After skiing, I took Jack his Christmas present. He was incredibly happy to get his little gift. I have gotten him the same gift for the last several years......the three foot long rawhide bone does not look too big for him.
On Christmas Eve night, my family has a tradition to have a candlelight dinner. We always eat honey baked ham and those fantastic funeral potatos. Afterwards we had fun family time. These are some of the pics of our after dinner fun.Caden, Chase and Carter playing football on the Wii. Having a complete blast! Cute McKenzie waiting to open presents. Tom and Allison having an after dinner jam session. Allison had written a beautiful song and was playing the piano and singing the words when Tom came in with the guitar and improvised. It was fantastic. Tom and Caden having a jam session. It has been really fun to have Tom back from Maui for the holidays.

It has been really great to spend time with family for the holiday.

I Believe!!

I spent Christmas Eve at my parents house in Eden with my sister and her husband and kids. As we were preparing for Santa to come, we threw some "reindeer food" out on the front porch in case his reindeer got hungry during their long night! We also left Santa some milk and cookies.
This morning when I woke up, I wanted to see how much it had snowed over night since it was an absolute blizzard up here.
When I opened the door, this is what I found....
the unmistakable evidence that Santa is real, and that his reindeer were at our house last night and obviously enjoyed our little snack for them.
In all honesty, what are the odds that we are going to put out some "reindeer food" and have an animal leave footprints on this one important night? This is a Christmas miracle! Santa and his reindeer ARE real! I Believe!!

25.71

This is what I just paid for an entire tank of gas for my SUV!! Yep, you read that right....$25.71. This is a moment for the record books!!

I'm just not feelin it!

This is kind of an unusual post for me to do, because anyone who knows me well, knows that I am in love with the Christmas season and all that comes with it. I normally love the Christmas tunes (which now start the day after Halloween), the decorations, the festive spirit, the snow, etc. But for some reason, this year I am not feeling it. Can you say Bah Humbug?!? Can we just skip Christmas this year? You know that movie "Christmas with the Kranks" they decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise. That seems like a really good deal right now. This lack of Christmas mood could be for several reasons. Number one, the fact that Christmas tunes start the day after Halloween....by the time Christmas actually comes around, I am so sick of hearing them that I would rather listen to anything else! Secondly, it finally snowed here in Utah! That is a huge deal for me. It was incredibly cold, and yellow outside (weeds). It is hard to feel like Christmas when there is no snow on the ground. Now that it has snowed and snowed and snowed, I finally am feeling like Christmas could be right around the corner. I might be able to pull this one off. It is like the hail mary pass in the end of the game, maybe the Christmas spirit can finally arrive!!

Dog Sitting

My friends Tyler and Aleisha asked me if Jack and I would come over and watch their two dogs for a couple days while they were in St. George. They have a great dane named Elroy and a Lab mix named Chance. The three dogs got a long so fantastically!

My favorite thing about it, was that Jack ate a little piece of humble pie. Jack has always been the biggest dog of all of his friends. He weighs 100 lbs and is pure muscle. He is a big dog! Well, this week, Jack met an even bigger dog! Elroy is at least a full head taller than Jack and weighs around 120 lbs. It was so fun to see Jack put in his place a little bit.
Jack absolutely loves to wrestle and he was able to have a lot of fun playing with the other dogs. I loved that every time I got home from work, Jack jumped on me to greet me, and Elroy immediately came over and growled at Jack and nudged him away from me. Way to go Elroy! He was so cute trying to protect me.

I had a really good time with the three dogs, and found that I really liked having several dogs around. I hope to be able to get Jack a brother one of these years.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I really love this time of year. I love all the holiday's so close together and the family time. I just wanted to take a minute and write about what I am most thankful for.
I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love my parents so much and am so thankful for them. I also feel that I have the best brothers and sisters on earth. I feel so lucky that we all get along so well and are such great friends. I also have unarguably the best nieces and nephews on earth. I adore them so much! I am so incredibly thankful for them. Each of them is so precious to me.
I am thankful to live in this land of America, where we are free to choose and live as we desire. I am thankful for the many service people who fight for our freedoms on a daily basis.
I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who is there to help us when we ask and who wants us to be happy in this life.
I am thankful for great friends who keep me going. I don't know what I would do without my fantastic friends.
I think that sometimes we forget how blessed we are (I know I shouldn't use we here, I am speaking about myself). I am so glad that we can take a moment away from our busy lives and have a holiday that is all about thankfulness.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

This is honestly one of my most favorite times of year. It is a time that I anticipate for months on end. Christmas? You say. You couldn't be more wrong! Tis the season for THE Holy War! Tis the season for one of football's greatest rivalries. Tis the season for the BYU/Utah game. I am so incredibly excited for this game. Not only because I have a few friendly wagers going, but also bragging rights. You have no idea how important it is to be able to brag and harass my friends for several months to come. It is now pay back time! Go Cougs!!

Absolute Exhaustion!!

So I am in my fifth week of P90X now! It has been going great! However, there are days when I am working out (like today) that my muscles are so fatigued that I honestly don't know if I will be able to get off the floor. I did the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout today. And after the first time of doing it, I can honestly say it is not my favorite. After doing seriously 100 push ups, I laughed out loud at Tony Horton when he says "ok now we are going to clap in between push ups" or "lets do the one arm push up". Are you kidding me?!? That is pretty funny Tony, cuz I am way too exhausted already to do a one armed push up! What do you take me for?
Some people think I am crazy as I am sitting there talking to my tv. "No Tony, we are not going to go into downward dog anymore!!"
It has been a fun program to do though. I am a much stronger person than when I started which is what I was going for anyway.

Halloween Party

My friends and I went to a fabulous Halloween party last night. We had a complete blast and met a ton of really cool people. Although, not the smartest way to meet someone, I will never recognize most of the people I met last night. My friend Monika and I went as witches and my friend Christy went as a piratess. I have to admit we looked fantastic!

Halloween at Cornbelly's

Fall and halloween are two of my favorite things. I love the weather, the pumpkins, the fall leaves, the color orange...I thought it would be fun to celebrate the season by taking the Utah nieces and nephew out for a day at Cornbellys. So I got Carter, Allison and McKenzie out of school early and we headed to Thanksgiving Point. There were a ton of fun things for the kids to do.

We jumped on the big trampoline mat thingy (whatever ) we went through this really horrible haunted house (can you say pitch black) and we went down slides and up playhouses and then we walked through the corn maze that was cut out in the shape of david archuletta's face.

We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the beautiful fall day.

P90X Two Weeks Later

Can I even tell you how much I am loving this workout program!! It is so incredibly hard, but so incredibly rewarding at the same time! I have learned over the last two weeks, that it does not take long to get physically fit. I am not saying that I am going to show a photo and it will be different, but in two weeks time, I can do way more of the program than I could when I started!! I am lifting more weights, doing more repetitions, and able to stretch before and after way better!

Another incredibly great benefit that I wasn't expecting, is that when you are exercising that much, your endorphins make you so happy! I think I was a happy person before, but now I just can't stop smiling, and I feel way more positive. What an absolutely fantastic benefit!!

I am honestly really excited about this program. I will keep you posted along the way.

P90X Weight not, Want Not

So, my sister Brooke and her husband have been doing an exercise program called P90X. Brooke kept raving about how much she loves it, and told me I needed to do it. Today, Oct 13 was day one for me of this workout program, and to be honest with you, I hate it.....but I love it.

Basically it is a 90 day program that he assures you will transform your life. So, here I go!! I am going to do it. Six days a week for an hour to an hour and a half a day for 90 days. Whew!! Let me tell you how hard that is after working 12 hours, but I gotta do it! My new motto is going to be 'just push play, everyday.'

I am posting this on my blog, for two reasons. First, if everyone reading my blog knows about it, then I will really have to do it......can't let everyone down! Secondly, like my title says.....'weight not, want not'....I gotta get in shape and get rid of unwanted weight.

So, I am committing to everyone out there in cyberspace that I am going to do this. You just wait for my 90 day photo! This photo is of me chillin in Mexico. Maybe when I am done with the program I could do another photo op in Mexico.......sounds good to me.

Babysitting

Since I am a free babysitter, my sister and her husband decided to take the opportunity to go on a date last night. They happily left me with their four little children and headed on their way. As they are walking out the door, they say to me, "Noah wouldn't let us put a diaper on him, so he is wearing regular underwear, good luck with getting a diaper on him".

After dinner, as we were all playing around, Noah kept acting like he needed to go pee. So, I took him in the bathroom, and he just screamed bloody murder so I did not do anything. Well, after a little longer, he acted again like he had to go. So I took him in the bathroom again and tried to put him on the toilet. Screaming like I was abusing him, I try to put him on the toilet, but he stuck his feet in instead. So, I put him in the tub and we cleaned him up. (Thank heavens Isaac is sleeping at this point and the other boys are playing playstation). After that fiasco, I decided to put him in a diaper......which did not work. He literally threw the biggest fit I have ever seen. So, I put the underwear back on him.

As we were all in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher, several things happened at once. Baby Isaac woke up screaming and incredibly hungry, Noah decided to pee in the underwear all over the kitchen floor, and Chase (who is still unloading the dishwasher) kept walking through the urine.

As the baby is screaming, I pick up Noah and take him to the tub again! He got another bath (3rd of the night) and then afterwards, finally consented to have the diaper put back on him. I then had to go out and clean up the floor and feed the baby and told Chase to go in and clean his urine covered feet. What a crazy night! It was so funny. Kids can be chaos!

Baby Isaac is so handsome

Is he not just the most handsome little baby you have seen? He is so sweet and so tender hearted. He is so easy going! I absolutely love this little guy. He is so much fun to be around. Such a complete joy!

Halloween Cookies in the AZ

I have been in AZ since Wednesday playing with my cute nephews. We have had a complete blast! On one of the days, we made Halloween sugar cookies. What an adventure! My sister is very ambitious! Making cookies with the help of three kids is not the easiest task. I know you all think I was there to help, but in truth, I was just there to take photos. We were able to make ghosts,
jack-o-lanterns and black cats. It was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed every moment and laughed a ton.
The kids had a complete blast as well, but as you can tell, not all moments were complete bliss.

All is better now! Sugar makes children happy....and crazy!

Fall is my favorite season

I absolutely love fall! It is my favorite season! Well, one of them anyway! I love that the leaves start changing color and the temperature cools to what is a more livable temp. I love to be able to get outside and exercise and enjoy the great outdoors.

I just got a new camara and so I had to try it out. My parents live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Eden. I went out driving and found several amazing shots.

I think it is absolutely beautiful up here. This first one is a pic over Pine View Reservior. I thought the leaves were so colorful and so beautiful!

I know I am morbid, but I just couldn't resist!

I have been packing my house for the past several days, not a fun task. It honestly makes me wonder why I do this to myself. As I was packing up my rug, a thought came to me.......'I hope nobody sees me putting this in the storage shed, cuz it looks uncannily like a human body wrapped in garbage bags!!'
Honestly, you cannot disagree with me. I could get in a lot of trouble if the wrong eyes see me packing the shed. Picture it, 2008, the cops are called to Ace Storage for unit C-10. I can see the disappointment in their faces as they go to all the work to break into the unit, just to discover a rug really nicely wrapped up.

Housing Crisis Averted

After having my house on the market since June with a lot of walk through's but no takers, I finally decided to put it up for rent. Two days later, I have my house rented starting October 1st. What an absolute blessing.......I hope. I know renting can bring a multitude of problems, but these people have excellant references and credit checks. I rented my last house out for a year and it ended up being such a blessing. I am hoping I experience the same thing again.
I guess I was a little surprised that my house never sold since my last one went in 9 days to the second people who walked through. I guess the market troubles have people very jittery.
I am still completely up in the air as to what I will be doing for the next 13 weeks of my life. I am looking at anything and everything. I have been submitted in San Jose and Denver. We will see. I could end up anywhere!! I am just thankful I don't have to worry about my house (well, not too much hopefully)

Where to go??

I am down to two weeks left in my current RN traveling assignment. There are good and bad things about being a traveling nurse. The best part about it, is that if I hate a job, I am only there for thirteen weeks......which by the way can be extremely long if you hate your job. Other great things about it are that I get to live in a lot of new and exciting places. It is always fun to meet new people and live in different cities. I do love the job.

The bad thing, is that I don't ever know where to go for the next assignment. The decision-making is always hard for me because I ponder and think and think and ponder and on and on and on for days over a pretty insignificant decision. Just decide already!! Maybe I should take a vote and let other people decide for me. So, I am down to a few places to choose from. Not sure entirely what I am doing yet, but hopefully will know for sure in two weeks since I will be jobless at that time!

San Jose, California

Orange County, California

Seattle, Washington

Is this what Heaven is going to be like?

Picture it, any given Sunday in 2008. (For you Golden Girls fans, remember Sophia telling any story, "picture it, Sicily, 1948" etc). My friend Christy and I are sitting in sunday school in the 31-45 (or 50 or 60) year old singles ward in SLC, Utah. Relief Society is first and then sunday school is in the same room afterwards (there are 3 relief societies and 2 sunday school classes). After relief society, a few seats change and sunday school begins. In the 70 person room, the odds are slightly better this week than normal there are approx. 12 men to the 58 women. How did I get myself into this little mess? (Still being single) I guess it's too bad that my name isn't Ken and I were a man, I would feel exceeding lucky if it were with those odds!

Slumber Party

So, I invited my two nieces over for a slumber party last night. I had scheduled haircuts for them at a salon today and thought it would be fun to sleep over and then go get the hair cuts today.

We had an absolute blast! We first went out to dinner. After dinner, the girls played with my dog for a while. They absolutely love to play with him and he loves them. Then we had a dance party. We seriously danced for probably an hour. It was so much fun! My niece Mckenzie literally laughed for a full 5 minutes when I started dancing. Clearly I did not dance well in her opinion. It was kind of insulting, but I got over it quickly. I was mostly doing it for the cardio workout anyway!

After dancing we all painted our nails while we watched the movie Enchanted. That is honestly one of my favorite movies. It is so cute. It was a really fun night.

Today we woke up early and ate scrambled eggs and smoothie's for breakfast. The smoothies were fantastic. Then we took Jackie Wackie on a walk.

At long last we went in for the haircuts. Mckenzie could not have waited any longer, she was so excited to get her hair cut. There is a place here called Cookie Cutters that have fun haircuts for kids and it was great. You can watch movies while you get your hair cut. What a deal!

The girls had a good time and in the end, the haircuts were great. Allison only got one inch cut off, so her hair does not really look different, but Mckenzie had a complete change of style and looked absolutely adorable afterwards.