the one about some old stuff

Can you believe this is my 300th post!?!

I have been wanting/needing to catch up on some stuff, but I have misplaced my camera. I know, sad, right? Anyway, I finally decided to just do some catch up on some old stuff that has been piling up.

First of all.. I LOVE this weather, I love Fall and I love Thanksgiving. This truly is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. I did notice, however, that the leaves and stuff are past their beauty. It is starting to get into that ugly pre-winter stuff. But it has been so nice lately, that I don't really care. Its amazing and I love it! I am also reminded of all of the things I have to be thankful for. I have noticed that many of my friends have been blogging once a day about the things they are thankful for. I love that, and I love reading them. I would love to commit to that, but considering my recent posting track record, I probably wouldn't make it. I know I have said this before, but I love blogging, I just don't have time. Actually, I have time, I just don't spend my time wisely. I am a chronic time waster.

Well, lets play catch up, shall we?

We no longer have roommates. (phewwwww...) We had 2 this summer and now they are both gone. My buddy Spencer moved in last Spring, and he left in August. He was ready to move on, and I don't blame him. He needed to find a job and he wasn't having any luck here. He moved back to the Wasatch Front to be near his family. We also had Brett's friend Morgan. He moved here mid-July and left at the end of October. It was fun having both of them, but I am also glad to have my home and my life back.

Quayd finished his flag football season last month. He liked it ok, but he is super excited to play tackle football next year. Now we have started indoor soccer. Brett and I are coaching. It is kind of a pain to coach, but I enjoy being so involved. Plus, we are the perfect candidates for coaching since we only have one child. That way we have no distractions and we don't have to worry about taking care of other children. Oh and also because we are huge suckers. Brett and I were playing co-ed softball and it ended in September. That kept us very busy. Now women's volleyball has started. Our team isn't very good, but we have fun. I have to keep reminding myself that it is just for fun.

Brett got a big fat promotion at work a few months ago, and I am not sure if I ever mentioned it. He now takes care of outside sales and he does a great job at it! I have been very happy to see him take more pride in his work and to finally enjoy what he is doing. He takes very good care of his customers and they take care of him too. I am so proud of him!

Same old, same old at The Country Bear. Here are a couple of the fun things I have made this month.

I am still loving working there. It is a VERY LOW STRESS job and that is what I love the most about it. Also, I love being able to use my creativity on a daily basis. Sometimes, my craft projects get put on the back burner, but making all of these fun things for work forces me to do it, and I LOVE it!

Quayd has become quite the little hunter. You know, Brett hunts but he is not an EVERY WEEKEND kind of hunter. Actually, he hasn't even had a tag for anything for about 5 years. He likes to go when asked, but doesn't make a huge effort to do so otherwise. Me? Hunt? NO THANK YOU! My father-in-law was a very avid hunter, and so is Brett's brother Cory. A few months ago, Cory asked Brett and Quayd to go with him to hunt prairie dogs. I figured Quayd would be bored of that in no time, but he actually LOVED it. They sent this picture to me. They helped Quayd with the gun, and he shot this himself. (Sorry if it is gross or disturbing to anyone!!) Brett said that Quayd got so hyped up over shooting! So after that, Quayd started begging to go prairie dog hunting every weekend. Once Elk season rolled around, Cory had a tag for the book cliffs. He invited Brett and Quayd to go with him. They went early one morning and came back that night. We figured Quayd would get bored. Well he didn't. He LOVED every second of it. So the next weekend, they decided to take a tent and stay all night so they could get up early and go. (It was still fairly warm at this time.) That night when they were going to bed, all three of them were still and quiet and Cory did an Elk call. They heard bull Elk calling back to it. They weren't very far away. Within 400 yards. Brett said Quayd was FREAKING out, he was so excited!!! They called back and forth for a little while, then finally went to bed. First thing in the morning, Quayd was ready to hunt. Unfortunately, they didn't get anything that day. But Cory got one during that next week while hunting with some friends. Quayd was excited for Cory, but disappointed that he missed out. A couple weekends later, Brett's friend Todd and his boy had tags for diamond mountain so they decided to take our trailer up and camp for the weekend. Quayd was more excited than anyone!!! Again, no luck on the hunt, but he still had a great time. The next hunt is in December. Brett's Grandpa Lane and his twin brother Elmer have tags for Elk in Colorado. They are both getting pretty old and not in the best of health, so Brett and Cory are going to go along. Oh, and guess who else will be going??? Yep, good old Quayd! It has always been cool to me how when the weather starts to turn cold, and the feeling of harvest sets in some men have this instinct that makes them want to hunt. It's like a survival instinct or something. I see it in myself too as a woman. I always feel like I need to stock pile food and can fresh fruits and veggies. Maybe I am crazy, but I notice this about Brett and I every year. I could see it in Mike, I see it Cory and I am sure I will see it more and more in Quayd as the years go by. Pretty cool stuff. On a funny note, Cory came over and dinner with us tonight. Quayd asked him, "When we goin' huntin' again?" Cory said something about deer or something and Quayd pipes in, "Well I know where we can get us a nice deer. Out in the book cliffs! We saw lots of nice ones when we were out there." He said it like an old pro. Just like he had hunted them a thousand times before.

Ok, on to other things. The status report on Triple Scoops Ice Cream, since many of you have asked, was good. We did well, for just starting out. We were able to get ourselves out there and get recognized in some of the neighborhoods. I am glad we have a head start for next Spring. We made a few mistakes, and we learned from them, but we will be pumped up and ready to go in a few months. I am so proud of my nephew Brayden. He has been an awesome business partner! He is very involved and works hard to make Triple Scoops a success. We are hoping to get involved in the community Holly Days celebration in a few weeks, which includes a parade of lights. That is still in the works though.

Another news tidbit, is that I celebrated my 31st Birthday last month. It was very laid back and not too exciting. Which is GREAT! My Birthday was on a Sunday. The Friday night before my Birthday, my buddies Kandice and Jamie took me to dinner and a movie. We had Casa Rios then went to The Stepfather. (Intense!) Saturday, Brett took me out for dinner and we met up with some friends at Club XS. It was ok. The morning of my Birthday, we went to breakfast with my Brother and his family. That night, we had baked potato bar with my family at my Grandma's house. Monday, I went to breakfast with Holly and Kandice. That was about it. Oh! On Monday mornings, I help in Quayd's class, so that Monday I took treats with me. I told them that they are all my friends so I wanted to have a treat to share with them. We had donuts and orange juice. It was fun, and the kids thought it was super cool. They are happy with any chance for a treat, right? Here are some of the awesome gifts I got. This is my new favorite thing on Earth, besides the two people that gave it to me.
Brett and Quayd got me this nice, soft blankie. I have been dropping hints for one for quite sometime, so I am glad Brett finally took the bait. I love it! It is so soft and I cuddle up in it all the time. Kandice got me this awesome necklace! And Grandma Galley brought this by on my Birthday.
She is so sweet, and her bread was AMAZING! It didn't last very long. This was my cake from my family party. Holy Delish!!!! It was awesome. I love white cake and white frosting. And last but not least, Holly made me some of her amazing cupcakes, and gave me this adorable turkey.
It was a great Birthday. I didn't mind turning 31. 30 didn't bother me either. Age is just a number, right? I actually enjoy being in my thirties. It makes me feel more grown up and more respected. People take a 31 year old woman way more serious than they take a 25 year old. Maybe not, maybe that is just in my head, but it makes me feel better. I feel like I am officially grown up now. I have been married 11 years, I have a 7 year old and I am in my thirties.

Ok, I guess I will end it there. I will post more when I find my camera. Hopefully soon. It's not to far away because I just had it the other day. I have some great Halloween pictures to share! Happy 300th post!!!!!!! Thanks for reading! :)

the one about... well... lots of stuff!

Why have I been such a slacker blogger lately? I feel like I just go and go and go and life is so busy and hectic, and sadly, some of the things I love the most get neglected. Blogging is one of the big ones. Also reading, scrapbooking and if you ask Brett, he thinks he is getting neglected lately. Sorry honey.

Anyway, I am pretty excited this evening because tomorrow I am going to SLC with Tara. We have to go to a training thing for work. It's pretty cool. We get paid to go, plus our room is paid for, food and mileage. Tara and I always have so much fun together, so I know the laughs will be abundant! When I was telling my mom about our big adventure, she said, "Oh no. That will be trouble." I was so confused. Trouble? Like did she think we were going to fight or something. I don't think Tara and I have ever had a fight of any kind. My mom was like, "Duh. Because you guys will have so much fun." Oh. I get it. I will give a full update when I get home. Anyway....

Our Thanksgiving was nice. My sweet little grandma was able to come home the day before so we were able to have dinner with her. She is still in pretty rough shape. She probably shouldn't have come home quite yet, but she was determined to be home for Thanksgiving. I had to work that evening so I missed dinner with Brett's family. Brett fixed me a plate and he and Quayd brought it to me at the hotel. Then we decided to spend the night there in a nice king suite. It was awesome. Quayd loved being right in between us in that huge bed. Brett and I always wish for a king sized bed but I know that Quayd would make himself right at home in the middle every night. And he is such a little snuggler it is hard to say no. Of course, I have many things to be thankful for. My husband, my beautiful son, my family, my home and great friends. Really though, this year, I was just thankful to have my grandma home.

In our town, the Friday after Thanksgiving is a huge celebration. It's called Holly Days. There are activities all day, a parade of lights in the evening, more activities and it all ends with a fireworks display. Every year, my brother makes a float for the parade. (Remember, my Grandma was supposed to be the Grand Marshal? She didn't get to do it, but they said they would ask her again.) Brandon turned his four-wheeler into Santa's sleigh. As he was constructing his float on Friday, Quayd decided that he wanted to be in the parade too. So he and Brett made a float for his four-wheeler. It was so cute. I was working so I didn't even really know what was going on with it, but when I got home I was so excited!! I wish Brett would have taken pictures of the construction, but we did get a few as we were getting it to main street. The floats were so big and awkward we couldn't load them in the truck, so they had to drive them. And of course, the other two wouldn't ride in the car with us, they had to go on the four-wheelers!



Here are a few pictures from the parade. Not very good pictures, but pictures, nonetheless.
Here are the boys riding the Christmas train thing after the parade. This is from the fireworks show. View from the car, of course. Burrrrr...
Ok, enough of that.

Saturday morning/afternoon, I got to hang with my old buddies Janice and Kandice. Janice was in town for the holiday and I was so excited to see her and hang with her. I have missed her a lot since she ran away to Kentucky. I have missed her beautiful little girls too and I was so excited to get to see them. And Morgan remembered me!!! The three of us went to the local craft fair, lunch at Don Pedros, shopping and to Lee nails for pedicures.
It was great fun. We also went to Arby's and had one of their new shakes. YUM-O!!! You oughta try one.

So....... if you know me at all, you know what a freak I am about Christmas decorating. I really like to have my tree up by Thanksgiving and I don't like anyone to help me. I really freak out about it, so I stayed up until 3:00 am the night before Thanksgiving so I could get it perfect. Speaking of my weird tree obsession, this is a funny story about me, but I don't want to type it... so if you are interested, go to Tara's blog to read all about it. Anyway, I love my tree. It is just how I wanted it and I am glad I was freaky and got it all done. Everyone knows not to touch it or try to move anything around. Just look, and enjoy. Itty Bitty is still learning this, so she has really been working me the last few days as she climbs up the middle and pulls out my sparkly red sticks!!! Errrrrrr...... Maybe the pound isn't sounding so bad after all.....I know I sound like a big ogre for not letting my family help, but seriously... Brett wouldn't help if I begged him too, and Quayd has his own tree in his room that he gets to do all by himself. So there. Here are a few pictures of my home decor. These are the baskets on either side of my "Proclamation to the World/Picture of Christ/The Living Christ" picture in my living room. I change them with every season.
Here is my favorite decoration in the world, my nativity set. I got it last year, and I was so excited to get it out again this year. It's hard to see in the picture, but I have lights behind it so it really makes it glow. It looks so awesome. This is another one of my favorite things. Jamie gave it to me a couple of years ago for Christmas and I just love it. It lights up. It is so cute. And of course.... my beautiful tree. Drumroll please............................ The picture doesn't do it much justice. Oh! And this is Quayd's calendar that he gets each year. (I still have a couple gifts to put on it.) Starting December 1st he gets a small gift a day. Usually school supplies, and dollar items. He loves it and I love doing it for him. I start buying stuff way early, looking for cheap, small items that will fit. I love it. He is always so grateful and looks forward to it all year. I am glad we are able to do that for him. See... having one child isn't all bad.

Well, I think that is all for this blog entry. Thanks for sticking it out. I know it was a long one. :)

the one about hanging out with friends

Tonight was our ward's Fathers and Sons camp out. Brett and Quayd are gone, and I wanted to do something fun! Lindsay C. called me and invited me to hang out. We had a great time, ate some dinner and watched a movie at her house. Thanks Lindsay!

After I got home, I got on the computer to blog (your welcome, readers!) Kandice was online and we started chatting. Well, here is our conversation..... (ignore the typos, we can't type as fast as we want to talk!)

Mandy: oh my gosh!!! i am leavingyou a comment on your blog RIGHT now!!!
Kandice: you were. my goodness. i am so flattered
Mandy: that is wierd, huh
Kandice: cnat wait to read it
Kandice: what you been doin
Mandy: well, i went and hung with lindsay for a little bit
Mandy: now i am home.... all alone
Mandy: and likeing it. not loving, LIKING
Mandy: man,,, what i wouldnt give for some nacho's tonight
Kandice: is your sore bum better
Mandy: much
Mandy: i have been back to my old regular self
Mandy: OH MY HECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mandy: i have the biggest beastliest zit on my back and i need some assistance
Kandice: oh really.
Kandice: that sounds very intriguing
Mandy: i know! i cant reach it
Kandice: well, if you need me to assist you
Mandy: i do i do! i asked lindsay if she was into that stuff, but she said EWWWWW gross
Kandice: seriously, what kind of weirdo woudl not pop a zit ;)
Mandy: but i wll have to play tomorrow, cuz i have no car. Brett took mine
Mandy: there are like 2 heads on it i think
Kandice: welli am in in my nighty, but i could still come over
Mandy: gas prices are SO high!
Kandice: hehe
Kandice: i know
Mandy: but i would buy you some nachos for it
Kandice: hmm, and some peanut butter mms
Mandy: ABSOLUTELY!
Kandice: k, deal. be there in a jiffy
Mandy: and we can come back here to eat them
Kandice: k, and then pop your zit
Mandy: do i have to wear a bra?
Kandice: do i?
Mandy: heck no!
Kandice: hehe. i will put on something more ummm nicer though
Mandy: i will put on a hoodie
Kandice: and i will put on some pants
Kandice: and a shirt
Kandice: k. bee there in a sec.
Mandy: and i will put on underwear
Mandy: jk
Kandice: hehe...ok
Mandy: cant wait
Kandice: k, bye bye

Isn't that funny! We do that quite often. Just the other night, in fact, with Jamie! But she wasn't online tonight and it was too late to call. Anyway, we went to 7-11, got our treats, came back to my house and listened to 80's music. Kandice has quite the 80's collection!

It was so fun!! Conan O'Brien was on, so we muted him and read the closed captions and laughed and laughed. Then it was zit time! She picked on my back, then I picked on hers. YUMMY! We have so much fun and we are so much a like sometimes, it is scary. Thanks Kandice, for being so weird and impulsive, like me!! You are the best! And thinks especially for taking care of this awful thing. Or things! Nice one(s), huh!

the one about things consuming me

Honest to blog, I have been so crazy busy lately, I haven't had a second to blog. I am so sorry to disappoint my faithful readers, so I am forcing myself to stay awake and dedicate some of my precious beauty rest to my poor blog. (he he, I totally took a nap today, so even though I need the beauty rest more than you will even know, I can't sleep!)

The big thing that has consumed my life lately is my upcoming yard sale. It is going to be this Saturday at Janice's. I like to do a yard sale every couple of years. It is just a good way to de-clutter and make room for more junk. I am such a "throw-it-away" girl, it is sorta sad. I can't stand little messes and clutter, although you would never guess it if you came to my house. Unfortunately, I fell in love with the king of clutter and little messes. Errrrrrrrrr. It is so annoying. And bless his sweet heart, (isn't it true that if you are going to say something mean about someone, as long as you throw "bless their heart" in there somewhere it takes out the evil? I hope so!) he doesn't see the many messes that consume my life, so he leaves them. His son is following in his footsteps a bit, but at least I can tell him to clean up after himself. Not Brett. If I tell him to clean up after himself, I become the NAGGING WIFE! (Bless his heart, bless his heart, bless his heart.) Anyway, a yard sale should not consume one person so much, but I am a perfectionist with this stuff. I can't just make a yard sale pile. It has to be a neat and tidy yard sale pile with everything organized in boxes and pre-priced. (Kandice is SO proud of me right now!) So I have really been working hard, from room to room to get rid of as much as I can with out super-saver Brett seeing and pulling things out of my boxes.

Throughout this organizing/spring cleaning project, I have also been working on reorganizing my basement. As most of you know, I am a scrapbooker. Well I have collected SO MUCH STUFF over the years and so much of it is never going to get used. My scrapbook room is insane. Plus, I have taken the plunge. Believe it or not, my scrapbooking has gone (drum roll please.................) DIGITAL! gasp! Yes, it's true. I am going green. (Now Stephanie is proud!) I have started doing some of my stuff on Heritage Makers, but I have also been doing a lot with my Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. It is the greatest program known to man for Digi-Scrappin'. So after many lessons from Steph, many spent dollars at the scrapbook stores and many hours spent researching free downloads, I have made the change. Anyway, I will be selling a ton of scrapbook supplies at our yard sale. (So please come buy it all before I change my mind! I have already turned my scrapbook room into Quayd play room!)

Another biggie consuming me lately is the movie Juno. I didn't get to see it in the theater, and I couldn't wait for it to be released. I still didn't get to see it right away, so last Friday night, Brett was gone and Shae needed a ride home from work. When I got there to pick her up, she suggested we go rent it. She had seen it and knew I would love it. I told her to hook us up with the popcorn and I would hook us up with the show. OH MY HECK!!! I LOVE IT! I have really had to make valuable time to watch it as much as possible. We actually watched it again this Friday night. It might just have to be our Friday night thing. We started watching another movie (Garrison came too) but we couldn't get into it, so we turned on Juno. A few of my favorite lines from this show are...

"This is one doodle that can't be undid, home skillet."
"Honest to Blog!"
"Pork swords."
"Bleeker is really great..... in.. chair."
"You can never have too many of your one calorie breath mints."
"This is the most magnificent discarded living room set I have ever seen."
"I'm gonna punch that Bleeker kid in the wiener next time I see him."
"Your Ego is Prego."
"All babies want to get borned!"
Anyway, there are many other funny things, but what it all boils down to is this... I totally love this show.


K, onto more things consuming me.... Brett's Birthday. I am a sucky wife and I didn't post one single thing about him or his Birthday. I don't know what happens to him on his birthday, but he totally acts like a 12 year old girl. He doesn't want a big deal made of his Birthday, but then he pouts if nobody makes a big deal of his Birthday. Sweet little Shae made this cake for him though, and he loved it. Thank goodness for Shae, because Heaven knows, I couldn't do anything right on that day. (bless his heart, bless his heart, bless his heart!) We actually had a couple of nice dinners and he got money and an Ipod, which is what he asked for. So I think it turned out to be a nice day for him. He turned 28 on April 28th. Happy Birthday Bretty!

Onto more things... I am having a ModBe party on May 15th. So tell all of your friends. I am sending out invites, e-vites and I am shouting it out to the world on my blog, so if you are reading this, consider yourself invited, and your presence is mandatory! This is great stuff, by the way. They have the under shirts we all love, like layers, but they are SO much better than layers. They also have AWESOME swimwear. It is very modest, and cover-ey. Nothing hangs out, and everything is hidden well. It is a great cure for "back fat" and it hides "R.T." well. It is very slimming and they have CUTE styles to chose from. Kandice is selling this great stuff and she has a website. I also have some catalogs at my house. But the greatest part of all... She actually has the swim wear (and other stuff too) that you can try on. My house will become the hangout for all of the peeping toms in town, because we don't believe in curtains. NOT!!! That is just a dumb joke. A bad joke actually.... But here is a picture of the suit I ordered form the party Kandice had at her house last weekend. Remember how I told you that this stuff is slimming... well the lady that posed for this picture is actually a size 20/22. Amazing huh. Just kidding again, another bad joke.

So I have also been consumed with Soccer. Not just Quayd playing, but I volunteered to paint the stripes on the soccer field once a week. I am not very good at it and my lines aren't very straight, but I kind of enjoy it.

The thoughts of my boyfriend in his latest movie have REALLY been consuming me. I knew he really wanted me to see him this weekend, so I had to make time for him. He is SO DEMANDING that way. But that's OK. I still love him. (he he he) Made of Honor was super cute, by the way. I loved it. I was insistent on going Friday. I couldn't miss it, even if I had to go alone. Thank goodness Tara called, so I didn't have to go alone, but we also met up with Jamie, Brandi, and Annette.

Well, I guess I will call it an "entry." Megan told me the other day that my blog posts have been pretty wordy lately, so I better stop. I don't want to lose my fans!

the one about my fun afternoon/evening and getting the crap scared out of me

I had such a FUN day and evening! But it ended with a terrible scare and a near BM in my pants.

I have to tell you all about it. Besides, I feel like I need to break up the "birth story" thing. It is getting a little depressing! And obviously you know the outcome because here I am and I have a great kid to show for it! Anyway, onto my afternoon/evening...

So I came home from work and I just wanted to relax. I put on some ugly cut off sweats and left my lunch lady scrub top on. My hair, for some reason, had totally fallen flat today, so I was just uglier than a big wet dog. And I didn't really care! I called Janice to see how the big marathon went and I got a update from her. It was nice to visit with her for a second so she could tell me all about her Boston experience. They were flying home and they had a layover in Cincinnati so we only got to chat for a second. But still nice!

So I worked on my blog, worked on a digi-scrappin' project that Kandice needed some help with. (Looks great, btw, K). As I was finishing up with that, Jamie gave me such a pleasant surprise by stopping by to visit. She had some time to kill so we just sat on my couch and laughed about our crazy boss at work, Emily. We LOVE to tease her and it is so easy to get her. I have pulled two GOOD pranks on her in the last couple of days, and I am getting nervous thinking about the possible repercussions. Anyway, it was fun visiting with Jamie. (And even funner to watch her try to start her scooter in my driveway!)

Then Quayd and I ran over to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Lane. Brett met up with us there. They are doing some remodeling and we looked through books of doors to try to help Grandma choose one.

As we were driving home, we stopped at Quayd's friends house, Randon. He stayed there and played with Randon and their other buddy Peyton. As soon as I got home, Gibler called me and asked me to meet her at Maurice's to pick out some pants. She was worried that the girls that work there were just trying to make a sale and not being honest if her butt looked big. (Gag me!) So we stayed there awhile and tried on tons of clothes. We both left with a treasure! (wink, wink)

Then I came home and my sweet husband had made dinner. Kraft macaroni and cheese. I was off playing so he had to fend for himself. Sorry babe! Quayd came home and immediately went over to Brennen's. He is suddenly Mr. Social and doesn't think he needs to hang out with mom and dad.

Kimmie stopped by again and she asked me to go with her to run a few errands. And get a Diet Pepsi. (That was the most important errand!) We also had to go into the grocery store to get some Gatorade for Kayle. We were both a site, by the way. We were pretty embarrassed to even go into a store. Well our checker-boy was this high school looking kid. He was cute and just trying to be nice and do his job. So he says to us, "You just getting off work?" We just looked at him, then each other and giggled. Kim politely said, "Yep. Just gettin' off work." We got outside and cracked up. We were like, "What in the heck did that mean?" It was so weird. I know he was just trying to make conversation, but what a weird thing to say to two homely women in a grocery store buying Gatorade at 9:00 pm on a Tuesday. Yah. That is the only weird thing about that trip!

When I came home, Shae (my new BF) was here helping Brett do Ipod stuff. (These pictures were actually taken last night when she was here helping Brett with Ipod stuff. She is a genius, by the way! We had gone swimming with Shae and Amelia for Family Home Evening and Shae really wanted me to stress that. She didn't want anyone to judge her appearance from these pictures. I thought it was a good idea since I have so many teenage boys checking out my blog in search of a date! Goofy girl!) She was stumped with a silly questions so she called her big brother Garrison to come and help. In the mean time, Shae and I decided to run to the movie theater for popcorn. (This story is about to get really scary...... be prepared.......) I told Shae to tell Garrison that we would stop by and pick him up, but unbeknownst to me, he had already walked down. Shae and I are just chatting away and get in my car. Thanks to road construction, our driveway is a mess and very narrow, so I back in to my brother's driveway and turn around when I am leaving, then I can see where I am going better. First of all, as I flipped my car around, there stood Garrison, looking all creepy-like and I almost ran him over. Like, he wasn't scared for nearly losing his life by my careless driving, he wasn't waving, moving or even smiling. Just standing there. Well it freaked me out and I let out the most horrifying scream. It was so awful! Well we laughed and laughed about it, then Tara came down. we were telling her all about it and we decided to do a re-enactment so I could share it on my blog. Honestly, the pictures are pretty accurate!! Serious!

K, so wouldn't this scare you if you saw it in the dark after you nearly ran it over?

This was my reaction...

All of that, for this. Yummmmmmmyyyy. It was worth the scare!

Isn't that crazy? I was so scared. I don't know why. Garrison is harmless. But after we all had a big laugh, he ever-so-calmly said, "Maybe you should look behind you better when you are backing up." Oh. Yah. I guess I should. His dad is a Drivers Ed instructor, after all.

Crazy. Anyway, I had such a fun afternoon/evening. It was so nice to visit and hang with some of my awesome friends and family. Thanks to all of you for making my day so fun.

the one about 2-Wheeled vehicles

Hip Hip Hooray!!! Brett FINALLY got his motorcycle back. Some of you know this story, and some of you don't, so I will tell it anyway. To those of you who know already, I am sorry.

K, here goes. Brett's dad passed away last August. The 29th to be exact. That was on a Wednesday. Quayd's Birthday is on the 30th. (Sad huh, and totally irrelevant to this story.) Mike's funeral was Monday, September 3rd. The very next Monday, the 10th, Brett was driving home from work on his motorcycle, and was hit by a truck. It is complicated to explain in words, but I will try my best. He was coming home and he was on a road with 5 lanes, the middle lane being a turning lane. He was on the outside lane heading North. A truck with a trailer was in the lane next to him, also heading north. A car or van or something was pulling out of a store and wanted to get in the same lane as the truck. I don't know if she didn't see the truck or what, but she nearly hit him. The truck swerved to miss the lady, and smacked Brett. The mirror on his truck hit Brett in the head giving him a MAJOR concussion, among other minor injuries. Of course, the impact knocked him down, he laid down his bike and totally messed it up. He was pretty banged up, knocked out for a few minutes and got to have a ride in the ambulance to the hospital which was only about a block away. He has still been having terrible headaches, memory loss, back aches, etc. It has been a total NIGHTMARE! I have decided that our insurance and the other people's insurance have done everything possible to make our lives a living hell over the last 7 1/2 months. The motorcycle was undriveable after the accident. I am not even sure what all had to be done, but it is finally ready. Now, I know what you are wondering, so lets just get it out there. No he was not wearing a helmet. Does he wear one now? ABSOLUTELY! He was actually pretty good about wearing it, but there was a reason he didn't have it on that day. When we found out that Mike has passed away, Brett was in SLC for a work training thing. He had taken the motorcycle. I was so worried for him to ride the bike home being so upset, so his little brother Cory and I met him halfway with a trailer. We loaded the bike and came the rest of the way home. Brett left his helmet in the truck and the truck disappeared. That is all I am going to say about the truck, so don't ask. But for the record, he was somehow able to get his stuff out of the truck after it was "taken," and we have recently received the helmet. Yes, he learned his lesson, so no lectures, PLEASE!

Anyway, Brett has been so happy to have his bike, and the weather has been perfect for riding. He loves his motorcycle so much. He had wanted one for years, and when we finally decided we could afford it and stuff, I was all for it. I knew it would be something he would love and use a lot. It is his primary means of transportation. It is such a great looking bike and he looks pretty good on it! Quayd LOVES it! When we first got the bike, Quayd was pretty little so he would ride in front of Brett, but now he is big enough he has to ride on back and hold on tight. It freaks me out to see him ride on the back. This picture was taken the first day Brett got his bike. He is pulling it off the lot in May of 2006.

So on Saturday, Brett was going to the local race track to watch the car races and to be on standby for the fire department. Quayd loves to go watch, so off they went. On the motorcycle. Aren't they cute?
They have matching leather jackets! Look how much Quayd has grown! Crazy. Brett said that when they were coming home, Quayd was SO sleepy! Brett was pretty sure Quayd was dozing off on the back of the bike, which is scary, cuz he could fall off! So Brett kept talking to him and making sure he was holding on tight. He just gets so comfortable! Cute huh!

Ok, now for the second part of my two wheeled vehicle story. Obviously there must be something else or else I would have called it "the one about the motorcycle."

So I have mentioned before that my friend Jamie has a scooter, and so does her daughter, Brandi. Well sweet little Brandi lets me ride her scooter from time to time and this Saturday was the perfect day! My boys were gone, Jamie's boys were gone so we hit the town. We are such losers, though and we didn't have any money between us. Jamie was hungry and I wanted a diet Pepsi, so we scrounged through our husbands change jars and gathered enough to cover a burger, large fries and 2 diet Pepsi's. We rode to Wendy's, then went "browsing," (not shopping, remember we had NO money!) at all of the scrapbook stores in town. We were just silly and crazy and I had more fun than I have had in a long time. On our way back to her house, we took the scenic route. We just drove through a few nice little neighborhoods. We would stop and visit, take pictures, laugh and then drive some more. By the way, it was still just a tiny bit cold. We really had to bundle up. Our hands were like ice. We were joking about scrounging up some more change and going to the dollar store to buy gloves!

We weren't on any kind of a time schedule, so we just lived in the moment. It was a blast. Thanks again Jamie for all of the fun! As we were cruising, we came to an intersection and saw this huge, scary, python-like, man-eating snake. (Ok, maybe I exaggerated on the size.) It was probably just a water snake, but equally scary. We were pretty sure it was dead, but it scared us so bad. Jamie told me to take a picture, but there was NO WAY I was getting close to it, so she did. She is so brave. As she was snapping the photo, I yelled, "EWWWWWWW! GET BACK!" I thought I was so funny. She called me some colorful names and then we laughed it off. Then we look back at the "dead" snake and it started to move. We were screaming like little babies. It was so funny! A little while later when we drove by there in the car, we looked and the snake had slithered away. EWWWWW!

The road up to Jamie's house is pretty steep. Well these little scooters are only like 50cc, so they really don't go much over 45 on a flat road. You really have to get a run at it and it is still tough to make it up there. Once you get about half way up the hill you really lose all of your speed, so we were taking pictures on the way up.

We were such dorks and it was so much fun. What a fun day, and a great memory. Thanks Jamie, Brandi, Brett, Casey, Honda, Weatherman, Wendy's and everyone else who contributed to out crazy fun day!