A Quick Update and a Word about Gifting.

I'm just trying to keep on top of things, so thought I would bang out a post.

Not that anything that exciting goes on in a routine week around here.

Last Monday Mar had a choir concert.

Nothing too exciting... very few solo parts (maybe a total of 3 between all 4 choirs), however one of those was performed by our somewhat new neighbor, Brandon. (He's the chick magnet from here.) I knew he was in the men's choir, but had no idea he could belt it out... in a deep voice even. He did an awesome job.

This was also the annual "guest performers" concert, so a group called T Minus 5 came. They are actually a group from Ogden, UT -- one of the group members is related to a LHS student (possibly a alum by now), that's how they came to Parker, CO. (I know, so random.) They had visited years back when Lo was a freshman, so we have seen them twice here in our neck of the woods. Needless to say, it made the concert go a tad longer. Our other neighbor Mace was selected out of the audience to participate in the show. She did a bang-up job, too.

These were the last of my Valentine's flowers. They lasted another day past this, then they went the way of all cut flowers. Ahhhhh, they were loved while they lasted.

On Saturday we made pancakes!! That may not be a big deal to you, but around here, it's a big deal. Especially when we don't even have company. Usually our Saturdays are sucked up by the Busy Monster, but last Saturday was a welcomed exception.

 These pancakes, btw, are the bomb. No, I am not a food stylist, nor do I want to take the time when a hot pancake is sitting on a plate to make it pretty for a picture. Trust me, they are delish (recipe here) and pretty darn healthy in terms of pancakes. We cooked them in a cast iron skillet, which, I believe, is the absolute best way to cook a pancake.

 I may or may not have smothered my healthy pancake in some of our leftover homemade raspberry jam from Jason and Lex's wedding (it's almost been a year!).

And we played a game or two of UNO while we ate because THIS KIND OF SATURDAY IS SO RARE. UNO has become our game as of late due to it's brevity and ease for 3 people to play.

Mar got this invitation on Friday...

...and attended the breakfast today. Mrs. Pickles (don't you just love that name?) is her Spanish teacher (who is actually a French teacher). Mar made this awesome Spanish video (remember your brownie-baking-instructional video, Britt?), and I think Mrs. Pickles liked it so much she just had to nominate Mar for her Student of the Quarter.

(Spanish video here:)

I dropped Mar off at school today with strict instructions to get a pic of her and Mrs. Pickles. 

Good work, Mar.

As for my latest obsession -- I got a juicer for my impending b-day.

I've watched a couple of documentaries lately (Food Matters and Hungry for Change), and since I'm NOT a hop-on-the-bandwagon kind of gal, mulled it over in my mind for a good week or two, and asked Billy-my-hero and Mar to watch the documentaries with me for their thoughts on the matter. Bill started watching one night and fell asleep in the first 3 minutes. They don't hold quite the appeal for him as his current fave THE FLASH, which he can stay up until the wee hours of the morning ON A WEEKNIGHT watching episode after episode after episode. (Who am I to judge, I watched the whole season of Poldark in less than a week!) Although it sounds like we have all the time in the world to watch TV shows and play UNO, I don't want to mislead you that life is a bowl of cherries around here. We are still so so busy... that's just our current form of decompression.

Back to the juicer.

I really really like it, can you tell?

I ordered it myself, then let Billy-my-hero know what he had gotten me for my birthday. Although he totally rocked it on Valentine's Day this year, there have been more times than I can count where he got something similar to what I wanted... just not quite the right thing (a favorite Big Billy quote: "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades") Examples: a Fresh Aire CD when I asked for Air Supply (that was back in the early 90's, folks), a Walmart candle when I wanted a Salt City or Yankee candle (yes, there is a difference), packages of computer paper when I asked for scrapbook paper, and I will never forget my first birthday we celebrated as a married couple when he showered me with Peeps because they were "my favorite candy"... (I have no idea where he got THAT idea). Needless to say, I have to be very, very specific, and often it just saves time and money to get my own. I BELIEVE THAT'S OKAY. What do you think?

Time is up today... it's a great month for a great month.

Blooms.

I thought I would quickly capture Mar's blooming talent on the piano.

She had a recital yesterday, and she, her duet partner, and her amazing piano teacher had decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to practice for their upcoming duet competition in a couple of weeks.

The past couple weeks I have made the 30 minute trek to the piano teacher's home so these girls could practice together. Even though it's a bit of an inconvenience, I view it as a total bonus lesson for Mar, making the most out of her monthly tuition (you know me, always looking for the best bargain possible). I pay a bit extra to have Mar's piano teacher come to our home for lessons each week, and after a recent financial discussion with Billy-my-hero, conclude that it's definitely worth it. 

We snapped a quick selfie since we were on time and in our seats with minutes to spare.

Bill was dressed up for the Stake meetings to follow later in the day. We had a belly chuckle (is there such a thing?) when he realized that he got ready at 10am, thinking he wouldn't have time later in the day. His meetings started at 4. He brought Mar to the salon for a trim at 11am (which took all of 45 minutes), then the recital started at 2 and was over by 3. I think he just likes lookin' sharp haha. And wearing a suit.

We even had time for a picture with Sister Turnbull, Mar's teacher.

Here's their duet:

I took this while sitting a few rows back and had to keep my arms fairly high up in the air to avoid getting only the backs of other people's heads. Around minute 2-1/2 I was feeling the burn, let me tell ya.

After the recital, Bill snapped a few pictures of Addy and Mar.

Bill made it to his 4pm meeting in plenty of time, then I met him at the stake center for the 7pm meeting that evening, where our Stake President said something to the effect of, "Brethren, if you are watching sports on Sunday, you are not keeping the Sabbath Day holy and putting God first in your lives." I wondered if he had read my blog post about Super Bowl Sunday....? I hope not. Afterwards Bill and I grabbed a bite to eat as we talked about the meeting. Bill's response when the topic was brought up was, "I just wish I could DVR games. Really, the Broncos are my weakness."
Oh yes, I know.

SO, in order to be obedient to our Stake President's oh-so-direct comment concerning the matter, next season I will make sure we have a way to record the games (since I neglected getting a Valentine's Day card, you know). I kinda know Bill, and I can pretty much guarantee he'll obey. I can also say that it wouldn't surprise me if he stayed up past midnight on Sunday evenings to catch the games early EARLY Monday mornings.

As for my Valentine's Day bouquet from Bill, this is what it looks like today, 8 days later.

I am telling you, the MOST beautiful flowers ever! The tiny purple flowers have dropped a few petals, but the rest of these flowers are still absolutely gorgeous. As we admired them (for the 100th time this week), Bill went into a little more detail about his floral decisions last Saturday:

He was at our nearby Safeway. The pre-arranged bouquets were $50 and up, and, being the frugal guy he is, wouldn't have dished out more than $50, and those low-end arrangements weren't very full and pretty, SO he decided he would buy individual bunches of flowers and put them together himself. He selected 4 bunches, paid just under $40, and came home and arranged like nobody's business.
 Still so A. MAZ. ING.

Everything Old is New Again.

Tuesday evening, after our late LATE youth night, Bill and Mar invited me to take a drive with them. Our favorite 1999 Nissan Maxima was oh-so-close to rolling over to 200,000 miles, and it was Mar's dream to be the driver when it did. Bill was planning on working in CoSprings the following day, and knew it would roll over on the trek to and from work, so they (Bill and Mar) had the dandy idea of going for a ride. We only needed to go around 50+ miles or so. Did I mention that we STARTED after 9pm? Bill rode shotgun, as it was dark, and not only do I have horrendous night vision, I just wasn't up to the strain of training a new driver on unfamiliar roads. I hopped in the back seat.

Then we drove. And drove. I responded to a few text messages and perused fb for a few minutes. Before long I was nauseated and carsick as we drove the long winding back roads to Castle Rock. 

After careful timing (and over an hour of driving), we ended up back in our neighborhood just as the odometer read:

then:

We stopped the car and I made Bill and Mar jump for an "oh-what-a-feeling" picture (remember the old Toyota commercials?).

It would be a dream for this baby to take us another 100,000. Not sure if it's possible, but we'll stretch it as far as we can. Seriously, this car has been the best vehicle deal of our lives to date.

At 10:50pm, as we drove up our street towards home, Bill snapped a selfie of him and Mar. Mar said she couldn't stop smiling. It's nice when a dream comes true, isn't it?

Last night (Wednesday) was Mar's swim banquet. It was held at the school, just like Lolo's first one.

We snapped a few pictures afterwards. All the girls in the picture below are freshman except for Kayla (second from the left), who is a senior, and was on the team with Shi a couple of years, too.

 From my careful, quiet observation, I think she is one of the nicest girls on the team. She has never been a star, but, as my mom would often say (which I have repeated to my own children), "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." Just had to throw that in there because I watched as the senior girls stood up to receive recognition and several of the loud, popular, it's-all-about-me girls literally kept grabbing their loud, popular, it's-all-about-me buddies and pulling them up the line of girls to stand with them, moving Kayla farther and farther down the line until she was at the end.

When we were cleaning up, Kayla showed some of the freshman girls her letter jacket so they could see how she put her pins on her letter. I chatted with her mom and admired the stitching on the jacket. Sometimes the quiet, unpretentious, unassuming people are the nicest.

Becca, another a senior, is also a super nice girl. She was the carpool queen for Mar this year, which this mom appreciates sooooo much. (Shi carpooled Becca quite a bit, so I'm grateful for the reciprocation.)

It was fun to get a few pictures of Mar with some of the same girls Shi swam with (or their sister haha).

Mar came home with a letter. I remember being surprised when Shi got one her freshman year (reminder here), and maybe even a little more surprised Mar got one after this crazy season. She put it up on the bulletin board in her room and hopped in the bath before I could snap a picture of her with it.

I'm so proud of her for making the best of the season and enduring to the end with grace. She talked excitedly about how she plans to letter in academics and choir, and her strategy for pin placement. I love that girl and her dreams!

I quickly looked up this pic of Shi the night of her freshman swim banquet. I only wish I had seen it before we left last night, as Mar requested my help picking out an outfit. The skirt Shi wore that night (circa 2011) is hanging in Mar's closet at this moment. I glanced at it briefly as we looked through her clothes. Because I'm such a sentimental gal, I totally would have made Mar wear that same skirt had I only known.

Post post: We got Mar's swim team pictures in the mail yesterday... might as well post them here:

Valentine's Day Recap.

The prep for Valentine's Day happened on Saturday.
I whipped up a batch of cookies. Originally they were for my Sunday School class, but then Billy-my-hero asked if he could have some for home teaching, and I wanted some for my Youth Conference meeting after church, so I nixed the idea of giving them to my class. Lest you think me heartless (haha), I had also planned another treat for them anyway. How many treats does a Sunday School class need?

Bill ran some errands for me, and came back with an armful of beautiful flowers, which he then proceeded to arrange all by himself. I was supa impressed.

That night we were all exhausted from the busy day and DYING to hit the hay, but I had to quickly cut, tape, and tie my other Sunday School class treats (a huge thank you to Bill and Mar for hanging in there with me and gittin' 'er done). I had really good intentions of having these babies done way earlier in the week, but... you know... stuff happens. And a good chunk of the evening was spent cleaning up spaghetti squash.

I have nary a picture from the actual Valentine's Day 2016.

Bill got up at 4:30am to leave for his 5:30am meeting.

We went to 9am - noon church.

Mar and I attended our 1:30 - 3:30pm Youth Conference meeting.

Bill went to drop by his home teaching families.

We had one hour to prepare for the Yoshikawas for dinner

(we were having our traditional fondue... if you can call two years in a row a tradition).

We ate and played games until almost 10pm.

(My creme brûlée was a total flail... I seriously don't know what happened to it, but we ate it anyway.)

If I don't document it, I will never EVER remember it.

I'm still enjoying those amazing flowers!

(My poor hubby didn't even get a card from me... I'm going to make it up to him, I promise!)

An Explosion.

If you've ever wondered what happens when a spaghetti squash explodes in your oven:

That oven needed a good cleaning anyway, right?

This happened Saturday night after a very LONG week and a very LONG day of cleaning and preparing for our LONG Sunday/Valentine's Day full of meetings and company for dinner...

We did not eat the squash for dinner that night. Instead we cleaned it off of the oven, the wall, and the floor. You'd be amazed at how a spaghetti squash can go off like a bomb. We were in the office when it happened. We heard a boom - Mar and Bill went to check it out - I heard their oooooos and ahhhhhhs and had to come see what had happened. It had actually blown the oven door open.

Today I checked my source to see if I had missed something... of course, most of the things that popped up on google immediately say to prick the squash all over with a fork. Surely I hadn't missed that, I thought, so I looked for the exact source I used that fateful Saturday evening and found it here (scroll down to the bottom of the post IF you're curious). No mention of pricking with a fork or a knife on this site. Things I've learned: prick a spaghetti squash with a fork before trying to roast whole in the oven. It will save you hours of time, I promise.

Tears for J + Sending a Little Love.

Today I had my annual mammogram.

As I was looking over the paperwork and making changes (I had gained 15 pounds last year, then another 10 this year... that's a lovely reminder), I came across the "family history" section. I crossed out the auto-filled answer from last year of "none," and added "sister," "breast," and "38." And then, right there in the waiting room, I started to cry. I tried to pull myself together before sitting down with the gal to check-in and review insurance information. Afterwards I was immediately taken to the dressing room where a few more tears fell. It seems so unreal that last year at this time Jana was fine (at least as far as we knew). She wouldn't be diagnosed for another 2 1/2 months. Even after the diagnoses, we all thought "she's young," "she has such a great attitude," "she's going to make it." Cancer pulled the carpet out from under us in October. Anyway, here's a reminder for all my girls out there. 40+ keep current on those mammograms, < 40 = self breast examinations every month. If you find anything suspicious, GET IT CHECKED OUT. If the doctor can't get you in for a week or two, THROW A FIT. START TO CRY ON THE PHONE. Do whatever it takes to be seen immediately. Cancer kills.

Yesterday I worked on a little project for Lolo.

Yes, it's a bit late to be sending a Valentines package.

No, she won't get it in time.

That's why I included a little St. Patrick's Day AND Easter along with it.

I made this super cute paper bag book (as seen on Pinterest). Link here.

I just happened to have red and white paper bags in my stash. Who knows how long I've had them, but I certainly deserve a big pat on the back for thinking ahead haha.

There are fun little pockets to hide things in. I printed off this I spy game (with two answer sheets - one for Shi, one for her comp... a little friendly competition to see who can get the most right) here.

It was fun to add a few serious things... a few silly things...

...a few study things...

...and a few love notes.

In the middle of my mad dash to git 'er done (with a goal to MAIL ASAP), I was reminded that I have a granddaughter that needs a little love, too. So I whipped out another paper bag book, made it Wonderful-Sweet-Scarlett-appropriate (I hope!), grabbed a few Valentine's Day items at the store, packaged and shipped them both. Just as the USPS office was closing yesterday at 6pm. WHEW. Mission accomplished.

Scarlett's book MAY have been a tiny bit cuter, only because it wasn't my first attempt. I had every intention of snapping pics, but in my hustle to get it shipped, forgot. Oh well.

Spread some love. And get a mammogram. 

That's all.

hello Sunday.

I have been sick this weekend. I actually sat down Friday to write a quick blog post, but decided to lay down in hopes that I could curb the effects of the nasty bug Bill and Mar had experienced earlier in the week.

Nope. No such luck.

Sick sick Friday; powered through three hair appointments Saturday; Sick sick sick today.

Hoping to quickly overcome this week.

After a rough night last night, I stayed home from church today. I don't think I've been sick enough to stay home from anything FOR YEARS. I guess I shouldn't complain!

SO. There's a lot I'd like to chat about... 

1. the Broncos (in the middle of the game right now, I am NOT a huge sports fan, but when I watch, I get way too invested and it makes me feel anxious and sick [er]. I tell myself I really don't care about the outcome, since who knows if it's all rigged anyway by conspiring men with a whole lot o' money on the line). I was raised in a home where the viewing of sports was not usually permitted on Sunday, I now live in a home where certainly God is a merciful God who will excuse a little private non-caffeinated Super Bowl indulgence. Haha. Shout out to the best neighbors in the world who brought over a plate full of freshly grilled loaded hamburgers to break our fast (because they heard I was sick), then just dropped off another plate of homemade chocolate/peanut-butter sandwich cookies. I owe them big time.

2. work. We recently were blessed by a very generous (and anonymous) gift that could possibly allow me to quit working in the salon sooner than I had anticipated. Bill and I both agree that the physical side of the work I do has definitely contributed to my current health issues: plantar fasciitis (still so ridiculously painful!), tendonitis (wrist and elbow), the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (I don't think it's the source of my current problems, though - and testing shows low disease activity), and ongoing back problems from standing for long periods of time. And weight gain. I'm not sure what to blame THAT on. Hmmmmm.... maybe stress eating? maybe the metabolic slow-down that accompanies menopause? maybe because I haven't exercised regularly for TWO YEARS, primarily due to feet that hurt and exhaustion from adding another anxiety-producing element to my already overloaded schedule? Regardless, I am trying to prayerfully figure out what I should do now. I know that having that little job has blessed our lives in so so many ways over the past 3 years.

3. church callings.  I take them pretty seriously, so when I have three, and they all need to focused on at the same time, it's a little overwhelming. Trying to collect ward history items (begging and pleading for ward members to contribute), preparing for and holding youth conference committee meetings, and getting a quality lesson together for my LARGE Sunday School class each week is a lot. A lot a lot. The Bishop asked me if I felt like I needed to be released from the ward history calling, but I told him it would almost be just as hard to try and relay all the items I've collected over the past year to someone else, so I'll compile, then a release would be appreciated.

(Here's a sneak peek at our YC2016 logos... if the committee approves it. The youth on the committee had all submitted ideas, and I tried to incorporate most of them... they ALL agreed that they wanted it to be Colorado themed.)

4. kiddos. Some who are oh-so-close to moving in to a new house, some who are flying back out to CO for one more job interview (even though jobs in UT are looking good), some that are plug-plug- plugging away on work and school, one that is far far away, and one that is still close and in constant need of parental attention (I've been driving with Mar - mostly at night - mostly to return Redbox DVDs or run to Target... it causes a little anxiety for me. Just a little). Oh, we had a few swim team issues right down to the end, but we survived! The team banquet is the week after next, then Mar is moving on. Hallalujah.

A small part of the reason that she won't return may be due to a coach who never let her swim her best events. For her last regular season meet I encouraged Mar to ask the coach to put her in a 50Free or 100Free. She was put in the 100Free, and swam faster than any other "B Leaguer" on the team. She was 2 seconds away from an A League time. She NEVER swam a 50 the entire season. To add insult to injury, the coach "invited" 3 "B League" girls to swim relays for A Leagues (I know, it's soooooo complicated), and Mar wasn't one of them, even though she is faster than all of the 3 girls invited. All I can say is, that's high school sports for ya. A good coach can make a HUGE difference. A bad coach is... a bad coach. 'Nuf said. I didn't go to bat for Mar since she didn't really have any desire to swim those A League relays anyway. It would have been nice to have been nominated asked, though.

Phew. We made it through. (I can't remember if I mentioned that Legend added orange to their school colors this year... so now their colors (royal, navy and orange) are also kinda sorta Broncos colors... still hoping for the win! Go Broncos!)


It's a new week. I love that. I'm hopeful that I will overcome illness, receive answers to questions, and nurture and love my family sufficiently (Valentine's Day next Sunday, you know). I hope to be inspired, lifted, and provided with the endurance needed for the week. I hope to seek for opportunities to serve and forget myself. And my feet. 

hello Sunday, you're the best.