Favors for friends.

I Remember when I was going to college and had to rely on you all to be my guinea pig?
Can you please LET me cut your hair, or do your make up or give you a full body, aromatherapy, massage? Some things were better than others. Those freebies continued for years after I had full skills and got paid by others but I am grateful that people let me DO stuff to them BEFORE I had a clue. Just imagine a bikini wax from someone who hasn't done it before!!! OWWEEE.

Anyway, yesterday I returned the favor for a friend who is in Phlebotomy training, ha, "phleb" just sounds funny to me. "your such a phleb!!" even Ronan cracked a smile and raised an eyebrow when I said the word.
So for those who don't know what a phleb is, I didn't, it's the nice lady who takes your blood and says "just a little scratch" LIAR!!
My neighbor asked and I obliged, here's the picks as proof.


She got credit per poke and luckily had enough after 2 from me or I might look like a watering can today.
The things we do.....

In search of Sun.

Boyd and I took a quick trip down to St.George in search of sun and freedom from....well anything really.

The drive looked something like this!
Pretty slow and scary. It would be quite peacefully mesmerizing if there wasn't always some moron 6 feet from your back lights.
The Parade of homes provided our entertainment and I decided that if you don't play golf, you just wouldn't fit in in St. George but then since when have I wanted to "fit in"
We saw some pretty cool looking homes, a bit more contempory and my style.



I was mostly drawn to all the little patios and out door living spaces.


The thought of sitting out in the morning with the paper and a big mug. Leisurely looking glam with my hair pulled up on top of my head and a loose, cotton shirt of Boyd's, over my tan, sculpted body. Ok OK that was a movie but you know what I mean.
Since the dogs have un done, all the wonderful attempts at our out door living space, you know the one we took months over last summer, I think they are search of a golden bone or dead body or maybe just the ball that's actually under the sofa. Well since then, I only dream of such things and maybe there not being snow on the ground so for now, trips to St. George is it.
We are going again in a couple of weeks.

Superbowl Sunday

Looks something like this.

More Junk food than is possible to eat, depite best efforts by me,

in a brother in laws home "sports themed" theatre,

with a screen bigger than your 6 foot tall son,

and electronic recliners and seating for all.

It's a fun tradition, mostly about food and commercials and maybe a little betting thrown in for good measure.
I LOST! but I gained...about 5lb that is :)

Boyd's B-day

So who says we are old?


Fortunately, not to old to do this!


It's called ifly and after a little training everyone got to do it.



What a blast, Ronan looked like a flying squirrel with his little smile and cheeks. Boyds face flapped pretty good in the 100mph wind. We have a DVD to prove it an make eternal fun of him because of it :)

silent night

No it's not Christmas already but rest assured it will be a silent, peaceful night tonight. I have been waking up restless over the clutter and disorder that surrounds my days. I am in an endless cycle of laundry, dishes, dust and dog hair (non shedding HA!! it's a good job he's so flippin" cute) Any Mum knows what I'm talking about. We seem to be in a non stop cyclone of mess and no one seems to notice or care but us. Is your violin out yet?
Well, I see these shows on HGTV, talk about a sanctuary for sanity or in other words, a quiet, happy place that no one can mess with. Maybe a big bubble bath or reading corner.

Today I conquered a place that will bring a smile to my face when ever I enter it.....
My closet.
I know I have talked allot about shoes lately, what can I say, they have been with me all my life and since the age of about 13 they have remained the same size. Ok there was the jump for 7 to 9 when I came to the US, not as bad as being a 40 if I'd moved to Europe but the blow was softened by my clothes size going from a 12 to an 8. That's why I stay here, really. 10 stone sounds better than 140lbs though....I am sidetracked.

I just wanted to share my new happy place.

I added a bunch of shelves. Home depot will cut the wood and Boyd helped me level and screw. Now ALL my shoes have a place and YES, there are a few openings to be filled.

I discovered, where would we be without google, that if you roll up magazines and shove them in your boots, that they stand up tall and will line up nicely, 2 lines may be necessary.

and finally a place for the pile of bags. They have become the accessory of the moment but what do you do with them all, really? I'm asking. What do YOU do with yours?

So once more, the West Jordan DI is the place to be this week and if you need me, I'll be sat cross legged in my new happy place, humming kumbyahhhhh.

Ready when you are :)

I finally chose a vanity and sink.


Who knew, European plumbing was a different size than American? NO COMMENT BOYD! Of course I wasn't going to put a standard home depot sink in my "loft style" basement but fortunately my Hubby, who has exactly 48 more minutes patients than our hired plumber, was able to install a few adapters and voila, bobs your uncle, running water, power flushing toilet (don't drop your phone in it) and an almost complete guest bathroom. I need to get a mirror and shower curtain but rest assured they are only a choice and an hour away and could be ready as soon as you decide to come and stay. I must warn however, that Jordan has taken to the idea of his own room and has been told he can't stay in it, the guest room, not the bathroom in case you were wondering, unless he's a guest. He said he was moving out today and he'll come visit tonight. Ya dig?

Friendship

It's been over 10 years now since we built our first house in Provo. The whole street emerged in a matter of months, ruining the existing view for the neighbors "below" us. Our homes were squeezed together, meaning less yard work for me but more house for our meager starter home budget. We all moved in together, some of us hung out together, some even had babies at the same time. Eventually, as life happens, most of us have moved on and yet we stay in touch and still laugh together or sometimes at each other :)
Last week our crazy friend Shelly, ran a half marathon in St. George. Of course she invited us to run but since we obviously have more brain cells than her ( she did have 5 kids in 10 years) or less free spirits, you choose, we declined and went anyway as the cheer squad!!!
Hey any excuse to hang out for the weekend with no bedtime, curfew or "MUM!!"

This is the gorgeous home of Jen's uncle, so cool, I would love to see it in the hot sun with the pool all cool and wet. Anyway we stayed there and discovered on the way to it that there's an actual biggest looser ranch down the road.

Of course we went in, hoping for a glimpse of someone famous but they don't actually film at this venue. Bummer.
Then on to the marathon.


Shelly did awesome and we were pretty dang good cheerers :)Of course she had the " I thought I was going to die" reaction at the end and about 3 minutes later was ready to sign up for another race.
It was really cool to see all the people, every age, shape and size running and I was glad I am healthy and able to make the choice to NOT run :)

At first when we saw this girl with full on up-do brained hair and LARGE flower I thought, a bit OTT maybe but then we saw the cute guy all in black and their shirts had their names and "running in love" on them , we figured they were just married and although I heard lots of mumblings around me about what they'd rather be doing on their wedding day,of course like us, none of the mumblers were running! but I thought it was inspiring that their marriage was starting out with a pledge to be healthy together.
I had a blast, just hanging with Jen. We giggled and chatted til the wee hours of the morning. It is cool when your lives are really so different and yet you just get along and are happy for each others accomplishments. I've always loved the way Jen will jump at the chance to do anything, 9:30pm, "ya wanna see a movie?" sure, 2 weeks notice, ya wanna go to St.George?, sure. Choose a paint color though and it's a different story :)
After the race we headed to Vegas.



We seriously had the best view ever from our hotel. We shopped for hours or at least walked around the shops,there was a runway show and then the whole catwalk dropped down into the ground. Planet Hollywood was a fun hotel to stay at. We ate at the best sushi buffet ever ($$$).
The time went too quick, I want to go again....SOON.