Top Ten Things I've Learned in 2010

1. I can do hard things.
2. I am a crazy dog person.
3. Golf...Who Knew?
4. Blogs are so 2008.
5. B Willie Smith...still the best band ever!!
6. I am a little bit of a U.S. History nerd.
7. Brazil is very far away.
8. Reality is not absolute, everyone has their own.
9. You can do anything for thirty seconds.
10. Forgiveness is a sign of strength, not a show of weakness.

This is just sad...

The traditional "top of the stairs" picture.
Christmas 2010

Look at My Over Achiever

Cassidy called me the other day and said, "Guess what?  I just found out I am the Student of the Semester for the Health/Science Department.  I know it's kind of nerdy, but it's still kind of cool.  I get to go to lunch."  I don't think it's nerdy at all, I think it's way cool.  And Cassidy can no longer claim that Colton is the smart one!

I Miss This Kid

Today Cody Christensen spoke at church.  He just returned home from a mission in Chile.  He entered the MTC exactly one year before Colton.  As he started his talked, he apologized for his poor English skills.  I started to tear up.  I continued crying through out his talk. I'm not talking a little watery eyes crying, I am talking full on tears streaming down my cheeks crying, quite possibly crossed over into sobbing. Maybe it was just hormonal, but sometimes I really miss Colton.  Bright side...one year down, one to go.

Why I Like Winter

This post was originally going to be "Why I Don't Like Winter."  But, man oh man, who has time to write a post that long.  So, I decided to go with the much shorter version (I will be lucky to be able to come up with five)
The Reason's I like Winter:

• Boots- Yes, I really, really like boots.  I wish it was possible to go straight from sandal season to boot season.  Who needs those inbetween shoes?
• Fireplaces-Just flip the switch and within minutes you are warm and snugly.
• Coats- I like coats.  I don't if this really fits in "winter" category, because I often wear a coat in the summer (or at least have one with me-just in case.) Oh well, it's going on my list.
• Layers and Long sleeves-What up with those people wearing tank tops?!! It's winter, for heaven's sake!
• Soda-I love when you can leave your soda in the car for four hours and when you come back it is still cold.  Can't get much better than that. 
• Christmas Lights-Don't confuse this with Christmas decorations.  I like to see festive Christmas lights. I don't like putting them up, taking them down, or any of that other Christmas "fun."  I just like the lights.

I think that is pretty much everything that is good about winter!!

Seriously...

Today I was told by my health teacher that he gave me a "B" on my Family Health History paper because he could tell I was one of those people that always had to get an "A."  Not to worry I would still get the grade I "wanted" in the class, but I would just have to be mad at him about the paper.  True story!!

...You Might Be Colton

• 
  
  If you eat five bowls of cereal for breakfast...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you have over 12,000 songs on you ipod and actually listen to them...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you have 9 1/2 toes...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you have ever had to ask why your "ABS" came on...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  When asked how many siblings you have, if you have ever answered : 1 whole, 1 half and 2 steps...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you can order off the dollar menu and still spend over $10...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If your favorite television program is "Web Gems"...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you frequently buy video games and beat them the same day...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you have ever been awarded a certificate for scoring in the top 10% on the science section of the ACT, but you struggle writing a complete sentence...you might be Colton.
• If your hair has been every color of the rainbow...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you refuse to wear flipflops...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If the tailgate of your Xterra is covered in random stickers...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  You you have never bought a random sticker...you might be Colton
• 
  
  If you can text, read and listen to your ipod at the same time...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If your best friend dates all your x's...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you have ever told your prom date "This is what I am wearing, if you want to match me."...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If everyone thinks you are your mom's favorite...you might be Colton.
• 
  
  If you are the best Brazilian missionary ever...you might be Colton.

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY!!

Remember when I went on vacation?

I had really good intentions to blog all about my cool Baltic vacation...oops, doesn't look like that is going to happen.  Maybe I should just blog about my favorite unconventional parts.

Let me start with an explanation as to why this is my favorite.  Several years ago, while traveling with Cassidy and some high schoolers through Europe, I was introduced to the "There's your boy/girl friend game."  To play this game you find the wackiest, most inappropriate person you can and then exclaim to the person you are with "There's your boyfriend."  Digital technology has actually allowed us to take this game one step further as you try to take a picture of them (preferably with them!)

This dude deserves two pics, one with both me and Brian.  Really, can you get any better than a drug addicted, skin head cutter?  I think not! (I was a little bit afraid of him.)

A lovely Estonian couple

Mike!  Ha, he didn't even know he was part of the game.

Finnish boyfriend

And my personal favorite:  My nerdy husband!!

If you want to add some excitement to your next vacation, give this game a try!!

Hugging is Awkward

The past few months I have attended several weddings, mission farewells and a funeral or two.  These events (and others like them) provide the opportunity to hug, reaffirming my belief that hugging is AWKWARD.  Come on, we all know it is. But we just keep on doing it.  After Casey died, I hugged about 1.27 million people, which qualifies me as an expert hugger. (Pretty impressive for a non-hugger.) 
If hugging makes you uncomfortable and even a little stressed out, I suggest finding a hug style that works within your comfort zone.

HUG STYLES:

• The Straight up Embrace:  This hug is commonly used by huggers.  It is the "I'm in your personal space, I am bursting you bubble, I am touching your body with as much of my body as I possibly can." type of hug.  I reserve this type of hug for family members only and usually just to annoy them.
• The Lean In:  This hug is performed by bending at the waist and leaning your head and shoulders towards the person you are hugging.  This hug style allows you to avoid any unnecessary contact below the shoulders.
• The Baby Burp:  Can be used in combination with The Lean In.  During the embrace you gently pat the hug recipient on the back and say "Ohhhhhhhhhh."
• The Shoulder/Handshake:  This hug is done by grabbing shoulders while shaking hands.  Men frequently use this hug style because it is more intimate than a plain handshake, but they are still able to avoid any man on man contact.
• The Heimlich Hug:  This is just a regular hug with a quick, tight squeeze added.  I like this style because it lets people know the hug is over now.  My niece, Morgan, likes this hug and she doesn't even have personal space issues.  I think she just likes to shock people.
• The Side Hug: This is my personal favorite.  You just put your arm around the other persons waist and touch shoulders and hips.  If you want even less contact, you can just put your hand on their back.  I like this style because it allows you to keep all your carefully built walls in tact, you do not need to breathe the same air and you can even avoid eye contact if necessary.
• The High School Dance Picture:  I almost forgot this one.  It is usually by accident that you end up with this hug.  It happens when one hugger goes for the Side Hug and the other goes for the Shoulder/Handshake. You end up with your arms around each other, holding hands in front.  Way awkward!

If you are aware of any other hug styles...please share.  I am always looking for a better way to avoid any awkward contact.

***This post is dedicated to Morgan McCaleb...because she is a "bad hugger."

Experiencing Stockholm Syndrome

Brian and I started our Baltic vacation in Sweden.  We were very tired, so Stockholm didn't leave much of an impression.

But we did get to experience a beautiful Swedish Sunset.

Dear Hollywood Movie Producer,

Could you PLEASE stop making movies longer than 2 hours?  My attention span is 2 hours, if you make a movie longer than 2 hrs. (say 148 minutes), I can not stay focused.  Your fore-moviemaking-fathers knew the average American could not pay attention for more than 2 hours.  They stuck with the format and movies were enjoyed by all. Be aware: All the extra, added "stuff" does not make your movie better, it just makes it longer.  If you need help with editing just let me know, because my brain has already edited your movie to 120 minutes.

"C" Dogs

My boys love the water, maybe in a previous life they were sea creatures!!

Flo-Rida...More than just a rapper

To celebrate Colin's eleventh birthday, we rented the Flowrider at the Lindon Aquatic Center.  Colin invited many, many boys to help him celebrate.

They had tons of fun on the boogie boards and a few even mastered the wake skate.

And everyone enjoyed an awesome crash or two!

It seems like yesterday...

Colin was celebrating his first birthday,
But it really was his eleventh birthday!

**Yes, the cake does say "Happy Day of the Father." But it was the best cake, what would you do?

Relays and Rain

The Central Utah Cancer Clinic always puts together a team for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. We have been many times. There are always lots of fun activities to go along with the relay like: Karaoke, movies, massages, bounce houses, etc. This year there was just rain!! Brian signed us up to walk from 10pm until midnight and it rained and rained and rained. The rain caused most of the activities to shut down. So we just walked and walked and walked (mostly to keep warm). It was a different experience than Relays in the past, but still good and it only took about 24 hours to warm up after.

I want to rock-n-roll all night

Brian, Bryson, Colin and I spent Saturday evening at The Miller Motorsports Raceway enjoying a little classic rock.

Styx welcomed us to The Grand Illusion,

Foreigner had us seeing Double Vision,

And Kansas wooed us to the Point Of No Return.

A great night was had by all, even while dealing with all the general admission crazies!

Weekend in New England

Oh man, this is a little embarrassing, but I'm just going to go with it. Many, many, many years ago my friend, Suzanne and I lived back east for a few months. During this time we saw The B Willie Smith Band play in Boston. We enjoyed the show (OK, we looooved them) and decided to make it our quest to see them as many times as possible. Over the next several months I am proud to say, we accomplished our goal. There have been several moments since that time that I have been nostalgic and wishing that I had a little B Willie to listen to. During one of these moments I did some googling to find out if this was possible; downloads, cd's, anything. After being added to a emailing list, asked to join their facebook page, that nothing was available. The recording company owns the rights to their music, and they will not release it. But, they were doing a reunion show in Connecticut.

Brian being as sweet as ever (and feeling pressure to get a Mother's Day gift) decided if he could bring B Willie to me, he would bring me to B Willie and surprised me with a trip to Connecticut.

While there we enjoyed: good food

beautiful beaches
and fantastic music.

Pretty much the best Mother's Day gift ever!!

Colin's Acting Debut

Last week Colin and his friend, Alex performed in the play The Wonderful Witches of Oz. It was a cross between The Wizard of Oz and Wicked with a little Harry Potter thrown in. Colin played the role of Henry Gale. Alex played the Wizard.




Colin wasn't sure about the whole singing and dancing part, he was more into acting.


In typical Colin fashion, he did mess with his umbrella enough to have one of the prongs broken before the song even began.
A few times Colin and Alex seemed to forget they were on stage and they had there own "play" going on.

It wasn't quite as long as "the big show", but every bit as enjoyable!!

Brian Regan

For Christmas Janae and Jamielyn gave us tickets to see Brian Regan at the Tuacahn in Snow Canyon. The weather was beautiful.

We had a little Cassidy time, which mostly consists of eating alot.

And Brian Regan lived up to our expectations. Funny, funny guy!!

...You Might Be Cassidy

• If you would rather sleep on the floor than make your bed...you might be Cassidy.
• If seeing a deer on the side of the road is exciting...you might be Cassidy.
• If you think 11:00 pm is a good time for chatting...you might be Cassidy.
• If you have ever read a Harry Potter/Twilight book cover to cover; without breaking for food, sleep or life in general...you might be Cassidy.
• If you take the best "funny face" pictures...you might be Cassidy.
• If you could live the rest of your life eating just noodles...you might be Cassidy.
• If you think scars are the best tattoos...you might be Cassidy.
• If the word MOIST creeps you out...you might be Cassidy.
• If you understand the chocolate/peanut butter ratio...you might be Cassidy.
• If you frequently say, "I did a dance to this song."...you might be Cassidy.
• If you don't understand why people only have 2 sets of grandparents...you might be Cassidy.
• If you get "mall sick"...you might be Cassidy.
• If you love to dress up for Halloween...you might be Cassidy.
• If you think washing your car might ruin it...you might be Cassidy.
• If your "best" friends are all 50+ years older than you...you might be Cassidy.
• If have ever worn jammie pants 25 days in a row...you might be Cassidy.
• If you are everyone's favorite...you might be Cassidy.
• If you live the Golden Rule and try to treat others the way you want to be treated... you might be Cassidy.
• If you are beautiful on the inside and out...you might be Cassidy.

Happy 23rd Birthday!!

Is there a need for adoptive grandmommys? Because I think I would be really good at it!

Classic

Last night at the Jazz game a very scantily dressed Mrs. Kirilenko walked by. The 11ish year old boy sitting behind us says, "Was that really Mrs. Kirilenko? Wow! She needs a bigger shirt." Classic.

If it is good enough for my puppy...

It is good enough for my grandbaby. Sophie came over to play today and this is where she wanted to be. She did want me to be right next to her, but she wanted to be in the crate with the doors shut. When it was time to leave I put Tulo in his crate and Sophie cried, "No,no", she then ran over and got in with him. Haha, she is too funny!

My dog has an eating disorder!!

Bea"UTAH"ful

Tuesday evening as we were getting ready for bed, Colin said "Oh, Mom, tomorrow I have a program. We are doing it at 10:00 and 1:00. Parents can come if they want. And I want to suit up."

The fourth grader at Sage Creek just finished their unit on Utah History. They learned and performed several songs and a few kids even square danced. Colin promises that he was actually singing...but I don't know; it looks a little like bad lip syncing to me.

P.S. Just pretend we are having an earthquake and the videoing won't seem quite so jerky.

I thought this was a baseball game...

Brian and I had the opportunity to attend the Rockies Home Opener at Coors Field last weekend. Game 1 was great! Beautiful, sunny day, great seats and the Rockies win 7-0.


Game 2 started out great. A little cold out, but still good seats and the Rockies are up 2-0 and then this guy shows up!! Have you ever seen an obnoxious, loud, foul mouthed drunk and thought to yourself, "That is why I don't drink."? That was this guy. He spent most of the game standing up, turned around, talking (OK, yelling) at the 2 couples behind him and the one next to him. This dude was in love with them; he was buying beer for everyone, taking pictures of them, I think he actually invited them to Christmas dinner. A little distracting for a baseball game, but we were trying to ignore it and watch the game...now tied up 4-4.

But then someone dropped the O-bomb...OBAMA! I haven't heard so many F words since the opening scene of Pulp Fiction. I was reminded of the old saying: I went to a fight and a baseball game broke out. Of course, the game went 14 innings so we were able to enjoy the director's cut version of this drama. Moral of the story: What's more American than baseball? Definitely not Obama. Oh, yeah, the Rockies lost 4-5.

The Living Planet Aquarium...eww!

A few days ago we went with Courtney and Sophie to see the penguins at The Living Planet Aquarium. Sophie pointed at everything we saw and said, "Eww!" and it was more of an eww, that is yucky; than an eww, that is neat.

She did like splashing in the Stingray water, but not if the Stingrays were close by.

By the time we got to the Utah fish, Sophie was pretty much done. She had no interest in the trout.

The Derby

Tuesday morning about 9:30 I found a note on my door inviting my family to attend the Pinewood Derby that evening. "WHAT THE HECK?? Pack meeting is the last Tuesday of the month not tonight. Oh, wait. Pack meeting is the FOURTH Tuesday of the month, that is tonight." Panic began to set in...we did not have a car. My first thought: Colin will just have to use the car he made last Derby. Oops, that's not going to work. Can't find Colin's car. Second thought: Colton's car, he could use Colton's old car. Oops, that's not going to work. Can't find Colton's car. Next thought: Bryson, I will text Bryson and see if he has a car we could use. Oops, that's not going to work. Bryson can't find his car.

At 4:00 pm Colin, Tulo and I put together a car for the race. After a trip to Allen's for "the wedge," sand paper, weights and a tattoo skin, we were ready to go. Colin's car was epic. There were 24 cars racing and Colin was in the top 5. Three cars tied for third, but do to time constraints, they did not get to race each other.

All in all it was a fun night and I even learned a few things:

1. The Pinewood Derby could be renamed The Daddywood Derby
2. The Pinewood Derby could be renamed The Testosterone Derby (The hint of estrogen in Colin's car made several people uncomfortable.)
3. Ward basketball's got nothin' on the derby
4. A car made in 2 hours can perform as well as "professionally" made cars. Always use "the wedge."
5. After the Derby, store your cars in a safe, easy to find place. You never know when you will need it.