Some horses and a donkey...

ON THE WAY TO MOM & DAD'S HOUSE HERE IN GEORGIA...there are many farms with fields and beautiful animals.  I stopped once and took some photos of the cows for a book for Jacque, but have not stopped since.  Until today.  I was on my way to pick up Sarah's littles, it was misting a bit and when I rounded the corner just before the 3-way stop I noticed how lovely the horses coats looked when they were damp.  I am sure they were not happy about being wet, but they were just standing out in the rain as if they didn't care, so I will go with they just didn't mind it so much.

Anyway, I made a u-turn at the stop sign and parked on the side of the road whipping out my Nikon for a quick paparazzi moment.  It didn't dawn on me until I was a few clicks in, that staring back at me through the lens was a donkey.  Her hair was dark and she had these sad looking eyes.  She looked at me as if to say "why do you want a picture of me?" and it made me sad.  I liked her.  She reminded me of me.

Some of the horses began to wander over toward me - they probably thought I had a snack - and soon she came over too.  When she got close I realized she was just as big as the horses, very impressive little donkey.  

If she were my donkey, I would name her Olive.  Because Olive is an Irish name and today is what I imagine a day in Ireland would feel like.  And she also sort of reminds me of a big black olive.

I recently posted a new blog for your reading pleasure (Why Mormon Girls Stay Single) and have given some thought to their latest post: Mistake #41: All Girl Trips.

At first I was just humored, thinking about how these guys (or at least I assume they are guys) like to share loads of wisdom about why we Single Mormon Gals (SMG's for future reference) are exiled to a life of loneliness and many, many cats.  But then the more I thought about it I realized it is my duty as a SMG to either set the record straight or if the need arises, give credit where credit is due.

In the case of mistake #41: All Girl Trips, I don't know where to start.  No wait, sure I do: your grapevine.  It has a serious case of wilt rot or maybe it came in contact with the Bubonic plague, because you are seriously misguided and misinformed.  First of all, let's pretend there IS a single guy friend that is around and wants to come on an all girl trip.  The whole point of your blog is to point out that we SMG's are single for all of these mistakes, but how would allowing/inviting said single guy friend on MY vacation with other SMG's change that?  After all, isn't he just a friend?  

By your comments you insinuate that single guy friend might want more, he might just want to be around you more, spend a little R&R to get to know the real you.  Well my friend an ALL GIRLS TRIP is not the place to do it!  You want to get to know me?  Ask me out on a date!  You know what those are, right?  Dinner, or a movie, maybe out to a Braves game.  I know it's hard to remember what to do, but I am sure you have a married guy friend that can show you the ropes!

And don't be surprised, insulted or otherwise offended when you ask to go on an ALL GIRLS TRIP, IF we say yes, we will treat you like one of the girls.  Oh yes, my friend, put on your big girl panties, stand up straight and put your shoulders back because you're in a completely different league now.  If ANY single guy I knew asked if he could tag along on an all girls trip for the single purpose of getting closer to me in order to eventually ask me out, then we know why he's single.

No, you are not THAT annoying, and yes, we love that the only thing you watch besides ESPN is the History channel, but IF you want to get away with me and my girls - don't go solo!  You won't do me and my girls any good if you mope around like a little lost puppy, so if you insist on being a part of an ALL GIRLS TRIP (AGT), convince me that a HALF & HALF TRIP would be much more fun and bring along 4 of your best buds for my 4 best girls.  That way when you start to bug the crap out of us, we can send you away and not feel bad about it.

And since we said yes and you obviously really, really want to be on the trip, you can't complain when all we want to do is sit around and watch chick flicks, get mani's & pedi's and lay in the sun.  We brought lots of magazines, have not had a tan in 347 days and we don't want to listen to your whining.

AGT's are not about getting to know someone of the opposite sex, they are about the girls.  Hence, the ALL GIRLS TRIP title.  No one is complaining that they have too many girl friends and worse, we are not complaining that we have no guy friends.  We don't want a good guy FRIEND, we want a good BOYFRIEND that will eventually turn into an amazing HUSBAND.  And yes, it may very well be in retaliation for you not having invited us on any trips.  You are NOT incapable of planning...I don't care which gene you carry in your little pocket.  You can plan, I have seen you do it to impress that girl that is WAY out of your league.  You are just lazy.  I don't want to plan anything for you right now, I want to be swooned and swept off my feet.  Once we are married and I have that MRS degree, then fine...run along to work and I will make sure that life runs at home just as we intend and when vacation time comes around, you will not be disappointed.

And maybe there is a list of reasons to go "sans-men", and you put it right there for me to analyze:

1) You only go through this whole self-improvement phase to gain the approval of other rival women (which you secretly hate btw...)

1) Self-improvement lasts a lifetime, something most people have come to accept.  And as much as I seek the approval of my man (and I do) getting an honest opinion from my bff's is in a close second.  And I hate to break it to you...we don't hate each other, on the contrary we hope and pray for each others success, btw...

2) You're actually trying to get your groove back in exotic places with non-MoMo guys. Stella, this only leads you down a slippery slope.

2) Beep Beep Beep...this is a public service announcement: Non-MoMo guys are the only ones asking MoMo gals out.  I think the saying goes something like this "the squeeky wheel gets the oil" - I'm just sayin.

3) You feel uncomfortable with your body and you feel that only a girl can relate. (If I'm not mistaken, most of the comments from girls categorize men as "fat and balding." From that perspective, I think we can all be in agreement that your muffin top won't be a topic of discussion.)

3) I don't feel uncomfortable with my body and could care less who relates.  The only people I have heard recently utter the words "fat and balding" are men.  Women don't want perfect, we realize we are not and we hope you will accept us, muffin top and all.  And you're right, the AGT is no place to discuss any physical flaw, that's why it's called a VACATION!

3) You're just trying to get tanned with your girlfriends so you can attract guys later. Well crap, who's going rub tanning lotion on your back then?

3...again?) Non-MoMo guys do a fine a job rubbing tanning lotion as MoMo guys.  But here's a no-brainer, rather than seem like the slutty MoMo gals we know you are hoping for in a Future Mrs. we could always ask one of our bff's.

4) You really have some pressing issues to mull over with your girls that a sleepover can't suffice.
4) No.  We really just want to go on vacation.

5) You really love telling the guy who bought you an alcoholic drink that, "I can't, I'm Mormon."

5) What?  Do you think we're stupid?  We know all about date rape drugs and jazz like that, no one is taking a drink from a stranger.  And we don't have to make an announcement about our religion, a simple "thank you" or "no thank you" will suffice.

Like I said, I will give credit were credit is due and safety is a concern, but I think WMGSS went a little over the top.  The last time I checked I didn't see any single, available MoMo men bench pressing a semi, dressed all in green, just waiting to accompany me as my personal body gaurd to my destination of choice.  (But if there are any of you out there, hit me up...I am dying to head to the middle east.)  So although (some of) your points are valid, let's discuss:

• No protection whatsoever. How much do you really trust 4'9", 97 lbs Trisha watching your back?
  

1. Truth is, I trust Trisha...Heather, April, Laura, Megan,  Nicole, Heidi, Shannon, Kristen, Martha, Charisse, Monika, Jennife, etc...with my life.
2. You were awfully concerned about our muffin top earlier...I suppose you never won the "let's guess her weight" game, did ya?

• Sorry girls, but common sense in foreign locations never was your forte. See Brokedown Palace, Taken, Return to Paradise, & Missing in Aruba: The Natalee Holloway Case.
  

1. Yeah, I've seen those MOVIES!  They were super scary, had a great plot and extremely suspenseful...but they are movies.  
2. Yes, Natalee Holloway was a real live woman, who although did not deserve what happened to her, made a decision that we MoMo gals wouldn't make.  
3. MoMo gals don't drink, do drugs or put themselves in a position to star in their own suspense thriller.
4. Wasn't that a man (or 3) who made a mistake that put them in hot water in Return to Paradise?  
5. And wasn't that a woman whose pursuit it was to rescue that man?  I'm just saying.
6. Please criticize my common sense, I just love that!  And it will certainly get you an invitation on an AGT. 
7. We all know that horrible things happen to undeserving people all the time.  Who says having one lonely single guy friend there would make a difference?

• Add extra risk if you're a blond. As much as the first guy seems flattering, the next 300 Italian men fondling you make American guys seem like Prince Charming.

1. Good thing I'm a brunette.

• Foreign guys DO NOT understand the word "No."

1. Some American guys DO NOT understand the word "No" either.  
2. Please refer to item #3 above.

• If you're getting taken advantage of at Meineke Car Care, good luck with Cantonese street markets, the Taj Mahal vendors, Cancun taxi drivers, or some sketch cabana boy in Majorca, Spain.

1. Ha! Ha! Credit.
2. If we are getting taken advantage of at Meineke, take a moment from your busy schedule and teach us how to take better care of ourselves in situations like this.  We will like you a lot more.

• Who will you dance with? Will it be the guy who grinds you into a full on DH, or will it be Mr. Axe cologne who's just scouring the club for his next human trafficking victim.
  

1. We are all God's children.  Everyone deserves a chance.
2. We really can walk away from men like this.  We do it at the singles dances ALL THE TIME!
   
3. We are girls, we are secure enough to dance alone or with our bff's.

• Who will give you a blessing if you get hurt?

1. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sing along with me!)...you might have heard of it?  It's all over the world!  There may even be a worthy Priesthood holder on our cruise ship.  
2. Or a set of missionaries serving in Timbuktu...where we decided to vacation  this year on our ALL GIRLS TRIP!

• What are the chances you know the language...proficiently? Rosetta Stone only halfway works in a business meeting and is a non-factor when local colloquialism is involved.

1. What are the chances that YOU know the language proficiently?  There are almost 7,000 languages spoken on this planet, do you know ALL of them?  
2. If the answer to #1 is yes, you are welcome on any trip I take.
3. I realize there is a language barrier to travel, that is not going to make me stay home and hide in my closet for the rest of my life...single or not.
4. People who can't speak English come to American all the time...I am just thinking we have the freedom to visit their home countries too.

The point is, it's an all girls trip because we like our bff's.  A lot.  We don't like them more than you and they can't fill your shoes.  We don't want to kiss them, or have their babies or grow old with them.  But you can't fill their high heels either.  

Some of my most memorable vacations were Half & Half trips.  We would love it if you made the effort to get to know us before deciding you need to vacation with us.  We also wouldn't mind it if you suggest a triple date to the Virgin Islands with our bff's and their significant others.  We would love that too.  

So, put down the luggage and step slowly away from our AGT.  They are OURS.  You can not have them.  You do not want them.  I promise.  We will fight for them to the death, after marriage and children we will still want our all girls trips...I hope.

And just in case you actually think that an AGT builds the Great Wall of China in front of any potential we Single Mormon Gals have of earning our MRS degree, you are sadly mistaken.  Since we have not only vacationed with dozens of fabulous, amazing, wonderful, inspiring bffs over the years...we have also attended their wedding receptions!  

This has been fun, I look forward to more posts over at WMGSS.  I hope they provide as much brain food, less spelling errors and good reading for all.

Holla.

Kelly & Justin's Little

My friend Patti was in town this weekend so we had a chance to hang out just like old times.  It was fun to catch up and even though we managed to miss bedtime and stay up way too late we didn't care and had a great time.  Patti took this picture with her cell phone:

I look like a floating head in the black abyss!

Today after church Patti & I headed over to Kelly's and of course I took my camera so I could take some pictures of CM.  She's trying to figure out crawling...she is so super cute.  I would normally just send these to Kelly so she could post them on her blog, but her computer is down so I thought I would just post a few.  Don't worry, there are about 2 dozen more photos that I will send her so she can post on her blog too.

This was when she was still happy, before she got super irritated at us for a little too much tummy time.

"Look at me...I can do a push up!"

I love this face...it's as if she is saying, "are you kidding me?"

And this is classic.  I feel that way sometimes too CM!

A New Blog To Follow:

This morning (NO) Sex and the City posted a comment about a blog that I have decided I need to read.  Thought you would find it interesting too. 

Why Mormon Girls Stay Single.

A little light reading for a rainy day in Georgia.  

Enjoy.

I am thankful that I am not Kristen Stewart.  And if I were Kristen Stewart, I would thank my lucky stars that I managed to fool everyone around into thinking I could act in one of the most highly anticipated films of last year.  And then I would be thankful that my paycheck clears, because I would need something to live off of while I look for a new career.

I am thankful that Macy's has an amazing return policy because last year when I dropped a really heavy bottle of perfume and broke the squirter I returned it for a brand new bottle.  Then realizing I didn't really like that perfume all that much I returned the unopened bottle of my not so great smelling perfume for a brand new bottle of my favorite perfume.  Yes, I originally (back when I had a job) purchased a bottle of perfume, but my exchanges yielded me a $10 Marcy's store credit.  Yumm.  I *heart* Macy's.

I am thankful I am not a hooker in Nevada.  But even more thankful that someone is going to make them pay taxes.  I'm not saying that we should legalize anything, but HELLO, the rest of us have to pay taxes!

I am thankful I have "people", little and big I love them all.  I hope I am as good a "people" to you as you are to me.

Georgia Spring

Last year about this time I thought to myself...

"...self, you should really take some photos of those pretty tulips out by the fountain at work..."

So today that is just what I did:

I love my camera.

I love tulips.  

When I was young I drew a picture of a tulip that was in an art show at the library where I took art classes.  It had a million little pointy petals, because I suppose back then I didn't know that tulips only had a few.

I still remember the smell of the Carlsbad Public Library.

It smells like the inside of Mom's Terracotta pot.   

That I think she gave to Kelly.

I remember sticking my head inside that pot, just to smell THAT smell.

It's a really big pot.

Now that Dr. Bristol gave me antibiotics I might be able to say I love Georgia in the spring again.  You might want to wait and ask me in a few days and see how I feel then.

Of course it helps that it's raining and all the yellow death is being washed away.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, just come down south in the spring...I'll introduce you to pollen.

Um, yeah...all my photos are proprietary, copyright, whatever.  So don't think you can just right click, save it in "your computer" and send it to be printed at "your Costco".  I obviously deserve royalties, after all, I have no job.

Easter Dinner

This morning I was at Pickup Publix filling an Rx for antibiotics to help with my sinus infection. I had to wait a moment while the nice pharmacist counted out my pills so I meandered over to find something for lunch.

Upon passing the dairy department I began to wonder who would invite me for Easter dinner. I mean, after all, I am alone. I could just stay home and fix a nice big bowl of Cadbury Mini Eggs, but a deviled egg sounds yummy too.

I might offer to bring homemade rolls - I just got the most divine recipe from my friend Sheri and I really want to try them. I am not sure I can make them as yummy as her, but we'll see.

Either way...if you bring rolls to Easter dinner, you will want to make sure you bring one of these too:

Did you see that?

Yes, it's a sheep.

A butter sheep.

A butter sculpture...of a sheep.

Don't even think I am teasing because even without a job I may have splurge to bring this little guy along. I wonder if I could make my own sculpture? I would try an Easter egg though...there is something a little morbid about digging a hunk of butter out of a sheep's head.

100,000 miles...

I know I shouldn't complain, after all what is the point?  But this is my blog, so who is going to stop me?  I suppose if you don't want to read my posts, then you can certainly blog-stalk someone else, but you will be missed.

Today I feel like my Kia...Katherine the Kia, that's not a good thing.  I feel worn out and tired.  You see, today my Kia flipped the last 9 in a long list of 9's.  It flipped to 100,000 miles, right before my very weary eyes.  I saw it coming, it was no surprise, but it still caught me off guard.  Maybe it's because all those 0's lined up after the 1 feel like an assassination line up...all pointing their rifles at me.  The big bad 1 is biding his time, "ready, aim, ...!"  

I watched the Kia's 0's keep turning today and it made me feel even more tired.  By the time I arrive back in Crackworth tonight I am sure I will have driven near 100 miles today.  I did meet my friend Patti for lunch at the airport.  (Patti & I go back to my Utah days, I just love her and she managed to find me on FB!)  But aside from the jot to the airport (so worth it) I do this drive here, drive there, never slowing down for a darn thing...every day!

I'm sick, not like crazy Bates Hotel sick, really literally sick.  I caught a cold from my fav guy and took it up to 26 degree Michigan and returned to Georgia in bloom.  So now I am sure I never got over the cold, have allergies and a super bad cough.  Oh, and no insurance.  love it.

I warned you, I am complaining today.  

And last night in my News Reporting & Writing class we got our interview pieces back.  I already knew my grade and was extremely disappointed...I got a 70.  I rarely have a lack of words, but I have nothing that will describe how disappointed I was in myself and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what I did wrong.  Well, last night I got it...I just can't write.  Well, to be fair, I supposed I should say I can't write news pieces.  And to be clear, who said writing for a "column" would not be news?  Because apparently that's how I write.  Maybe it's because I write on MY blog all the time.  Well, my prof wasn't happy with any of our papers but I was the only one with THAT low of a grade.  I. am. frustrated.

I'm tired...  

Tired of driving.  

Tired of school.  

Tired of being sick.  

Tired of being tired.

Tired of communication professors that can't communicate.

Tired of communication professors that's can't speak English.

Tired of no job.

Tired of too many other things to mention.

Maybe I just need a helicopter to help me get to work/school/wherever faster.  I don't mind the little RV truck pulling it either.  I'm sure it would come in handy.

To CHEER you UP on this...a Monday morning!

Please Wait To Be Seated...

In our booming economy it may have been a while since you’ve visited your favorite overcrowded eating establishment (be it Cheesefake Factory, Macaroni Gross or maybe TGI FRY-days).  I know it’s been a while for me, but I think the reasons may have absolutely nothing to do with the economy and more do to with the little black “wait for a table” box.

The skinny blond hostess greets you with a smile that will freeze a cup of fresh Starbucks.  “Just one?” she asks as if it is illegal to eat alone.  You think “hmmm, what I wouldn’t give for a great reply that compliments her use of the word JUST!”

If you’re lucky enough to be out with a group of friends her question might go more like “Is your entire party here?  Because we will only seat you if the entire party is here.”

If you’re SUPER DUPER lucky and you’re on a DATE, her smile may change from time to time.  First her look at your guy, a smile that would charm an angry monkey; back to you… back to chilly Starbucks.  She’s hoping you are his sister, but thankfully most brothers don’t hold their sisters hands as they walk into a restaurant.  Well, unless big bro is in college and lil sis is 4 years old.

So it’s a Saturday night and the restaurant is crowded.  And while I’m thinking about it…whatever happened to making reservations?  Half the eateries I frequent the most don’t even take reservations anymore, not to mention that the process of forward thinking for the guy I’m seeing is pretty much null and void, so reservations…not so much.

Blondie tosses a little black box in your direction and it’s a good thing you played catcher on that softball team, because you caught it!  That’ll show her.  Right, because she cares.  So you sit and you wait and you wait and you wait.  She said the wait would be 20 minutes and you are sure it has been at least 37.  Finally…43 minutes later the little black box flashes & vibrates.  You walk up to the hostess station again and that Arctic Freeze seats us at the best table in the restaurant, right by the kitchen...AND the restrooms!

Speaking of little black vibrating boxes with flashing little lights, I am thinking mine is defective.  Imagine for a moment that instead of Dairy Queen at the hostess desk handing out “wait to be seated” buzzers it’s Heavenly Father.  He greets you with a warm smile and genuine interest.  He doesn’t say anything like “JUST one?” because he knows ONE is the perfect number for ONE!  So I pick up my red (because black is not such a Heavenly color) “wait to be seated” box and move along my merry way and come to Earth. 

Earth…wawhoo…here we are!  So the idea is that when it’s your turn to “move forward”, you know…get to take the next step in your progression, your buzzer buzzes.  Tick, tick, tick…when is my buzzer supposed to go off?  I’ve been waiting at the really uncomfortable kids table for almost 35 years now, when is it MY turn?  I’m just saying.

I think my little red “wait to be seated” buzzer is defective. 

Where can I get a refund? 

Maybe just an exchange!

Fire Ants

Yesterday Brian had a 3 hour layover on his way into Charleston so I met him for lunch.  Just as we were getting ready to return to the airport I walked to the back of my car where Brian was standing.  I put one foot up on the curb/grass to get closer to him and about 1.7 seconds later my left foot was burning.

Yes, I stepped directly into a bed of fire ants.  I of course, did the most graceful and calm freak out of my life...beating my foot half to death trying to kill the ants and ripping my shoes off and beating them against the ground.  It's a good thing I was in a skirt, otherwise I would have ripped my pants off too.  Brian assured me there were none crawling up my legs, but I was not convinced.  

Today is much worse, there are exactly ONE MILLION (yes, one million) fire ant bites between my first and second toes on my left foot.  They are swollen and red and they hurt like hell.  Yes, hell...because that is where fire is and fire ants must also be from hell.

LOOK:

yes, I realize that the red rug accents the redness of the fire ant bites...I think it's a nice touch.

ouch!

Happy (Belated) Birthday MOM!

No...I did not actually forget my mom's birthday...I just forgot to post the blog birthday tribute with coordinating photos!

Happy Birthday MOM!

I love, love, love this one...cause it's me with my Mom!

And these two pictures are from her birthday last year.  We had a Murder in Provence Mystery Dinner.  We had such a great time!  Mom, very much in character.

Dad & Mom were the baker (or butcher) and his wife.  So stink'n cute!

Happy Birthday Mom...hope you had a great day!

Paparazzi

The paparazzi was all over Charley today...here are a few of my favorite shots:

I have the cutest stink'n niece(s)!

xoxox

I am THANKFUL on this THURSDAY for ::

Spring in Georgia...I know I'll hate how hot it gets in the summer, but right now Georgia has perfect weather.  I can't wait for a few more rain storms and everything will be green!

Friends...I can't mention everyone but I have to mention Nicole!

Good health...it always seems that we only forget to remember good health when we don't have it.  Today I feel good and I'm really thankful for that.

Modern Pirate Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Modern Pirate Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Holy cute of the day! Please don't go to Grosgrain and enter to win this dress, because I want it. Yeah, yeah, I know it won't fit me...but it will fit one of my (siblings) many beautiful babes!

for the record...

...it's 3:08 a.m. and I am still awake.  Not for lack of trying to get some shut eye, but I just can't fall asleep.

This is superbly rare for me...usually I am half asleep before I even get my toes nestles under those 300 thread count Egyptian cottons.  Alas, tonight I lay for over an hour thinking of the dress I hope to find at Old Navy tomorrow.  So eventually I just got up, turned my laptop back on and did a little late night window shopping.

I might have mentioned that I am working on this family photo scanning project recently.  It has been a few weeks since I have scanned any new pictures, but since I'm up late and the last post didn't have any photos and this one was about to ditto that I thought I would share a fun one.

This is Kelly (on counter), me (left) & Jennifer Jo (right) in our kitchen in Hobbs.

Kelly made THE BEST brownies and usually without using the recipe...gotta start'm young!

Memories...in the corner of my mind.  Memories...of the way we were...

new header

Sometimes I dream of having the time to do all the things I want to do in my life.  For instance I dream of going to the grocery store when normal people go to the grocery store, instead of 11:00 p.m. after I get out of class.

When I dream of having time to do things like...I don't know...create a new header for my blog, I usually stay up all hours of the night to get it done.  It's the creative freak in me that has to finish the project before I go to bed.

So tonight I did just that.  Thankfully it is not quite 1:00 a.m. yet and I might still get to bed before the sun rises, but we'll see.  I have already made my pb&j for tomorrow's lunch, so it's looking good.

Well, what do you think?  Do you like my new header?  I came up with Katherine's Chronicles a while ago. (Brilliant, right?  Takes a genius!)  This one didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped.  Do you see how I filled my "chronicles" text with a photo of a typewriter?  Yeah, I can't tell either.  Maybe someone out there will notice...please, if you do...comment about it.  The problem was that when I made "chronicles" large enough to actually SEE the photo...it was TOO large to all fit on one line.

Suggestions?  I don't know that I'll listen to them...or have the energy to change the header, but you never know.  I know I can always make my header wider, so that's an option.  Like I said, we'll see.  I learned how to do all this fun create stuff in my Org Com class a few semesters ago.  I did have to do a quick Google to refresh on the how to's of the photo in the text, but I remembered pretty quickly.

Tomorrow I think I shall blog about something interesting.  Not that this isn't interesting, but I have had something on my mind...so if it happens tomorrow, happy we shall be.  If it happens another day then happy we shall be on that day.

p.s. If you have not been reading NieNie Dialogues, you should.  Her story inspires me, her spirit invigorates me and her endless positive attitude in the face of much trial is humbling to read.  She is my daily self check.  Sometimes I read her more than once a day, just to reremember.  Nie Nie, thank you...and good luck on the search for chocolate cake!

p.s.s. I was thinking...someone should blog about the scriptures.  I can manage to check all of your blogs almost everyday.  I read them without fail when I see you have updated and yet I can't manage to take my scriptures out of their (extremely cute turquoise) purse except on Sundays.  What is wrong with that picture!?  I am lazy.

Mormon Ad...

The "mom" is my friend Melanie!

Why Mormons Build Temples

St. Paddy's Day

On this...the Day of St. Patrick I wish you bountiful bacon and the choicest of cabbages!

For a little history on this fair holiday, click HERE!

Spring Break in Michigan

Warning:  If you are not family, this post may not interest you.

This past week was my spring break from school so I ventured to Michigan to spend some time with Anne and her cute little family.  

This is our photo adventure:

Everyone (except Dad) picked me up from the airport.  

We drove in the car a lot...they live way out in the country!

We laughed...a lot!

We took LOTS of pictures!

We went to the library.

We love to read.

We took naps...in the warm sun.

We had Mom drop us off by the pond and we walked the rest of the way to the house.

It was really cold...so we mostly ran.

...do you see the boy?

We climbed the stairs...

(oh...the paparazzi!)

...a lot!

We played...

and played...

and played!

We read...

and read...

and read!

We became photographers...

and took lots...

and lots...

and lots of photos!

We went to Frankenmuth and visited Christmas Wonderland at Bronners!

On our way home from Frankenmuth we found a misplaced barn.

We tortured Mom & Dad...

And had lots of piggy-back-rides!

We cleaned faces...

and laughed a lot more!

We even spent some time behind bars!

We saw a pretty sunset (that's the neighbor's house).

We (I) even made it into Flint to meet up with some old friends!

(Jeff & Jeanette Welch + 5)

Chucky Cheese's is (still) nasty, but when you have good conversation and the kids are entertained...who cares!

Their little Ali...what a doll!

And Sunday came and I had to go home to Georgia.

Little J came with Scott to take me to the airport.

Thanks for a WONDERFUL spring break my little people!

xoxoxo