Summer Lovin' Had me a blast!!

Okay, so there really wasn't any summer lovin', but there was lots of fun. Hawaii was a blast. It was 9 days of sunshine, beaches shopping performances, luaus, shows, and making new friends. The only downside to the whole trip was that I hurt my knee again and actually bad enough this time to warrant the use of crutches. Dumb me!!! But it was amazing!! It is hard to explain. You have to go there to understand.

The week after was girl's camp. I was the 4th year certification specialist. I had a blast there too. I was in charge of about 10 girls. We got to be good friends. I definitely was born in the wrong era. I act like a 16 year old, but am 27. How did that happen. I enjoyed Hiking (or in my case quading), crafts, skits, songs, sleeping in a tent, hanging out with my sister, and much much more.

Then came surgery, but you already know about that. Then it was off for a week of a family reunion. We stayed in a HUGE mansion and had time to play games, watch movies, go swimming, have another Hawaiian Luau and hang out with fam. It was awesome.

Finally came grandma and grandpa camp. We had a week of going to the zoo, McDonald's, playgrounds, camping some more, watching jungle movies and doing jungle crafts, split chins, and girl's night. I love my nephews and have decided to stay single forever, become a teacher, and in the summer, go and visit all my nieces and nephews.

As summer comes to a close, my days are now filled with searching for jobs (since I don't have one), searching for cars (since I blew the head gasket in my last car), looking into colleges (to go back to get my teaching credential) and praying (that everything works out. Hopefully next week my HUGE brace comes off and I will be a little more mobile.

The knee bones connected to the . . . .

ACL!!! Yep, that's right. I had my surgery on July 5th. At least they let me enjoy my holiday with the family. It was only 2 hours long, but recovery is a bummer. Being put to sleep is the most surreal experience I have ever had. They put an IV drip in me and then wheeled me to the operating room. I saw the surgeon and said hi and that was the last thing I remember. I then remember going in and out. Having a mask on and then not. I kind of was awake and looked at my leg and saw this brace and said "Am I done?" The nurse answered in the affirmative. She gave me a pain pill after I woke up again with some apple juice. Mainly I was just confused at where I was and what was going on!!! I got moved to a kind of couch seat that could be wheeled and then they got my mom. I was still tired, but was really dizzy and sick the whole car ride home. I was in and out for the whole ride home!! I basically slept for 4 straight days after that and had my leg in a brace that goes from my ankle to my groin. It was kept straight for 4 days and then was unlocked so that I could bend it. I have to have the brace on all the time (except for a shower and at night when I sleep) for 6 weeks. I start physical therapy tomorrow and am really excited about it. I can kind of walk around now, but usually have to take a pain pill to sleep at night because my leg is sore by the end of the day. I still use my crutches for long distances and when I am not wearing my brace. I have to go to sleep right after I take a pain pill or else it makes me nauseas and dizzy. No wonder since it is twice as strong at Vicadin!!! I still can't bend it all the way, but I have four little cuts in my legs that will make four little scars. I still have a little fluid in my leg and swear you can feel the screws in my leg. It was quite an experience, but glad I am on the road to recovery.

Accidents, Fires, and Purple Shirts, Oh My!!

So my parents were in Utah for the weekend after I got back from girl's camp and helping my sister. I arrived home on Saturday afternoon and my parents came home on Tuesday morning way early in the morning. In that time I succeeded in getting in 2 car accidents (both in their car as my car has officially died, smoking and stopping on the freeway) (one was a minor rear ending, my fault of course, and the other I backed into my neighbors parked car which actually was parked illegally in the driveway), started a fire on our stove by burning the plastic sack our mashed potatoes were in and burning a hole in our trash can, turning my brother's white shirts a tint of purple by washing them with another shirt that had purple permanent marker on it, and busting the light in our dryer by drying my hiking boots in it. My parents just kept laughing and laughing. Of course it would only happen to me!!

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Hawaii 50!!

So people have been bugging me to post about my trip to Hawaii. WOW!! That's all I have to say!!

END FEST 2007!!!

So my birthday was on the 13th of this month, but since I was on an airplane headed to Hawaii on that day, I couldn't celebrate with my family. So the Saturday before my sister and brother-in-law said they had a surprise for me. They actually had been planning it for months, but didn't tell me what it was. I showed up at their house and my brother handed me a ticket to End Fest 2007!!! My sister couldn't go because she had just had surgery, so it was just me and Jason. For those of you who don't know what end fest is, a local radio station (107.9 The End) puts on a cheap concert every year with a bunch of bands playing. This year it was Click 5, Gym Class Heroes, Katherine McPhee, Hillary Duff, and Neo. Jason and I enjoyed Hillary Duff the best. We were disappointed in Gym Class Heroes because we didn't know that they were a rap group. We also think the guitar player in the band has a better voice than the main singer. Oh well. It was a fun concert and I got a free banner from them. It was a great present.

JUST CUT IT OFF!!

So anyone who knows me, knows that whenever anyone has some sort of health problem (i.e. headache, bad knee, stomachache, anything) I tell you to just cut it off or out.!! So sensitive, no?! Anywho, about 4 months ago, I decided to play indoor soccer and try to go around a girl, but leave my knee where it was. So after about 10 mighty pops I went down hard. Unluckily for me, I didn't have health insurance (my company hadn't given it to me yet). s\So I lost/quit my job (because I couldn't do the work I was doing decrepid and other things) and then I went to the county health to see what they could do for me. Well, I got health insurance with them, but since it is with the county it takes them 3 times as long to do stuff. Which means after 2 months I got and appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and 2 months after that my MRI finally and 2 weeks later found out the final result. I was beginning to think that I was a hypochondriach and that there was nothing really wrong with me. But the final count is (drum roll please)............ I completely tore my meniscus and my ACL!! So literally I am going to get it cut out!! I have to go in for surgery. I have an appt. tomorrow to decide when, where and how much!! Lucky me no?! I am just glad to know what is wrong with me and that it can be fixed. It will probably be over a year recovery, but it is better than never being able to function fully again. So, yeah for JUST CUTTING IT OUT!!!!

Tickets and Suspended Liscenses!!

So we have this neighborhood right near where I work where the police decide it's fun to patrol. My day warned me about it since he has been there before, so I make sure I go max 30 (speed limit is 25) although the rest of the street before and after is 55 mph. What?! There are also like a million stop signs in the neighborhood (okay, so like 4 or 5, but it feels like a million).

Well, as it goes, my insurance ran out in December and I have been just too broke to get more. Oops. I had a letter saying my license has been suspended since March, so I have tried to be super careful. My friend was texting me Monday about F.H.E. and I was texting him back. I guess I wasn't paying attention, because I got pulled over for running a stop sign. I thought I was in HUGE trouble because my license was supposedly suspended. But I only got a ticket for running the stop sign and having no proof of insurance. I also got a fix it ticket because I still have a Utah license although I have been living in California for over 9 months. I was bawling, but truly grateful I wasn't pulled into the police station. OOOOOPPPPPPSSSSSSS!!!!

My families dream houses!!

So on the way to work I get to pass all these really NICE houses in the country!! Some are old fashioned/country style, some are English tutor style, and some are just HUGE!! I started to take pictures for people in my family, because I think every member in my family has there house on one of these 2 streets I drive on. Here are just a few for your viewing pleasure.
Mom's house:









Dad's houses:


















Mindy and Jason's house:

Adventures in Hair Dying!!

Okay, so this one has to be in bright orange because that is what color my hair turned. Yep, I dyed my hair orange. Believe you me, it wasn't on purpose!! I decided I was tired of having a line where my roots were going in and the bright blonde highlights showed. So my sister gave me the great idea of buying a non-permanent hair dye and dye it all one color. I bought one that was close to my original color, but because my hair was soo bright blonde it turned it orange. Sad to say that I didn't take any pictures that night although I should have. I took some today, but it doesn't look the same. That and the dye is washing out so my hair looks more pink now!! I am seeing how many different colors my hair can be in one month!!

HAPPY EASTER!!

I want to write in pink for this holiday, but I don't know if it will work. We'll see. Sorry it has been about a month since I posted, but I am working from 8 to 5 everyday now and then I am gone from about 7 to 10 every night doing something!! I keep thinking my life will get less busy, but it keeps getting busier!! UGH!! Easter was a blast though. My brother, Chad, wife, Beth, and 2 kids, Kayden and Boston, came up from Burbank to spend the holiday with us. I have decided that having kids around for holidays is much more fun than just adults!! They get soo excited about about everything!!! I had to have a new outfit for Easter, so I decided to take my 2 $20 gift certificates to the GAP and buy a dress, but the cheapest I could find was a $60 dress. So I got a pink shirt instead and wore my sister's cute white skirt. We did all the traditions of dying eggs, putting curlers in our hair, and searching for our eggs outside. My nephews were soo cute and Kayden kept doing his happy dance (for those of you who have seen it)!! It was great!! Then my sister and her husband came over for dinner. We had fun being together as a family!! I love holidays!!!

LEM STRIKES AGAIN!!

For those of you who know me or any member of my family, you know how big holidays are for us!! Well, St. Patrick's Day is no different. We have a little leprechaun friend who likes to come to our house and mess it up and he hasn't missed a year. Which includes this year. I think he was a little tired this year though, because it didn't seem to be as bad as years past (and no Kristen. We didn't get our house broken into or robbed). We actually celebrated a day late because my dad and brother were on a camp-out, but it was still fun. Next year Lem, we shall catch you!!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

Mud slinging!!

Or manure? BEWARE OF TODD LIEDTKE!!! If you smash cake on his windshield, he'll do much worse to you!!

Planes, Automobiles, and NEPHEWS!!

So I have to post this one in orange since yellow it too light, but that is the main color of Arizona, where I just spent the last 2 weeks. Okay, so maybe it is brown. It is just dry and dirt colored if that helps. But I still had a blast playing with my 3 little nephews, Colton, Sterling, and Ryland, and seeing my new niece Dacie. I also had a chance to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law for a couple of days as well as they came out from Burbank CA to visit with their 2 boys Kayden and Boston. So my life was full of little boys this last week. But they are so cute I could never get enough of them!! It made for many hours of lost sleep, learning the songs to Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, The Wonderpets, The Backyardigans, and Blues Clues, dealing with soaking wet kids from going "swimming" in their clothes in the local river, changing poopy diapers, wiping poopy bottoms. eating cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches everyday, reading children's stories I haven't read since I was a kid, playing hide and seek, guess the object, and charades, and time outs. But I did manage to fit in trips to Sedona with family, late night movies, going to girls game night with my sister, shopping at the local and AWESOME WalMart, and living the holiday of Valentine's Day through a child's eye. It was great to be away from home for a little while and spend time with them. Ryland even got in to the habit of calling me mom at the end there. So to my Sweet Baboo's, I LOVE YOU!!!

Only in Japan

So I made my family this totally AWESOME Japanese food called Okonomiyaki, because one of my mom's old seminary students, and he is in my ward, is going to go to Tokyo Japan on his mission. Needless to say the only other person to like it, besides me because I LOVE IT, was my dad. I guess it truly is a Japanese style food. And my family says they are culturally diverse and willing to try everything. May my litte brother and sister be cursed to go to countries that have weirder food than Japan!!