When I Was A Kid...

My sister Brianna had this idea for a post - I tell things about when I was a kid and how the same things are now...it sounds confusing huh? Here goes;

When I was a kid I was afraid of: The Boogyman and the Dark. I couldn't go to sleep unless there was a nightlight close by.

Now I am afraid of: The kids getting hurt, child molesters (there are some strange people around now a days...), and any more of my tv shows getting cancelled (seriously, my heart can't take it!).

When I was a kid I liked to eat: Lucky Charms cereal, Peaches out of the can, Candy (of course), and Chili Mac (that was probably my favorite dinner until I was in high school).

Now I like to eat: Sub Sandwiches, Chips and Salsa, and Candy, of course!!

When I was a kid my best friends were: Let's see, Kindergarten - 2nd Grade - Tiffany Bryant, 3rd Grade - ? Don't Remember, 4th & 5th Grades - Michelle Cunningham, 6th Grade - Amy Poukka, 7th Grade - Melissa Elsey, Laura Sims, Vicci Ramsay, and Meshanna Bairn, 8th Grade - Melissa, Laura, Gary Penrod, Nicole Sheppard, 9th-12th Grades - Melissa, Laura, Gary, Nicole, Cherri Parker, Andrea Call, Anji Jack and probably a few more.

Now my best friends are: Tim, Melissa, Laura, Anne Pearce, my sisters and sister in laws, my mom, and my kids.

When I was a kid I spent money on: Barbies and Candy from Maverik. I used to save up my money and when my dad was working in the Valley I would give him my money on Sunday night and tell him what Barbie I wanted and then when he came back home on Friday he would bring me the doll I wanted. I always loved that!! I also had him get a few music tapes for me when I started to outgrow the Barbie's. :P

Now I spend money on: BILLS!!! Other than that, food and gas for the car. It's been a while since I last got to spend anything on me...

When I was a kid my favorite things about Christmas-time were: Seeing what Santa would bring me. I was always last in line to go see the presents and I would get so nervous hearing the other kids start getting excited about their presents. I also remember my brothers and I trying to guess what Santa would bring us. I don't think we were ever right! :D

Now my favorite things about Christmas-time are: The decorations, surprising the kids and Tim with gifts, hearing the kids talk about what Santa will bring them, and seeing my family.

When I was a kid I hated to: Clean the house, which I always knew was coming when my mom turned on the Country Music really loud... I also hated doing homework.

Now I hate to: Clean the house and do my kids homework. I always procrastinate mine even though I like it, but theirs seems to be getting harder and harder...

So now that you all know a little more about me and how far I've come since my childhood, write a post like this on YOUR blog! You can finish my senences or make up your own. Have fun!



I thougth I'd add a few pictures just to make it more fun!!

Here is me and my Grandma Loe when I was 5 years old -


Here is me and my friend Gary on the last day of 8th grade, 20 years ago!


Here are me and my siblings at my brother Blake's wedding, almost 3 years ago -

Brett, Beau, Blake, Brianna, Brooke, and Me :)

Anniversary!!

Well, today was Tim and I's 14th anniversary. Wow, it doesn't seem like 14 years have gone by!! It's been a fun adventure which will hopefully last many, many more years!! We got each other some fun gifts, nothing too goofy. We are kind of past that. I figure by this point we know what the other one wants and there's no need for all the cutesy stuff anymore! :) Tim was dying to see the Transformers movie this summer, and we actually took all the kids to a theater to see it! Shocking, I know!! So it was perfect timing that it came out on dvd today!! I just had to buy it for him, and he was SO excited!! And I also got him his favorite cookies, Oreos, and his favorite dessert, Cherry Cheesecake. Let's just say his tummy was good and full tonight!! :D He got me some roses and sub sandwiches for dinner, both of which I love!! As for a gift for me, I told him I am holding out for the Veronica Mars season 3 dvd's which should be out in a couple of weeks. :)

Here are some pictures of us over the years -

When we were engaged -

When we got married -

After we had Jorden -

After we had Jillen -

After we had Jayden -

And after we had Jensen -

It sure is amazing what 14 years can get you!! :P

October 12 of 12

So, it's October 12th and time for 12 of 12! I had a lot of fun doing this last month so I figured I would do it again. Here's some background info on it -- It's the idea of Chad Darnell, and if you want to check out his 12 of 12 you can go here --> http://chaddarnell.typepad.com/runchadrun2/12_of_12/index.html. People all over the world are doing it, it's a really great idea he had. The deal is that you take 12 pictures of your day on the 12th day of the month, and then you blog it.

Here we go!!

Since the kids were out of school today for Fall Break, I decided to sleep in! It's been a few weeks since I was able to do it so I took advantage of it! That's why my day started so late! :)

11:30 am -- Time to get up and get ready for the day. Here are all the fun hair things I use for the new hair do. I am still trying to figure out what I can and can't do with the hair, but so far it's been really fun!

1:00pm -- Laundry time! Why is it that my laundry piles never seems to shrink even though I wash 5 loads at a time??? Oh well, I guess I need something to do...

2:00pm -- Off to the bank! It's pay day so that means a trip to the bank to deposit the check so that we can live for another 2 weeks! Here is the cute little tube from the drive-thru, the kids always love watching it go up into the roof! :D

2:30 pm -- Time to gas up the car! With all my traveling back and forth for school, I sure seem to buy a lot of gas for my little car. I guess it's a good thing I have a little car, especially since gas prices are so high! I think I paid about $2.59 a gallon today. Ouch!!

3:00pm -- Time to make a trip to the cemetary. Tomorrow, October 13th, would have been my Grandma's 78th birthday. I always go to visit her grave on or near her birthday, the day she died, and Mother's Day. I usually take kids with me so it's not too emotional but today I was alone and it was kinda hard. I sure do miss her! But I know she is happy where she is so I should be too. I also get to take flowers to my cousin Justus' grave. He died in 2000 and is buried next to my Grandma. It's always so peaceful at the cemetary, I really look forward to going.

Here is a picture of her --

And her with me -

3:30 pm -- Who doesn't love Happy Hour at Sonic? Half price drinks can't be beat!! I love Cherry Limeades, but lately I have gotten addicted to Cherry Vanilla Cokes. Yummy!! And add some Tater Tots and you have a lunch made for champions!!

4:00 pm -- Survey time! I was asked my our local electric company to participate in a survey about energy sources. It was easy and kinda fun and I figured since I am interested in how our power is made, I should give them my two cents. The survey was conducted in the conference room of this hotel and only lasted about 30 minutes. It was a new experience, that's for sure!

6:00 pm -- I have been searching for a new purse for months! My old one has been falling apart (as you can see) but I couldn't ever find what I wanted. I have lots of qualifications for a purse and nothing that I found would work. I finally got one a couple of weeks ago but haven't had time to switch everything over. I finally got it done today, hopefully I will be happy with the new purse!


7:30 pm -- Dinner time!! Since it's payday we usually eat out. I decided I wanted Subway for dinner. Man, I love a good sub sandwich!! I always get a BMT with no onions. It's one of my favorites!! And the guy making the subs was good sport about letting me take a picture. He seemed intrigued by the whole 12 of 12 thing. :D


7:45 pm -- And a movie!! I was SO excited when We Are Marshall came out on dvd last month, but the video store has been out of it every time I have been in there. I thought I would stop by this evening and sure enough, they had 2 copies left!! Yippee!!! I have a big crush on Matthew Fox, and Matthew McConaughey isn't bad either!! I am excited to watch it!!! And I got an action movie for Tim and the Kirsten Dunst one because I heard the architecture in it is amazing. I guess we'll see...

10:00 pm -- Well, I have a few birthday cards that need to be mailed! My sweet sister Brianna had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and I still have her card. Then my brother Blake and friend Gary have birthdays tomorrow, so their cards need to go out too. Man, I really should buy some stamps... I think the last time I bought any was last December when I mailed out Christmas cards... Well, at least they are filled out now. Maybe I'll get some stamps tomorrow.

11:00pm -- Well, the last thing I will do tonight is watch an episode or two of Roswell. I love that show so much!! I got my dvd's about 2 weeks ago and I have already watched all 3 seasons, so I'm starting over with season 1 again. It's such a great show! The only tv I want to watch is Roswell!!!

Well, hope my day wasn't too boring for you! Not much excitement around here, but that's okay. It just means I have more time to watch Roswell!!! :D

TAG!! -- Another Questionnaire!

I love these things, especially when they ask new questions! Here you go!!

10 years ago I: was a stay at mom with a 2 year old. I was just pregnant with Jillen and didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. We lived in a 2 bedroom duplex and Jorden used to bury himself in his sandbox in the backyard. My favorite tv shows were X-Files and 90210.

5 years ago I: was still a stay at home mom, but with 4 kids! Jorden was in school but the other kids were home so we did dance and tumbling classes during the day to try and keep them busy. We still lived in that 2 bedroom duplex but we felt like we were about to burst at the seems! My favorite tv shows were ALIAS, Roswell, and Felicity.

1 year ago I: was going to school full time and had just started having more than one class on campus. Jensen had a broken arm and hated her preschool so she cried everyday and I seriously considered dropping school for the year. We were living in a different place than before and had 3 bedrooms and a big back yard for the kids to run in. My favorite tv shows were Lost and Veronica Mars.

Yesterday I: helped in Jayden and Jensen's school classes, watched Roswell, studied for a mid-term, went to my Building Codes class, took the midterm, came back home where I ate dinner and put kids to bed, washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, and watched another episode of Roswell before heading off to bed. Fun day huh? Oh, and my favorite tv shows are Meerkat Manor, Ghost Whisperer, and my Roswell, ALIAS, and Veronica Mars dvd's! :D

5 snacks I enjoy: Laffy Taffy's, Cherry Sours, Kettle Corn Popcorn, Vanilla Coke, and Chips and Salsa.

5 things I would do with a million dollars: Pay bills, buy a new car, buy a house, spend money on family and friends, and invest for the future.

5 places I would run away to: Snowflake, Colorado, Scotland, Hawaii, and the Beach.

5 TV shows I like: Like you even have to guess -- ALIAS, Roswell, Veronica Mars, Lost, and either The Amazing Race or Meerkat Manor.

5 Things I hate doing: Washing the dishes, scrubbing the walls, cleaning the kids bedrooms, paying bills, and fighting with people or getting angry about something.

5 Biggest joys of the moment: My Roswell dvd's, my school work, my kids, my digital camera, and my family and friends that I get to visit with on-line!

Hope you learned something new!! I always seem to! Feel free to consider yourself tagged!! ;)

Favorite #10...

Well, I guess it's time to add another favorite to my list. I think I'm finally able to talk about this one, it has been a sad subject since May when we found out it wasn't going to be renewed.


I seem to love shows that have great writing, awesome casts, devoted fans, critic admiration, and no mass public appeal. As a result they tend to only last a few seasons, and so was the case with Veronica Mars. It was such a great show, and the 3 seasons that it was on were wonderful. The CW really screwed them over and as a result I have sworn off that channel forever!! But Kristen Bell (Veronica) will be starting soon on Heroes (guess I'll have to watch that now) and Jason Dohring (Logan) is on a CBS show called Moonlight, which airs right after Ghost Whisperer. Hopefully more of the Veronica cast will start popping up on other shows, they sure were a talented group! Veronica was about a high school girl who took after her father, the ousted town sherrif turned private detective, and investigated crimes. The writing was amazing, so quick and smart! I will surely miss it!! But lucky for me the Season 3 dvd's come out this month so I guess I'd better start saving my pennies!!







And, here's one more picture of the hair. One of these days I'll get it to do what I want... Today it was parted down the middle, in a zig zag line. Kinda fun!! :D

Before and After x 4

Wow, things have been busy lately!! Not really, but they seem that way. Well, I have several school projects that I got to do over, or tweak just a little, so I thought I would share the improvements with you. I had planned to show pictures of Jorden in his new glasses, but then he went and lost them at school yesterday so chances are good that they are gone. Boy, Junior High kids are nice huh? So we must settle for school stuff.

First is my landscape design. Here is the before --

And the after --

Here is my tribute to ALIAS -- The before picture you can see in the previous blog since it's a little dark here -

And the after, after some tweaking --

Next is my name - before-- again, a better image is in the previous post -

And after -

Finally, I thought it was time for a change with the old hair. It has been nearly 3 years since I last cut it and it was down to my waist. Tim measured it and it was over 2 feet long, so what better than to chop it off!! I saw a hairstyle on Shiri Appleby in a movie and loved it, so I finally decided that's what I wanted, except that I need bangs (darn that uneven Widow's Peak!! :) ).

So here is what I was kind of wanting -

And here is what my hair looked like before (from the back) -

And here it is now. Please keep in mind I am still trying to figure out how to get it to do what I want, and Jensen is not the greatest photographer yet! :P But there is over a foot of hair gone and man do I feel lighter!! So far I love it, even though the poor lady who cut it wasn't too sure. :D

Birthday Wishes and School Stuff...

First of all I have to wish my sweet sister Brianna a happy, happy birthday!!! It was yesterday, October 1st, and I was so busy I didn't even get to call her. :( I hope she had a great day!! Now, if I could just find a fun little picture of her to post on here... ;)
Now, on to what I was so busy with!! I had 6 drawings due for school today! 6!! Part of that was my own fault since I was so busy last week that I didn't do the 3 drawings that were due. Luckily my wonderful teacher gives us a Day at the Beach pass so that we can turn in 1 assignment a week late. She thought that it was pretty funny when I told her that I had renamed mine the Mom's Week of Crap pass. :D I was happy with what I made, hopefully you'll think it's kinda fun too!

These are a few color renderings of a floor plan. There are different ways to do it so we tried 3 of them - circles, diagonals, and complete.







Then we had to render letters. We had to do our name and then some other word/s. Being the ALIAS freak that I am, I decided to do Sydney and Vaughn, the 2 main characters from ALIAS. I tried to make the letters somewhat reflective of their relationship on the show. I am so totally happy with it!! And my teacher only suggested that I put some shadows on it, nothing else! Will miracles never cease!?!?!








Oh, and Brooke and Bri, just so that you know, I got a B on that Bubble Diagram I did a couple weeks back. Thank's for thinking it looked good!! :)

Now, on to a Roswell marathon... (Man, I so totally love this show again!! I think I am getting obsessed...No, I know I am!! :D )