Scattergories

Just following the trend . . .

Scattergories

What is your name: Michelle

BOYS NAME: Mohammed

4 LETTER WORD: Monk

GIRL NAME: McKell

OCCUPATION: Metermaid

A COLOR: Maroon

AN ANIMAL: Monkey

BEVERAGE: Milk . . . . mmmmmmm

FOOD: Meat Pie

SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Moaning Murtle

A PLACE : Monterey Bay

REASON FOR BEING LATE: Moody

SOMETHING YOU SHOUT OUT: Money money money money . . . .MONEY! (the apprentice theme song)

A PLANT: May flowers!

Yay for M's

:)

Tagged!!

I've been tagged by Jori! so here goes!

The "rules" of the game are as follows:

1. Post the rules on your blog.

2. Write 6 random things about yourself.

3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.

4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

my random things:

1. I am the pickiest eater you will ever meet!!! (ask flee, she'll back me up!)

2. I love to swim, but hate to be in water where I can't see the bottom!

3. I've lived in Utah my whole life and have never- yes thats right never- been skiing!

4. I love music, and have written a bunch of my own songs- 4 of which are completed and I can listen to on my iPod.

5. I am kind of a tom-boy in the sense that I LOVE football (if you couldn't tell) and cars and tools and stuff like that! I can watch football anytime, anywhere! Love it love it love it!

6. One of my favorite snacks is steamed broccoli and cauliflower, with a little salt and butter. Yummmmmmmmmm.

Ok, so there's my six random things!

Here's the six people I tag:

1. Mommy

2. September

3. Karla

4. Emmy

5. Stacey

6. Jenn (see now you have a reason to do another post!)

do it, or be square~

(ok, I know that doesn't rhyme like be there or be square, but you'll still be square if you don't do it! so do it!)

well, I'm at work, and I have to go color a name tag! (yeah, I'm getting paid time and a half to blog and color name tags! sweet!)

so thats all for now!

chelle

Vote for Cosmo!!!

Cosmo is one of the mascots in the Capital One Mascot Challenge, and we want him to be the winner!!! So, go to the BYU Football sidebar link to vote for Cosmo! Its super easy- you don't have to give an email or anything, just a nickname to use to vote! There are six 'teams' that change each week, and you vote for one member on each team. So vote for cosmo, and whoever else looks cool!!!!
You can vote once a day! so vote lots so he will win!

Yay for BYU Football!!!!! :)

Honesty Pays!

So, funny story. I got on to check my email and I had a random message from Zappos.com. It came to my gmail account, so this was especially weird cause I don't give that address to anyone but family and friends- meaning it gets NO spam, which is nice! So I thought it was kinda odd.

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When I opened it, it said I had been sent a Gift Certificate for $100.00 to use at Zappos.com. At this point, I still thought it was just spam.

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As I kept reading I realized that this was real- a real gift certificate! I started to get somewhat excited - zappos has great stuff! But as I read on, my excitement dissipated!

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The email said I had been sent a gift certificate from Mardee Brennan for $100.00. It even had the gift certificate code and everything! I was super confused, seeing as how I have NO idea who Mardee Brennan is! As I read a little further, it said there was a note with it.

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The note said "Happy Birthday RaRa."

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This is when I knew it wasn't for me.

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bummer.

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I scanned the entire email, looking for Mardee's email, but ALAS! Is was not there. so I called the customer service # for Zappos. I explained what had happened and that the certificate wasn't meant for me, and I was met with a moment of silence. The woman on the other end of the line was quiet for a minute and then she said "Wow. I can't believe you called." I asked why. "Well, most people would have just used the certificate, and not cared who it was meant for." I told her I didn't think that was very honest, and she started seeing what she could do about it. She ended up finding the senders account, and said she would contact her to find out where the gift certificate was meant to go.

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So, I didn't get a gift certificate for $100.00. The woman kept talking for a minute explaining what Zappos was like and what they offered, and I told her that I had been to the site before and knew kinda what they were about. She then said "If its alright with you, I'd like to create a Zappos.com account for you, and because you were so honest, I'd like to give you a $50 gift certificate." I was more than a little stunned! I told her she didn't have to do that- really it was no big deal, but she insisted! So YAY! I have a $50 gift certificate to Zappos.com! And the best part- they have free shipping, so she said if the item I want is under $50 I won't pay a cent! I was pretty excited!

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So yeah. Honesty pays! :)

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I'll let you know what I get when I find something!

And just a funny side note- I was super excited, and one of the first things I thought of was "Oh, I am SO going to blog about this!"

I say again, who knew I'd become such an avid blogger!

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K. thats all!

chelle

So, you may as well find out sooner, rather than later . . .

So, we were going to wait until we heard something, but since there was a comment made on one of our posts, we probably should tell you peeps whats going on. (No, I'm not pregnant!)

So, it's quite difficult to find a job in the field Steve is in here in this area- with so many college students and stuff! That being the situation, we have been looking a bit farther away later. (For example, the most recent application was for a job in Afton, Wyoming.)

Why is this such a big secret you may ask? Well, if you ask that question, then you don't know the Southern family very well!!! See, every single member of our family - all nine children and their families - and the 'rents still live in Utah County! And, some of the family members- while they have the best intentions- tend to . . . . maybe . . . . um not like the idea of family leaving! I mean, Steve and I are not sure what is going to happen, but there is a possibility that we may be leaving the state! (Sorry Jan and Jenn!!)

Again, nothing is set- we just didn't want people to find out from someone else and think we didn't want them to know!!! So, now everyone can know, and everyone can give us their advice! (cause we'd love to have it- we really would!)

Also, with the job hunt it can't hurt to have too many eyes! So if any of you see any job openings in the communications industry (phone, internet, tv . . . stuff like that)- installing, managing, etc- please let us know!

. . . . I can't think of anything clever to put in the title . . . so I won't.

So, really I don't actually have anything interesting to blog about today. But I thought I'd get on and prattle on about nothing in particular anyway!

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So tonight I was reading comments on my friend's blogs and my mither said something really funny. (Mither is Corilee for those of you who don't know!) It was on flee's blog, the post about Fall and wind! September commented that she loved reading Flee's post 'cause it was so positive and uplifting! Then my mom said:

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"Ditto September! You have always been a Sunbeam! You should be the Sunbeam teacher for real. I'll put in a good word with God."

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HAAA HAAAA!!! I thought that last line was SOOOO funny! "I'll put in a good word with God!" HAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAA!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

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ok, so maybe it wasn't as funny to everyone else as it is to me, but yeah. I laughed right out loud!

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So, really I don't have anything to blog about. I should probably try to get some sleep, since it is after midnight, but working the night shift always messes with my sleeping the day after! So, even though I only slept for about 5 hours when I got home this morning, I am still awake now! oh well, such is life!

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Steve is still looking for a new job, although we haven't had any recent success! But, ya know, good things come to those who wait! So, we will continue to wait (and apply like crazy) until the time comes that we may find employment for my dearest husband. (Ok, I really don't know why I'm talking like this. Maybe I'm more tired than I thought!!!)

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Ok, ok, ok Flee, you can chill now, I'm going to bed! Right now!!!! I'm gonna go find me some 'Sleep Aid' (thats the knock-off of unisom!)

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night all!

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chelle

Southern Family Pictures!

Imagine . . .

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One beautiful September day . . . $0.00

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18 well dressed adults . . . $ ??.00

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19 well dressed (absolutely crazy) kidlets . . . $ ??.00

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Family Pictures with all 37 family members

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Priceless!!!

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Ha, Ha, ok, I'm done with the Mastercard commercial now!

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So, obviously, we had the Southern Family pictures taken last Saturday. It was . . . really there are so many adjectives one could use here- so I'll let you pick your own. So it was so [insert adjective here].

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No, really- it was great. It was so fun to have everyone together in an unconfined space (as opposed to someones living room! that can get kinda crowded!) So here's kinda an overview of what happened: (WARNING- LOTS OF PICTURES!! SORRY!)

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We all met at the Thanksgiving Point water tower at 10 am. and really- wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, we were all there on time!!!!!!!!! Yeah- for those of you who know the Southern Family, that rarely happens~ if ever! so yeah for once- we were all there on time!!! YAY US! There was just one problem!

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The Photographer wasn't on time.

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That was just a little problem. So we had to try and keep 19 little kidlets busy until she got there!! Fun for us!!!

Joe-joe didn't really want to have his picture taken at this point. Things did not bode well for us.
Lizzy and Gramma having a cute little chat! Look how cute they are!
Waiting . . . and trying to find the photographers phone number! (Look how SKINNY Emmy is! She looks amazing!)

Katie and Sabrina. This was the beginning of the monkey-ness.
Joshie climbed all the way up the the cross in the bars. For those of you that have not been there, his feet are about 5 feet above ground right now! crazy kid!

Brendan and Brayden with Stacey looking on! Brendan is a little cheeser!! Everytime I turned my camera to him he got this great big smile on his face!! what a cutie!
Holly,Ethan, Lizzy, and Kate just chillin. I think this was ALL the chillin the kids did, and they only sat there for about a minute!
Just waiting . . . and chatting. How cute are they!
Sweet little Brianna gets a little shy when there are lots of people around. Later on she became my little buddy. She let me carry her around for a while. I so heart her!!
Joe-Joe wanted to be like the big kids- climbing all the way up! (He had help, obviously!)

Jenni and Annika- just being cute!
Joe-joe said "Take a cheese of me momma!" so I took a cheese of him!! Again, he was trying to be like the big kids!
Finally, the photographer got there- about 20 minutes late. Here's some of us walking to the gardens. (And yes- everyone in this picture is in my family, with the exception of the photographer way in the front- and this isn't even everyone!)
Jenni, Jenny and Emma being cute!

Finally, all the entire family pictures were done, so I stole Jenny away from everyone else to take some family pics of just us! They turned out all right- although Jenni and Joe-joe were both SO DONE! The only way we got Joe-joe to smile was to have me tickling him! but still- we are cute! Yay for families!
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So, after all was said and done, it didn't take too long! (Well, let me rephrase- we didn't have the photographer take pics of our family, so we were able to leave after the big family pics was done)
When we got into our car to leave it was about 11:30. So it only took about an hour to do the whole family! not too bad!
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And finally- I have to give props to one person in particular- because without her we wouldn't have even had these pics taken! To Emilee I say thank you thank you thank you for all the work you put into this. I know you had to put up with a lot of stuff from everyone- so thank you so so so much! I will be forever grateful!
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YAY FOR EMMY!!!!
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and for those who are not in our family, here's a list of all the people that were there:
(Adults are underlined, Kidlets are in italics)
Dad, Mom, Dave, Mel, Annika, Meika, Janice, Jennifer, Jonathan, Tiffany, Holly, Brendan, Mike, Janelle, Kate, Lizzy, Sabrina, Adam, Stacey, Joshie, Brianna, Brayden, Camden, Seth, Karla, Ethan, Logan, Truman, Dannan, Emilee, Daniel, Emma, Matthew, Michelle, Steve, Jenni, Joe-joe.
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Sorry if I missed anyone!!!

and sorry this post is so long!!!
k, thats all!
chelle

and isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

So, last week we went to the BYU football game and had a BLAST!!!

We've got GREAT seats!
Steve's dad gets season tickets every year, but since he works at the temple every Saturday he isn't often able to go. So we usually get the tickets! I had so much fun!! I LOVE being at the game, with the atmosphere and everything! (And, on our first date, Steve and I went to a BYU football game! So that makes it even more fun!!)


The cheerleaders are always fun to watch- here they are doing the 'helicopter' as Steve and I call it.
Here's the . . . well I'm not sure what its called- but its cool!
And of course, the pyramid!
TOUCHDOWN!!! I believe that's Harvey Unga- although I could be wrong!
The final score of last weeks game- BYU 59 UCLA 0!
Yes- thats right! SHUTOUT!

and then there's this weeks game (which, due to sickness I did not attend. :*( I was so bummed.)
Today we played Wyoming. It was, again, a GREAT game! Really, I LOVE FOOTBALL! We beat Wyoming 44-0. Yes- another SHUTOUT!

What's ironic you ask?? Well the last time BYU had two shutouts in a row was in 1985. What were the scores- BYU 59- Wyoming 0 the first week (11/2/1985), and BYU 44- Utah State 0 the second week (11/9/1985)! Yes, thats right!!! Crazy huh!

I say again~ isn't it ironic, don't ya think? a little too ironic . . . and yeah I really do think . . . (and now for those of you who understand where thats coming from you're all singing "It's like raaiiinnn on your weddin' day . . .)
ok, no more alanis.


So, even though I'm home sick feeling super crappy, and I didn't get to go to the game (ALAS! bummer) I still have had a pretty good day!! We had our Southern Family -family pictures this morning! Crazy! I'll post on that next!

stupid, dumb old insomnia. dumb, dumb insomnia. really. it's annoying. I never used to have insomnia! whats wrong with me???

And to answer your question - No, I am not pregnant. bummer. and I'm still awake. Double bummer!

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I'm sitting here on my bed- being unable to get any sleep- and trying to decide what to do that might make me tired. I've tried counting, like just plain counting. But that doesn't work. And really, why do people count sheep to try to sleep?? That so does not make sense to me!

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So then I tried TV, and usually I can find some show I've seen a million times and just have it on as background noise, and I can sleep just fine. Not tonight. Even though I've seen each of the Kim Possible episodes I watched probably 20 times, still I am awake? Why?

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So I started thinking maybe just laying in the dark will help . . . . . .

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**imagine darkness for like a half an hour here **

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Nope. Still awake. Stupid insomnia.

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So onto bigger and better things! My cute flee friend came over and helped me clean my house today (well, let me rephrase- my one room- cause thats all we have . . . for all of us . . . Me Steve, Jenni, and Joe-joe . . . yeah- we're a little squished! but hey- the rent is nice!!) We got it looking much better than it did- but its still not clean. (Yeah- I know- really sad that it was that messy!) She's coming back tomorrow to help me finish. What would I do without her?? I mean really= she is like my air, my sun! I couldn't live without her! (so basically- don't die anytime soon Flee. Thats an order!)

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I was really hoping September would have posted the winner of her bag on her blog today . . . but ALAS! She has not. Not yet. But she has two kids, and one on the way, so really- she's probably super busy! So I'll try to be patient! (Yeah, patience isn't one of my best talents! It used to be, and then I had 2 kids. yeah, buh-bye patience!!!)

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Steve just rolled over and said "You blog too much!" Yeah. I probably do. and I can't stand having the computer screen as the only light, so I have my lamp on too, and thats keeping him awake. So, looks like another try with just darkness! or maybe more kim possible. hmmm . . . .

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I think darkness is going to win, cause Steve has to get up early. (and really, so do I cause I have to get Jenni to school! It was nice having Steve home today, cause he took her to the bus, and picked her up! What a guy! He's so way too good for me! And he treats me so great!)

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ok, well all you fellow bloggers, have a great day! and hopefully I won't sleep in too late!!! (Hey Flee, if you read this before like 10:45 am, call me and make sure I'm awake to go get Jenni!!)

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good night all!!

Happy Happy Birthday Emmy dear

Happy happy birthday emmy dear,

happy days will come to you all year

If I had a wish then it would be

a happy happy birthday to you from me!

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You've had a birthday shout HOORAY

I'd like to sing to you today!

One year older and wiser too!

Happy birthday - - - to you!

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Happy birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Emmy,

Happy Birthday to you!

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lets see . . . more more more . . .

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You say happy,

I say birthday

Happy - - Birthday

Happy - - Birthday

(Steve thought of that one!)

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Have a very happy birthday

filled with sunshine every where

may the year bring joy and gladness

and the love of friends (and family) who care

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This month is such a special one its birthday time for you!

We'd really like to celebrate your happy day with you!

Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho here's something we can do

We'll sing a song that we all know-

Happy Birthday- To YOU!!!

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Ok, so that is ALL the birthday songs I can think of. So yeah- HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMS!!!!!

(today is emilee's birthday in case you didn't catch that!)

Happy Birthday Ems, We love you!

~The Saltzgiver Clan

Mommy Southern has a Blog!!! YAY for blogging!!!

So, I've spent some time the last few days helping Mom create a blog. She hasn't had anyone (except me) comment on her blog, so she doesn't think anyone is reading it! I told her it's probably 'cause they don't know it's there, so I am posting to tell you that it's there! There is a link to it on the right side of my blog (mom and Daddy)

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If you don't want to click the link for whatever reason, the address is:

joeandcorilee.blogspot.com

So go look at it and comment on it!! Oh, and for some reason the background doesn't load sometimes, and her text is white. So if you can't see the text- highlight the area where there should be a post and you'll be able to read it! (For those who don't understand what that means- start at the top of the post and hold the left button down while you drag the mouse icon down the page. You should see words appear! like magic!!)

And really- comment on it! That way she'll know that you all love her! (and who doesn't LOVE to get comments! I mean really!!!)

ok, I've got to go clean my house! have fun today!

chelle

Fun at the Gateway!

Ok, so I promised to put pics up from our gateway trip- so here they are!!! and I'm not feeling super hot right now, so I probably won't write a whole lot.

The fountain! (obviously!)
Steve and Jenni went in to play, and Steve timed the exit wrong . . .
. . . yeah- Jenni didn't like it so much!
Watching the show they do to the Olympic music. Its really pretty cool! Joe-joe thought so too, he had to clap!
Isn't she SO cute! I just can't get enough of her! Love that little squish!

ok, so really- we can read! I totally didn't even NOTICE the sign until I put this picture on my 'puter! But really- we can read. I promise!
Steve and Joe back out in the fountain- Joe-joe totally didn't want to go out at first, screamed a little when they got there, but then TOTALLY loved it!!!! He's so stinkin cute! Look at that grin!!
We were trying to touch the water as it shot up!
Lizzy, Joe-joe and I out in the water!! (No, we didn't get wet!)
Again, the timing was a little off- or maybe it wasn't (I think this time it may have been planned!!!)

Jenni wasn't super excited to be wet, but Joe-joe and Steve loved it!
My son, just chillin' with his daddy! How cute it he- with his little hand in his pocket! yeah- he did that all on his own too!
Yummy, Ice cream!! She got just a little messy! but isn't she darling!!!
on the bus ride home. We were all a little frazzled at this point!
Joe joe and Lizzy both were freaking out just a little- that is until this awesome (and totally drunk) black guy got on. He was SO FUNNY! Really, he kept playing with Joe-joe, and Joe was laughing so hard- like a cute belly laugh, shaking his whole body! And I think I'm finally ready to live in a big city- cause not once was I like afraid for us like I would have been before! (ok, well once I was a little uncomfortable, but thats cause Joe-joe kept reaching out for the funny black guy, wanting to go to him! luckily Flee- who was holding him at the time- was crafty, and kept him with her!) But yeah- the dude kept saying that we had made his day, and thank you and stuff. We tried to tell him that he was really doing us a favor by keeping them interested, but I'm not sure he caught that! He was REALLY drunk. But he was a nice drunk! He asked where the train was going like 7 times "Now, this train is going to Sandy right . . . wait- is this train going to sandy?" He was so funny!

So, all in all it was REALLY fun, but I think next time we'll do it without the bus. Just trax. But we really were blessed with a bunch of really nice helpful people! People that helped us onto and off the bus and train, and the trax operator let us on the handicapped entrance once with our strollers, even though the policy doesn't exactly allow that! But really, its so great to see such great people! It was great.

So yeah. I don't think its possible for me to do a short post. really. I totally said I wasn't going to write much, and now look! It's totally super long!

And mom, I've changed the font color just for you. Yeah, just because I LOVE YOU!

have a beautiful day!

ok, thats all!

chelle

Adventurous??? or maybe crazy???

So, the other day, Flee and I decided to be adventurous. Yeah. That was a BAD idea! Really. I mean, it was fun- once we got there- but getting there . . . yeah. Let me explain:
So, Steve is working with my brother-in-law for a bit wrapping a building in Salt Lake. (ie: they are putting really BIG vinyl stickers on the side of a building) It was pretty cool looking and Flee and I wanted to go see it. So we decided, in an effort to save gas, to take the bus up to sandy, and ride Trax up to Salt Lake.

Yeah. I repeat- BAD idea!

At first, it didn't seem so bad, but then we had a hard time getting the strollers on the bus- but a really nice man helped us out there! He got them on and off for us! So, then when we got to Trax we had to collapse both strollers, grab all our stuff, and the 3 kids and try to get on the train before the doors closed. That was exciting. Then we couldn't sit on the same seats cause there just wasn't enough room! and the kids got kinda restless!
But things were still going ok- somewhat.

Then we it was time to get off the train.

I got up and got all my stuff, and Joe, in my hand, Jenni got our stroller, and Flee had Lizzy and her stroller. I was standing by the door and just as the train stopped this lady stepped RIGHT in front of me and stopped. Just parked there. So, you only have so much time to get off the train, so I was trying to get around her, saying excuse me and such, and she moved like an inch. So I said excuse me again, and again- and still she didn't move. So the guy BEHIND me practically yelled 'excuse her!', and she turned to me and said "oh, you wanted to get off?" and I was like "uh, yeah" and just as she stepped out of the way the doors closed.

So we totally missed our stop.

But then, again, we were blessed with super nice people, and we made a game plan of how to get off the next stop. They helped us get out (after much fighting with the stroller) and finally we were in Salt Lake, albeit a few blocks off our mark!

Then, about 2 minutes after we started walking, Jenni decided she was too tired to walk. Yeah. I was more than a little bugged. So for the next 20 minutes or so, we fought with Jenni about her walking!

Really, it was super fun- even with all the screaming and whining of the kids! All 3 of them had issues at some point!

Ok, so this post is really super long, but I have to give you one more story. We were walking past the Courthouse, on our way to the building Steve was wrapping, and there was this guy- just standing next to a tree. I though he looked kinda funny. That was before he started undoing his belt. Yes- I did type that right! He proceeded to undo his belt and PEE right there! With my very curious 5 year old daughter walking by! So I all of a sudden took an interest at the red brick building across the street, and tried to get Jenni to find it- and find it again! We did finally get past him- without her seeing it- but really! I mean seriously!!!!! In the middle of the city- on the grass of the courthouse. Just totally out in the open- not even like behind something. Just there for the whole world and my little girl to see! Really- what a freak!!!


People bug me!

And with that- I will end this super long post, and fill you in on the rest of our journey later- 'cause it's late and I need sleep!

K, thats all!
Chelle

Who knew??

So, I am so random! I had a funny night the other night! Let me tell you about it!

The other night, I had a really awful dream- like really I woke up almost crying- and it took me forever to fall back to sleep. When I finally did fall back to sleep I think my mind was trying to keep thing light and funny or something, cause I had a really funny dream! I don't actually remember the dream that much, but I just remember it being really funny!

What is so funny about the dream you ask?? Well, In my dream I knew that I was dreaming, and it was really SO RANDOM! I remember thinking (in my dream) "Oh, I am so going to blog about this!" I then started to think about how I would write it and everything! Yeah- I was totally dreaming about blogging about dreaming!

Who knew I would become such a dedicated blogger???? Certainly not me!

Gone but not forgotten . . .

I hear people saying we don't need this war
I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground?
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start preaching
Let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day

To see your homeland under fire

And her people blown away?

Have you forgotten

when those towers fell?

We had neighbors still inside

Going through a living hell

And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout Bin Laden

Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten all the people killed?

Some went down like heroes

in that Pennsylvania field

Have you forgotten

about our Pentagon?

All the loved ones that we lost

And those left to carry on

Have you forgotten?

He who puts up with insult invites injury

In the huge mass of evil as it rolls and swells, there is ever some good working toward deliverance and triumph. ~ Carlyle

In Memory of all those who lost on September 11, 2001.

May we never forget.