2023- Week 34(Aug 21- Aug 27)

 I taught the lesson in RS on unity. It was based on the talk by Elder Christofferson called One in Christ.

Jeff and Ashtyn went to see Newsies at Hale. Then she saw it again on Thursday. I think she ended up seeing it five times. This was the Christmas gift she got last year. She loves plays so much and Newsies is a favorite.

I had my interview with the temple to become a worker. I was set apart by President Brown. I am so excited to be called to do this. It is an actual calling that most people volunteer for. I will be working on the Saturday midday shift. My coordinator is Sister Tolman.

Ally came over to hang out with me. Claudia and I had a nice time catching up.

For Activity Days I put on a Jedi Training activity. This has been one of the most fun activities I have done in the five years I have been working with this age group. Katie helped me with it. 

Jedi Training Schedule

Intro and Name Issue 

(They created their own Jedi name)

Yoda Craft

(Made Origami Yoda)

Lesson 1- You Can Do Hard Things

(Force Practice- Used static electricity to move balloons)

Lesson 2- Don’t Underestimate Others

(Storm Trooper Target Practice- Little white cups with pictures of storm troopers 

we shot with a nerf gun)

Light Saber Instruction- The bible is our light saber

Lesson 3- Your Choices Matter

(Rescue Han Solo- We froze lego guys in ice and used science to free him)

Lesson 4- Be A Force For Good

The Best Jedi- Is Jesus

Treats- Princess Laya's chips

(Death Star Battle- We had star wars balls and playd Ga Ga Ball)

I worked on Saturday for Kim while she was at her daughters wedding.

We had a Ward Summer Social- Everyone brought their own dinner and then the Conrad's brought all kinds of team games to play and the kids ran around on the playground. It was really fun.

The Hughes family came for dinner. Melinda brought her pizza oven and we made pizza.

 It was so good. 

Jeff, Ethan and I went to see the Grand Tourismo movie. 

This is based on a true story and it was amazing.

2023- Week 33(Aug 14- Aug 20)

 Monday was our 25th wedding anniversary. We had been up late Sunday night chatting with Ethan so we got to see it roll in. We gave each other cards at midnight and then went to bed ha ha. We celebrated Friday night. We went to dinner at The Charleston in Draper. They have a dress code so you know it's fancy. We were in a room all by ourselves because we made our reservation right when they opened. The room was so sophisticated. Painted in a dark midnight blue almost black color. I had the Coq au Vin Blanc and Jeff had the Fillet Mignon. We also tried the artichoke dip to start and all the food was fantastic. The servers were all wearing white button up shirts and ties- everything was so elegant. Then we went to see Catch Me If You Can at Hale Theater. It is a murder mystery- not based on the movie like we thought.  Afterwards we went downtown to stay overnight at The Little America. They didn't have any more king beds like we had booked so they upgraded us to a room at the Grand America instead- again so so fancy.  I gave Jeff a tree lined black and silver ring and a Bad Birdie shirt. Both of which he picked out. That is his gift receiving style and I am embracing it. Sometimes that makes me feel bad that I don't know him well enough to know what he would like but then I also love that he makes gift giving easy and no stress for me. The next morning we went to breakfast at Cafe Niche downtown. It's a cool little bohemian joint off the beaten path. Then we drove the Emigration to I-80 loop and took in the view. Jeff told me he wanted to take me somewhere that we wouldn't be going that day but later next week and that it was a surprise. I had no idea where we were going and we eventually pulled up to an office building that looked closed. He checked the door and we went inside and he had me stand and look at the building directory to guess where we were. We were at Rocky Mountain Diamond- the place he bought my engagement ring and the anniversary band he gave me for our 15th anniversary. He said they were closed that day but that we were coming back and I could get another anniversary band for the other side of my ring. I was so surprised and excited. I am still over the moon in love with Jeff. He is good to the core. He makes me so happy. A lot has changed about us in 25 years but I think the key is the changes have happened to both of us together. We live by the rule your hurts are my hurts and your joys are my joys. It hasn't been all smooth sailing and we hurt each other sometimes but we also heal each other, we help each other and we hold each other. There is no one I would rather be with in the whole world. Marriage is the biggest decision I have ever made and I did not get it wrong with him. If I had to do it all over again I would still choose him. I can safely say that I love him more today than the day we got married. We had a short engagement and we didn't even know each other hardly at all when we got married but if I could have seen what he was going to be like as a husband and father before I would have married him the first day I met him because I wouldn't have been able to wait another minute to be with the amazing man that he is. 

Tuesday was the second half of the Lakeshore job. The supervisor Melissa put me on chair duty which was great. Chairs are my skill set so I just sat and unboxed those and then helped take them where they needed to go. I was so happy to see this job end. 

It was another long three hours of hard labor and sweat.

I gave blood on Thursday. 

My favorite people David Butler and Emily Freeman came out with a line of bracelets representing Christ's miracles. They are not going to make them in different sizes so sadly like all bracelets they won't fit me so I decided to make my own. This one represents the loaves and fishes.

BRG had a night out at the Bees game. They had a suite and provided a yummy dinner and a great view of the field. You have to show a special ticket to get into the suite but it's right on the concourse so people are constantly passing it. At one point a man leaned over the side and asked me to get him a soda. He was not with our group and I was taken aback. He told me that we had so many extras and that it would just go to waste- the rule follower in me was like heck no you crazy person- but I asked Jeff and he didn't even hesitate and threw the man a soda and a cookie- HA! One more thing I love about Jeff is that he knows when it's ok to break rules and it made the mans night. Not too far into the game it started to pour! We were under the covering but rain was coming at us from all sides. We waited it out for over an hour and then the sun came out and the game commenced but we decided to leave because it was already getting really late. Fun night.

2023- Week 32(Aug 7- Aug 13)

This week a fire broke out on the island of Maui. The winds from Hurricane Dora made it whip out of control and within a few days the town of Lahaina was completed destroyed. Maui is my favorite island. We have only been there once but it has my heart. It is everything I picture Hawaii to be.  To watch so much death and destruction is heart wrenching. So many people have lost lives and all they have. Giving money just doesn't feel like enough. We are sending prayers and love to the islands.

Jeff and I went to Matthew Esplin's reception. They were suppose to go to Maui for their honeymoon and because of the wedding festivities hadn't heard about how bad the fires had gotten. 

I worked a really hard Lakeshore job this week. I have worked several the last month and it has been so nice to get extra money but this job really did me in. We had to unload 139 boxes- many of which were cabinets and so heavy. We use dollies but we had to lift them off the truck and on to the dollies ourselves because there was no loading dock. We couldn't pull the truck down near the door or we would have been blocking access for the other tenets in the building. So we had to push the heavy loads through the parking lot and down a ramp into a staging area where we unloaded everything until the customer arrived and could show us where to take things. Once she came we had to reload the dollies and take everything inside and then to the specific rooms- many of which were upstairs. I got my work out in for sure. They are currently renovating so we have to go back next week to unbox everything and build the furniture. I am not looking forward to that. 

I was supposed to go into work to go over everything I did while Kim was gone after the Lakeshore job. I tried but couldn't get anywhere near the park because the police had every street going east blocked off. President Biden was in town giving a speech at the VA so they were not letting people pass or use Foothill. I drove around for an hour trying to get there but then Kim just told me to go home. I wasn't too sad about this since I was hot and sweaty and sore from the delivery.  

We hung out with the BRG crew again. We went to dinner with them back in July. Dan use to work with Jeff and we haven't seen them in a long time. They moved to Heber years ago. They invited us, The Babcock's and The Larson's to go up to ride their side by side ATV's in the mountains around Heber. It was so fun. They had two so we drove with the Larson's. We went all over the city first and then drove up by Mill Hollow and back down through Wolf Creek Ranch. It was so beautiful. The mountains make me so happy. The air was crisp and clean. The ATV was so hot on our legs and very loud but it was so fun. Jeff drove ours. Afterwards we had dinner at The Junction which is a really fun and great place with amazing pizza and burgers. We stopped at their house before dinner to get a little cleaned up- we were covered in dirt. I wore a bandana on my head so that helped keep dirt out of my hair. It was a great night.

Ashtyn, Baylee and Rylee got to be on an episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. They were in Season 4 episode 1. You can see all three of them at 15:11 five rows under the word High and then again at 18:31-18:33. You can also see Ashtyn alone from 15:16-15:18. She's now famous for a whole 5 seconds! 

Jeff gave me anniversary flowers early so I could enjoy them all weekend. He got me two bouquets! He knows flowers are one of the ways to my heart.

Guess who got Taylor Swift tickets to see her in Miami next year? ME! Well actually Ashtyn is going with the Reids but it was my job to sit online and try to get tickets and I am so proud of myself for doing it! She is over the moon!

Ashtyn and Whitney have been sitting down at the piano and singing together and it makes me so happy. In my perfect world we had a family band.

2023- Week 31 (Jul 31- Aug 6)

 I worked a three site Lakeshore job this week and I was so tired at the end. There were a lot of heavy things we moved around and I had to make several trips. I have gotten very good at unpackaging the ergo bounce cantilever chairs we sell. The legs come wrapped  and two chairs are tied together. Between the last few jobs I have done I bet I have unboxed over 100 chairs. It's a pretty easy job and I like the extra money.

We went out to dinner with Mike and Norma Nance. We use to be in the same ward before it split and he was our bishop. They are awesome and have become good friends and mentors to us. We went to Saffron Circle- which just might be my new favorite Indian restaurant. Then we got gelato from Harmons- Did you know Harmons sells fresh made real Italian gelato in a few stores. They get their mixes direct from Italy. I had the ricotta balsamic and it tasted just like cheese cake. Mike served his mission in Italy and since we just went there we thought it was fitting. 

This week was our August Inklings. We discussed patriarachal blessings. Someone said "If you feel like your blessing is lacking- try seeing it as an invitation instead of a blessing to come and let God show you how ti see it with covenant eyes. Maybe it's not about the words on the page and more about the meaning that will come through working together with God and He is the source of the blessing." I loved that. We can read our blessings and study them but the real meaning won't come unless we let God show us. It was such a great discussion. Someone else said to try reading the blessing using I Am statements. So for instance mine says "Be faithful in attending your meetings" which can be read "I Am faithful in attending my meetings." Carol Holgate hosted this time.

I went into work a few times this week to work on more invoices so one day I stopped by Scarlett's house on the way home. Stella is getting so big. She was so cute. She kept offering to share her yogurt with me. 

Jeff took the Priests and Teachers to Reid Ranch for a camp the beginning of the week. They had a great time despite the rain.

We had a monsoon rainstorm and it flooded homes and streets around the valley. It burst a water main in South Jordan and created a ten foot wide sink hole in the east bound lanes of 10600 S near Mulligans. That is the way I drive to work so I am glad this didn't happen on a day I was driving. Luckily no one was hurt and they are working to repair it. A few nights in a row the lightening kept going off for hours lighting up the clouds- it was so strange. 

We had family dinner at Scott and Malia's this week. They served a nacho bar. After dinner  Ruby and Corban showed me their acrobatic skills on the trampoline.

This week was also the week of Ashtyn's play that we got her the tickets to for Christmas. She took her friend Makell.

My hibiscus are in bloom.

Ethan and I went to see the Barbie movie on Tuesday. I did not love it. I loved the sets- they were spot on like I remember growing up. I loved the actors. Margot Robbie was the perfect person to play Barbie and I absolutely love Ryan Gosling. There was a sweet scene of a mom remembering playing Barbies with her daughter that made me cry. One character gives the most epic speech about the expectations placed upon women by society, men and ourselves and the underlying message of not having to live up to anyone's expectations but your own was a good one- it was just done in such an abrasive and crass way that I just didn't love it. I think it's one of those movies people love or they don't. I don't. There were tons of little girls in the theater and I would never take a child to see that movie- it is not for kids at all. It was fun to see everyone wearing pink and the theater was buzzing with excitement which I have never experienced in a movie. Ethan was also not a fan. He didn't love the man bashing ha ha. Ashtyn and Whitney had seen it earlier and hated it, but I just really thought I might like it. 

Turns out I did not.