Grandpa Fred

My Grandpa Fred has passed away. I feel so incredibly blessed to have said my goodbyes in October. We were all expecting it would be soon, but when my dad called this afternoon I knew in his voice my grandpa was gone and felt immediate sadness. Even when you know it's for the best and that it could come at any time it doesn't completely prepare you for that call.

My grandpa was a shy man, tall and firm when he needed to be. He grew up in the fields of Nebraska. He never graduated high school as he preferred the quite fields over the boarding school he would have had to attend since there wasn't one close enough to the farm. Maybe that's where I get my contentment just being by myself with out talking. When my dad was young grandpa sold the farm, packed up his family and moved to California so that his children could have more opportunities. Something I will always be grateful for, admire, and love about him.

He loved wood working and was amazing at it. The cradle he made me means even more now than ever, and I can't wait to one day use it and have my baby be surrounded by his/her great grandpa's love. Although he didn't always say much his smile and eyes said it all. Especially this last time seeing him. You could tell he knew he was saying good bye, which made it that much harder to leave him. I loved listening to his stories when he felt chatty, driving to the farm house he grew up in and getting a malt at the old malt shop. He was a hard worker long after his body had told him no, stubborn, hopefully another trait that rubbed off on me. I could go on and on. But mostly he was a good man and treated everyone with decency and loved my grandma more than words can express. Even after all the decades of time they spent together they were so cute together.

I am so thankful that I know that I will see him again, and not just me, he will one day be reunited with his Jessie.

Bye Grandpa, Love you and can't wait to see you again.


My grandparents with their grandchildren and a few great grandchildren in 2001

My grandparents when I came home from the hospital. Wish I had more pictures, but they are either with my parents or in storage.

Ticket 4 One please

I love going to the movies by myself. For some reason I find sitting in the theater by myself, kid combo in hand of course, very therapeutic. I'm not sure why, but I do. Today I saw Blind Side. LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!! Can't even count how many times I got a little teary eyed. I give it 2 thumbs up. So, if you have never gone to a movie solo I recommend it.

Pumpkin Patch

My parents came to town this weekend and it was so nice to have them here, especially on such a beautiful weekend. The highlight of the weekend was the Pumpkin Patch at Linder Farms. We had such a fun time picking out pumpkins, enjoying the sun and the festivities. We had to end the night at Texas Roadhouse, one of our faves. We got some fun souvenirs from their trip to Hawaii too. I got the funniest socks ever, they say, "Boys are stupid throw rocks at them." So funny and so true ;) can't wait to sport those around town. Another short weekend with family this month and I enjoyed every minute of it. Even the door to door meet salesman. Can't wait for Christmas when we can all be together again.

Nebraska

At the beginning of the month my younger brother, sister and I went to Nebraska for a quick trip. My grandpa Fred broke his pelvis last month and he and my grandma celebrated their 73rd anniversary on the 6th so we decided we should probably go down and say hello. Can you imagine spending 73 years together with the one you love, and they are still very much in love. Grandma stays every night in the hospital so that my grandpa is not alone. He's kind of a shy guy and oh so cute. The last few years he's had a few health issues, but it never stops him. A pelvic break can be a life altering issue for people his age, but he was already walking around when we went to visit. He needs help but the fact that we can do it is amazing. Their love is very inspiring and I love listening to them tell stories of when they were younger.

Before they got married they had moved to Colorado to try and make money to save to actually get married. My grandpa made $25 a month working on a farm and my grandma made $3 per week tending kids. They decided they would never really be able to save a lot and just wanted to get married so they headed back to Nebraska to take out a loan and start farming. They have both been such hard workers all their lives and I love them both so much.

It was also fun just spending time with Dee and Mikie, we don't do stuff like this near enough. I got to see my sister's new house in Fort Collins and Mikie and I had 4 hours of quality time in the airport while Denise enjoyed the Denver Broncos game. There is nothing better than wonderful siblings and I've got three of the best.

Random

Just some random things going on in my life.

1. Had a sleep over with Lindsey Saturday night. We went to Ice Age and had treats (popcorn, juice and an airhead of course), watched cartoons, sang songs, then went to bed. In the middle of the night Lindsey fell off my bed in between the wall and the bed. I think it scared me more than her, I don't think she ever really woke up. It was so much fun, I love my Lindsey Bean and spending time with her. She is so funny, sweet, and clever.

2. Rode on a bullet bike for the first time in my life. Never thought I would do it, but it was a little scary, a little awkward the way you have to sit, and a little more than a little bit fun.

3. It's fall so of course watching football. Rather not discuss the Cougars performance on Saturday, hopefully the rest of the season is better. Went to a BSU game with Ben and actually cheered for the Bronco's for the first time in my life. Don't know that it will happen again, but it was fun to hang with my big bro and watch my new school's football team.

4. Have to find a new place to live, YUCK! So sick of moving.

5. Loving that fall is slowly creeping in. Can't wait for sweaters.

A Post

I would love to be reporting on all my summer adventures and places I've been, but this has been my most boring summer that I can remember. Minus my fun little trips at the beginning of the summer I have been confined to the four walls of my house or school studying all summer. It was a lot of work being at school 5 hours a day (for one class) for 10 weeks straight, but I actually enjoyed the pace. I have been very bored this first week of school, but I'm sure it will pick up.

I managed to go camping once with Ben & Becky and the girls and hit up the fair. But other than that nothing really remarkable comes to mind. I have been living in my friends house all summer, as he lives in New York and has the house on the market. I have actually enjoyed taking care of the house inside and out on my free time. It was also very nice living by myself with little distractions for studying. Luckily for him an offer might be made soon, but not so lucky for me.

That seems to wrap up the last few months of my life. Hopefully this semester is as successful as the last few and I am excited for fall to come. Football, fall leaves, and cooler temperatures sound perfect right now.

Santa Monica

I am taking a break from studying to finally write this post. If I don't do it now who knows when it will get done. Two weeks ago three of my girlfriends and I took a girl's trip to sunny California.

My three beautiful friends; Amy, Hailey and Chelsey needed breaks from being wonderful mothers and wives and I needed a break from studying and work, so off to Santa Monica we went. We hit up every cupcake store we could find, even getting sick at one place. I think we would all agree that Sprinkles in Beverly Hills was the best. We stayed right by the beach and could see the Santa Monica Pier and ocean from our hotel window, at least Amy & I could. It was a perfect weekend. The weather was great, food oh so delicious, poolside views of the ocean and muscle beach relaxing and entertaining, and the company to die for. I love these girls so much and had so much fun RELAXING with them. The little detour on Sunday was an extra bonus, thanks girls ;).

4th of July

Most years we spend 4th of July in Bozeman. It is always so beautiful, fun and great to spend time with family. This year we floated the river as a family and had a blast. The Madison is a beautiful river and perfect for a leisure float. We were lucky enough to see pelicans, otters, a fawn laying by the river and the coolest was a moose. No joke there was a moose hanging out drinking in the river, it was so awesome. Too bad non of us had our cameras with us. On Saturday we played outside most of the day and had a BBQ. The boys have always lit the fireworks, but this year Dee and I got to do it, so fun. As usual it was so good to see everyone and the time was way too short. I think if I lived in Bozeman I would spend everyday hanging out in my parents backyard. More fun to come tomorrow!

Catching up

I have not been around too much lately and when I am, I am usually studying. I also had the worst cold I have had in years the other week. Just to shed some light on how bad it was I had a lab test two weeks ago that I took with a 100 degree fever (not the best idea I know, but I didn't realize it was that high and didn't really have another option). I did fine on the test, but not as good as I would have liked. In my delirium I did things like choose D when your options were A through C (woops!) or I would look at something, identify it in my head, but on paper I filled in something completely different. I had a little melt down when I returned to class and saw what I did. Did I also mention that my pervy professor was terminated the last week of class. We are guessing partly because he said some very disgusting things in class (school is so different in Utah thank heavens) and because he was failing most of the class. For the last four days we had a different professor with a different testing and teaching style, very stressful. Luckily she said we could drop our lowest grade, a lovely tender mercy, so my A stands. I am still recovering from the cold and even have a nerdy inhaler that I am supposed to use for a while. I have found myself saying "Ah I need my inhaler!" several times lately. I am turning over my contacts for a lovely pair of bottle capped glasses with tape across the middle and a pocket protecter and you can find me in the periodical section of the library if you have any questions, comments, or constructive criticisms.

The Reunion

So my high school reunion was more enjoyable than expected. I really was using it as an excuse to see my mom and my cousin Amanda, but ended up reconnecting with some good friends. Amanda and I got ready together beforehand and it was so much fun. Totally reminded me of high school giggling in the bathroom, helping each other with our outfits, and going silent when my uncle came in the room and giggling when he left. Aw, I guess a part of us never grows up. Being a little nervous we wouldn't have anyone to talk to Amanda and I were ready to go as soon as we walked in the room, but ended up having a blast. I took a few pics but mostly was too busy chatting and laughing. I have known some of these people since I was like 5 or 6. I have to mention that seeing my mama was the best part though. She's wonderful and I miss her so enjoyed spending every minute with her.
Tara, Amy, me

Kristal, Amanda (with baby on board), me

A Long & Winding Road

Last weekend I went up to Montana for my high school reunion. The drive there was about as memorable as the reunion itself. Missoula sits in a valley and isn't that easy to get to no matter what time of the year. In the winter you have to go around the mountains and it takes 9 hours. In the summer you go over the mountains, but it's constant climbing and winding for 7.5 hours. Usually I drive with Ben and Becky so I don't pay much attention. But this time I drove all by myself. Between the constant weaving (at one point I got myself a little car sick, didn't even know that was possible), the steep drop offs into the river far below making me feel like I was about to fall in at any moment, the deer jumping in front of my car, and the rain I was a wreck when I pulled into town. I have also concluded that getting up at 5:45 to go to school for 5 hours and then work before hitting THAT road is less than ideal. Knowing the road a little better made the drive back a lot more enjoyable. If you can actually look around it is one of the most beautiful drives anyone can take. On a side note everyone in Idaho has always wondered how I could drive by Stanley and not marvel over the mountains. Now I am not at all down playing the beauty of those mountains because they are indeed breathtaking, but hello I grew up in Western Montana, there's mountains everywhere. I forget how amazing they are and what a small little valley Missoula really is. A lot greener than the sage brush of the foothills in Boise.

Hitten the Trails

My original bike buddy is my friend Scott, he worked at the bike shop with me and taught me how to downhill mountain bike. Last summer he got hit by a car while on his bike and broke his arm. He has a couple screws and a rod in his arm and a year later it still hasn't healed. We were hoping to hit Sundance while I was here but he still can't mountain bike. So we took a casual ride up to Bridal Veil falls. It was a perfect day for it and although less exciting it was still fun. I love the Utah mountains and had forgotten how beautiful they are in the spring. Again all these activities are going to make it very hard to go home and sit in a classroom all summer.


Amy and I love teeny bopper movies, they are so fun, innocent and make us giggle. We have been counting down the days until we saw 17 Again, and tonight was the night. I am a little embarrassed to say that we now have HUGE crushes on Zach Efron, is that even legal? We could not go to the theater without our usual kid combos, but tonight we must have been really hungry because we walked away with a lot more than either of us needed to eat. The best part was when two cute little old ladies walked in with their snacks excited as we were, I think our futures flashed before our eyes. Here's to being 70 Amy and still giggling over teeny bopper movies. All this for 2 people.

Fun in the Sun

I have been in Utah since Friday and have loved every minute of it. Amy and I have been so busy hitting up garage sales, consignment shops, eating, making jewelry, getting our tan on, eating, watching kids, latch work pillow making, eating more and of course chatting. It has been so much fun and I'm never going to want to leave. Yesterday we took Carson and Carlee, Amy's adorable kiddos to the pool and had such a blast. Why didn't they have such cool places when I was little? Last night I did take some time away and had dinner with my friend Clinton, who I love. We live in two very different realities and his remedy to all that bugs me is a trip to Europe, Panama or to just move back to Utah. He makes me laugh and I love when he can fit me into his busy schedule.

Sooooo Good!

So I have been impatiently waiting for the snow cone hut to open up near my house. Today I was on my way to the bank when to my pleasant surprise there it was sitting in the gas station parking lot. I promptly changed by course of direction, I was so excited. I don't think I even made it to the bank. Root beer and vanilla shaved ice is probably one of my most favorite things, I can never get enough. But the best part is to me this means summer. I don't care if I had to wear a sweater or that it's still rainy. The snow cone hut is open, so it is officially summer. Woohoo!

Happy Birthday To Me Numero 29!!!

Yikes, am I really 29? One more year until I leave my twenties in the dust. It was a great day spent with great people, whether on the phone or in person. This time last year I was excited about a new relationship, in denial about the dead end I was heading down at work and trying to figure out this "life" business. Now looking at things through my older 29 year old eyes ;), I am perfectly happy and content with life right now. My kids one day are going to read my journal and wonder what drug I was on during this time period because almost every entry seems to start out with, "I love life...". I have so many wonderful people in my life whom I love and I know they love me. I am so excited about my new career path and going back to school. I have really missed stressing my brain. Life is definitely not always easy, but it is all so worth it. Allowing time for Heavenly Father's plans for us to unfold can be so challanging. Living in a world of everything now is not conducive to this, but letting go and allowing his will to play out is the greatest feeling ever. Discovering how strong and resilient we can be is so amazing and I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us enough to push us to our limits so that we can grow and learn. The more I come to understand him, and myself, I am truly in awe of him and his love. What a gift. So Happy Birthday to me and here's to another year of growth, wonderful memories to look forward to, and continuing on this "life" journey.

Bursa What?

So about a month ago I had another check up for my redicoulus wrist which was just a bit frustrating so I won't go into details. I did however discover something fun. Since my mission back in oh, 2002 I have had this pesky pain in my hip. When I say pesky I mean I can't lay on my right side for extended periods of time, running has been a nightmare, you can see the inflamation (although they say you're not supposed to) and there have been times I have barely been able to lift my leg.

When I got home I went to a couple doctors and they couldn't figure out what was going on so I gave up and just dealt with it. I kind of have a push through the pain mentality which apparently wasn't such a hot idea.

Turns out my pesky pain is a little thing called bursitis. My new doc figured it out in minutes and I was elated that I finally knew what was wrong and what I needed to do to make it better. Such a good feeling. Turns out I am now in a club with my grandma and according to some googling many other elderly women, glad to know where I stand. Anyhoooo, I have been given a low impact workout regime and by brain is playing tricks on me because I feel the swelling going down already(at this stage of the game this is pretty unlikely). So if anyone is up for shuffle board or bingo you can join the ladies and I at the Senior Citizen Center.

Amy this picture is for you. Remember the good old days? "They are so stingy with their bones!"

Purse Mania

About a month ago I stole Becky for a Friday night to get her out of the house. I am apparently a little more boring and thought of the usual dinner and movie or run to TCBY, we love going there together. But Becky is much more creative than I am, and came up with the great idea of making purses. I got a new sewing machine for Christmas and had not yet taken it out of the box.

We met up at Jo Ann Fabrics, picked out our material and hit up WinnCo on the way home. What would a crazy night of sewing be with out pizza and popcorn and M&M's (my fave).

Many hours later, I think Becky left my house at 3:30 am, lot's of grumbling on both our parts, and 2 well used seem rippers, Becky and I both had very adorable bags. For some reason we kept messing up on the handle and had to redo it several times. I decided I love the sewing part, but don't like cutting. It takes way too long. Becky has made another purse since and said it was much easier the second time around. It may have helped that she got the right materials this time.

Thanks Becky for the fun night, I loved it. Mom, most of these pics are for you, so you can see our handy work. They are not the most flattering pics ever, but hey it was way too late at night to worry about that.

March Madness

March Madness officially began last week and I love it. This year we had tickets to the 1st and 2nd rounds of the tournament, so my dad and step mom made the trip from Montana. Watching the games in person is so much better than watching on TV. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Arizona had played here, but I was just happy they made into the tourney at all. Friday night I watched the girls so Becky could go to some games too. But I also just wanted a chance to see Arizona play and that wasn't going to happen on my dad's little TV in the Taco Bell Arena. Its fun having the grandparents in town, Lindsey sure loves her grandma and grandpa. Saturday was even nice enough to take the girls to the park. It's always wonderful when family comes to town. Here's to hoping Arizona can keep it together long enough to keep their winning streak alive.

It's Here!!!!!!!

About a month ago my friend sent me a chain letter. I suppose I have probably racked up about 9 years bad luck in my lifetime of ignoring chain letters. Huh, maybe I should stop breaking them. Anyway this chain letter seemed too fun to pass up, it's an informal book club. You send a form letter to 6 friends and in return you hopefully receive 36 back. You don't have to go out and buy a book you just share one you enjoyed with the person at the bottom of the letter. Yada, yada, yada.

My first book came in the mail today! It was like Christmas I was so excited. I had to prepare for my class tonight and make dinner before hand. It took all I had not to plop down on the couch and immediately start reading.

I sent my 6 letters to my girlfriends I already know love books as much as me. So if you didn't get a letter I apologize, but let me know that you would like to be included and if it comes back around I will be sure to keep you in the loop. To everyone who kept the chain going, happy reading!

No More TODAY

For years and years I have gotten ready in the morning watching/listening to the Today Show. But I have decided to say good bye to the show. Lately it seems that the show focuses so much on the negative and how bad the economy is and how horrible our country's state of affairs are in. I realize that things are tough, but to talk about it every day for hours and hours gets old and I can't take it anymore. I would like to start my day off a little more optimistic and cheerful, less doom and gloom.

So good bye Today Show, thanks for keeping me informed for so many years. I'm sure I'll check in every once in a while to make sure Al's still telling me what the weather is like in "my neck of the woods".

February

I swear it was just January and now we're almost into March. Where did February go? I have mentioned this to a few people, but lately I feel that if my head were not attached I would lose it. It's quite possible that my brain has run off a few times regardless.

Some may be aware that due to the amazing real estate market in Idaho at the end of August I was given the choice to look for new employment or be demoted. After much thought I chose to stay with the company and take the demotion. Boise is not the place you want to be right now if you are looking for a job. In late November I decided to go back to school.

So here I am, this semester I only have one class at night twice a week, and in May I will start back full time. I really didn't think one class would be a big deal, but when I consider that I am at work all day then in school twice a week, plus time for studying and homework time seems to fly by. My stack of books that I want to read is starting to stack up, I have empty canvases that have yet to be painted, but I'm loving it. I really am excited about school and think Heavenly Father was trying to steer me in this direction last spring, but as I stated before I can be pretty dense/stubborn. But he WILL find a way to get you out of your comfort zone when needed to get you headed where you should be.

As a side not, my mom recently sent me a CD with some old pictures she had on her computer. Since you can't have a post without pictures I have attached some for the viewing pleasure of some of my regular blog readers. Hope you enjoy.










I suppose I may have gotten carried away with the pictures, but they were so fun.