It's Like I was 17 Again!

Unfortunately, we've been having sub-freezing temps around here lately, which has caused our garage door keypad to not open our door.

Fortunately, I tried it Saturday afternoon when I went our for a walk, and IT WORKED!

Unfortunately, when I returned an hour later, the keypad was NOT working again.

Fortunately, we have three other doors that I can get in our home with.

Unfortunately, when I tried all of them, they were ALL locked at the moment.

Fortunately, I have a LOUD knock/pound to alert those inside to open the door for me.

Unfortunately, no one answered the door.

Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me and I called the home phone.

Unfortunately, no one answered.

Fortunately, I knew this didn't necessarily mean anything negative (no one answers the phone when it rings!)

Unfortunately, when I called Kyle's cell phone, he said he wasn't inside our home - he was at a friend's house.  It didn't look like I was getting inside any time soon.

Fortunately, I had my coat and gloves.

Unfortunately, I did not have a face mask, hat, thermals or boots on, and the CHILL got through.

Fortunately, I had one chance left - I called Matt.

Unfortunately, he was in Salt Lake City shopping for a table.

Fortunately, he was almost done.

Unfortunately, he did not have our car with him, nor our keys, because he had borrowed his parent's truck to pick up above mentioned table, so he'd have to make an extra stop on his way home to get them.

Fortunately, we did have some neighbors who looked like they were home, if I froze or got desperate, or was desperately frozen, that I could go to and beg for shelter and warmth to wait it out in.

Unfortunately, I did not want to trouble them with my pathetic situation.

Fortunately, I HAD just returned from my walk to the library, and I had a bag full of six new books!  And we have a rocking chair on our porch!  So, I took a seat, opened up a book, and started reading!

And eventually Matt came home and let me into our [warm] home! 

The End.

Total time spent locked outside = approximately 30 minutes.
(But, with temperatures hovering around the high teens, it felt like MUCH longer!)  ;)


*This being locked out hasn't happened to me FOR YEARS - in my teens and college years, it was a regular occurrence, though, so this was quite the trip down Memory Lane!  haha.

Combatting the Winter BLUES

The Missionary Care Package I did for January was BLUE.

He likes to open them on his "click date" (the 27th) and I thought I still had several days, but then I realized the few days before his "click date" was a weekend when mail isn't delivered, so I had to do it really fast all in one morning.  I literally bought the stuff at the store, took the picture in the parking lot, filled the box, then drove it to the post office.
So you get really nice backgrounds this time for these photos!!

{The contents}

Why the 2,000 Flushes? (well, it is "BLUE plus bleach!")  And because I REALLY AM afraid of those Elders' bathroom conditions!!

Disney's Frozen cereal?  (well, it BLUE, as well!)  Also, "Frozen" was the last movie his 1st companion had seen before leaving out on his mission in Jan. '14, so that is the movie that got quoted by the two of them together, so that makes it a bit fun.

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four flaps say:

"You are a BLUE ribbon missionary!"

"Our life would be BLUE without you!!"

"You're the 'BLUE-eyed boy' of the Brenchley family! (and our Heavenly Father's)"

"Keep teaching the Gospel 'til you're BLUE in the face!"  :)

Ryan, actually guessed that it would be WHITE this month, probably because of Winter and the snow......but, NO! That wasn't on my mind.

The SNOW is where he is in West Virginia, NOT here in Utah (see the grass showing in my great photo background, at the side of the parking lot?)  A WHITEOUT is not something I have seen for a month!  (Very UNUSUAL for Utah this time of year!)

Links to past care packages:

December

November

October

September

These are a Few of my Favorite things -- THIS Christmas

My favorite "Neighbor Gift" we received:

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed [E.O.S. lip balm] Reindeer!

The Christensens are always so clever/cute with their gift & "packaging."

My favorite reaction to a gift I gave:

Haylee was SOOO happy (like jumping around & talking giddily) about her PJ's this year!  Namely, she loved the hood, the pockets, & the owl print.

She opened them on Christmas Eve and actually said that she'd be JUST FINE if that was her whole Christmas!  She was fulfilled!

It reminded me of a Christmas several years ago when she had a very emotional reaction to a ROBE she received.

{She doesn't have extravagent wants!  I LOVE it!}

This is not MY favorite, BUT the kids' favorite Christmas wish came true:

The kids were having a hard time FEELING like it was the Christmas season because we hadn't had any snow in December - AND it had been in the 40's & 50's (no coat weather!)

But, THEN they got a WHITE CHRISTMAS.  

It literally started snowing late Christmas Eve, and we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere. 

THEY thought it was the best thing ever!

My favorite part about Christmas 2014:

Talking to/Seeing Ryan (Elder Brenchley) via Skype!!!

We waited forever - he'd told us it would be in between 3-3:00p.m.......we finally heard from him at 6:05p.m.

BUT, it was worth the wait!

It was so fun to talk to him - we got to be reminded of his playful, amusing personality, but also got to see HOW WELL HE IS DOING and how mature and solid in the gospel he is becoming! 

He absolutely loved the #sharethegift focus this Christmas season.

He testified again & again to us that HE IS THE GIFT.
We got about an hour with him, and 10 min. with his companion (he talked to us while Ryan HAD to go to the bathroom - some things never change! ;) haha. 
We didn't want to hang up and have him call us back because it took SO LONG for him to do it the first time!!)
He also witnessed Haylee smack Kyle while we were skyping....he laughed his head off about that!
Like I said, some things never change!  ;)

**********

What were your "favorite things" about Christmas this year?

3 Gatsu!

YES!!!  It's March!

{finally}

Which means the worst months (January & February) are over!

Even though our weather has been mild the last couple of weeks, and today's weather hasn't change - it's actually the same - I'm just so RELIEVED we're moving onto March!

Winter has always been my least liked season, but I think, as I get older, my feelings about it are getting worse!  It's hard for me to be upbeat.  I'm not really a fan of winter sports/hobbies, so I'm not excited for snow ever.  EVEN THOUGH Utah has been known to have strange weather - snow as late as May - I feel like we're on the way out of the woods.

So, hopefully, most of the snow/cold/inversion days are over - both where I live AND where the airline I work for flies, so that we don't have to be so crazy, busy with tons of problems at work!

Hopefully, I can start to see my peeps again!  (We quit walking our kids to school when it gets into the 30's.)  It seems like we all stay inside our houses during the winter, and I don't get to see/talk to anyone.  Seriously, one day in January, I took a walk through and down every single road in my ward (church congregation geographical boundaries) and I did not see a SINGLE PERSON out.  What?!?  Do we have an anti-social ward?!?  Or people don't like to be outside in single digits when the air quality is harmful to your respiratory system?!?  ;)

So.....now that it's March, I've got several things to look forward to:

1. Having a lunch with my [long time, no see] friends
2. Going out on our semi-annual lunch with my aunts, girl cousins, & sisters on my mom's side of the family.
3. Attending a 3-day event, Romance & Royalty, with Matt up in Midway at The Zermatt Resort  (We won it!  Valued at $950)
4. Annual dinner at Ruth's Chris with a business partner (and on his dime!)
5. Spring Break with my family in Las Vegas
6. Going with TWO of my daughters to the FIRST General Women's Meeting that includes all girls age 8 & up.
7. And maybe this scene:
   

 {OK, so maybe not in Utah}

Welcome March!

Work Woes

It hasn't exactly been a breeze at work for Matt & I lately.

MATT:
It all started on Christmas Eve.....

When THIS GUY walked into Matt's work (a Credit Union).

And THEN he proceeded to ROB one of their tellers!  He just verbally told him, "This is a robbery.  Give me all your money."  The teller looked at him like he was kidding, to which the robber clarified, "This is FOR REAL."  So, the teller complied.

(And got away before law enforcement arrived - within minutes!)

The president was out that day, so Matt spent a lot of time searching the security camera footage and prepare it for the cops and going through all the other procedural steps for robberies.  Never pleasant.

In the News:  This same guy went on to rob two other financial institutions over the course of the same week!!  Story HERE.

THEN, on Monday, just 13 days after the 1st robbery, they got robbed AGAIN.  (Different robber, same teller!!!)  We couldn't believe it!

He imitated he had a weapon, but one was never seen.

AGAIN, the president of the credit union was still out, so Matt went through the whole "recovery process" that day, as well - LIKE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE HE NEEDS TO DO!  HA!
This time the FBI was there with their masks on, collecting fibers, and the whole nine yards!
Understandably, some of his employees were VERY distraught and shook up.  They kept the outside door locked the rest of the afternoon.

Why do these thugs think they can just commit such crimes...which involve REAL PEOPLE????  (It's an epidemic - like 24 bank robberies in the last two months in our state!)  And cause all kinds of [mental & financial] damage along the way.  

ME:
My hopes to start the New Year off "low-key" at work were completely dashed THANKS TO THIS:

The first winter storm of the year has arrived bringing with it significant snowfall, strong winds and extremely frigid temperatures to the Northeast. Going into it we knew this was going to be a challenge, but boy, were we unpleasantly surprised for how big it actually got.

It caused us to deal with THIS:

Which resulted in a TON of THIS:

Which meant a "Code Red" was issued on NEW YEAR'S DAY.  A "code red" is when it is mandatory for everyone to work a certain number of overtime hours that day.  (In addition to your regularly scheduled work shifts.)
The CODE RED was still in effect for January 2.
And then another CODE RED was issued for January 3.
And another on January 4.
And on January 5.
And January 6.
And even on January 7.

But, to look on the bright side....{cue ABBA's song, "Money, Money, Money"}  I'll probably make more money in this one week time period, than I did in the last 2 months!

Finally, for the 8th, overtime will no longer be mandatory, but it is still being asked of us, on a volunteer basis, because there are still so many [sometimes irate] customers calling trying to either get a better/earlier/different flight, or get their money refunded/adjusted.  Or to just complain, cancel, compliment, cross-examine, cuss at, or confuse us!

But, we tried to MAKE THE MOST OF IT:

Good thing my friends gave me a case of this:

And this:

;)

To cope, Matt also took me away, out on a date Friday night to a steakhouse we have been wanting to try for years, and then another day I got together with The Girls for a sort of "bridge club."

Friday will be my first day off work in 11 days!  I am looking forward to it!

This Weekend:

* All my sister-in-laws (minus 5 SILs) and I went on our annual Christmas shopping excursion with my MIL

to help her get Christmas presents for her grandkids (my children & nieces/nephews) at Station Park.

We also had dinner at Zupas together.  We were able to crank it out in 5 hours this year!

* Since the night was still "young," (by Matt & I's defintion) we went out for a mini-date to 

get a treat.  Ice cream was OUT since it was SO COLD (it was in the teens!), so we

went to Bowman's for half-price doughnuts (after 7 PM) & chocolate milk.

* Matt & Ryan went to the "basketball draft" on Saturday morning for our Jr. Jazz city basketball league.
Matt is going to be Kyle's head coach, and Ryan will be his "assistant."
Kyle was "protected" due to being a coach's son, so he didn't even have to try out.
They watched the boys run through some dribbling, shooting, passing, etc. drills and were able to take notes/rate them,
then they went into the "Situation Room" and drew numbers to see who'd go first in the draft.
Since Ryan remembers everything sports/stats related, he was good eyes & brain to assist Matt in his draft picks.

* Meanwhile, I picked up my Bountiful Basket - included this time was everything to make guacomole.  Yum!

* Saturday Jobs and I started to make the stew for our ward Christmas party.

* We had told all the kids that IF they were perfect on their check marks for the week,

that we would go to the movies on Saturday.  The boys would go to Thor, and the girls

would go to Frozen.  Well, they did it! 

So, we went!
{Our ONE movie of the year.} 

Although, we arrived at the theater about 20 min. before showtime, all the good seats (by my definition)

for Frozen were taken, so we ended up on Row 3!  

(I guess everyone reserves online ahead of time these days because they definitely weren't sitting in the theater, yet, when we entered.)

It was hard for my eyes to digest everything happening on the big screen so close up.  

Needless to say, I came out with a headache.  

When I announced this to the boys, they started laughing because apparently, Matt had already "called it."
 He had just told them, "Watch, Mom's going to come out and say she has a headache."

* The boys then went over to Matt's brother's house to watch the MLS Championship game.....

only to see ReAL Salt Lake lose in a shoot out!  

{Matt was much displeased.}

* We had our ward Christmas party tonight.

It was an "Ugly Christmas Sweater" themed party, so I had gone to Deseret Industries earlier in the week to

get some for my family.  I only found some for the girls.  They didn't even have any for the boys.  

BUT, the thing was, my daughters DID NOT EVEN THINK THEY WERE UGLY! 

They WANT to wear them to school!  WHAT?!?!

Should I allow it?  

I'm hearing my mother's voice in my head, "Don't represent our family THAT WAY!"

We got to the party and realized that there were rolls and baked goodies GALORE - ALL of which

Haylee can't eat anymore as a Celiac.  Her face immediately fell - it was sad.

We didn't even think of that.....there's definitely a learning curve with this new lifestyle....we need to get used to bringing our own things to parties now.

Luckily, they had a soft serve ice cream machine there, also - she just put hers in a cup instead of a cone!  ;)
Santa Claus also came, but Brookelle was a bit nervous and "forgot" to tell him what she wanted!

 So, I helped her write an "official" list when she got home.  ;)

* I helped Ryan get the stuff to answer to Christmas Dance, and then drop it off at the girls house.

* And then he begged me to go do "donuts" and slip/slide around in the church parking lot on our way home since it had been snowing most of the day!
{I obliged}

* Churchey-church and meetings on Sunday.

My Mia Maid adviser taught this lesson.  She had asked the young women's

parents & friends about what each of their spiritual gifts were and

then shared them with the class.  It was cool because some of 

the girls didn't even realize they had those!

* In the afternoon, some of the kids watched, "Miracle of 34th Street" and then in the evening,

the family watched, "The Polar Express." 

We're trying to knock off a couple for our Family Christmas movie tradition on a 

day that everyone is home, instead of running a million different directions!
We remembered about the First Presidency's Christmas devotional at 6:45 PM - woops!
We "dropped the ball" this year - only caught the last 15 min.

* I also spent a bunch of time on the library website selecting Christmas

storybooks that I can read to my family each night this year. (another

family tradition).  The Christmas Train by President Thomas S. Monson

has a long waiting list again this year, so we're probably not going to get it!  Dang!

But, I'm excited about some of the other titles we can hopefully get to.

* We put all the ornaments on our Christmas tree (just the tree with lights had been 

up for for a couple of days) and I finished the last decorating touches in our home.

* I gave both the boys haircuts, but they both had strict instructions for me to 

leave their "wings" and their "Jedi braid" alone.

{They are totally replaying their father's adolescence.}

* One of our friends delivered one of those Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory-esque

caramel apples....that SHE made!!  It had been dipped in Oreo crumbs and

had white chocolate drizzled on the top of that!  Oh. My. YUM!

The family gobbled it down in NO TIME at all.

Seriously, I cut it up, walked out of the kitchen, and came back and it was GONE!
(Thus, no photo.)

But, the little bit I did taste, was just the right "night cap" (at least our version of one!)  ;)

I Need to Get Out of Dodge

I haven't seen the ground for over a month!  It's been covered with snow or ice continually.  OR, at times, snow AND ice.  In the past, usually it will snow, but then the sun comes out and melts it all in a few days.  Then it will snow again sometime later, only to be all gone within days again.  This year, ACCUMULATION is the story.

UTAH IS FRIGID!

I mean colder than I ever remember it.  I am actually wearing a coat every time I go out.  Mountains of snow pushed to the side of the road and in the middle of parking lots are a common sight. In fact, the width of the roads has been narrowed because the snow banks are spilling out into the outside lanes, and the snow plows haven't had time to clear the entire width of the road, just down the centers.  Our poor cul-de-sac has been forgotten by the city's snow removal crew - they still don't know REAL PEOPLE live in a few of these houses in the construction zone?!  We [foolishly] drove on our driveway when it first snowed back in December, and the packed down snow became permanent.  It was all white for a month.  EVERY house & building has icicles galore - I'm seriously afraid entire rain gutters or eaves are going to bust right off the framework.  Then add the constant INVERSION we've had - a sky full of "gunk" blocking out the sun is depressing!  And hard on the respiratory system, too.

Basically, The Beehive State resembles a frozen tundra.

Currently, anyone who walks anywhere outside is taking their life into their own hands.  The combination of temperatures in the teens, a thick layer of ice, and the sun’s inability to melt anything right now make for a scary combination.

Two and a half weeks ago, school was cancelled - we got THREE phone calls AT 5:45 IN THE MORNING, one to my cell phone, followed by one to Matt's cell phone, and then finally to our home phone.  Yep!  We got the message - we had a SNOW DAY!  That's the first one we've had since my oldest started school 12 years ago - we just haven't had bad enough snow storms in all these years!  I remember having one when I was in High School, but the power was out in conjunction with the weather which made school impossible.

Then last Friday, the ringing of my cell phone woke me again from my slumber.  School was going to start two hours later than normally scheduled due to the ice storm we had the previous day & night.  We're not used to those in Utah and we don't know how to drive (or walk) in them!  I actually could handle that late start for school.  I was totally ready when I took the kids to school and there was no rushing!  :)  But, it was also "early out Friday" so the elementary kids were all back home 2 1/2 hours later - WEIRD!

(Then we had a "turn" in the weather when it rose to a "balmy" 35 degrees for a few days and we were able to chop up the snow/ice [and break our backs/arms] off our driveway and we saw concrete again!)

And then it dumped snow on us again yesterday, and we've got more snow forecasted for the next 3 days.  We already broke a brand new shovel we bought last month!

Winter has always been my least favorite season, but THIS YEAR....Oh, it's been so bad.  It's merciless!

I CAN'T STAND IT!  I need OUTTA here!  I'm going to go LOONEY pretty darn soon!

Even Kyle, who enjoys the snow......

...says he is now DONE with it. NOW THAT'S HUGE when it gets to the point that he'll say THAT!

So, EVERY DAY, I am telling Matt, "We gotta get outta here!"

And he says, "I hear ya."

But, for some reason, we're STILL HERE.  And we have no excuse, with my flight privileges and all!

We are currently on the TOP of a waiting list for a Mexican Riviera cruise that has SOLD OUT but is leaving in 12 days.  (That my siblings & parents happen to be already booked on)  I am driving my "Personal Cruise Consultant" at Holland America crazy by calling every week, even though she has told me she will let me know as soon as a cancellation comes in!  Hey, what does she get paid for, anyway?!  I'm just helping her "earn her pay!"  PLEASE SOMEONE CANCEL!!!  It'll just take ONE cabin to cancel, and we are ON that ship.  Isn't that bad, that I'm hoping for a cancellation, which will most likely be BECAUSE OF an "unfortunate event" for someone else, so that I will have something good that I want!?

If this cruise doesn't work out for us in February, I'm demanding we go to Cancun in March (after basketball season is over.)  We have a free week at an Adults Only all-inclusive resort that we have to use before June 2014 anyway -- but March is so far away!!!  I need to go somewhere warm & sunny NOW!   Waaaaahhh!

See, I'm becoming mentally deranged!  I'm gonna be that lady you see on the Evening News doing something totally crazy & senseless......if my environment doesn't change soon!

Cruel, Harsh Reality

LAST WEEK
   


This Week 

You Know You're in Utah When...

...it's just 2 weeks until "SPRING"...

...and the scene outside your window...

...looks like THIS!