*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 long run, Monday was supposed to be the warmest day out of Friday and Saturday, but the weather man was wrong!! It was so blasted cold!  Ran three miles on my own then met Robin to do the rest.  We ended up going almost 12.  IT WAS A KILLER!  15 total for me.  I was supposed to go to a Women's Forum planning meeting but I really had to get in my run.  Robin did so well considering she hasn't really even run outside at all.  She dreadmills it somehow.  I just can't.  Not sure why I hate that thing so bad, but I do!  It was a relief to get that over with.  Not my best run, for sure.  Mainly because I need to build back up to these long runs.  It was "one of those runs." The kind where you just push yourself and pray it will be over soon.  Every step took effort.  I don't usually get too hungry when I run, but today I did.  Like I said, one of those runs.  Starving.  Thirsty.  Tired.  Sore.  Beat.  Relieved.  

We saw this happening on our run.  Clearing a LOT of snow off of this roof.  Later in the post you will see why.

Proof!  Eeeek! 

It was worth it just for this!  haha!   YES, I not only found a penny and a quarter but also CHOCOLATE! 

dear monday, after my run, I hurt!  Must be getting old! lol  The rest of the day I caught up on things that weren't too physically labor intensive....like practicing the harp.  I am really enjoying the songs I have now.  I also got the Missionary Newsletter done.  I have survived doing it for almost 20 months so far.  I may or may not miss it when these boys all return home.☺

dear tuesday, Dave was off all day.  It was my Pa's birthday and so we took him and my mom to lunch at Maddox.  We met them early (at 11) and it was not busy at all.  It was a fun lunch.  My parents are so fun to be around.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives as well as blessed to have Maddox in our town! Mmmm......

Then I had to head to the ortho.  Clark said he figured out a way to make my teeth not push out as forward, so I got another scan for more aligners.  It worked out really easy this time.  I have noticed the past three weeks my teeth are finally looking really nice.  I'm getting excited!  I am not sure how long I will be wearing the new aligners but I am really getting excited to have my old straight teeth back!  Clark does a really good job.  He is a perfectionist and that is exactly what you want in an ortho.  I can't believe I have survived these things for almost two years.  But it has been totally worth it!  I would definitely do it again now that I am almost done. haha  Our fridge was supposed to be delivered today but they never showed up.

dear travel agent I AM NOT!, UGH!  Seriously, I am amazed at how much I hate to plan trips.  I used to think it was fun.  I am here to tell you travel agents are not paid enough!  They should make more money than anyone in my book!  After spending HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS trying to get this Boston trip planned, I am convinced I will NEVER be a travel agent.  I have been at my wits end more than once during the process.   Now, if money was no object then it would be the funnest job in the world.  But that is not the case here.  The problem is because it's the BOSTON MARATHON, they jack the prices up TRIPLE!  Some even quadruple them!  So, it makes it VERY hard to find a place to stay that is in the best location, for the right price. VERY hard. I have searched every VRBO, every AirBnB, every hotel, every hostel, every doghouse!  And I am still not finding a good deal.  Heck, I'm not even finding a reasonable deal!  But I finally just had to give in and and got us three different hotels that I can cancel the day before, in case I find something better in the mean time. I am grateful I found what I did because things are going fast.  The cheapest I could find (in a decent location) for the five of us was $300 a night and I was happy for that!  I spent literally ten hours or more trying to find that!  And, I am not a rookie at navigating the computer. It was just that I had to look at EVERYTHING to see if I could find a better deal. I relied on websites to do the searching for me too.  It is just a process!  Not a fun one either!

How did it become a new month ALREADY?

dear harp, we spent the entire lesson on one song. I was so excited for my lesson because I practiced a lot this week and got two brand new songs learned pretty well.  I worked on my hard piece (Teach Me To Walk In the Light) and even got it sounding fairly well.  But we ended up working on only one song the entire lesson because I need to get my technique right on it.  Holy cow, it's so hard.  Not the song, but the technique. I am trying to place fingers and keep them either down or up and snap them in after I play them and get them right back up with the others in the right place before I play the next note.  It's a really fun song called Andante which means fast and so I have to do all of this FAST!  This is why they say the harp is hard.  It really takes so much concentration and so much mastering little things before you move on.  But, I am still in love with it.  I have such a great teacher as well. I feel very blessed for that.

dear  shopping, since I am already out on my harp days, I always try and get all of my errands in that I need to do while I am in town.  Today, I decided to spend the rest of my gift certificate my parents gave me for Christmas to Bella Me Boutique.  It is one of my favorite clothing stores.  They posted some cute pictures of some things online and I had them hold them until I could get in today.  I tried them on and really liked them so I got them.  I was very frustrated later when I found a 25% off one item coupon in my coupons.  Ugh!  Oh well.  Guess I will have to go buy something else now!  haha

dear sistas going to boston! I really thought when it came right down to it, none of the Sista's would actually end up going to Boston.  I honestly believed that.  But today, I discovered I was wrong!  Way wrong!  FIVE of them are going!  With me and Shauna that will be SEVEN of us!  I will have SIX cheering me on at the finish line!  SEVEN if you include Robin who will be there to cheer Grant on.  And ELEVEN if you include Dave, and the boys!  I am getting SO excited I can hardly stand it!   Chris, Patti, Robin, Jody, and Kathy are all going.  Carla was going to go but she didn't want to go if there were too many because she thought it would make it too hard with too many, so she backed out.  Oh well.  We have a very fun group and I know if everyone just goes with the flow all will be well.  I AM SO STINKIN' EXCITED!  I have the beeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssstttttttt friends!

dear booked boston flights! I spent a LOT of time this week trying to find the best airline seats for the best price at the best time.  It took so much work and I am SO glad to be done!  I was not super happy with Delta though because I had to book my flight separately because I am going with the family and returning with the Sistas.  So, I booked my one way to Boston and immediately go ton to book the boys.  When I did, the price I had went up $40 each!  I couldn't believe it! I tried to recover it, but after trying everything it just was not budging.  I called Delta and after almost an hour, they called me back.  I explained to them what had happened and that I had all the info set and ready to hit send with the exception of one number and how as soon as I booked mine it went up.  She said there probably was only a limited number of seats at that price.  What?  Are you kidding me!  So she tried to book two and said she could get two at that price. I told her that was great but I wanted all three at that price because I had it open and ready to hit send.  I also found the same price on United ($362) but I really didn't want two separate flights.  I told her I was not a happy customer to which she said she would talk to her supervisor and see what she could do.  After 5 minutes of being on hold, she came back and told me she would give me the third one for the same price. Smart move Delta.  Whew!  WHAT. A. RELIEF. TO. HAVE. THAT. DONE.  I couldn't book Taylor's until the next day because he had to talk to a professor to see if he could go with us one night earlier and miss a lab, and I figured I would paying the higher price for him, but when he told me he could go with us, I immediately booked his ticket and it gave it to me for the lower price!  Another relief!  I am so done with being a travel agent!  Dave won't let me ever live it down the time I booked our flights for Vegas when we went to see Donny and Marie and the day before when I went to print them out, there was only one seat booked.  I forgot to put a 2 in the slot!  He had to scramble and the only flight was $500!  Mine was only like $120. He ended up using our friends buddy pass and wasn't on either flight with me.  He even ended up going home a whole day after I did.  Yeah, I was not born to be a travel agent!  haha  But this has been weighing on me for so long and I am just so relieved it's done!

Trying to figure out how to train for this course!  It's unlike any I've ran before

dear winter wonderland, I know this beautiful scenery won't last and so I have taken quite a few photos of our current view! 

This photo and the following ones, Dave sent me from his phone.  They were taken over the past few weeks. 

BURIED car under that blanket of snow

Taylor plowing in his slippers before the 4 wheel drive went out on the 4 wheeler

dear fridge!  They FINALLY delivered our fridge!  However, they wouldn't bring it in the house. I was a little surprised about that and the delivery man said, "Say's right here (as he pointed to receipt) curbside delivery ONLY!"  Yeah, that must have been in the microscopic print when I ordered it online!  Great.  Just great.  So now we have to figure out how to get that thing inside without the proper equipment.  He said I could rent an appliance dolly from Anvil.  Hmm.....  Oh well, at least it's here!  He also said it has to sit for 24 hours once we plug it in to stabilize the temperature before we can use it.  So, it's still going to be awhile before I have a usable fridge!

dear groundhog day! Welp, Puxatony Phil saw his shadow so six more weeks of WINTER!  He better hide because I am armed AND dangerous!  I don't think I can take six MORE weeks of this!   Brutal winter!  I'm ready for spring! 

I made a bunch of these last year.  This year I did nothing because I didn't feel like celebrating SIX MORE weeks of winter!

dear hill repeats, on Thursday I headed for the hills!  I had some extra energy (steam) to burn off and I ended up doing 11 hill repeats!  That felt good to know I could do that and I think I could have done more if I had to.  It was so nice to have a day that wasn't bitter cold!  It was very thick with inversion though. #bostontraining

dear homemakers, I was so excited for Homemakers this month because it was a demo on how to use electric pressure cookers.  I have had one for a long time but haven't used it because I haven't known how and I have a terrible fear of pressure cookers.  It was a great class and the lady who did the demo uses hers about 10 times a week.  She made some yummy things for us to sample.  It's a great rice cooker as well.  I am excited to cook chicken in it so I can shred it and freeze it and have it ready to go when I need chicken for a recipe.  She makes yogurt, casseroles, soups, meats, etc in it.   There were a lot of people there.  Fun meeting. 

dear yw stake basketball, I made enough medals to last me for two weeks. I should have been doing that all along. I should have just made them all at the same time.  It is always a lot of fun.  The girls are so fun to watch and they are all such amazing sports. 

Sherri brought her Boston Marathon runner passport and showed me a bunch of stuff about it.  She had me getting excited one minute and then worried the next.  I am a bit stressed about the course because there is not a lot of downhill and I have never ran a marathon that didn't have a lot of downhill.  I have decided I need to train on the city streets and not Sardine canyon if I want to really be prepared. 

dear cat, I do believe he is actually sitting in this one!

dear run, I took a different route on Friday.  I ended up by the temple and got some pretty cool shots.  I was glad it wasn't a frigid day.  It actually felt good!

dear cinnamon rolls, after my run, I headed over to Daisy's with Pauline so she could show us how she makes her famous cinnamon rolls.  They really are a legend in our ward and neighborhood.  I learned the secret is super sticky dough!  Much stickier than I would have thought.  I know that is the secret to great bread as well, but I was surprised how sticky hers was.  She had a batch all ready to go that we rolled out.  Then she showed us how she did it.  Little Daisy was there and she was adorable!  She made her own batch of cinnamon rolls.  So cute. They seriously are THEE Best cinnamon rolls I have EVER had!  Daisy is the sweetest lady as well.  She has one of the PUREST hearts I have ever seen.  She is so generous and always so willing to teach others how to make her rolls.  I've watched her several times in many demos in the ward.  I brought mine home to bake.

Here is lil' Daisy.  I call her Daisy Jr.  Look at those sweet eyes!  She is such a cute thing! Daisy and Daisy!  How sweet they both are!

Moi, Daisy, and Pauline

Mmmm.......... now just to add frosting!

dear fridge,  Dave lined up some friends to help us get the fridge inside. It was just Rob and Heather at first and so me and Heather helped push it to the porch.  We had to wait a bit to get more help.  It was a feat for them.  But happily it is now in it's new home and we just have to wait another 24 hours until we can use it while the temp regulates.  24 hours seems like nothing after not having one for nearly TWO MONTHS!  I feel like a pioneer!  Oh wait, I guess they had to run to the river, not to the garage or back porch!

dear bryce home,  Bryce showed up at home just as I was leaving to go to the SLC Temple for Kalani's sealing.  It was good to see him! I made him some food when I got home.  I feel better when my boys are fed.  LOL

dear kalani sealing,

 Look at these incredibly gorgeous invites!  Not just saying that because they were purple either!

I was asked by Cyndi and Trevor to hold Kalani when they had her sealed to them.  I was VERY honored they would ask me.  It was at the SLC temple.  After my run, I hurried and got ready so I could run to Dick's on the way to get stuff for the Super Bowl tomorrow.  I had fun shopping at Dicks.  I love that store.  They have the best bakery in the entire state hands down.  Best donuts and eclairs for sure!  I arrived at the temple even earlier than I was supposed to because I got a parking place right next to it on the road.  They asked me to wear white and so I got ready and then they took me up to the waiting room.  I didn't see anyone I knew.  Finally, Cyndi's sister came over and showed me where they were seated.  Then they called us up to the sealing room.  As I entered the room, I asked the temple lady where she wanted me to sit and told her I was holding the baby.  She told me to go on the other side of the love seat, but to sit in the second chair over.  So I did.  Cyndi's mom was seated on the other side in her wheelchair.   When Trevor and Cyndi came in there was a chair between me and Trevor.  

The temple worker had no idea Trevor's mom had passed away and yet there was that empty chair between me and Trevor.  I am for certain Shelley was sitting in that chair.  It was amazing how that worked out.  Then the officiator asked me to look out in the hall to see if the children were there and so I did and sure enough they were.  Winston was a doll as usual and Harrison and Madisyn looked so sweet in their white.  Kalani looked like an absolute angel.  She is.  I took her out of the stroller and carried her in and the spirit was so strong.  I held her little hand over theirs and she was so cute holding Trevor's fingers and then Cyndi's and the look she gave Cyndi was one of complete adoration.  It was if I could feel her spirit telling Cyndi thank you for taking me as your own.  It was a very special feeling.  They are truly a very special family.  I felt their goodness.  I truly felt honored to have been asked to be a part of it. I am not even sure why I was the one given the privilege to do that, but it was a great blessing to me and one I will treasure forever.  I have NO doubt Shelley was there as well as my Grandma Mae and Grandpa Ed.  I think my Aunt Sharon (Kalani's great grandma) who just passed away was there as well.  It was a very sweet experience. One I won't soon forget.  I told Dave he really missed out.  Times like these are rare when you feel the veil part for a brief moment and feel heaven so near.

There were several wedding groups outside taking photos.  So much fun to see!

dear rest of saturday, I  stopped at Costco and a couple other places.  The lines at Costco were clear back.  It was packed.  As I choose which line, I saw a guy with a Boston marathon shirt on in one by mine and so I went and got on that line so I could pick his brain.  I asked him what he was glad he did and what he would change about it all.  He told me the race was AMAZING and it was the coolest experience and he loved it even though he ran it the year it rained and was so cold.  He said he loved every mile and soaked it all in (literally!).  He said the crowds are great.  He told me to be sure to take a ferry to Martha's Vineyard.  That was one of his favorite parts.  But it got me very excited!  This whole week had been a Boston pep rally for me!  SO EXCITED! 

I came home and Taylor was also here but I just missed him.  He had a date to the Ice Castles in Midway.  Bryce also headed off with friends.  I worked on my SS lesson and practiced the piano and then made lots of food for the Super Bowl party tomorrow. 

dear sunday,  I felt bad I didn't make it to Kalani's blessing. I got up early (6 a.m.) and didn't feel too well and so I decided to lay back down for just a minute and I actually fell asleep!  That NEVER happens!  Sadly, it did today and so I missed the blessing.  I was going to have to go alone cause Dave had to speak at a meeting until 9 a.m. and it started at 9 and it was about 45 minutes away, so I would have had to leave at 8 to get there.  It's probably a good thing because I still had to work on my lesson and practice the piano.  We had a great fast and testimony meeting.  My class went well I think.  This class is so quiet. I am not used to that!  lol  Piano also went well, especially because the song I have been struggling with, we only had time to sing one verse!  Yea! 

dear super bowl, I made a lot of food for this crazy event.  It was just going to be me, Dave and Taylor and so I wasn't going to make much but then Taylor told me CJ, Travis, Brad, Brad's girlfriend and another kid were all coming.  I think he invited them so I would make more food!  Hmm....  Well, it worked.  We had a lot of good stuff.  I really didn't watch the game. I wrote McKay a letter and would run in to see the commercials.  One actually made me laugh out loud.  It was a Buick commercial with Cam Newton in it.  SO funny!  Two dads are at a little league football game and a cool looking car pulls up and one dad says, "If that's a Buick then my son is Cam Newton"  His son then turns into Cam Newton and is the QB for this little league game.  He throws a pass and the kid that catches it goes flying like a torpedo. Oh my, it is funny.  I did watch part of half time.  It was good.

Especially these rifle twirlers.

The Patriot's came back and won it in the very first Super Bowl overtime ever.  Never count Tom Brady out.  

The spread

The winning team!

 Unexpected win for the Patriots after being behind the entire game! 

I have always loved the middle recipe for Cheesy Bean Dip and I could not find it for the life of me.  But I actually ended up remembering the ingredients!  I found the recipe after I bought the stuff for it and I was amazed I got it right because I haven't made this since before I was married even though I added it to our ward cookbook. It's a yummy dip though and everyone seemed to like it too.

dear random, Dave sent me a bunch of pix from his phone and I had to include some of them even though they are from a few weeks ago.  Especially this one of me and Carson.  Oh......I miss that cute little thing!

How sweet is this of Taylor and Carson?

More of Carson at a wedding reception we took him to.

 He LOVES to get candid shots of me.....  Nice......

I really love my house when it is decorated for VDay!  I could leave it up all year.

I am so excited that I signed up for this!  Winners get a pot of gold (aka CHOCOLATE!) I hope I win!

Hmmm.........

These crack me up. I kept doing them trying to get the one that said, "Jodi is ordered to bath in chocolate every day."

HAHA!