Maid of Honor?!

Here comes the bride!! All dressed in white!! Okay. So my really good friend got married this last Friday. She didn't have any bridesmaids or a maid of honor, but I came pretty close to being the maid of honor. Her name is Arianna, She asked me to help with her hair. So I was up and at her house at 8 am. doing her hair. We left her house at 10:15 to get to the temple at 10:45. Then after the ceremony I had a couple of hours to kill, so I ran home to take Nana to dance practice and then pick up my friend and back to the reception!! So she had asked me to announce their first dance as a couple. Well, some how I got roped into announcing the parents dance, the money dance, the cake cutting, and proposing the toast. What?! How did that happen? In case you don't know what the money dance is, you can dance with the bride or groom but only if you pin money on them first. The bride's aunt dared me to pin money on the groom's crotch!! So guess who took the challenge and did it!! That's right!! I did!! Not on his pants of course, but on the lower part of his jacket. Then for the first time in my life I gave a toast!! And not any toast, but a last minute minute toast non the less!! I think it turned out great!! So not for being the maid of honor I sure had a lot of responsibility!! It was a good wedding thought and was tons of fun!!

General Conference Weekend

Gotta love it!! To hear talks given by general authorities, apostles of the Lord and the modern day Prophet!! How blessed we are to be born in these times and be able to hear all these wonderful men and women talk to us. They are truly inspired and have such a personal relationship with our Savior that you can't help but listen and want to change for the better right then and there!! I love these men and women and am soo happy I get to participate in these inspired meetings.

Along with these meetings come a fulfillment of my calling as activity co-chair in my ward. I plan and carry out activities once a month for about 150 young single adult members of my church in this area!! Talk about responsibility!! We were going to do an Easter picnic last week, but it got postponed due to inclement weather. So after the second session of general conference yesterday and before priesthood session (another way to get the men to come!! hehehe!!) we had our picnic at the church. We only had about 20 or 25 people show up, but everyone that came enjoyed the food and fun. We still had an easter egg hunt (although Easter was over 2 weeks ago) and everyone got really into it (including the bishopric)!! They had to find 235 eggs. The winner was David Peterson with 35!! It turned out well I thought and the Bishop wants to make it a yearly ordeal!! Hopefully next year I won't be here (married or moved or ANYTHING else)!!

The best part that everyone got a kick at was after the egg hunt. Some of the eggs had chocolate in them that melted. I had to collect the eggs because they belonged to someone on my committee's family. Well, anyone who knows me rather well knows that I made a goal to not eat chocolate this year (personal goal. It actually hasn't been that hard! I swear!!). Well, I cleaned out the eggs with my finger and then proceeded to lick off my finger. At first everyone just thought it was gross (because it looked gross) but when I proceeded to point out that it was just chocolate they all started to laugh and point and say "You ate chocolate!! You broke your goal!!" I couldn't believe it!! Total moment lapse of forgetfulness!! AAAAHHHH! Oh well. Luckily it was just a little bit and that is the beauty of making mistakes. You can learn from them and then not repeat them!!

Happy Birthday Memers!

A week after spring break and Easter was my older sister Mindy's birthday!! She turned 31!! Wow! I can't believe it!! She is the closest sister to me in age and closest in temprament and apparently we look a lot a like (people think we are twins)!! She is great though and I am glad that I live close enough to celebrate with her. She came to our house on her actual birthday night and we watched "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and gave her a back rub, pedicure, and a hand massage. The next day I got together with her and her husband and a few of their friends and we went bowling and then out to BJ's for some dinner.

One of the girls got 3 Zeros in a row so I had to take a picture because the next one was a spare. She ended up in 2nd place!!

I didn't do that well bowling (didn't even break 100), but I won over all with 186 or something like that!! It was a fun night and good to be playing and getting away from life!

Spring Break 2008

And boy was it NOT a break!! We decided to visit my sister-in-law in LA and pick up my nephews as they were trying to move and we were taking the boys a few days so it would be easier. Then it was off to Arizona for a week of the leprechaun coming to visit for St. Patrick's Day, Fishing, hiking, sleeping out in a camper, going to the library, going to multiple parks, having a bounce house, water fights, dying easter eggs, and playing, playing, playing. It was well worth it, but sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation (know what I mean)!! We drove to LA on Saturday, went to church and then drove to AZ on Sunday. We stayed there until Friday and then drove back to LA and stayed there till Saturday afternoon (including a shopping trip to a store with designer clothes all on sale for $8.98) and then drove home Saturday evening. We got ready for Easter and had Easter the next day as well as going to my Uncle Ross's house for dinner and another little Easter egg hunt (for the younger kids)!! It was grrrrreat, but I ended up with a cold that has lingered for over a week!!! It's making me mad!! But it was good to get away for a little while and see family!! Think I have enough pictures?!

And one more makes six!!

So we finally got rid of our dog!! We decided that it was too much time and trouble for our busy lives. But he at least he left me with one more parting gift. My sixth pair of ripped apart shoes!! Luckily this time I didn't care about this set so I took a picture and moved on. But as it goes, I continue to find pairs of shoes with bite marks in them. We figured out that our dog just must of used to love the smell of my feet. But NO MORE!! Hahahaha!!

Problem solved!!

I am extremely grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who hears prayers, loves his children, and provides little miracles. On the day the great money crisis occured, I went to my clogging class and low and behold, I got paid!! I never know when I am going to get paid (there is no paycheck or set pay day. Just a personal check to me), so this was AMAZING to me!!! It was enough to cover paying my sister off and my phone bill with some to spare!!! Can you believe it?! I immediately said a prayer of gratitude!!

On a different note, I got accepted to be an EFY counselor!! I'm not sure for what sessions yet or where until I fill out the paperwork, but I'm going to be one!! I never got to go to EFY so this is going to be a great experience for me!!! EFY get ready because here comes BOOBOO!!

Money, Money, MONEY!!

Why does there never seem to be enough!! My phone got turned off this morning cause I haven't paid the bill in two months. This wouldn't be a problem other than that is how work and EVERYONE else I know gets a hold of me. My lil bro and sis are also on my account so that means their phones got turned off too and they need them as well. I get paid next week, but of course it had to be this week. I was able to pay most of it and then get what I owe from Brendon and Breanna to pay the rest. The problem is that I am now overdrawn in my account, which includes a check to Alicia and Dan. I am hopin (praying really) that their check goes through and doesn't charge them anything. I don't mind if I get charged, but I hate charging others for my mistake. How am I ever gonig to make it on my own?!

Who's teaching our children what?

So today I subbed as a first grade teacher. I was thoroughly amazed at what one of my students did. So they have a lunch count that they take and write on an envelope. In the envelope the teacher can collect money from the students to pay for their lunch. One of my students gave me $2.25 to put in the envelope. I then sent 2 kids to the lunch room to hand it in. I got a call a few minutes later asking who the $.25 in the enevlope was for. I told them and then they said 'thank you' and hung up. I got a call 2 seconds later asking if the money was for hot lunch. I told them "yes" and then they told me they needed $2 to pay the whole thing. I told them is should be in there, but they informed me that it wasn't. They told me to ask the boys when they got back. When the 2 boys returned I noticed one of them take out a couple of dollars from his pocket to show his friend. I proceeded in asking him where he got the money. He told me his mother had given to him. I then told him that $2 was missing from the envelope and asked to see the money. He had exactly $2 dollars. I asked him to tell me the truth about where he got it and he told me he found it. "LIAR" I said!! No, not really, but I did tell him I was disappointed in him for not telling me the truth and I made him take the money to the lunch ladies and then sent him to the office. Can you believe that?! 6years old and already he knows how to lie and steal!! What are these kids learning at home?!

For those who wanted pictures of my car....HERE SHE IS!!

Better pictures to come in the future!!

Lights, Camera, Action!

My little sister is in her High School's Musical production of The Apple Tree. She is only in the chorus, but she does have one line and gets a solo singing line!!! She does really good, but I feel bad for the theater department at her school. I am soo used to the theater department at Watkins Mill (my high school) that it's hard not to compare. Their orchestra SUCKS (my sister even said it) and they have to play on the stage. Our orchestra was AWESOME and we had an orchestra pit. Their stage is dinky with really small wings. We had a HUGE stage with HUGE wings. They can seat about 100 in the audience where we could fit about 2000. They have the same dressing room for girls and guys. We had a different for girls and guys, plus a separate HUGE room for costumes and HUGE makeup room covered in mirrors!! Even so, she did great and it was fun to see another musical production.

It's a dog eat shoe world out there!

For those of you who don't know, our family got a dog for Christmas. He is half border collie and half Australian heeler. He is adorable. But as a puppy, he loves to chew on anything he can get his teeth on. His favorite things to chew on happen to be my shoes. So I admit, some of it was my fault for leaving some of my shoes on the floor in my room, but we have proof that he actually limbs into our closet and finds MY shoes specifically and chews them up!! And by chewing them up I mean destroying them. WE have a total of 5 pairs of shoes ruined at this moment. The first pair to go were my favorite bright apple red heels. Then went a pair of cute brown Mary Jane looking type shoes that my sister bought me for Christmas. Then went the white sandals, then my hooker boots which I have had for alt least 6 years (this was the point when I started to cry) and finally a blue pair of flip flops. I don't have pictures of all the ruined shoes, but I do have the last 2 and a picture of him in the act of tearing up my shoes. BAD DOG!!

Journal Entry

Journal Entry for Sunday February 24th or Monday February 25th:

2:30 am. Oscar with Christian. Gone ALL day. Fireside, Sunday School, mtgs, no dinner. Need to get up in 2 hours to do signs. Going to be hating life!!

10 Reasons Why. . . .

I love my new car:
1. It is newer than any other car I've ever owned (2005)
2. It only had 25,000 on it when I bought it.
3. It if fully loaded (automatic everything)
4. It has a 7 CD disc changer
5. It has a subwoofer (sp?)
6. It is silver (hence it's name The Silver Surfer)
7. It gets great gas mileage
8. I get free car washes on it for the rest of my life
9. It has great pick up
and
10. IT'S MINE!!!!

An apple for the teacher

4 weeks of Jr. High School students can make you go crazy!!! I long term subbed for a teacher at my mom's middle school as she had knee surgery (it seems to be a common theme with people I know). I had subbed for her before so I knew most of the kids. That still doesn't mean they respected me all the time. They did write a petition to the principal asking that I be their teacher. Very flattering!! I have the letter in my notebook I take to jobs with me. I was stupid and didn't even bother to take a picture of all my classes. OOOPS!! The funnest part (yes I am a linguistics major and funnest is grammatically correct so don't argue with me) was the 2 hour lock down we had one day. Try keeping 23 students quite and on the floor with lights out for these hours. I've never had to have more students go to the bathroom than I did during those 2 hours. I was soo glad when it was done. I did get a few kids kicked out of class for behavior problems, but overall it was a good experience. The principal asked when I was getting credentialed. I think he wanted to offer me a job. Oh well. At least I have a future reference. My students also gave me lots of fun stuff for valentine's day!! I guess they do love me. Credentialing here I come!!!

Candyland Craze

February brings valentine's day, my brother's b-day, my brother in law's b-day, president's day, Licoln's b-day, and CANDYLAND CRAZE time. I am my activities co-chair in my YSA ward and we decided to have a candyland dance for our activity this month. We had the dance with an awesome dj (that we miraculously got the night before), cute bright colored decorations, nacho bar, and candy games. We only had a total of like 60 people show up, but those who came had a blast. We did have a few that actually dressed up. We had a grandma nut, queen frostie, Mr. and Mrs. Mint, and gloppy's children. I of course danced like a wild woman and had a blast!! Chalk one up for the activities committee!!

Happy SAD Day!

No boy does not mean no fun!! My brother came up with a great acronym. SAD! Or Single's Awareness Day!! I love my family! I spent the day with them and wore the new pink shirt I bought (it's always a good thing when you have a reason to go clothes shopping) and did our usual watching of Sleepless in Seattle (if only life could be like a movie for real!!). My favorite part was my valentine bag. I cut out letters and pasted them on spelling out the letter from Alfalfa to Darla in Little Rascals. Do think I was synical this year?!

Let it snow, let it snow. let it snow!!

Taking a trip to Utah in the middle of January means SNOW!!! If you know me and my family WE LOVE SNOW!!! We grew up in MD and had snow every year (including one year of a 4 foot blizzard), so moving to CA where there is no snow and only rain kind of dampened our spirits. So you better bet your booty I was outside playing in the 2 feet of snow that they had in UT!!! It was a a dream come true and definitely a winter wonderland! The 4th picture is a snow angel (hahaha)!!

The Family Genes!!

So busting up knees is something my whole family must do. Mine is finally getting back to normal. I even ran u[ 2 flights of stairs at P.T. last week and get to kick around a soccer ball this next week at P.T. My Physical therapist said I should be discharged soon!! I am soo excited. Especially since they told me I could still come in whenever I want to used the treadmill and bike and stuff!! YEAH!! I will actually be able to take off these extra pounds I have put on since not being able to exercise since my surgery!!

But just as I am getting better, my dad decides to go and get a total knee replacement. In case you don't know what that is, they actually cut out your whole knee, bone and all, and replace it with a metal knee. It is pretty intense surgery, so that means that I am the temporary father at home running errands and doing everything my dad would normally do. I am not complaining because it keeps me busy (which is something I like better than sitting on my fat duff), but doesn't give me a lot of time to do what I want to do or play with friends!! I need to move out!! I know.

On a side note I am substitute teaching to bring in extra cash and have a job about everyday. I've decided I like high school and elementary school, but not too fond of junior high!! They all have attitudes!! I have officially become Ms. BooBoo since none of my kids (including High schoolers) can remember Ms. Hutchings!! I don't think it is that hard do you?! I love it, but am looking forward to getting my credential and having my own class and own classroom to decorate. I can't help but look at all the different classrooms I teach at and see how I would set it up differently and decorate it differently and make it soo much cuter!! I can't wait!!

I still get to hang out with my family though and love my little brother and sister to pieces. I think they are going to have a hard time when I move out. Especially my little sister. Maybe I can take her with me when I officially decide I have had enough and just up and leave!! I love cheering at my little brother's football games, but want to go in my high school color sometime and confuse the heck out of people!! Hehehehehe!!

Anyone who knows my family knows that our one car garage has turned into the storage unit for all the extra crap we don't have room for upstairs, which in laman's terms means it's a junk heap. Well, we had a black stray cat hanging around our garage for a little while meowing. One day my brother went down there and saw a tiny grey face in our garage. We think the stupid cat had kittens in our garage. We aren't sure and it is such a mess we can't search. But now our house has a funky smell in it and we are scared that the kittens died!! Time for a good spring (fall? winter?) cleaning!! GROSS!!!