Go West!

Vacation Part 1:
BUXTON FAMILY in No. Cal

I'm on the tail end of my 9-day vacation so I thought it was high time to blog about all the fun I've been having. I'm on a fabulous vacation out West ... enjoying beautiful Fall weather with fantastic friends. I spent the first half of the vacation at the Buxtons' new home in Northern California.

Before you get any further on this post, I must warn you that I went collage CRAZY so that I would be able to display as many pictures as possible ... because I've taken a TON.

Collage #1: Apple Hill

On my first full day with the Buxtons we went to Apple Hill and enjoyed the pumpkin patches, apple orchards and farmer's markets.

A couple days later we drove up to Lake Tahoe. It was amazingly beautiful.

One of our favorite parts of the Tahoe trip was hiking down to Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay in South Lake Tahoe.
We had such a great time. I was also happy to get to watch the girls in some of their extra-curricular activities.

Rachel had her last cross-country meet and she finished with her best time yet! I also got to watch Aubrey's horseback riding lesson.

I had such a great time. It's reminding me how much I miss them, but at least I have a fun place to visit!

Thank you Jodie, Wade, Rachel and Aubrey!!!!!

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Vacation Part 2:

ANDERSON FAMILY in WashingtonOn Wednesday, I flew from Sacramento to Seattle to visit the Andersons. Unfortunately, I started to feel sick that morning and by the time I arrived, I had officially reached barfdom. Do you know how horrible it is to be sick when you're a guest in someone else's house?! I felt so horrible!!! I tried to put on a brave face but soon after arrival, I had to prostrate myself on the couch. Shar's kids were so cute and so excited to see me and pretty soon they were like, "Are you tired or something?" And of course, Shar made a delicious dinner and I could only take about two bites of it. I was determined to be healed because we had reservations in Seattle the next morning for a food tour of Pike Place Market. That place is SO COOL!

Here's what we sampled on our Savor Seattle tour:

• Freshly Fried Doughnuts


• Crackers and Spread at the Spice Market


• Two Kinds of Salmon at the Fish Market


• Fruit at the High Stands


• Assorted Chocolates and Cherries


• Clam Chowder


• Cheese on Crackers and Macaroni and Cheese


• Salmon and Meat-Filled Piroshkies


• and Finally ... Coconut Cream Pie

I gotta say - I was doing so good at first ... I was pushing through like a champ. I made it all the way to the chocolates and cherries before my stomach began the churning. I REALLY slowed down at the cheese place - but I was determined to at least taste everything. So, despite the pain, I had a bite of each of the piroshkies and then I was officially done. Here's the one item I couldn't partake of:

After the food tour, I could barely stand I was so nauseous. It was so sad because I'm such a foodie and my normal self would have been in heaven at the Pike Place Market. When we first arrived, I was sure I was going to shop around and buy a ton of stuff. I would have loved to try some of the different foods. But after the tasting tour, I was done with food for the day. I couldn't even handle the smell of it. Poor Shar had to eat lunch alone because I couldn't even look at her food.

Thankfully, I was feeling a little better today so we headed to the Olympia area. "Sparky" and "Squirrel" were in school, but we took "Scuffy" along with us. We went to the farmer's market and had lunch and Scuffy entertained us with some hilarious dance moves.

Afterward, we went to a nearby park and hiked a little. It was very pretty but apparently the bay there is very polluted -- we saw lots of nasty looking dead fish, and the smell could gag a maggot. Ignore that smelly part, and just enjoy the pictures. The views were incredible -- especially because the weather was so uncharacteristically sunny.

Tonight, Shar made some DELICIOUS pizza on the barbecue:

And the kids and I giggled and giggled as they directed me in a hilarious photo shoot. They were giving themselves lots of poses to do. See if you can tell in which pictures they were trying to look sad, mad, sleepy, or cool. There are also some action shots where they pretended to be telling secrets or eating, and some where they acted like cute cats and then mad cats. These kids are very imaginative and charming and they were cracking me up.
Ah ... and now I've been organizing pictures and blogging for hours so I must go and enjoy the rest of my vacation!

She's Crafty

(I know, I know ... Two posts. One day.

Don't hurt yourself muddling through it all.)

Crafts make me angry.

I'm not proud of that fact. It's just the truth so I'm putting it out there. I realized this a few years ago after a maddening craft-related experience. The problem is that when it comes to crafts I am a perfectionist and at the same time I am very impatient. These two personality traits don't mix well. Nevertheless, I participate every year in our craft night at church. In years past I have signed up for WAY too many things. I always end up half-way finishing each thing and then leaving totally frustrated. These crafts end up in a box, stored in a closet, never to be completed. This year, I thought I was being mature by signing up only for one craft. I was determined to have a positive craft experience.

Here are a couple examples of what I wanted to make -- they are decoupaged picture of Christ:

Pretty cool, right? Here's what I left with. Two boards that look like this:
Apparently, there was some sort of miscommunication. I thought the pictures would be provided. While there were a few pictures to choose from, by the time I started my project they had all been picked over. Most people were smart and brought their own. I had nothing. So that's what I accomplished on craft night. I painted two small boards black. woo hoo.

Oh and I did make this for my friend Ami who was going to come but couldn't make it:

Craft night did not satiate my once-a-year compulsion to craft so the next day I took on a few projects around the house. First, I decided to paint a few planters for some fall flowers I purchased.

And then, since I had the painting bug, I decided to tackle a small bookcase that the Buxtons gifted me when they moved.

BEFORE: AFTER:
(Obviously, I haven't put anything on it yet.)

And I wasn't done, yet. Next, I moved to the front porch where I finally planted the topiary that Jodie and Ami gave me when my grandmother died. Then I planted some mums and decorated the porch with some Fall flair.

And now, I am officially crafted out.

Until next year!

Three-Posts-In-One

Okay, so my blogging has been pretty sporadic. I'm sorry. I didn't want to bore you with the mundane so I've been waiting for something exciting to happen. Nothing exciting has happened, so instead I've decided to do a summary of what you've missed. Consider this three-posts-in-one.

"Get in Shape, Girl" Update:

Let's refresh. The goals were these:

• No more than 3 (diet) sodas per week
• No more than 3 desserts, sweets or sugary snacks of any kind per week
• No more than 1 meal with anything fried per week (french fries, regular chips, etc)
• At least 20 days of exercise (20 out of 44 days)

Yeah, so I'm a loser. Not the Biggest Loser unfortunately - just a loser. I did so well some weeks and some weeks, not so much. Here's the good news -- I DID meet my goal of exercising 20 of the 44 days. The last few weeks I've started walking/running with my next-door neighbor several mornings a week in the dark-and-early. It's a great system because there were MANY mornings I would have pushed snooze but I knew she would be waiting for me so I got my rear out of bed.

And I had moments of great restraint. Let's focus on those for a minute. There was one day at work when a coworkers brought the most amazing looking cupcakes.
Key lime, OREO, chocolate and red velvet! And there were dozens of them.

I had to endure all of my coworkers comments about how delicious they were. Several people even said they were the best cupcakes they'd ever tasted. I took pictures, but I abstained from partaking. This act alone is worthy of international commendableness (That's really a word! Look it up).

So now that I have talked about all of my triumphs, here is the confession part. 1) I am totally addicted to diet soda (especially Diet Pepsi) 2) Sugary carbs call to me 3) I am weak.

I will set new goals (or the same goals again) AFTER my upcoming vacation.

TV: I was going to write an entire post about the new TV season -- since we all know I love TV -- but is it just me or is everything just mediocre so far? Oh except for THE OFFICE; it was a good season opener. The bad news is that it's only week #2 and I am already behind. I can't keep up with all the shows that I DVR. I'm still trying out a couple of the new shows. Note to my fellow telephiles: let me know what you are liking/not liking and what new shows you're watching.

Concerts & Craigs List:
So many of you know about my love for the band, Switchfoot. I've seen them 4 times in the last couple years. Anyway, they were here last night. I had tickets. I did not go. I'll make the sob story as short as possible. When they first went on sale, I decided not to buy them because they were 60 bucks PLUS it fell on General Conference weekend and so most of the guys in my life would be attending the Priesthood meeting that night. But a few months later, Live Nation had a one-day sale where you could get concert tickets for 10 bucks a piece. I got 4 hoping that I could find someone to go with me. Fast-forward to this weekend -- I couldn't find anyone. (I blame the Buxtons for moving!!) I had to sell the tickets on Craig's List. The good news is that I made 50 bucks. So there's a silver lining in my sad little Switchfoot storm cloud. Oh and I found out they're going to be here for the rodeo in February. Maybe I can find friends by then. :)

Happy Birthday Chandy! (sorry for the lame party)

Andy & Chade (a.k.a. "Chandy") both turned 30 this week. For months, I've been thinking about how to celebrate this momentous occasion. I knew it needed to be something special. After all, they are two of my best friends, we've been friends for years, and 30 is a big deal. Plus, they helped carry out a surprise party for me when I turned 30 err ... I mean 25.

So I called them up and said "Are you ready to party?!!" Ok, not really. The actual conversation went more like this:

Me: What do you have planned for your birthday tomorrow?
Chandy: Nothing. Our employees already threw us a huge surprise party. It was awesome.
Me: But we have to celebrate! You're turning 30! What do you want to do?
Chandy: Why don't you make that delicious dessert for us?
Me: Errgg. Ok, I guess. Then I suppose I should make dinner for you too?
Chandy: Sure.
Me to myself: (Dang it. Now I have to figure out something good to make.)

So what dish just screams "special celebration"?

Chicken and broccoli casserole of course.

Fine. I admit it's a lame birthday dinner -- but I've been sick and I was feeling tired and lazy. And for whatever reason, I was craving the casserole and I thought it would be delicious with rotisserie chicken. Unfortunately, the store had sold out of their freshly-made rotisserie chicken, so I had to use plain old chicken breasts. Lame. But I was proud of myself because everything was on the table and ready to go when they got here. Before I dished it out, I decided to make sure the rice had cooked. Good thing I did. I took a bite and crunch, crunch, crunch. CRAP! Apparently, and hour-and-a-half wasn't long enough to cook the long grain rice. In fact, it needed an additional hour to cook. We ended up eating nearly 2 hours after the time I told them to be here.

Woo hooo! Happy 30th!

Let's get all crazy and eat a dry, chicken casserole!

Thankfully, I talked my mom into making the dessert they wanted so at least they had that to look forward to. She brought it over and ended up staying for dinner. So it was Andy, Chade, my mom and me. I'm telling you, this party was off the chain. It was crunk. It was all crazy up in here.

(What do you think they're wishing for? I bet they're wishing for a cooler party next year.)

Necklace Solution

Faithful readers will recall that I've blogged before about my necklace issues before.The string of beads pictured above is a lost cause of entanglement but I have long searched for a solution to my overall jewelry situation. I have several jewelry boxes and I've tried various hanging methods. A few years ago I got this big jewelry case for Christmas. It's okay but the doors on the sides aren't long enough to hang a lot of my necklaces so the doors had to stay open PLUS I have way more necklaces than pegs.

Old Jewelry Case:

Recently, I just started laying my jewelry on top of my tv armoir because it was easier.

But then ...

Ta da!!GENIUS!

I can't take full credit for this. My friend, Ami, who makes very cute jewelry uses the small hand towel holders to hang her necklaces and bracelets. I went to Home Goods to buy one and they were out. So I saw this full-size towel hanger. (To give you perspective it's about three feet tall) I am impatient so I decided to buy the big one instead of waiting for the smaller ones to get in stock -- and I love it! I finally have enough hanging space for all my necklaces. I thought I'd share in case some of you were having similar jewelry hang-ups (or lack of hang-up places for your jewelry). The towel racks are the perfect solution! The necklaces don't get tangled with each other and now my earrings have the jewelry boxes all to themselves.

Storm Supplies and Soft Soles

OH yeah, we're tracking Ike. The good news for us (sorry Houston!) is that it seems to be tracking more to the North which would put it mostly to the East of us. Now, these things can change -- so of course we're all still on alert.

Last night, when the hurricane was still aiming straight for us, I decided it might be a good idea to stock up on a few supplies for the house (like food). I bought some bread and peanut butter. I figure I can live on PB & honey sandwiches for a few days if I needed to. Unfortunately the store shelves were completely void of bottled water and flashlights. So I decided to buy another must-have for the 72-hour kit ... the Pedegg.

(Oh, come on! You know you've wanted one.)

Sometimes when we're faced with a crisis we have to prioritize our values. And during this time of emergency preparedness I decided I REALLY needed soft feet. I took it for a test run last night and I think I'm going to like it. I must admit that the collection of powdered calluses is quite nasty. But my feet are significantly softer and smoother than before.

So if/when Ike comes howling ... I may be sitting in the dark feeling quite parched ... but at least I'll have soft feet.

Apple Anger

Oh, I'm really hating Apple right now. Remember a couple months ago when I purchased a new Nano? I debated over that purchase for months. I kept searching the Internet to make sure Apple wasn't going to come out with a new Nano in the next few months that would be cheaper and better. And WHAT DID THEY DO TO ME????? They've come out with a new Nano that is cheaper and better just a couple months after I bought my Nano. Fuming. Furious. Super Annoyed.

Did you ever see the SNL skit about ipods where they keep getting smaller and smaller until they are finally invisible? If not, you can watch it by clicking here. It's not that far off. I should boycott Apple by not buying their products. But I want them. I want them bad. As Rihanna says, I hate how much I love you.

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

Kids say the darndest things -- but the fact is, they generally speak the truth. The raw, unfiltered truth. I have a friend whose 4-year-old daughter tends to embarrass her by saying blunt things to people about their physical appearance. She is just about the cutest, sweetest little girl you've ever seen. She is also EXTREMELY observant and makes mental notes about what people wear. She was disappointed one time because I was wearing the same earrings as the last time I'd seen her. Another time, she wanted her parents to call me and make sure I was going to wear something "cute" to dinner at their house. I am not using her name in this post because her mom is already mortified enough --but here is the conversation that took place at her house today. She was snuggled up next to me and I was reading her a book when all of a sudden she looked up at me and said:

Little Girl: You're big.
Me (not quite sure where she's going with this): Yes, I am.
LG: You're big. And we're not. None of us are big.
Me (ah, maybe she means tall ... her family is pretty tiny): Yep, that's right.
LG: You have a big bum. We don't.
Me (oh, that's where she's going with this): Well yes, that's true.
LG: Some people at church have big bums too.

This is the same darling little 4-year-old who asked me this a few weeks ago:

LG: Do you have kids?
Me: No.
LG: Are you married?
Me: No.
LG: You're just a girl, right?
Me: Yep, I'm just a girl.
LG: That's what I thought.

Yep, I'm just a girl with a really big bum.

I'm totally going running in the morning.

Uphill Battle

I've exercised 7 of the last 11 days. Are you proud of me? (If not, then hush ... I'm proud of myself.) Anyway, I was in a funk today. No need to send condolences --it's not a major funk and I'll get over it -- I think I have just been over-analyzing the sadness in the world and letting it weigh on me. But all afternoon I had the urge to go running to relieve my stress. Isn't that exciting?!? Despite a chaotic afternoon and stressful newscast, I didn't have the urge to go home, lay on the couch and eat ice cream -- I HAD THE URGE TO GO RUNNING. I feel quite satisfied about that.

I often start out my walks/jogs by walking up this hill by my house. It's only a little over a tenth of a mile but the top is pretty steep and it's a good way to warm up. The other day after I'd walked/ran for 45 minutes I decided to take the hill another time as fast as I could. Now, I must confess that my sprinting on this hill compares to the speed of an old lady walking the mall ... but still!

Here is a (blurry, sorry) picture so you can see where it get steep at the top:

Tonight, I didn't even start out walking like I usually do, I just ran up the hill - TWICE! and then I continued on the rest of my walk/jog. Right now this hill is kicking my butt - I am pretty much at a 10 on my exertion scale when I reach the top. But I am going to start timing myself so I can get faster and then one day I will dominate. One day I will conquer this hill.

I Know an Olympic Gold Medalist

Another Olympic season has come to an end ... sigh.

Ever since I was a kid, I've LOVED watching the Olympics. I remember watching gymnastics with my neighborhood friends in elementary school --we'd clear out the living room so we could compete in our own gymnastics competitions. We'd put tape on the floor for the balance beam, and then for the floor routines we'd start on one end of the room and do our cartwheels and walkovers from one side of the room to the other. Now, decades later ... I'm not about to try a walkover ... but I still get so excited to watch the Olympics! I'm in awe of athletic greatness. Well, now I can say I know an Olympic Gold Medalist! Or more accurately, I knew him. That's Rich Lambourne. Libero for the USA Men's Volleyball Team. Gold medalist. He played volleyball for BYU when I was there. So did Ryan Millar.And the USA coach, Hugh McCutcheon, was the assistant coach at BYU at the time.

It was pretty sweet to watch them win Gold! (Especially after McCutcheon's father-in-law was murdered in Beijing as the Olympics got underway. That was so horribly sad.)

I watched a lot of men's volleyball at BYU. It's not a sport that many Texans appreciate. In fact, I didn't even really know that guys played volleyball until I went to college. But then I became a huge fan. My roommate, Marianne, played on the women's team and her boyfriend (then fiance, later husband) played for the men's. So I got to know some of their teammates, including Rich.

I first met Rich when he was a scrawny freshman. He looked so young and goofy. But when he came home from his 2-year LDS mission we were surprised to find he had gotten all manly and hot. And now he's in the Olympics!! Who coulda guessed? I felt like I was going back in time when I watched him on TV. In fact, I caught myself saying "GO BYU" a few times. I feel so happy and proud for them.

Anyway - no point to this except to say I love the Olympics. Go USA!

And Rich -- if you're googling your name now that you're a bigtime Olympic Gold Medalist and you happen upon this blog -- be sure to leave a comment!

My Blind Date Wore High Heels

I went on another blind date this weekend ... my friend Nicki set me up. Yes, that's him wearing high heels. Could I possibly go out with any more freaks? Ha Ha! Just kidding. He wasn't really a freak. We made him try on Nicki's shoes when we discovered that they have the same size feet. Then I promised to embarrass him by putting the picture on my blog. And now I have.

It was a fun day. Eating, hiking, more eating and then Guitar Hero. We hiked Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg. It's a batholith (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) and it's apparently the second largest granite dome in the United States. (Just one of the many facts shared by my new high-heeled friend who also happens to work for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He also identified animal droppings, and let us know the scientific names of the plants and wildlife.)

Enchanted Rock:

And here is the view as we got close to the top. This is my friend Nicki with her husband Billy:

Climbing up was fun despite the fact that it felt like we were hiking in a sauna. It had just finished raining and it was in the 90's so basically the humidity was insane. I prefer to use the term "glistening" but others might say I was dripping in sweat.

Yea! We made it to the top:

My "creaky" knee was obnoxiously loud on the way down as a cruel reminder of how old I am (and how much older I was than my date). Thankfully, I wasn't as uncoordinated as the other day (see earlier post) and didn't injure myself. But Nicki's husband Billy has a fat ankle after twisting it by stepping off a rock into a hole. Ouch!

If I lived closer to Enchanted Rock, I could hike that a few times a week instead of going to the gym. Can I count this as one of my workouts this week? I didn't add it to my running tally, but I'm thinking about it.

Nicki loved the hike too :) and I loved spending the day with my friend Nicki! It's been way too long since we've hung out. In fact it's been more than a year!! Much too long.

Oh well, it was another fun Saturday spent avoiding chores at home! One day soon there will be another blog post about yard work. I have avoided it for far too long and I have many a weed to tend to. Until then, let the fun continue.

p.s.- I normally wouldn't blog about first dates. That seems creepy. But Nicki told him about my blog and he's expecting it -- so go ahead and give him a hard time about the heels.

Prodigious Pencil

I've always loved getting new school supplies at the beginning of a new school year. So imagine my delight when the mother-of-all pencils arrived in our newsroom. I took it for a test run to see how it holds up against other wee writing utensils.

Big pencils need big erasers. ... So far so good.

This pencil ROCKS in pencil wars! I totally dominated this match.
(Apologies to Joe for whacking his hand instead of the pencil. My weapon was heavy and my aim wasn't very good. whoops)

But I did find some drawbacks. For starters, if the pencil lead breaks it might be hard to find a sharpener.

And it's a little awkward to keep behind your ear.

It's definitely difficult to accomplish the pensive pencil-in-mouth look.

My hair was too short for the final pencil test. But Bernice tried it out. I decided that you might have to be Crystal Gayle to sport this pencil-in-hair fashion.

I wonder if it's a #2 pencil? I would LOVE to whip this sucker out during a standardized test. I dare someone to bring this pencil to the first day of school!! Any kids out there wanna do it?

(You will be required to document your dare with pictures.)