"S"

I had seen this post a few times on blogs I stalk read so when Tiburon posted it I asked her to assign me a letter.
The rules say you are supposed to come up with 10 things you love that start with your letter. But Tiburon is a rebel and she rarely follows the rules (her words not mine). So she did 10 things she DIDN'T love. Now I'm not necessarily a rule breaker, I like to just tweak the rules a little, so they are to my liking.
So today it's all about the letter "S" and you may or may not get 10 things and I may or may not like them. Cause that's how I roll.

Sarcasm It's really all I've ever known. I have the funniest and most sarcastic sisters. My husband is definately blessed with the gift of sarcasm. My poor kids are exhibiting signs of the disorder gift as well. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Spring I love spring. Just after we built our house I planted a bunch of bulbs in my flowerbeds. I love that the flowers just show up every spring, without any effort on my part. I love to see the world come alive again with buds and blossoms and little hints that warm weather is just around the corner.
Something else about spring that I am learning to love live with (because it's not going away) is baseball. 3 boys all playing on "comp" teams makes for one BUSY family.

Shopping I like to shop. (who doesn't?)

Saving Money I said I like to shop. I didn't say I like to pay full price. I LOVE a bargain! It's like some sort of natural high. I don't remember the last time I paid full price for clothes or shoes. I just can't do it. I walk into a store and head straight to the back for the sale racks! (Some call it cheap. I call it thrifty!) I'm trying to learn how to do the same with groceries.

Sleep I.CAN'T.GET.ENOUGH.

September I like September because ALL the most awesome people were born in September. Like me. I was born on my Grandma's birthday and she always made me feel special because of it.

Shredded Wheat I like the good old Original Biscuits. (Yes, the big ones without any frosting.) Does this cereal make me sound old?

Spanx A girl's best friend.

Silence I love peace and quiet. Did I mention that I have 5 children? I don't get much of it.

Sweets I have a sweet tooth. Actually I must have several because I don't think I could live without sugar. Especially chocolate.

Sisters I have four of them. We sing together. We hang out together. We tease each other. We share inside jokes. We laugh until it hurts. We know we can always count on one another. We all live close enough that we get together often. We are lucky blessed.

There. That's 11 things for "S". What about you? Want to play? You can even change the rules if you'd like. If you want to play, leave me a comment and I will assign you a letter. Have a happy weekend.

Sugar Cookies with Grandma (and Grandpa too!)

For Christmas, my talented Mom made darling aprons for all the granddaughters. Along with their apron they got a wisk, a cookie cutter, a recipe and an invitation to a cookie making party at Grandma's house!
The day of the party, they got to help with every step. They made the dough...

They cut out the cookies. (Grandpa even got in on the action, although it might have just been a ploy so he could eat the dough.)

They loved every minute of it!

The cookies were carefully placed on the pan for baking.

Then comes the best part! The sprinkles!....oh, and frosting too.

Grandma sure knows how to entertain a group of giggly girls!

Thanks Grandma! We love you!

Food Storage

Over the weekend, my sisters and I gathered at my parents house to do a little dry pack canning. It looked simple enough. So we set to work!


Put the food in the can. Check. Set the lid on top. Check. Push the button and.....


Okay, so there were a few casualties, but we got it figured out.


We cannded white rice, brown rice, flour, sugar, oats and hot cocoa mix. It took us close to 4 hours, but that included a break for some take-out from Piccolo Brothers Pizza.(Best pizza in the world. Thanks Dad!).


It was actually pretty fun and we are hoping to do it again. Thanks Mom for making the arrangements and doing all the prep-work! Yeah for Food Storage!
....Now to find someplace to put it all!

Sabotage

I try to exercise.
I try to eat healthy.
I try not to give in to my cravings.
But I collect cook books.
And I like dessert.

And Saturday night I just couldn't help myslef!

Win FREE blog design!

Go visit April Showers and win yourself some Blog TLC!

April makes some of the cutest headers that I've seen. She has cute buttons and printouts for free all the time. And now she's giving away layouts, headers, caricatures and baskets of gifts!!!



There are lots of ways to enter so go!





Are you still here? I said GO!

It's raining today.

Rain = Moisture.

Moisture = Humidity.

Humidity = FRIZZY hair.

I am officially declaring today to be:

"Embrace Your Inner 80's Rockstar" day.

Care to join me?

Just the Two of Us

Since Monday was our anniversary, we decided to run away for the weekend. We went to Salt Lake and stayed in a hotel, walked around Temple Square, ate at yummy restaurants, shopped at Gateway and ate a lot of junk food.
The best part about getting "away from it all" is that it gives us a chance to remember why we like each other. We always LOVE each other. But with 5 crazy kids, sports, jobs, church responsibilites, laundry to fold, toilets to scrub and a million other things going on at any given time, we can sometimes forget what it was that made us connect in the first place.

For example:
He makes me laugh.
He puts up with my moodiness.
He laughs at my jokes.
He's willing to shop with me.
He's smart.
He has good taste.
He thinks of others before himself.
He can talk to just about anyone.
He's an extremely hard worker.
He's a great Dad.
He'll drop whatever he is doing to help someone in need.
He can build just about anything.
He likes to surprise me.
He knows what I like. (Yesterday, he stopped by out of the blue and brought me a Jamba Juice.)
He "gets" me.

While we were at Temple Square we decided to take a photo on the same stairway as we did when we were married.



I think I'll keep him.

16 Years

Today is our 16th Wedding Anniversary.
We were married January 19, 1993. We were actually the very first wedding of 1993 in the Salt Lake Temple. It was the biggest snowstorm of the season that morning but everyone made it safely to the temple. After the ceremony, we froze our behinds off taking pictures, but they turned out beautiful with all the snow.
I've seen this post on a few other blogs, but decided to save it and share it with you all today.

1. Where did you and your husband meet?
At the singles branch.

2. How long before you kissed?
I don’t kiss on the first date…so it was the second date.

3. Who kissed who first?
He leaned in and I’m pretty sure I met him half way.

4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged?
We dated for 3 months before getting engaged.
How long from the engagement to the wedding?
Four months.


5. How did he propose?
He baked me a birthday cake then hollowed out the inside and put the ring box inside, added another cake layer and frosted the whole thing. The cake was heart shaped AND it was chocolate….he had me at chocolate.


6. Did he pick out the ring or did you?
He did.

7. Do you still like the ring?
Yes. And then on our 15th Anniversary last year he surprised me with a brand new ring (white gold this time) with a bigger diamond! So now I have two.

8. Where was your wedding and reception?
We were married in the Salt Lake Temple and then our reception was at my stake center.


9. How many bridesmaids did you have and who was your maid of honor?
I had 4 bridesmaids and my sister Vennesa was my maid of honor.

10. What color were your bridesmaid dresses?
They were a floral print with big lace collars. My mom made them and they were SO in style….at the time.


11. What was your bouquet made of?
A variety of white flowers, white ribbon and greenery.

12. Who gave you away?
No one really. It was in the temple. We did have a ring ceremony that evening, but it was pretty informal.

13. Did you cry during your wedding?
No

14. What style was your dress?
It was a mermaid style. Very form-fitting and then flared just above the knee. I loved it!

15. Was your wedding kiss sweet or sexy?
Short and sweet.

16. Who caught your bouquet?
My friend Jamiel, who also sat at my book.

17. What flavor was your cake?
White cake, white frosting. Covered with flowers that matched the decorations and the bridemaids bouquets.
.

18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?
There was smashage.

19. What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding?
We didn’t dance, but I actually sang to him! The song was called “All I Have"

20. What did you serve your guests to eat?
Traditional Mormon wedding fare at the time: sheet cake, nut/mint cups and slush.

21. What did your friends do to decorate your car?
No one decorated our car. BUT when we got to the Hotel where we were staying, his friends had somehow gotten there before us and left a box of condoms on the bed with a note that read, “Never fly without your parachute.” FREAKED. ME. OUT! I didn’t trust them AT ALL! I made him search every corner, closet and cranny of that room before I would even set my suitcase down! (Turns out they were never actually IN the room. They had bribed one of the bell boys to place their “gift”on the bed.)

22. What was your favorite wedding gift?
Probably our kitchen table and chairs from his parents.

23. What was the worst wedding gift you got?
A used toaster. (Complete with crumbs.)

24. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Good old St. George.

25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding?
Sure, but at the time it was pretty much the norm for weddings around here. I wouldn’t want to do it all over, even if I had the chance.
(KJ & his Dad. I just had to share this picture.)

Sally

Ever have one of those days?

Riddle me this.....

When I was little we called it a "channel changer" or a "clicker". Most people just call it a "remote". My dad refers to it as "the Power". Makes it sound almost magical doesn't it?
I'm curious.....
Let's say I handed you a magic remote or "the Power" and you could use it in any way that you choose. What would you do with it? Which button would you press and why?

A- Attached or single? attached
B- Best friend – husband (& my sisters)
C- Cake or Pie? both, if they are chocolate.
D- Day of choice? saturday
E- Essential item? cell phone
F- Favorite color? yellow
G- Gummy bears or worms? bears
H- Homebody? yes
I- Favorite Indulgence? massage
J- January or July? july
K- Kids? 4 boys 1 girl
L- Lemons? lemonade!
M- Marriage date? 01~19~1993
N- Number of brothers and sisters? 4 sisters
O- Oranges or Apples? apples
P- Phobia & Fears? fire and deep water
(why was there no “Q” in this quiz?)
R- Reason to smile? my kids
S- Season of choice? spring – not too hot, not too cold, no mosquitoes
T- Tag 10 people: I tag anyone who HASN'T done this post already. (all 2 of you)
U- Unknown fact about me? If I’m not good at it, I don’t wanna play.
V- Vegetable? green beans
W- Worst habit? procrastination
X- x-tra special info? i love to read, i love to sing, i love organize, i can sew.
Y- Your favorite Yogurt? strawberry
Z- Zodiac sign? virgo

Overload

I've been feeling guilty about the sheer volume of pictures I took at Christmas time that are still sitting in my computer. Where they will probably stay. Forever. I have a fantastic digital scrapbooking program Memory Mixer 2 (if you are in the market, I highly recommend it) but I just never take the time to sit down and put the pictures on the pages.
So I am releasing my guilt and posting them ALL right here! Okay not ALL of them, but lots of them. 35 to be exact, because I accidentally put one in twice. Duh.

Here are the captions...
sleepy.nutcracker.chocolate.grandma.dipped.angel.
turkey.livy.zonked.glove.nativity.cheese.
cousins.cash.cheese.pj's.moolah.americangirl.
cooldude.whitters.ds.bat.early.snowflake.
tree.airhockey.tink.presents.gymnast.stockings.
apron.delivery.snow.gifts.peace.dig.

There you have it. I'm guilt free. Christmas can go away now. Except for those 3 decorations I just found in the family room that were somehow overlooked in last weeks flurry of cleaning and clearing. Dang it! Now I have to go find the box they go in, drag it out and put them away. Maybe I'll just leave them there. Hey, I've got jump start on next year!

Family

Mom, Dad and all five of us sisters on Christmas day at my parents house.