*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 bye bye company, after being snowed in three different times (road conditions too risky to drive on) they left this morning.  It was very sad to say goodbye!  There were tears.  Little Carson was so sweet and told me he would come back and see me soon.  It was just sad sad sad. I was glad I had a busy day to keep my mind on other things.  I needed to do my long run and get ready for Dave's party.

Bryce and Carson having some bonding time before he heads out.

 As they drive away....  :'( You have to look really hard for their red tail lights.

dear long run, it was pouring rain all morning so when I had a clear window when it was only sprinkling, I headed out.  I timed it perfectly, I only got rained on for a few miles but as soon as I got back to my street, it started to hail....HARD!  It was painful!  My waterproof shoes did okay but not 100% waterproof.  The first seven or so miles were great but then I got in some deep slush and puddles and my feet were definitely wet!  I got in 11 miles total.  My piriformas didn't bother me at all!  Yay!  I was shivering when I got home.  Part of that is because Dave was out shoveling and as soon as I hit the driveway I sat down in a big pile of snow because I was so blasted tired. And then it started to thunder and lightning!  I am not sure I have ever heard it thunder and lightning in the middle of a brutal hail storm.  If I had still been out running, I would have had to take shelter because the hail was very painful.  When I opened the door to go in, it blew in the house!  This winter has been crazy so far!

My Facebook post: My new Saucany Kinvara 7's with RUNSHIELD held up to their waterproof claims through 11 miles of rain, slush, ice, snow, car sprays and hail today! Well, at least until mile 8.5 when I stepped through an unavoidable 4" deep puddle! A little soggy after that! #stillovemyAltrasthough #ogdenmarathonshouldmarketthese #bostontraining

dear missing carson, I am already missing that cute lil' guy.  I keep finding little things he did or left out.  Like these:

Ornaments on the door handle upstairs.  Hair clip in the room deodorizer.  He put all my harp levers down.  Not sure how he reached those.

I keep hearing him say, "SOMETHING'S NOT QUITE RIGHT".  I am even having withdrawals from watching Cruella!  LOL 

dear sarah's post, I saw a post on Facebook that Sarah had written today and it really touched my heart.  This is what she posted:

"What I hope to take back from my trip. Leaving Utah even today on January 9th it still feels like Christmas and it's not the snow or the decorations although most places still look that way. This was best explained during a testimony one of the members of the church gave a few sundays ago. Christmas isn't a time of year , Christmas is a feeling. The people in Utah give off that feeling apparently all year long and not only on sundays. Practice what you preach is a saying I've heard a lot growing up and that's exactly what these people do. Everyone here is genuinely nice and caring for everyone around them. From the workers at the store who stop what they are doing to make sure you are completely taken care of, people driving who smile and wave, and neighbors who get up super early before work and plow not only their driveway , but their whole street. Families who actually enjoy spending time together. Grandparents who will drive across town in the snow a few times a week just to hang out. A Dad even as a busy Doctor who still finds time everyday to come home on his lunch just to see his wife. One who will stay up late hanging out with his kids, get up in the middle of the night to go take care of a member of the church ,come home for a few hours of sleep then get up make breakfast for everyone all before work. Sons that without being asked still clean up after meals and set the table even though they don't live there anymore. A mom who is soo grateful for all of her family and the time they get together and it shows. People in Utah are mostly happily married and that's goes from ages 80 to like 25. When I have mentioned that before other people had said we'll because they are Mormon so they can have multiple wives. False ...they actually do not believe in that . They are so busy doing everything in their power to make their significant other feel special, appreciated and loved that there is no room or desire for temptation or infidelity. I felt more love around me in these 2 in a half weeks than I have ever felt. With people I just met within minutes I've felt more accepted then with some people I had known my whole life. I had the best Christmas and it wasn't because of the presents or the snow it was because of the feeling ,and the people . Everyone here is so genuine, happy, and grateful for everything and everyone they have. Something California can definitely learn from. My boyfriend is absolutely amazing to me and after spending a Christmas with his family there is no doubt in my mind that it has everything to do with how and where he was raised. ❤ #ourUtahchristmas ❄ "

I was taken back by it and felt so happy she had such a positive experience while here.  She is a wonderful girl.  She has a way with words.

dear bryce shoveling clinic roof, Bryce spent 9 hours shoveling the snow off of the roof of the clinic because the ceiling tiles fell off in Dave's office and flooded his desk!  His computer survived but not all of his files and paperwork!  They hired Bryce to shovel the rest of the heavy snow (due to the rain) so it wouldn't happen in the rest of the building.  That poor kid was up there for over nine hours and it's still not done.  I feel bad because he has a bad back and that is the last thing he needs to be doing.  But Bryce is Bryce and does things to help out even when it's not in his best interest.  I worry about that kid's health! 


dear snow day!  I can't believe how excited I was for a snow day even though I don't have kids in school anymore. Hmm.... maybe THAT'S why!  LOL  I can't even remember one snow day the entire time my boys were in school, but apparently there was one or two.

 
dear busy day, after my long run, I baked a cake for Dave's party tonight. I spent most of the rest of the day cleaning the house.  It's hard to keep up on that when you have company and it needed it! I must say I am ready for a long winter's nap about now!  Or hibernation sounds good to me too!  I am beat!  My body hurts.  I'm sure running 11 miles had something to do with it!

dear dave's party, Dave's parents, my parents, his siblings Brian and Linda and fams, all came over for his bday party even though the weather was crazy.  It started to snow again and the roads were not good.  I am glad Sky got out when he did and they made it home safely.  Dave's Dad looked tired.  But it was a nice party with everyone there.

dear broken EVERYTHING! Okay not EVERYTHING, but Holy Hysterics it feels like it!  We feel like we are under attack and are almost afraid to go anywhere or do anything because we fear something else will go wrong.  I understand that part of life is dealing with those annoyances when things break or don't go as planned, but this is ridiculous.  It's like a year's worth in two weeks time (or less!).  Dave and I were talking and are hoping it's not an omen for the year to come! It's like there is a black cloud hanging over us that won't leave. The list is long, but I won't bore you with all that has broke, but the biggies are the fridge, my phone, Dave's glasses, the computer, the laptop, our cable TV and remote (had to call a repairman to come and fix that), Dave's office flooding, the command strips that I use so it won't rip off the paint (ripped off a huge chunk of paint in my entry way), VCR AND DVD player, the gas fireplace, heater in my car, brakes on other, and now Dave's phone won't hold a charge and to top it off I lost $300 in cash! I wrote a more detailed post on it HERE.

dear hill repeats, I realized I haven't been doing any speedwork yet. Yikes!  Not good!  I headed to Kotter Canyon to do hill repeats but only got in four before my time (and body) was spent. I am not liking running right now due to my injury and I am starting to get really worried about my training!  I need my body AND the weather to cooperate!  Ugh!
 
dear putting away christmas!  UGH again!  I think my least favorite thing about the holidays HAS to be putting away the decorations.  I knew I had one day to get it all done and I also knew it would probably take me most of the day. I was right.  I started about noon and didn't get done until after 6 or 7 pm.  I was wishing I would have bagged my run and just got started at 5:30 a.m. so I would still have a day.  I got it all done except the tree because I need Dave to help (with the ladder) with that.  But I felt a sense of accomplishment and love having it put away.  This year, I put up my Valentine's Day decors instead of snowmen because it took me so long to get them down this year and the snowmen will only be up for a couple weeks.  And because I really LOVE my Valentine's decors. 

I had a RS meeting tonight but I bagged it because I was not feeling real great. I am praying I am not getting the flu! 


dear harp lesson, my lesson went okay but not great because I haven't had time to really practice due to the holidays and company. She really only had me play one song because she gave me all the new recital pieces and wanted me to sight read those, but the one song I did play happened to be the one I hadn't worked on at all.


dear shopping, I had a few returns to make as well as take my phone in to get looked at and hopefully repaired.  While they worked on my phone I ran to Target, and then to several appliance stores checking out fridges and asking for advice on what brand. I am leery of getting the same one (LG) but yet it is rated high.  I kept going back to see if my phone was done, but they kept saying they needed more time and the last time I went in they told me not until 6 pm, which meant I had to kill three hours and wasn't sure what to do for three hours. I almost called a friend but decided instead to drive to the other end of town to take in our vacuum that is broke but...the guy was not there.  Great.  I was striking out all day. So instead of trying to kill three hours, I decided to go home and find a way to go back tomorrow instead.  The joys of living in a small town. Three hours is a lot of time that I could be doing something much more productive at home.  If it was still Christmas I am sure I could have used that time to shop but I am shopped out! 

dear run, I got in five miles on Thursday a.m. even though the road conditions weren't great. I almost slipped in the church parking lot and biffed it, but luckily I didn't. Enjoyed running today because my injury isn't bothering me right now.

dear homemakers, I had to take the refreshments to Thursday's meeting. I got up early and made 21 mini muffins in my gingerbread house pan.  They turned out super cute.  When I got to the meeting I set up the table with snowflakes and my lighted jar and it looked pretty wintery and cute. I found out the girl that was supposed to bring hot cocoa was not coming. Since I have had no phone for almost a week, I had no idea.  Oh well.  Only seven ended up coming to the meeting anyway. Everyone got to take a few muffins.  

The speaker (Angie Cefalo) was really good.  She talked about motherhood and service and I felt inspired to do more service.

dear drowned phone, my phone drowned and is never coming back. I called the phone place and they informed me after working on it for six hours, it was irreparable.  UGH!  They said there is nothing they can do.  So, I got on KSL and tired to find a phone.  I actually found a used iPhone 6 for $300. I am sure I could have found one cheaper if I waited a bit, but it was worth it to pay a bit more just so I could have a dang phone.  I amazed how much I depend on that thing for pretty much everything.  My planner, my schedules, information, all my contacts, basically everything.  And I am amazed at how many times I went to google something but couldn't.  It's really nice having instant access to information (business numbers, reviews, addresses, maps, etc) and I didn't realize how much I depend on my phone for those kind of things.  How did we ever live without smart phones before?  

dear new phone, I headed to O town to pick up the used phone I found on KSL.  I had to wait for the seller of the phone to get home and so I went and picked up my dead phone and then ran to a few stores while I waited.   I had put $300 cash in my back pocket to pay for the phone.  When I pulled in the seller's driveway, I went to get it out of my pocket and it was GONE!  G. O. N. E. GONE!  I was sick!  She was nice enough to take a check and as soon as I was done, I headed out of there so fast to go retrace my steps and see if I could find it or if someone turned it in. As I was driving away from the house, I was praying that I would find it but I also had a feeling I wouldn't.  I prayed that whoever found it was someone that needed it more than I did and that hopefully it would be an answer to their prayers. I would be okay if that was the case.  Just as I uttered that prayer I drove past a sign that was flashing the time.  It read 4:44.  No big deal, other than the number 444 has significance to me.  It has always meant to me that angels are near.  I felt that was Heavenly Father's way of letting me know that He is in charge and that it was meant to be and it would be okay.  I had a sense of peace about it but I still went back and retraced my steps and asked clerks at the stores I had been in if they had any money turned in. NOTHING!  I just kept praying again that whoever found it was someone who needs it more that me.  If that is the case then I am MORE than happy to sacrifice it.  I pray that it made their day and that it would help them. I just added it to the list of things that have been going wrong since that black cloud has been hanging around.  I have decided that it must mean that good things are happening for McKay and maybe he even got the baptism which is such a rare thing in his mission!  Those things for some reason tend to happen when something really good is about to happen.  
 
dear home :)  I was happy to get home after my bad luck.  Dave was gone to a medical dinner.  Bryce had put all my Christmas totes away and I felt bad he did it alone especially with his back hurting from shoveling the clinic roof for two nine hours days!  He is constantly serving others.  He also emptied the dishwasher and cleaned his room.  He was at a friends' house and so I was home alone.  That hasn't happened in weeks!  It felt nice.  I love quiet time alone!  I used the time to try and catch up on my blog even though I am wondering if that will ever happen! I am SO far behind!

dear friday the 13th, I seriously considered just staying in bed all day due to our recent marathon of bad luck.  I did brave the cold again and go running though.  I tried to find my Mom a bday gift so I went to a couple local stores.  Bryce was home and then Taylor came home later but we weren't home.  We had our annual movie night at our Home Teacher's house Bro. Packer. I was looking forward to it! 

dear packer movie night, I had to go over without Dave because he was still working.  He arrived after we started the movie.  We watched Phantom of the Opera.  His sound system makes it sound amazing!  They had a yummy spread of food as always.   I took some of the mini house muffins. Julie took a pecan pie from Maddox.  He showed us his new wood workings and they were amazing as always. It blows me away how talented that man is.  He had a pinball machine this year made out of wood!  And some really nice lanterns.  I wish I would have remembered to take photos of them. Just getting used to having a phone again!  It was a lot of fun as it always is.  He is one the funniest men I know.  His commentaries as the movie played are the best part.  He always shows us some video clips after the movie of various things and I always love watching those as much as the movie.

dear long run, even though I did a long run on Monday (that was to make up for last Saturdays), I had to do another one on Saturday because I can't this coming Monday.  I made it 12 miles, but it was grueling! My injury was flaring up big time sadly and I really wanted to go 13 -14 but I had to quit at 12. I was grateful I got that much in!  Hope this all works out somehow!

 I did find four coins!

dear mom bday, Saturday was my Mom's birthday and I was going to take her to lunch but it ended up being me going to lunch with her and my Dad and my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bill.  We went to El Matador.  It was a lot of fun.  

She's such a cutie!  My Facebook post:

¯) ¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ´¯)
(¸❉❉´ (¸.´´¯`•.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ
Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ • ❉HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!❉ • Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ
┊ ┊ ☆ to this incredible woman I am blessed to call my Mom!
☆❉┊She is the SWEETEST, FUNNIEST, KINDEST, CUTEST, MOST UNSELFISH woman I know! Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ She makes friends for life with complete strangers, everyone who knows her loves her, she is the life of the party, she is a riot to be around, and she has spent her life in the service of helping others. I am so grateful for her in my life!
┊ ☆ If I can become even half the woman she is I will consider my life a success! I love you Mom! ღೋ ══════════╗
* ░H░A░P░P░Y░* ░B░I░R░T░H░D░A░Y░ *
╚══════════ ೋღ¸

dear farewell dinner for parrish's, Troy planned a dinner as a send off for the Parrish's.  I had no sooner got home from lunch when it was time to go again.  I tried not to eat much at El Matador since I was going to be going to dinner three hours later.  We met at Troys. There were eight couples there.  We rode with the Moyle's and Olsen's to O town to eat at Sonora Grill.  It was much better than the last time I ate there.

After dinner we headed back to Troy's to play games.  I have to say I haven't laughed that hard in a very very very long time. I was seriously about to pee my pants.  I had tears streaming down my face half the night!  We played Apples to Apples, but when we got out Telestrations, that was when we all lost it!  Oh my!  SO HILARIOUS!  Some of the things that people drew and the final results were too much!  It was a total riot!  If laughter is the best medicine then I got more than my dose tonight!  Most fun I have had in a long time!

 Things started out calm.......

 But then.......

 The game got so hilarious!  Carol's square bunny had us all rolling!

 So many of us had tears streaming down our faces we were laughing so hard!

 These are blurry, but some of the best so I included them.  What a fun night!  We are going to miss the Parrish family SO much!  We have been friends for 22 years!

dear sunday, I had to teach SS again today. I am teaching for the next 8 weeks while Jeannie is attending another class.  My new class is small.  I only had three there today.  I really enjoy this age so much!  They are great!  I had to find Johnny to tell him I lost my recommend!  Yeah, I lost it 30 minutes after I got it.  Sheesh!  Add it to the list!  He re-issued me one.  We had a returned missionary speak in sacrament and it was amazing.  His story was just in the Deseret News here.


dear party at mom's, we had a birthday party for my mom after church.  Bryce was able to come but Taylor couldn't make it.  

I have the cutest Mom!!!

This family knows HOW to have a FUN time!

Gotta love Kalani!

 The star of the party.... AND the class clown!  lol

We had yummy cake and then did our Family Feud tryout.  It was hilarious!  Seriously hilarious!  The first question was to name a dance that is no longer popular.  We not only named the dance but danced the dance!  haha!  I did the Hustle.  Remember that?  lol  The other question was to say something a Disney Princess would say.  Mine was, "The cold doesn't bother me anyway".  I did not nail it.  Oh well.  It was a riot. My mom did Chicken Tonight for her dance and grabbed her throat singing "Someday my prince will come" for the other.  She cracks us all up.  Dave was looking at us strangely, but he was the one missing out!  We know how to have a good time! 

 FAMILY FEUD debut!

 We do have a lot of fun because we are a special kind of crazy!  

Britt and I did a few dance numbers with our own voices as the music.  We did The Hustle, I Feel Like Chicken Tonight Dance (choreographed by Mammy years ago), The Macarena, The Twist, Ganga Style, and a few others we made up on the spot.

I tried to collage them so they were in sync looking like one step after the other, but my collage program had a mind of it's own.  Oh well.  These will totally BORE everyone else but me and Britt.  We know how to feed off of each other!

Macarena

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight dance

Not quite sure... maybe I Feel Like CAKE Tonight!

The Twist  (we area bit 'twisted' lol)

dear mckay letter and pix, McKay sent me over 100 photos this week!  WOW! They were mostly of the snow storm but I was happy.  His Book of Mormon Ice Sculpture is a huge hit!  I posted it on Facebook and got a lot of reactions.  It truly is amazing! 

Facebook Post: My Russian "Volunteer" McKay's Book of Mormon ice sculpture! If that doesn't attract some interest, not sure what will! Who knew he was so artistic? haha He is currently serving on the island of Sakhalin and loving the blizzard conditions! And....he just had his first "real" baptism on Saturday! #lovesrussia #sixmonthstogo #brrrrrr #manyarecalled #butfewarefrozen http://eldermckaywilding.blogspot.com/

 WOW!  Just WOW!

The process of how they made it.  Very impressive!

***Forgive the picture OVERLOAD but he has NEVER sent me so many pictures before.  I found it faster to collage them quickly then to spend more time sorting through and so that's why so many! 

 Sakhalin blizzard!

The sculpture says 2017

dear mr. cat, hibernation at it's finest!

 dear random, when I got on Facebook one day this week, a picture of my house popped up! It kind of freaked me out until I read the caption which said, "I stopped by but you weren't home".  Or something like that.  It was from my friend Colleen who had stopped through town. I feel bad I wasn't home!  I haven't seen her for a long time! 

Facebook posted this:

8 years?  That is a long time.  It honestly makes me wonder sometimes what my life would be like right now without Facebook.  I definitely would have more time because I think it really sucks our time away when we don't even realize it, but then I also wouldn't have so many reunited friendships and even new friendships with people I would have never met without it.  It for sure has it's good and bad.  But overall, I have to say I am grateful for it because of the special people it has brought into my life that could have entered it no other way. 


This ↓ was online and I thought it was quite profound and so I wanted to save it here.

 SLOW DANCE Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round? Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight? Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last. Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask, “How are you?” Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed, with the next hundred chores running through your head? You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast. Time is short The music won't last. Ever told your child, We'll do it tomorrow? And in your haste, Not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die Cause you never had time To call and say,'Hi' You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.. When you run so fast to get somewhere, You miss half the fun of getting there. When you worry and hurry through your day, It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away. Life is not a race. Do take it slower Hear the music Before the song is over.

Oh this made me laugh!