Ouch

I feel like E.T.

With a big, buldging, awkward finger.

Except its my MIDDLE finger.



8 stitches and a broken fingertip.
The results of bad aim with a hammer.

Getting ready to tackle

So long story short. The house I was going to buy fell through. The inspection resulted in a really old roof, an almost broken furnace and an old swamp cooler. The sellers refused to negotiate, so I decided to go another route. And can I just say I am SOOO happy I did? I found another house for the same price, built the same year - with even cuter appeal!!! But - it needs some cosmetic love. Which I am more than excited to do. I don't close on the house for another week, but the inspection and all went well. I am chomping at the bit to get my hands on my new found treasure so I can make it mine.



Here is the kitchen. Really white. White walls, white cupboards and white-ish floor.

* the tile is new and real

* What colors would you do?

If YOU were going to re-do this kitchen, what changes would you make?

question

The house I bought has 5 - I repeat 5 fruit trees in the back yard. The back yard isn't even that big. Its only 0.15 of an acre. There are 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees and 1 apricot tree.

Growing up, we had 2 cherry trees in the front yard that would make a giant mess. As kids, every few mornings, my mom would send us out to do the dreaded job of cleaning up.

Any other chore was better than cleaning up the cherries. They were mushy, and stinky and everywhere! It would take hours to get them all off the ground, only to have a newly fallen batch on the ground just a few days later.

My younger sister and I got smarter as the years went on and finally started using the shop vac to clean them up. The neighbors would look out their windows to see us vacuuming our lawn.

So the question I am asking is..... should i cut down the trees and replant ones that don't make a mess? I'll have a dog and I don't want her tracking in messy fruit remains all over my newly carpeted house.

Mi casa es su casa.....

So. I bought a house. Well we don't close until the 15th, but hopefully all goes well. Its super cute and just what I wanted.

• it was built in 1940 (I love old things, don't ask me why)
• Its yellow with new grid windows
• It has a nice yard
• its fully fenced
• inside is all updated (besides a few things)
• perfect and has my name written all over it

There are a few annoying things with it, that come with the oldness of the house. Such as - there are no outlets in the bathroom...haha! Good thing I never get ready anymore!! And the tub is stained and its fiberglass so i don't know if the stains will go away....any ideas?

Its under contract, so I can't get any pics of it, but as soon as its mine, I'll show it off.

Wandering Mind....

At my job, I work with a wide variety of people. My mind has always been very day-dreamer, wandering, imaginitve, etc. Because of that, I can't help that I see some of these people as cartoon characters....

The following are people that I work with:

A leprechaun. Or an elf. He looks like both...

A Muppet. I see him in a meeting and can't rid the resemblance...

The boss on the show Dinosaurs from the 90's.

He even sits behind his desk all grumpy-like.

Roz - The slug monster from Monsters Inc

....except instead of a clip board, she's always carrying a cup of coffee around.

Peter Griffin from the Family Guy.

My coworker is a dead ringer for this dude.

Piglet from Winnie the Pooh.

This is not a visual likening, but a voice one. I work with a guy that sounds just like Piglet.

Doug the cartoon character. Totally looks like a coworker.

If you all think I'm being totally rude and judgemental, I'd like to point out a few characters I have been compared to as well!

First we have an Ewok.

I can somewhat see a similarity - maybe the nose. But he sure is cute, does anyone know where I can buy a real Ewok to keep as a pet?

A Cocker Spaniel.

Ya - its always good to be likened to a DOG!!! We had a cocker spaniel when we were growing up. Apparently I reminded my sister of him! We sold him when he started doing the "bum-walk" - which consisted of him rubbing his bum on the carpet in a long walking movement.

Ponyboy Curtis from the Outsiders.

Hmmmm.....unfortunately I do see the similiarities - although he is of the OPPOSITE gender.

O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D.

Lately my mind has been consumed with one thing. I think about it, dream about it, analyze it, talk about it....

What is it?

Well I'm looking for a house to buy. An older, unique, house that has history to it.

I'm obsessed. My realtor probably hates me.

Molly the Dog

"A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

-John Groban

Molly is our border collie dog. The thing about border collies, is that they're VERY smart - which makes them very neurotic! She really does think she is a human. She uses her front paws more than i've ever seen any dog use them - she picks things up, holds things, touches things with just her paws. She's a nerd.

She is also aVERY jealous dog. My parents have a neighbor dog named Jake. Molly knows that is his name. If we are outside and she is loose, she will never come when we call her name, but as soon as we say the name Jake, she growls and runs straight to us.

She is a tease. In my parents neighborhood, there is a GIANT german shepherd dog that lives in a fenced yard. When I take Molly for a walk, he always charges at us, barking ferociously.... at first it spooked Molly a little. When she realized that the german shepherd couldn't reach us, Molly started to walk extra slow while we were passing him. Or she would just stop and look at him as if to say "Try and get me."

We give Molly little bones every now and then. And every now and then we find little blood streaks on the couches or beds where Molly has rubbed her nose raw by pushing the imaginary dirt over the bones in order to cover them. Many times, my mom find bones under her pillows or at the foot of her bed under her covers. The guest beds usually have bones hidden in them as well.

Molly is a border collie, which is a herding dog. They are born to herd cattle, sheep - whatever. She has never been trained to do it since she is just the family pet, but the herding instinct it there more than ever. When we take her to the horses, she salivates as she watches the horses and tries to herd them by basically just chasing them in circles. I don't know how many times she's been kicked. She herds children, big balls and horses.

Although she chases the 1200 lb horses and the mean mule and gets chased back and kicked at, she is afraid of our little pygmy goat.



This dog gets more baths than any other dog in the world (well...maybe). Sometimes if we aren't watching her, she will go and find the most rancid dog poop somewhere in the neighborhood and roll all over in it. I've had the misfortune of find out where the wretched stench was coming as I put my hand right in it when I went to pat Molly on the head.

I freaking love this dog. I will say however, that border collie dogs are not the best breed of dogs to have around small children. They are more of an older child, adult dog.... :)


Peace, love and hair grease.
The end.

What fun is.

One of my favorite things in life, is the feeling you get when your stomach drops. Like when you are going down a roller coaster kind of drop. I also love a good adrenaline rush now and then. I'm not an adrenaline junkie - but I am also not afraid of it.

I'm not scared of heights (I flew a plane once), I'm not scared of falling (I skydived), I'm not scared of scary movies (favorite genre) and I'm not scared of sadistic looking clowns (uhhhh....). I must be freaking brave.

In April, I went with 3 friends to Los Angeles in order to go to Six Flags. It was not a disappointment. This was my favorite ride:

The last few years, my sister and I have bought the local Utah amusement park season pass. This year Jared bought it too, so its fun to go for just an hour here and there and not worry if you only rode 1 ride. Good times!

Last night Jared and I, my sis, roommate and their dates all went to Lagoon for some much needed stomach-dropping.

Ree and date.

Roommate Sam and date.

Classic me and Jared.....

Today

Today I:

• Dreamt that I was a superhero that captured a peeping Tom
• woke up barely in time to make it to work at a reasonable hour
• put my makeup on while speeding on the freeway
• Got to work
• Decided that I like going to the bathroom at work - I get paid to pee - that is pretty awesome
• went to Victoria's secret and bought some stuff at the semi-annual sale
• realized I STILL hate golf
• went to the bathroom and stuck my stomach out and looked at how I would look pregnant
• sat at my desk
• looked at baby goats on craigslist - i want one
  
• Looked at other stuff on craigslist that people sell, wondering WHAT THE HECK people are thinking. For example:
• actually did some work
• can't wait for the weekend and some sun!
• picked a scab on my arm
• am making a big decision in my life.

Mama

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Thanks for being a best friend and wonderful example. I love you!

"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men"

-- Mr. Willy Wonka

Today

• Its snowing humungous snowflakes outside
• I am in dire need of chapstick which i forgot at home
• I bought a new pair of jeans during lunch from a guy with a mohawk mullet
  
• I have only one gland in my throat that has been hurting for 2 weeks. The other gland feels fabuloso.
  
• I didn't really do my hair today or makeup and am wearing frumpy clothes
• Because of that last one, my coworkers no longer wonder why I am still single
• I realized I am a slacker and don't get out of bed til 8am - no matter what time i go to bed
• I have hairy armpits, don't worry, I'll shave tonight
• Hairy legs as well
  
• Have pondered more and more about going to grad school and where
• I have a headache and want a professional massage
• I went into the work bathroom only to immediately turn around and walk out due to the rancid stench that was looming inside
  
• I decided to shave one of my horses manes off because its ragged and uneven and it just stresses me out!
• I am so excited to go to Los Angeles this weekend. Its supposed to be 80 degrees. Heaven.
• I have to pack and do laundry and all that stuff tonight
• I am slightly nervous to talk to my dad, cuz I left his boots outside in the rain and snow
• I wish Becky and Heather lived closer
• I was in a meeting where I likened all the attendees to cartoon characters or something similar
• I am really wanting to try out the new Kayaks my parents purchased
  
• I paid off my front loading washer and drier, AND an additional loan. :)
• I gagged when I overheard my cubicle neighbor gargling loogies in his mouth
• I have the YIPS
  
• I am trying to decide if joining a gym is a good idea.... i like to run outside, but I like aerobics - I just hate the commitment of joining a gym for 3 years!!
• I'm at work, supposed to be working but am having a ridiculously hard time finding motivation.

A common factor

I have mentioned a few times that I am a vivid dreamer. I toss and turn all night long and have more than one WEIRD dream. I can usually recount each dream too. Most of the time I end up laughing.

Rarely are they normal, pleasant dreams. Most of the time, someone is dying, I am being chased, I am in trouble for something, or I am pregnant (immaculately of course), etc..... Once I even dreamt that I was a serial killer and had 3 victims in my basement and I remember in the dream walking down the stairs towards them while holding an ax. Um. YIKES!

But I have had more dreams than I can count about teeth. I don't know what it is about teeth, but I have always had this fear about losing them. Could it be that I knocked my neighbors 4 front teeth out with a baseball bat?? Or that I dated a boy whose front tooth fell apart in his sleep?? Or that I always envision myself slipping and landing specifically on my teeth? I'm obsessed. It might be that I actually was blessed with some straight, kinda white teeth and I don't want to lose them....

(these are not my teeth, but they are nice looking)

One of these dreams happened on my mission..... I don't remember much other than I was wandering around in the darkened woods and all my teeth had fallen out. I was carrying them around in a cup full of milk in desperate search for a dentist....

(not my teeth)

Another time I had this random dream about my co-worker who was pregnant at the time. She went into labor and I was taking her to the hospital. She started to push and she pushed so hard that all of her teeth popped out simultaneously and flew into the doctor's forehead.

(not my co-worker)

Another teeth dream was that I was talking at some social event and as i was talking, my teeth turned into dust and started to crumble.....

(gross)

And probably one of my favorite teeth dreams is the one where I was visiting an ex-boyfriend and we decided to play on a playground and go on some slides. I was going down a slide so fast that I flew in the air and hit a tree with my teeth and they embedded themselves into the tree so that my body was just hanging by my teeth clear up in the sky on a tree.

I've looked at a few dream interpretation books and websites about this type of dream, and they all say that I'm being lied to or decieved. So what I want to know is - who the crap has been lying to me for the past 6 years???


Oh and while i was looking for pictures on the internet of teeth, I found this beauty of a giant squid.....

Ode to Laura

A history lesson.

Laura is my friend. She moved into my ward in Merrie Miss A (a sunday school class). We can just say we didn't hit it off just right then. hehehe. But as we grew older, we became friends - just church friends and such. When highschool came around, Laura and I started to hang out a little more and more.

One day in highschool, I went with my best friend and 3 other really good friends and sluffed class. On the way back, we were broadsided by a Semi-trailer. It killed my 2 best friends and put the other 2 in coma's. I walked away with a broken collar bone. Somehow I didn't get knocked out and so I saw the whole thing happen. I don't want to get into details about that, but lets just say I was slightly traumatized.

Laura became my angel. I don't know why, but somehow she swooped in and automatically knew how to help me. I was a pretty shy girl up to this point. So the friends that died, were actually some of my ONLY friends. When I got back to school, I remember feeling like an alien. Everyone stared, no one knew what to say, etc. Laura became protective of me. I think about this stuff now and tears come to my eyes. Heaven sent.

The way a teenage girl, who is already going through the turmoils of adolescence, deals with such an event as the deaths of her best friends is interesting. Laura was right along there with me. She let me be weird, obsessive, sad and happy without ever getting in the way and telling me how I should feel. Without her - I know I would have been so lost.

I do want to point out that my family was AWESOME during that time. I love them.

Another event when Laura has been my angel, was when I was dating a jerk. I started dating a guy in highschool and continued on and off for quite some time. I became a different person. I gave in to his manipulating ways. Laura saw things that I never allowed myself too. She even got in a fight with him once. :) Laura was there EVERY time to pick up the pieces. I don't want to go into too much detail about this relationship - because I don't want to waste any more time on it.

Now, she and I are still best friends. Its been over a decade that she has been my angel. We have completely different lives: she is married, stay at home mom with 2 cute kids and lives in St. George while I am single, fear marriage, have a career and live in Northern Utah. Yet she is still the one that I confide everything to. What a blessing! :)

Laura has had some trials too. After they were married, they had a child - Laura was on bed rest for 3 months of the pregnancy. Then afterwards she had failed pregnancy after failed pregnancy. They even had a baby and lost it at birth - little Anna Bella. Laura and her hub decided to adopt, and they adopted the cutest little girl named Ava. They are now trying to add to their family and have put papers in for another adoption. Honestly all Laura wants to be is a mom. She lives for her babies. And she is so cute. She and her hub have the best relationship and they along with some others make me think that maybe marriage isn't so bad.... :)

I just recently put her family picture with a link attached to it that would send you to their adoption profile.

I know this post is a little cheesy, but when I think of my Matilda (Laura), I get tears in my eyes and my heart is full. Love you chica!

To make your day brighter....

Hilarious.

Sarah

**

Happy Birthday Amiga.

**

♥ Her story ♥

Loathing.

When you are sound asleep and wake up abruptly to a rumbling sound; a rumbling that resembles a motorcyle outside of a closed window; a rumbling that resembles the sound of a car engine being rev'd; even a rumbling that is similar to an airplane in the not too distant sky - and then suddenly you realize that it is not a rumbling of any such mechanical thing, but a rumbling from your upstairs neighbor snoring ...... then you know that someone needs help! Either he or I!!!!!


My earplugs won't last much longer.

Awwww Cute.

On my trip to Seattle for Christmas, Megan wore my jewelry within 10 minutes of being there.

She posed like that herself. True story.