*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, got up early and walked four miles.  Headed to Roy to meet Dawn for our excursion at the Hall of Breakfast held at the Gateway in SLC. We had a total blast!  It truly was the best photo opp event I have seen!  I felt bad Kathy couldn't come but she just had knee surgery and it wouldn't have been fun for her.  Carla had bought a ticket to come but at the last minute decided not too. She seriously missed out because we laughed our heads off the whole time.  They had an egg room (It was very eggciting) and a bacon room with a bacon slide, a confetti room that was SO FUN, a pancake vs waffle room with pancake samples, a donut room that I hope I donut ever forget (it was my fave), a bee room, and a ball pit room with so many balls.  Yes, we did have a ball!  We took advantage of it all. I loved it all so much.  We were in there for almost two hours.  In the end I was glad it was just the two of us because it might have been harder with more. We then went to Tuscanos for chocolate cake.  Cake for breakfast works for me. :)  We had a good time chatting. Fun Fun Fun day!  Any time spent with Dawn is time well spent. She is so much fun to be with and we get each other so well.  I am so grateful for her friendship.  I did a separate post on it HERE because it was photo opp city and so I wanted to preserve them!  Check it out!

 We had a ball!
You donut see this everyday!

 SUPER FUN VIDEO WE TOOK!

 I'm writing CHOCOLATE on the board that asked, "What is better than bacon?"

Since I was in town, I ran a few errands.  At Ross I got some great finds for Carson's birthday and lots of other stuff.  Ross is either hit or miss, today was a home-run. LOL  When I got home Dave had put a roast in the oven. I was so grateful.  Everyone ended up being home to eat and after we all sat around and chatted.  Dave and I had a Yahtzee contest and I beat him again.  Hehe  I was beat. 

dear tuesday, I walked five miles this morning.  When I ran, I always wished I could walk and now that I walk, I always wish I could run.  Life...   I have found walking is not as easy as I thought.  In fact, it makes my knees hurt much worse than running does and it just feels hard when you try to go as far as you do when you run.  Five miles running seems much easier than five miles walking.  It was such a gorgeous day today. I had to go out back and just soak it in.  

Dave was off today and we both did stuff around the house all day.  I wasn't feeling well for some reason. I was overly tired and just drained of energy.  Not sure why. I actually laid down and took a short rest which is something I rarely if ever do.  But I was wiped out and had to or I would not have been able to function.  I made cookies so I could take them to my sisters I minister to.  I am still trying to perfect my chocolate chip cookie recipe. This has been on going for many years. LOL  One day I will achieve what I am looking for.  Right now, I want one with oatmeal and nuts that is chewy and thick instead of one that spreads.  They were pretty tasty.  

 Seriously, is there anything better than homemade chocolate chip cookies?  I think not!

dear wednesday, I got up at the crack of insanity and headed to the temple for my early shift.  I started at 5:30 a.m. but next week I go in at 5:00 am and from here on out.  Just grateful it's not 4:30.  Josh was there and Kathy and we had a lot of fun.  It is hard work and you never really get a break.  The temple president came down and thanked us for being the hardest working people in the temple.  He is probably right.  It is definitely not one of those jobs where you get to take a break and rest.  It is non stop.  But I am really enjoying it much more than I thought I would.  My back didn't feel that great but I guess that's to be expected.  I then had a lunch in Ogden at Maria's for the Cupid Chase 5K that I was asked to be on the committee by a friend from high school.  Well, he went to my high school but I don't remember him at all but he friended me on Facebook and has taken an interest in my running.  He told the CEO about me that started this company that is putting on t he run and the CEO/President was here from New York and apparently wanted to meet me because I ran Boston and he wants my input on the race.  It's a national race they do in several different cities. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it ended up being a lot of other peeps that represented other organizations as well.  I really didn't feel like I contributed much but oh well, I went and the food was good.  And, it was near where my favorite car wash is in South Ogden.  Bonus!  Haha

I did some shopping and returns at Sams and Ross then I went to visit my parents.  We had fun chatting.  They are so cute. I am so grateful I have them around!  I came home and made more cookie dough so I can take some to Dave's parents when we take them dinner tomorrow. This time I made Ranger cookies (McKay's faves).  I had fun talking to all the boys. One of my favorite things about my life is when all my boys are here and listening to them interact with each other.  They crack me up. Each one of them is different yet they get along so well and they really like each other.  It's one of my greatest blessings. 

dear thursday, I got out and walked for five miles.  I am kind of tired of walking. It takes so much longer.  But running just isn't feeling good yet.  Sigh....  

That cute little deer is always in the same place when I run by and he just stares at me.  He never runs, just watches me.

I came home and went to my hair appointment. She whacked off a ton because she said it was getting too dry.  I might invest in a halo so I can still have long hair.  Would love that.  I made more cookies for Dave's parents dinner tonight.  I have really been experimenting to get the perfect cookie....again.  I do this often. Haha  One day I will master the cookie I have searched for. I like to combine other people's recipes and tweak them the way I want them.  I tried to get Heather's but she won't give it to me (secret family recipe), because it's got the texture I am trying to get. It's thick and chewy.  Then another recipe I have, I love the flavor so I want to figure out how to get the thick and chewy part and incorporate that into my other recipe.  I'm getting closer to the perfect chocolate chip oatmeal cookie.  Here is my almost final version.  This is close to what I am trying to achieve.  

Jodi's ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

(Or Ranger Cookies if add coconut)

2 cups butter or shortening*

1 1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 C brown sugar*

Cream together and add:

4 eggs

1 Tbl vanilla

Add:

3 C flour*

1 tsp soda

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Then add:

4 C old fashioned oats

2 C nuts

1 pkg chocolate chips

1 C coconut (optional)

Refrigerate dough for 24 hours if possible.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Will look underdone but remove from oven.

*Possible changes:

Shortening - all butter or butter flavored Crisco or 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening

Sugars - or 1 C white and 2 C brown or 1/2 white and 2 1/2 brown

Flour  - preferably 1 1/2 C AP flour and 1 1/2 C bread flour

I ended up making Ranger cookies this time. McKay loves those and so I added nuts and coconut.  They were good.  We took dinner to Dave's parents (hamburgers, baked beans, macaroni salad, chips, cookies) and then headed to Wellsville to Bear Bottoms for the ward party.  It's a huge water slide. I decided I better not do it even though I love it but I didn't want to risk doing damage to my back....especially now.  So I refrained.  Jen almost talked me into it, but I decided even though it would be so fun, it wouldn't be worth it.  Besides, the sun went down and the wind picked up.  I chatted with a lot of peeps. Bonnie and Brad's cute little granddaughter was there. I only had one of my Sunbeam's there.  I should have invited Carson!  Dang.  Oh well.  It was fun. 

dear friday, today I got out and still didn't feel like I should run.  Maybe I forgot how!  Worries me a bit!  I had to rush and finish vacuuming before the carpet cleaners arrived.  I hope it's worth all the hassle.  We really need new carpeting instead of just cleaning them.  They were here for almost three hours.  My stairs look so good now.  They were bad.  Taylor and McKay were both home and went and saw a movie together.  They were going to go get massages but did the movie instead. Taylor wanted to just relax all day because tomorrow is his huge test that he has been studying his brains out 12-14 hours a day!  The big MCAT!  When they got home McKay went to Maddox for his very first day as server!  

He moved up so fast from bus boy to server.  Most take a couple years but he took only weeks.  He is a hard worker and it's nice when people see that and you get rewarded for it. He will be great.  I'm excited to hear his stories.  Once the carpet was dry, Taylor put ALL the furniture back ALONE. I told him he was going to become a member of the "Broke Back Club" (that's what he calls Bryce).  But he didn't want to wait for help.  I moved a few things but didn't really dare lift or help with the heavy stuff. I have taken too much time off to heal and I don't need to mess things up again. But, so much for Taylor's relaxing day. He honestly hasn't had a break from studying in about five or six months. He said he can't wait to get his life back.  We got it all back and it looks nice. The family room doesn't look as good as the purple carpet.  Taylor wanted to rearrange all the furniture but we couldn't make it work. I told him it's time to get all new furniture in that room and new carpet.  It really is. The couch is falling apart.  We took him and Bryce to Golden Spike Burgers for dinner. I always get a salad but tonight I splurged and got a Jr. Burger.  It was yummy, but I will pay for it.  I wish for the good old days when I could eat a hamburger and maintain my weight instead of gain.  So depressing. I guess I have to decide if weighing the 3-4 lbs more I do right now is worth eating like a normal person or if weighing less is more worth it.  Hmm... I still am not sure on that one.  I guess if I am running marathons, less is worth it because those 3-4 lbs make a huge difference.  If not, enjoying the food may be more worth it.  Lol 

dear saturday, today was the BIG DAY for Taylor.  His MCAT was this morning!  I got up to see him off and Dave gave him a blessing. I told him a lot of the stuff that helps me before I run a marathon.  I figured the nerves were probably about the same since you train for both and going into it you really have no idea what the outcome will be and you just have to pray all goes well.  I put my "You Got This" sign in front of him while he ate breakfast and told him it was in the bag.  I kept telling him stuff to pump him up and he finally said, "Mom, I know, I know".  I could tell he was getting annoyed.  LOL  I prayed hard for him all day.  I know he will do well because he has sacrificed SO much and has done all he can to prepare his best. He's going to do well. 

McKay took off for his last phlebotomy class today and he is now an official licensed phlebotomist.  He got 20 out of 20 pokes which was the highest in the class.  I am proud of him.  He did this all on his own and even though he isn't going to get a job right away, it will be a good thing for him to have.  I told him he should at least work a couple days a week at a hospital to stay tuned up. 

I was going to run down the canyon with Robin and Sherrie today but after moving some of the stuff back in our family room after having the carpets cleaned, I realized I probably shouldn't have moved anything, even the little stuff because the back was not happy.  I decided running down the canyon with all that pounding was the last thing my back needed and so I told them I wouldn't be going.  I felt bad because they changed the day for me.  I told them if I felt better this morning then I would still go but after thinking about it, I realized all that downhill when the most I have run in six weeks is six mile would be unwise and after being so good all this time I don't want to blow it all in one run.  So, I went by myself this morning around town with no hills.  I really wanted to get in 10 but when I left I told myself if I can do 7 I will be good, 8 would be better but ultimately I would feel pretty confident for next week's half marathon if I could pull off 9.  I ended up with 10.5. Yay!  Holy cow though, I had muscles that I forgot I had that were screaming, mainly near my glutes and hips.  But I did it!  I was so happy.  They have tore down the high school bleachers.  I found some coins!

Taylor was so relieved to have that test over! I prepared my talk that I was going to give in Young Women's tomorrow. I met Sky in Willard and got Carson and headed to my mom's for a movie night party that Cyndi planned.  Tiff and fam and Cyndi and fam and me and Carson were all there and of course, my parents.  It was really a blast!  We didn't end up watching a movie but played Telestrations and HOLY COW we all were laughing so hard, the kids had to come in and tell us to be quiet!  The kids played outside the whole time until the end and then they watched part of a movie.  We had food galore and it was a fun time.  I think we need to do it more often only my fam needs to come!  We got home after 10:30!        

 I haven't laughed that hard in ages!

 A few of the drawings and guesses that has us rolling on the floor.....

 This one takes the cake!  I guessed "Are you my mother?" from the top left drawing and my mom's guess is the purple writing one. Then my Dad drew the orange one in the bottom left corner after reading he read "Are you my mother?" and he drew that. We were DYING!  So stinkin' funny!  AND.... Tiff actually guessed it!!!  It was the funniest thing EVER!  This game is my absolute favorite hands down!

 These cuties were outside playing most of the time.  

dear sunday, I was happy I didn't have to teach but I did have to speak to the YW!  Taylor helped me put together another Power Point.  I couldn't use the same one because I was talking about different things this time.  I am glad I finally know how to make one.  I text Troy to help me do the tech stuff so I can actually do it because I have no idea how the church has things set up. He is always so nice to help me out.  I felt like I had it mostly how I wanted it but I didn't have time to really run through it much.  But when I have pictures to show, it always works out fine.  I could go in cold and be fine.  Sacrament was good.  I had three of my boys there!  It was so nice.  I wish Bryce would join us.  He was camping.  In Primary we had seven boys today!  I felt bad leaving Cheryl with all that, but she said she would be fine and Heidi was going to go in and help if needs be.  Sam wasn't there and so that helped.  Carson found Tammy (his first Sunbeam teacher whom he LOVES!) and gave her a big hug.  He just loves her. It's so sweet.  He told me he misses her as his teacher. I jokingly said, "Oh you like her better than me!?"  He said, "I like you both!"  Such a diplomat at such a young age.  LOL  

My talk went really well.  Other than I took longer than I meant to.  I talked about how I began running and why (Tyson) and how my dream of running Boston came to be and how I had to set goals to achieve that dream and how if we work hard then our dreams can come true.  I talked about the rigorous training to get there and how happy I was when I qualified.  I talked about this year's race and the brutal conditions.  Dave came in to listen as well.  I got emotional when I talked about crossing the finish line...I wasn't expecting that!  Mainly when I talked about running past where the bombing sight was and then how crossing this year felt more like I had won a hard fought battle that I didn't think I was going to come out as the conqueror.  It brought back a lot of those emotions. I felt good about it.  Several of the sisters had tears.  Everyone was so nice and told me I did a good job.  Dave told me he thinks it is fireside material and he would love to have me do that as one for the youth in the stake.  Umm...... I. Don't. Think. So!  That would be terrifying. Mainly because what if no one showed up?  That would be embarrassing.  LOL  

Some of my power point pix:

After church, Dave gave Bryce a blessing of healing because his back is not getting any better.  I feel so bad for the kid. So. So. Bad.  Now to have faith it will be healed.  He blessed him that it would be.  Little Carson went to Julies to take her a card he made for her.  He came back and asked if he could go back for a little while longer. Sky told him no. Right before dinner we couldn't find him anywhere.  I figured he must have snuck back to Julies.  Sure enough.  Sky was not happy but I had to hide my laughter.  It was hilarious.  Sky handled it very well. He is such a great parent!  Too funny!  It makes me laugh to think that I was in Sky's shoes and my Mom was in mine and I am sure she thought the same things I do.  Mainly that everything is hilarious and not so serious as Sky takes it, but yet he has to discipline him.  It's much funner to be on this side of it. Hehe  We had a great dinner of sweet and sour chicken and garlic rolls and then we played Clue outside.  It was a gorgeous day!  So pretty!  It was a blast. Jen and Janzen stopped by and so I left the final round or we might have been playing all night.  

I attempted to make sopapilla dots.  They turned out pretty good but not as good as El Matadors.  Those things are to die for.  I read to Carson for a bit.  They left about 10:30. I was ready for bed.

dear random, my harp teacher had her twins!  A boy and a girl!  Not sure how this will affect my lessons, but we shall see I guess!

 This has been my favorite pot this year. 

That must have some very expensive ingredients!  But I was charged full price for it!  Good thing I noticed!  Whew!

 A couple of salad recipes I am posting for my reference.