*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, I hit the gym early. It was full when I left. I got in 2.5 miles on the dreadmill and .50 on the elliptical. 

I came home and practiced the harp for a bit and then dug in and made macarons. It was raining and foggy and very humid which is the worst kind of day to make them.  But, Sarah needs them for her "bridesmaid proposals".  So I decided to attempt them. 

Unfortunately, the feet weren't how I like them but the shells were nice. At least the first batch. 

The second batch, they came out green instead of light blue. Aaaaa!  And that was after I set another cookie sheet on top to prevent browning. Maybe it caused it. The oven tends to get too hot on the second batch. 

Luckily, I had enough for what she needed from the first batch. I added some pearl dust to hide any over browning on those too. These cookies are just SO DANG finicky!  Ugh. I am not sure it's possible to ever master them. It has been about a year and half since I made them though. Maybe longer.

Sarah packaged them to send to her bridesmaids.

I have a group harp lesson tomorrow and so I worked on Pirates of the Caribbean and Singing in the Rain. I didn't get to my regular pieces, but I will have to hit them hard next week. Julie stopped by for a while. Dave and I did Come Follow Me and ate pizza. That was our FHE. I listened to the "Don't Miss This" Come Follow Me video. It is so good. I have been listening to a lot of Emily Freeman's talks and books this week. I really love that woman. She is amazing.

dear tuesday, I got up early and practiced the harp and then headed to my lesson. Today we had a group lesson. It was me, April, and Katie. Nanette played with us. We mostly practiced Pirates of the Caribbean. It's a tough song. We worked on it for over an hour and then ran through Singing in the Rain. 

I ran to Sam's and got some Super Bowl stuff and some bday stuff for my Dad. I ran a few errands and went to their house to visit but my mom was playing Dominoes. I came home and got some things done around here. Dave was off today. It rained so much that all the snow is gone. We ate and then Dave had meetings all night. My friend Gary made this for me:

He is so nice.

dear wednesday, toady I hit the gym bright and early. Or dark and early! I have increased my time running to two minutes and then walking for four. Maybe I over stepped it because I limped to my car. My ankle was not feeling well. Ugh!  I came home and had big plans to get lots done but it didn't happen because I ended up taking care of other things not on my list. Such is life. I need to get this blog caught up and get the newsletter done!  Holy cow it's almost Valentine's Day!  I thought it would be long done by now. Life takes over. I got my new jar out and filled.

I still love this cute little bobblehead.

I went to the clinic to get my Prolia shot but they didn't have it anymore. So now I have to wait a week. I was all ready and brave too.  Dave was swamped as usual.

Dave and I went to dinner at Old Grist and then stopped by and said hi to Carson since they are heading to LV tomorrow. We then went and got the Escalade and was going to go to a movie but Dave started to not feel well. Here are a few of my purple pans that I use on the daily.  

dear thursday, I went on a walk this morning in the rain/snow. I was at Mary Christensen park and Robin drove by and we chatted for a while. Sky and crew showed up on their way out of town to Las Vegas. They are going to a concert. Carson was so cute. I loaded him up with treats for the drive. I made cookies. They were yummy. 

We didn't have to take dinner to Dave's parents today. I worked on this and I am getting caught up finally! Taking forever! I should have worked on my closet, bathroom, and poem.  Maybe tomorrow! I ran some errands and then headed to YW basketball. It went well. I love those girls. Brielle kills me. She makes me laugh. They are so fun. Laina was there from the stake and she made it fun.

I love Brussel sprouts and eat a lot of them lately.
Mmm...mmm...mmm!!!

dear friday, today is my Pa's 84th birthday!  Here is my post:

❉HAPPY❉HAPPY❉BIRTHDAY❉PA❉!   Words cannot express how grateful I am to have been blessed to call this man my Pa! They do not come better than him! We all hit a hole in one when we scored him for our dad and grandpa (aka Grampy, Poppy, Pa, Deano, CD). A few of his favorite things are his family, golfing, chocolate, Taco Time, the Utah Jazz, the Denver Broncos and being supportive to everyone. His garage is immaculate and you can eat off the engine's of his vehicles. Thanks Pa for teaching me so many things, but mostly thanks for being such a great example and man!!

We love you! Happy 84th!!! ⛳️🏌️‍♂️😁

I walked outside and it was nice to be out!  Loved it. So much better than the gym.  I even found some coins!  

I then invited my Dad to lunch for his bday. I met them at Maddox. Dave joined us when he got off but had leave before we did. It was fun. I forgot to take a photo so we got these horrible selfies.  

 Neither is great... My dad isn't looking at camera in this one and my mom isn't in the second one. LOL

I tried.  

I feel so blessed that I still have my Pa around. He doesn't even seem close to 84!  He doesn't hear as well, but he is as sharp as a tack and just such a good all around guy. I have been so blessed! I ran in to my friend Jolynn O'Very from AMI. She is such a neat person.  I ran a few errands and then came home. Dave got off fairly early. We didn't do anything tonight. Kinda boring around here actually.  But I am getting this thing caught up finally!  I keep forgetting to work on the family newsletter poem!  Ugh!!

This ↓ cracked me up!  

dear saturday, Happy First Day of February! It was pretty chilly today, but the sun was shining so I headed out on a walk. And it was profitable! hehe

I got in about three miles but I wasn't too fast because it was a bit slippery in spots. I came home and did some prep for the super bowl tomorrow and worked on my lesson. McKay was home. I can't remember too much else what happened. 
Check out this article HERE about finding pennies from heaven. See, I'm not so crazy!   I bought me some gorgeous hydrangeas at Smiths yesterday on clearance and they looked like this in the morning: 

 Didn't get my $3 worth this time!  Haha  Ironically, my carnations from Walmart are still fresh and pretty three weeks later!

dear sunday, I got up early since I woke up when Dave did at 5 am. I worked on my lesson and rewrote Carson's talk. I also made Twix bars and a yogurt pie for the game. 

I am not a big fan of baking or cooking on fast Sunday, but it had to be done. LOL  I headed to church and Carson was so sweet when they arrived. He gave me a huge hug and had that sweet smile of his just beaming. I hadn't seen him in a few days because they went to Las Vegas to a concert.  He is such a cutie. He gave his first talk in Primary today. Since they were in Vegas, I wrote his talk. 

I had to cut it down because I forgot he is only six. LOL 

I taught the Sunbeams. They did great today. They are so stinkin' cute!  

I just love them. I made them binos. We came home and got more food ready but I also went upstairs and took a short rest because I was just so beat.  I then went back to work on all the food. We had a feast fit for a king!  

McKay planned the menu basically. I just followed his requests. 

Sky made wings. Somehow I lost the photo of them. They were so yummy. We had way too much food!  Luckily, my parents showed up to help us eat some of it. Carson loves Grammy so much!  Who doesn't? :)  

The game was good. It was the San Francisco 49ers VS the Kansas City Chiefs. I went with the Chiefs because the coach Andy Reid is LDS. And, drumroll please....
I won the pool. We just each guess which team and then the score and I was closest. I would say it was worth it!!!

 This kid is creative. Pandamonium!

Halftime was very disappointing, not to mention disgusting. It truly was. Jlo and Shakira did a performance that belonged in a Vegas strip club. So inappropriate for a family program. This world.  AKA Sodom and Gomorrah. And the internet was blowing up with so many people feeling how I do and then others defending what they did.  I called it a slut show. And it was even worse. The commercials were good though. Haha  Favorite commercial HERE.  So funny about the Boston accent!

Check this out!  ↓  Today;s date was a palindrome that has happened in over 900 years!!

dear random, these showed up on my the Family Search thing. I thought I would add them here. 

The middle row above (4th over) is my Grandma Helen Stephenson Francis VanDenakker who is my Dad's mom. The man next to her is my Great Grandpa Delwin Sharp (my mom's maternal grandfather).
The bottom row far left is my Great Grandma Violet Sharp (she is my mom's maternal grandmother). Next to her is my Grandpa (my mom's father) Edward Castle Poppleton. Next to him is my Grandma (my mom's mom) Evelyn Mae Sharp Poppleton.

This was also on there. This is my grandpa Ira. He is my Dad's dad. It looks like I need to add him to my family search photos.

 This ↓ is also him (top row far left) with his parent's and siblings.

Photos that were from the Boston Marathon that I never ordered. I am still undecided. Hah  Been a bit too long now I'm sure.

Someone posted this this week...
Boston Marathon 2018

 One year ago this week...

 I am signed up to attend this retreat in April. It should be a fun thing I hope...

 Two years ago...

 McKay's companion's kitchen in Russia! Seriously!  Why don't they make those around here!

 Great memory!

 So cute!

 Sistas!

SOME OLDIES that popped up: