sleeping with crickets...or...beef week

Monday morning Mom, Faith (who flew home last Saturday for a quick weekend visit) and I left bright and early to drive up to Utah for the week.  On the way up we listened to this book:

We discovered that audio books make the 10-12 hour drive between here and there MUCH more enjoyable and seem not so long.  Faith and I had both read and/or listened to this book before and both love it, but mom hadn't.  Her review: "It was a cute story, but mostly improbable because guys don't change."

LOL!

We got up to Kaysville, to Jeri and Chad's house, about 7:30pm.  Mom had brought up some hamburger patties for dinner, so we heated them up and had a quick supper then unpacked.  Mom and I slept on a couple of mattresses down in Jeri and Chad's unfinished family room in the basement.  Normally, I don't have a problem with basements.  However, because it's unfinished (and because of where they live) these guys were all over:

*Shudders*

Mom killed several of them (and kept killing them all week) and I thought I was safe.  But when I was in bed Monday night one jumped onto my head--totally freaking me out!

Tuesday morning, while I was getting ready for the day, one jumped onto my shirt when I was sitting on the rocking chair.  I HATE CRICKETS!!  After recovering from being attacked by the crickets, Mom and I drove Julia in to her school (LDS Business College in downtown SLC), then drove down to South Jordan so Mom could pick up some family history pictures and papers from Uncle Bill.  On the way back up north we stopped at two D.I.'s, a Savers, and a Goodwill.  Mom was on the hunt for some wooden hangers for a Christmas present she's working on as well as Christmas houses (which she is always on the lookout for).  We didn't find any hangers, but each found some other little treasures.  Then we picked up the girls from school and drove up to Farmington to say hi to Grandpa and Grandma Matsen.  We stayed and talked for a few minutes then went back to Jeri and Chad's for a few hours.  Later that evening Mom, Faith, Julia, and I met Jeri at In-N-Out and enjoyed our second night of hamburgers.  Then we went and saw this play:

It was the musical and it was FANTASTIC!  I love that play.  I can watch it a million times and it will never get old.  It was so much fun.

On Wednesday the girls had school.  Mom and I got up and went to a few stores (Michaels, another Savers and another D.I.), then went back to Jeri and Chad's for the rest of the afternoon.  While I worked on handouts for my Relief Society lesson on Sunday and helped Mom with her Christmas present project we watched these two movies:

Both movies are funny and crack me up.  The girls came home then we met Grandpa and Grandma Matsen at Crown Burger for dinner.  (Are you keeping track?  That's day three of beef for dinner...)  Julia went to Mutual and Mom, Faith and I went back to the house.

Thursday (yesterday), the girls didn't have school so we went and had a fun day in downtown Salt Lake.  We parked at the girls' school then took Traxx up to the new City Creek:

It's an awesome new shopping center right downtown where the ZCMI center and old Crossroads Mall used to be.  We walked around, looking at the creek and all the stores (the Deseret Book is HUGE and AWESOME), had lunch in the food court (Julia and I had beef and broccoli from an Asian restaurant---day four of beef), and bought some treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  I tried the chocolate covered bacon:

It was...interesting.  I liked it!  I also bought two caramel apples (because they're my weakness and I can't pass them up).  I got the apple pie and chocolate pecan:

The apple pie was my favorite!  After enjoying our treats we walked across the street to Temple Square.

We walked around for a few minutes, touched the temple, then decided to head back to the car.  We rode Traxx back to the school and then headed over to meet Grandma Matsen at Grandma Joy's condo.  We visited with Grandma Joy (who we haven't seen in years!) and had a nice time seeing her and catching up.  Exhausted, we headed back to Jeri's house (stopping first at a scrapbook store and one last D.I.).  We had chicken stirfry (along with some rice noodles Julia made and some shrimp) for dinner and watched a new movie that Mom bought at Deseret Book:

It was a cute movie!  Then we went to bed.

This morning, we got up early.  The girls got ready for, then left for school.  Mom and I packed up and hit the road.  We drove, without stopping, until Panguitch where we made a quick potty stop.  We stopped for gas in Kanab and then drove the rest of the way home without stopping.  While we drove we listened to this book:

We left Jeri's house at 8:30am (UT time) and got home at 6:15pm (AZ time).  Not too shabby!  It was a nice trip and I had fun spending the week with my Mom and sisters and having a break from my normal everyday routine.

my heart is full

I know my Savior lives and loves me!

best night ever!

Well...at least the best night in a really long time.  Why, you ask?  Because...

First, I went here:

Wandered around for a bit, looked at all the cute Christmas decorations, bought a new gingerbread tree and some gum drops for my Christmas gingerbread/candy village, then went here:

 For some:

Then I went here:

For a slice of:

Which I brought home to eat while watching the Season 4 premiere of this show:

All while hanging out with one of my besties: Katy!  Then to top it all off, one of my favorite authors has a new ebook available today!

Tomorrow is Friday and the start of my Fall Break (I'm taking all of next week off and driving up to Utah with my Mom to see the girls and have a vacation).  It's raining outside and is supposed to only be in the 70's tomorrow.  It's been a pretty good day!  :)

attitude adjustment

Attitude adjustment: I need one.

The last 18 months have been...well...hell.  Emotionally and mentally speaking.  I think I've been going through the grieving process over the last year and half--mourning all the dreams I had of being married and having a family by this point in my life.  Things haven't worked out quite like I thought they would when I was younger and I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm 30, single, have never had a boyfriend, and have yet to be even kissed.  Two hundred years ago, if I were living in England, I would be considered a spinster and "firmly on the shelf".  Sometimes I wish I DID live back then, because then my unmarried status would be accepted and no one would think anymore about it--they would all move on with their lives.  However, in this day in age I feel like I'm constantly being judged and I feel like such a failure.  The question, "What's wrong with me?" constantly runs through my head, which has only been adding to my state of depression.

A couple weeks ago, at Kristen's baby shower, I was talking with my grandma and my aunt Christine and this topic (my being single) came up.  I joked around with them about it and told them about the blind date FHE that Esther had set up (which, by the way, he has yet to reach out to me so, I guess nothing is happening there).  I said that I was just going to be the spinster aunt of the family, to which my grandma said, "Don't say that!"  Then proceeded to tell me that, "There are some really great guys out there.  There are!  The problem is, you're related to a lot of them."

LOL

I love my grandma!  And she's right.  The guys in my family are awesome!  :)  But, that doesn't help me in my current situation.

A few weeks ago we talked about having a change of perspective in Relief Society--something that I've badly needed.  So I thought about what I could do differently to change my perspective in life and turn out instead of constantly turning in.  The first thing I decided to do was to rededicate myself to scripture study.  That is something that I've never been very good at.  I have yet to find a schedule or plan that I stick to when it comes to ready my scriptures every day.  I decided I would buy the audio version of The Book of Mormon and listen to it in my car every morning as I drive to work.  Brilliant!  I started on Wednesday and in only these few couple days I've noticed a significant difference in my attitude.

I feel happy again.

Which is something I haven't truly felt in a long time.

Yesterday I woke up with a splitting headache and killer cramps but I was happy and in a good mood all day.  I was still falling asleep at my desk by 1pm because I was bored, but I was happy!  And this weekend is General Conference, which I KNOW is only going to help add to my state of happiness.  Mom and I were talking about Conference last Saturday when we went to the General Relief Society broadcast.  We both said that as a kid General Conference is the worst thing ever!  But as an adult we're like sponges: greedily soaking everything up and there is never enough to fill you up completely--you always want more.  I can't wait to listen to the Prophet, Apostles and other General Authorities speak.  I know it's going to be a great couple of days!

knights of the rectangular table

These are a week old, but here are some pictures from Barbara's birthday.  I can't believe she's five!!

John having some Grandma cuddles...

The King, the Crown Prince, and the Duke of Chutney (aka The Knights of the Rectangular Table) playing a rousing game of Uno!

The Birthday Princess!

Pinata time!  Even Papa got in on the fun...

the girl who chased the moon

I listened to a book today that completely surprised me.  I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but the cover, title and blurb on the back intrigued me at the library, so I decided to give it a try.  I loved it!

It's a book about making mistakes, dealing with regret and consequences, discovering truth, finding forgiveness, accepting other's weaknesses, and learning to love...with a little bit of magic sprinkled throughout.  Oh, and cake!


A couple of the lines that stood out to me:

"Our view of the world changes every day.  It all depends on your mood."

"No one should ever compromise the dignity of another human being."

"Let me be your home.  You can belong to me."


definitely recommend reading and/or listening to it.  A word of caution, though: there is one slightly steamy scene (not very graphic) that can be skipped over with no detriment to the story line :)

monday night funnies

Some things that have made me laugh recently...