big 30 - ash-o-lee

Team-up thursday - "Self-Portrait"

This is week #3 of "Team-up Thursday" and the theme they gave everyone is "Self-Portrait". Ohhhhh, eeeeeeeek, many thought, "What will I do - do we really have to?!" If those participating are anything like me, they are not used to being in front of the camera because we're the ones who always have the camera - so a little out of my comfort zone would aptly describe my feelings! I could, however, recognize the genius in the assignment as it gives a great opportunity to see what everyone looks like - and I'm loving it so far.

I love the photo of Corey because it reminds me what I don't take enough time for - reading. When I am reading it is because it's something I have to do - not something I want to do. However, when the Twilight series came out - I somehow figured a way to read them all! Raising seven kids was probably one reason I had little time for such pampering of myself!

I always have time to go by and read Corey's blog and view all her fun and creative photos - you should too. It's fun and inspiring in her little corner of the world.

Confession time: I had to pull this photo out of my archive (! ! !) this week because I was in the middle of a 'melt-down' the day I needed to get my photo ready to send to Corey! You can read here exactly what happened - but, in a nutshell - a setting on my computer (somehow) got switched and turned everything, and I mean everything black and like you were looking at a photo negative! Remember those days? Well, it took hours to figure how to change those settings on my trusty iMac - so if that ever happens to you, contact me and I'll walk you through the steps!!! Anyway, the photo I choose was one of only a handful I could find of myself because, like I mentioned earlier, I don't have many! This happens to be my old camera - it's been replaced by my new best friend, a Nikon D-300. It's funny how Corey and I were thinking alike this week - before my meltdown, I was going to take a self-portrait of me sitting in my BIG, PURPLE over-stuffed chair reading my really BIG "Wisdom" book by Andrew Zuckerman. Hopefully I can glean some wisdom from this beautifully created work of art!

Okay, I've got to go now - think I'll snuggle my really-BIG-book - well, since it's snowing outside - again!

Zip over to Megan's blog to view other "Self-Portraits" - it should be fun!

cousins - best buds & computer melt-down

Brian went in for surgery today to have his gall-bladder removed (ouch!) and Cooper came by to visit Bodi! Those little guys have a blast together - same height, approximately same weight, same disposition (little boy-style) - sweet as sugar and rough as nails!

Talked to Heather and she said Brian is doing 'okay' - not feeling great - totally to be expected. The surgery went well but the doc can't promise that was his problem. So, in my opinion they ought to give him a 50% discount off the total bill! Right? Only fair. I'll keep you posted on things as the days go by.

Last night Shawn called and asked if the kids could come over and play while he ran leagues at the club. "Yep, no problem!" Carter and Aspen came dancing in- in their usual 'full of life' manner and I was happy to see them. They don't come to visit that often as they live in a remote area. Bodin, once again, had cousins to play with. Carter headed for the computer and plopped himself down to play some 'Olympic' games - I watched over his shoulder and he's skilled. Not long after I walked in to check some email and notice that all the settings on my iMac were totally changed - everything! I immediately thought, "Carter! What did you do?!" Finally, I had to ask him and he quietly said, "Gma, I haven't touched your computer - I've been on this computer all night!" SURE, Carter, I thought (with a suspicious-evil eye)! It was as if everything on the computer had been hit with radio-active-fotons (is there such a word)! Everything on the computer was like looking at a photo negative! "Holy cow" - I hate that saying - but that's how I felt. For over an hour (maybe two) Whitney and I tried to figure out 'what the heck' happened. We couldn't! It was then I took the problem to FACEBOOK population and within only minutes, Kit came to our rescue with the solution. And 'vawallllah' it was fixed!!! So, if you ever have a problem you can't figure out - go to your FACEBOOK friends and I can almost guarantee you'll find the answer. Seriously!

mosaic monday - up-close-and-personal

This is my contribution for MOSAIC MONDAY at Mary's place.

randomness - sweet cravings / good workout

I have to confess that I don't know just how healthy/unhealthy my new snack is - WW points are very low - but if you're having a chocolate withdrawal and your 'zen-like-lotus-pose' is not making that craving go away - I have a treat for you!

Last week Bob, Whit, Heather, boys and I headed to do some shopping down south. We drove separate cars and didn't see much of each other but were in the stores at the same time - other than every-once-in-awhile I saw the kids running from isle to isle and up and down the rows - pretty much nonstop! This went on for hours as the adults got the shopping done. This resulted in the following photo (most mother's dream-come-true) of 'the gang' when we got home! They had a great time.

it's a berf-day for kel-tor

yummm - strawberries

team-up thursday - W.E.T.

These days, if I blink my eyes it's time to go to bed again - what's with that? So it's almost Thursday and that means I get to team up with Corey again for our "Team-up Thursday". It's totally fun and forces you pay attention to your surroundings as you go through the week.

This week we chose the theme "WET" and we had to find something in our surroundings to represent that theme - kind of fun, if you ask me! When I first saw Corey's photo it made me break out in a huge smile - darn cute - just made me want to touch that cute, hairy, wet nose! You can go to her blog and read how she came up with this idea - love it!

The photo I choose was (obviously) a rose Bob brought home one fine day! I misted it and it had the neatest water droplets so I ran and got my camera to capture them before they rolled onto the counter. Obviously, everything in our world, here in the northwest, is frozen solid!

If I had a choice of what to take pictures of, I think it would be everything in nature - it's really therapeutic for me - so calming - especially fury, "WET" noses!

If you'd like to see more of "Team Up Thursday" head to Megan's blog for more excitement - "Hey, I'm heading over there right now myself - come on and join me!"

name that country road CONTEST

Okay "locals" - where was this photo taken. First COMPLETELY CORRECT answer wins an all-expense-paid trip to Thornton. We spare NO EXPENSE.

WE HAVE A WINNER! Brandon, you're the BOMB - you are the first to guess the correct location. Sounds like you spent 'a lot of time' in this area during high school ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Dude, sorry - you're going to have to make your way to the "Burg" to collect your 'all expenses paid' trip to Thornton. We scrapped together enough change from under the couch cushions to pay your gas to Frank's Quick Stop where a case of either diet Coke OR diet Pepsi awaits you - our compliments ! ! ! ! We take care of 'locals'!

Journal notes:

Have you ever had a student who was so stoked about learning something NEW they couldn't wait for their lesson? Well, I've got 'one of those' students - my 86 year old mom. We got her a laptop computer for Christmas and she's coming for lessons every day! I bought her a little notebook to take notes while we discuss things and, anyone who's over the age of 50 knows, YOU NEED A NOTEBOOK!!! After age 50, brains don't work that well anymore. So, we've been filling her little pink notebook up - and fast! TODAY'S LESSON: Learning to write, send and retrieve email! Tell me that wasn't FUN! You should have seen the LOOK ON HER FACE the first time the computer ***dinged*** with her first email message - you would have thought it was Christmas FOR THE FIRST TIME! So funny, so cute! Now, I'm going to have to be real CAREFUL what I write on my blog about her because she now knows my blog address!!!!

just a thot . . . have a heart

it's a berf-day

Just so you know Mr. Tylard-o, I stayed home from the gym tonight - just for YOU (I feel a raise coming on)!

hap, hap, happy . . . .

HAPPY

Valentine's Day!

Idaho-style!

more coming soon!

a berfday girl!

A little late - but you know how it goes!!!!! Luv ya tons!

team-up thursday - L.O.V.E.

Last week, a photographer who's work I've been admiring for a long time, left a note on the blog wanting me to contact her! "Holy cow what on earth could she want" I asked myself? She wanted to team up for a NEW weekly game, if you will, of picking a theme and submitting a photo to match the theme! Sounded like a lot of fun and something that would challenge creativity. She's the "BOMB" when it comes to creativity - so it will definitely make me stretch.

I want you to meet Corey. She has an AMAZING blog featuring her adorable daughter, Sugar Bear. Corey's photos are so pristine, clear and clever, they make my jaw drop. You'll love visiting her family.

Our entry for the first week is below - Corey's photo on the left, mine on the right:



If you'd like to see more of "Team Up Thursday" head to Megan's blog for more excitement.

happy anniversary, guys!

"oh henry!"

I've been meaning to put these photos on for sometime - they were taken when we were in Utah helping Cam move. Cort, Ash and kids came over Sunday and we had dinner together - it was great. Every time Henry does something cute, my natural reaction is to say, "Oh Henry!" I can't believe how many times that day I said that and then I get hungry (! ! ! ! ) cause I'm then think about an "Oh Henry" candy bar! I love the photo of Ash, Cort, R.O.B. and Henry together - the only person missing is Oli!

I got off the phone tonight with Ty-lard (aka: Tyler, Toilet) - he wanted to see more photos on here of PEOPLE so I told him I would post some - Henry seemed like a good choice! Ty is doing great - he's being mentored by a 'kazillionaire' in Reno who has taken Ty under his 'wing' to help him grow his business. Ty went to his mansion in a gated community and did a job for him - he loved what Ty did and took tons of his business cards and passed them all out to his friends and business associates. Sweet, ha!

Schuy is going to school and working in Idaho Falls. I'm really PROUD of him - he's making the best of a bad situation - working a job that totally doesn't appreciate his talents in the culinary world. If they only knew!!! Whit is passing out tons of really cool cards she had made up for advertising. Things are S.L.O.W. around here and she hasn't had any calls - other than a few here and there. She did have a phone call from down south - a salon wants her to work! She may have to commute and hour (one way) to find some work - now that totally sucks . . . .eeeeek, did I say that?

Heather called this morning after Brian went in for some tests and found out that his gallbladder is totally not working at all. He'll be going into surgery within the week. They could have completely saved (at least) $10,000 by listening to Heather IN THE FIRST PLACE when she diagnosed Brian with gallbladder problems - from day '1'! I'm afraid it'll be beans and rice for the next 10 years to get this doc/hospital bill paid. Man, these poor guys just don't get a break. Heather sounded upbeat about the whole thing - but come to think about it, what else can you do. I know Bob and I paid TONS OF DOCTOR BILLS with 7 kids in the house and everyone of them was a dare-devil in their own right! In fact, I think within the last year OR two, we finally got the doctors/hospitals all paid off - hahahahaha and that's not a joke!

good bye - tribute to Anne Penney

My only girl cousin died today. I WILL MISS HER - she was a little ray of sunshine in my life - always happy to see me, loved to visit and above all she LOVED me and she always told me so! She lived in California and I in Idaho - so we didn't see much of each other but when we did, it was 'old home week' - we didn't skip a beat - picked up right where we left off! She was a little quirky but I loved that about her. She raised an amazing batch of boys - one highway patrol man, two attorneys and a federal judge! They protected her and kept her close in her last hours.

winter's solace

Okay, you cold yet? Well, if you weren't - this should do it!!! This is dedicated to all my friends in Arizona!!!

if you can't beat em', join em'

If you can't 'make' winter go away - you might as well enjoy it - haha! You can tell my day wasn't the best BUT, I made the best of it - the best I could! Do you ever have one of those? How do YOU cope with days like that? Lately, all I have to do is think of Haiti and well, I'm just fine - no matter what happens, everything seems like it'll work itself out.

Everyone (human and fury) in our full house are coexisting well. I've never eaten so well - fish tacos, to die for! No jobs yet for Schuy and Whit - Schuy did get a job in a upscale restaurant down south but the wage did not justify the drive down. He came home early yesterday, so I'm thinking he may have given his notice? Whit is currently designing some flyers and post cards to get some advertising done. She handed out 75 flyers yesterday to college apartments - hopefully she'll hear something. Unfortunately there are NO jobs in our 'slave-labor' town that pay anything - it's amazing that our economy is doing as well as it is with the wages they pay around here. Something is bound to open up for this little family. Bodin is a ray of sunshine in our home - it is so fun to watch him change right before our eyes. When he came, he wasn't talking much at all - now is constructing sentences with 3-4 words - very cool. He's so fun to play with and chase around the house. Every night (and before naps) he says, "Ni, ni - wub oo!" (translation: night, night - love you!) and then throws kisses and plants a big juicy one on your lips!!! Despite their obvious lack of employment both Schuy and Whit are trying their hardest to keep their chins up - definitely a challenge.

Got news that Ty was called to be 1st Counselor in the Elder's quorum (that's church talk for WORK, WORK, WORK)! He'll do a great job as he's very good with people-stuff and relates well with them. Nicole figures she spends 6 days a week at church as she's been called to teach early-morning seminary - thought my job was demanding - haha!

Today was the funeral of a friend of ours who was killed in an avalanche the other day. He was out snow machining with his family and the avalanche consumed him - they found him under 18" of snow still on his snow machine! He was one of the neatest guys you'd find - great father, husband, grandpa - well, you name it - that was him. The tragedy was, he had all his avalanche emergency equipment BUT, left it in the truck - kind of like getting killed in a car wreck because you never put your seat belt on! Wake-up call. Sure makes you wonder WHY - you never know when it's your turn - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!