The tag.

I've had many moments in my life that should have embarrassed me... or made a large dent on my self-esteem. But, my most recent outing topped any previous experience.

On saturday Mom, Kate and I made a trip to Kohls for a present but left with a couple of things for ourselves. I left with a very cute clearance shirt, button up, plaid and see through(not the gross kind, just a light weight one). I found some cute shorts to wear with it and kept it on for the rest of the afternoon. Later that evening, Katelyn and I went to a Young Single Adult activity with one of my roommates. It happened to be a Jon Schmidt concert (which by the way was incredible--he has a new song out called "Love story meets Viva la vida" check it out on youtube). The concert was awesome! When we got home, I chatted with mom and dad for a while then went downstairs to change. As I was hanging up the shirt I noticed the tag was still on. This wasn't just any tag. It was like cardboard and big, it had a button bag attatched and a large clearance sticker. All afternoon and evening I walked around thinking I looked pretty cute. I can't even imagine how many people saw this tag and DIDN'T say anything! (Mom, dad, kate, my friend Taylor, the people behind me in line.. ) They were probably too busy laughing and thinking to themselves, "Oh this poor girl found a clearance shirt and was so anxious to wear it that she forgot about the tag".

Don't get me wrong I love finding a good sale. Next time, I will be more careful to remove the tag before I wear my "Kohls miracle" shirt.

Can you find the tag?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

On July 30, 2009 I celebrated my 22nd birthday. It was a great day and I wanted to thank everyone for all of the birthday wishes. I had previously decided that I wanted to sleep in a little bit on my birthday so I went in at 9am instead of 7am. I enjoyed a lovely breakfast prepared by mother which consisted of waffles, bacon, apple juice and of course my favorite hash browns. I then went to work and I was suprised to see my desk decorated with confetti and signs wishing me a happy birthday. My good friend at work made me some cupcakes to celebrate my day. I got home from work when I usually do and I just relaxed and received some phone calls from my brothers who live out of state. Thanks!! It was a small celebration because of the recent move of Matt and Stacy and the fact that Riley was at youth conference. Kelli picked up grandpa and grandma on the way here. Dinner consisted of missionary chicken, jigglers, french bread, a nice fresh fruit salad and a vegetable. Upon finishing dinner we went into the family room to await to open my gifts.

Adorable new running shoes (which I have already used and quite enjoyed running in them maybe it will inspire me to go running outside instead of going to the gym.)

Long awaited hand mixer (so I can make Snickerdoodles for my future roomates.)

A surprise ihome (which is totally awesome!!) Thanks again mom and dad!!

My new favorite game-Bananagram and cocoa butter

Exercise shorts and beach cover-up

After opening gifts we had some cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Sorry Stacy that you had to miss out on the normal cake) and ice cream. Later we played the new game with Grandma and Grandpa and had a lot of fun. Me and Allison then went to go see Harry Potter 6 which just made my day. Thanks again for the wonderful day and great gifts. I have yet to hear my birth story.

The "long-awaited" pictures of the house

So here are some more pictures of the house for Brad and Mandy to see what we have been doing for the last three months. Sorry they are not in order and there are duplicates, but I am still learning how to work this blog. Thank you all for your enthusiasm and support over the last nine months as we have been obbsessed with the new house. Hopefully can now settle in and just enjoy it all.


Above--The storage room...one of my favorite rooms in the house!



Master bathroom

Guest bathroom



Living room



Craft room in the basement (we're sewing bags)

Basement bathroom

More bathroom (sorry couldn't delete the repeat picture)

and more

more of the storage room I adore (sorry they're out of order)

Another view

More of the storage room (sorry it's sideways)

The cold storage room

more cold storage

The basement family room

Another view of the basement family room

The stairs down to the basement

The great room from the dining area

The kitchen from the dining area

The kitchen

View of the kitchen and great room from the hall

The great room

The entry way

The Master bedroom

So Long, Farewell... Matt and Stacy

Top Twelve reasons we are going to miss Matt and Stacy:



1. Matt's funloving personality and ever present positive attitude (it's all good!).

2. Sunday dinners and birthday celebrations spent together.

3. Measuring Riley and Matt to see who is taller (oh yeah, we quit doing that a year ago).

4. Hearing all about Matt's most recent sporting triumphs....or mishaps.

5. We'll miss the wood-carved temple tablet we snuck onto their trailer.

6. Knowing Matt and Stacy were in Provo and could rescue Katelyn, Allison and, now, even Kelli.

7. Stacy's adorable laugh and the way she looks at Matt when she is trying to get him to behave.

8. Matt and Stacy picking up Grandpa and Grandma for various activities (never complaining).

9. Hearing all about their exciting new house in Arizona.

10. Matt and Stacy's unfailing enthusiasm and support for our new house.

11. Stacy's "interesting" stories about her Lehi student's exploits!

12. Dad won't be able to beat Matt in tennis as often.

Ideas for the 24th

Hello. I do not have to work tomorrow and I want something to do. Could I please get some ideas? Thank you.

Hey guys...I would like to say that I tried to post pictures and comments tonight about our wonderful campout up at Timpanookee last night. Needless to say, I struggled as you can see. I tried. Anyway, we had a fantastic time and were joined by the Groesbecks, Powells and Grandpa and Grandma. The weather was perfect, except for those who slept down by the river (Matt and Stacy), we learned a new game called Bananagram(kind of like speed scrabble), and the kids whittled like crazy. Even Bauer attended his first campout out and was entertained by the chipmunks, however, he didn't quite understand the pineneedles and sap that kept getting on his paws. Please notice Matthew's knee injuries, which he earned as he gracefully crawled to home base during the championship game! It was a perfect campout if we overlook the fact that I forgot the bacon for breakfast!

Lucky Campout at Timpanookee

Happy camper Stacy!

Lorin, "I had the best night of sleep"

The whittlers...Kelli and her infamous pink pocket knife.

Sunburned Becca!

Bananarama Champ!

Trent and Matt. Matt spent quite some time tutoring young Trent how to whittle.

Eliza's first campout, well sort of.

Cute Grandparents in their favorite spot.

Sam the Man.

Trent took to whittling and continued throughout

the entire campout

Game playing girls!

More game playing girls!

Riley and cute Ben and his new glasses!

Greatest or Worst sports moment of my career?

We all know we have a strange competitiveness with sports, and softball is no different. I have played in the Orem softball league for a couple of years now, and previously had won a championship. The team is sponsored by Codale electric, an electrical supply store. Well, last night was the end of the tournament. Our team had already gone undefeated during the season and we received the regular season championship T-shirts. Last night we had a game at 6pm and if we won that game we would be in the championship game of the playoffs.

And so here is where the debate will begin on whether or not this will be my best or worst sports moment of my career. On my first at-bat, I got a single, and on the second at-bat I noticed that the right fielder was playing awfully close, I'm sure that his teammates had called him in closer. So I grabbed the synergy bat with composite nano technology and knocked the softball over the right fielder's head. I turned up the speed and came cruising into 3rd base and Tyson Bigelow starts to make the slow sign and then quickly changes to the turn and run home sign. As I turn the corner I notice that I took a bad angle and I knew I was in trouble. My cleats start to lose traction and about half way home I took a nose dive into the reddish dirt (scraping my knee up pretty bad). Well, I look up and, half expecting to see the catcher holding the ball, I notice that the ball has not been thrown home yet. So, I try to get back up and finding that to be kind of tough, I start to crawl to home base. The second baseman relays a very nice throw home and the catcher, distracted I'm sure by the hilariousness of me falling, drops the ball and I miraculously am safe. I don't think the umpire even believed that I would be safe after a fall like that. Anyway, it was pretty funny and everyone had a good laugh, even Stacy.

Well, needless to say we ended up winning that game 16-4, played in the championship game and got up 20-0 in the third inning, and ended up winning 20-5. I did however have my most productive night of my career, I went 8 for 8 with 3 home runs and a couple of diving catches.

Quiet time will be extra long this Sunday afternoon

This morning I attempted to train young Jane in the ways of the toilet. She's a bright young lady. I figured I could teach her a new trick. It did not end well.

We sat together in the bathroom, she perched on the toilet, I on an undersized red chair, for well over an hour. She read 30 children's books of various length; I enjoyed a good number of articles from Friday's edition of The New York Times. I pledged a bounty of chocolate chips if she released anything into the water below. The offer clearly enticed her.

I ran the sink water to set the mood. I had her tickle her back to relax the muscles. She drank more juice than I've ever seen her drink. I made hissing sounds. We made fists and grunted together. I begged her to join society and to celebrate indoor plumbing. She was content to sit and read.

I understand the draw of enjoying literature in the restroom. The serenity of the enclosure tempts me every time. Sometimes a crossword puzzle, other times a magazine, still other times a legal document. I know I'm not the first person to bill his time while in the men's room at the office. And I believe Reader's Digest is published specifically for restroom enjoyment. I'm not sure I've ever read Reader's Digest outside the bathroom. Humor in Uniform has many laxative qualities.

Eventually Jane started to complain that her rear was hurting. In truth, it was starting to turn red from the seat. I let her off the toilet, not wanting for this experience to scar her, but predicting that she would do her business within moments of me putting a diaper on her. I was wrong.

As soon as she stepped off the toilet, and before I could apply a diaper, she squatted on the bathroom rug and urinated. After all that juice, what did I expect. My amusement overshadowed my frustration. This is going to be more difficult than I anticipated.

Tattoo.

Mom wanted me to clear up any misconception... the tattoo shown in the picture is 100% fake. It didn't even last through a day at the swimming pool. So, in case any of you were concerned I have not permanently scarred my body. The mustache on the other hand is very real.