MIA...in Utah

Sorry I disappeared. One of Marks best friends got married in Utah this weekend so we drove up there Thursday morning at 0 dark 30 and got home 10:00 Sunday night (last night). Around 1800 miles in a car isn't easy. I'm tired and I hurt, but we survived.

The wedding was beautiful. Visiting with friends and family was wonderful.

We saw many beautiful things, walked for miles and miles taking in all the historic sites. It was wonderful and amazing! I could live there if it didn't get cold.

Took 260 photos and the thought of trying to pick which ones to share right now is just too much.

Broke my number 15 molar (top left) while we were driving somewhere between Page Arizona and Kanab Utah. Just weird! More of it broke out on Saturday. Went to the dentist today. Need a root canal in a bad way....no insurance...endodontist is $1,300....yikes! I don't have it so our good friend is going to help with it and we'll pay him back. Gotta love 'em! Scheduled for tomorrow. (tuesday)

fun...fun...NOT!

We stayed in Mark's grandma's vacant 40 year old condo in Salt Lake. Different family members borrow it when they are in town. I love the grandma feeling that it has. We walked in and Mark said it's exactly the same as it was when he was a kid. I do not love the 40 year old plumbing.We couldn't get hot water in the shower unless we jimmy rigged it by turning on the water in the kitchen which forced it through the water heater and into the shower. Taking a shower with your head against the wall in hopes that some small amount of water will fall on you and hope that it's enough to rinse the shampoo/conditioner out of your hair is not an fun thing. We stayed there because it's free and free is good.

Pictures to come. I need to cook dinner and spend some time with my boys.

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes to Mark. 50 comments is really impressive!!! There were all so sweet. I will have him read them when he gets home. Thanks again!

The big 4-0...and organizing

Mark's 40th birthday is tomorrow....or today depending on when you read this. (Thursday the 25th) He is not very happy about it. I told him to embrace it but he didn't think that was funny. He;s such a kid anyways. I don't see why the number 40 should scare him. :o) He is such a wonderful husband and father. He is so NOT shy. He talks to everybody and anybody. I'm not exaggerating about that. Even when we are traveling and trying to make good time, we always get held up at the gas stations, because he gets all involved in conversation with who ever is pumping gas next to us. He just so friendly and funny that people can't help but love him.

Happy Birthday!

I love you Mark!

Please wish him a happy birthday...even if you don't normally leave comments, just so he can feel the love. Thanks in advance!

I cleaned out and organized the closet my catering/serving pieces are in. I love that I can see exactly what I have. Mark has the other half of the closet for his motorcycle stuff. I may have to squeeze into a bit of his side. :o) How does one figure out the cost of food per person to know what to charge for catering? How much do you mark it up to make a profit? That is the hardest part for me.

I hope you are all doing well. Thanks so much for the sweet compliments on my handouts. You all make me feel so much better about things. :o)

(Lesson-shopping-cake)

Sunday I taught my first lesson to the young women's. I was scared to death to the point of my stomach hurting because I've never taught anyone older than 3...and I was nervous then too. It was on honesty. It surely didn't flow as easily as I'd hoped, but they complimented me, so I assume they think I did an okay job. I ended up making 2 handouts...normally I would just do one. I bought un-cut keys from Wal-Mart and attached them to tags I made that said "Honesty is the key to peace of mind" The broom and dust pans I bought for a dollar from IKEA. The tag I made says "Being honest means you wont have to sweep up after messy lies later" The girls LOVED the handouts! I don't have to teach again for another month. That lesson is on gratitude and appreciation. You all know how much I love that topic, so I'm pretty excited to teach that one.

After my chiropractor appointment today I met up with Mark for lunch and a bit of shopping since he had a lull in the middle of his day. Can you believe that after 21 1/2 years of marriage, we have never owned real luggage. We either used duffel bags or borrowed from my parents or sister when we went out of town. Mark got me a big pink one and him a rusty orange one. I remember standing for long periods of time looking for our luggage by the airport carousel in the sea of black and blue luggage, so we decided to get pieces that would stand out so we could find them easier.

We also picked up some silverware because ours had dwindled down to hardly any due to garbage disposal accidents and the use of digging tools in the back yard when the boys were younger. Those of you with sons know what I'm talking about. It will be nice to have a matching set again. :o)
I've been thinking a lot about my catering, so we picked up a few more serving pieces to add to my growing collection. I've done so many catering events for friends and family at no charge....just the cost of food (sometimes I even paid for the food) I'm thinking that maybe I could make some money doing it. I like to cook...people like to eat what I cook. Why not get paid for it...right?
Hat boxes...just because they were cheap and cute! Love them!Yesterday I made 2 carrot sheet cakes. One for my family and one for a church thing. It's too good not to share the recipe. Don't laugh, but the recipe has baby food carrots in it. It makes the cake so smooth....I don't like chunky carrot cake. When I was really young, a family friend use to make this. I've wanted the recipe ever since. A sweet lady finally shared the recipe and I am so thankful. Here it is.
CARROT CAKE
4 eggs, 2 Cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, 4 - 4 oz. bottles of baby food strained carrots (scrape bottles well), 2 1/2 Cups flour, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. cinnamon.
Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Bake in a large cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake for 25-30 minutes until done in center. Cool, cover with foil then put in freezer. (This portion can be done 2 weeks ahead of time if you like)
Make frosting. Frost frozen. (They freeze very well after frosting too!)
FROSTING
3 1/2 Cups powdered sugar, 1/3 Cup margarine, 1 tsp. vanilla, 8 oz. cream cheese
Cream together softened margarine, cream cheese, and vanilla. Blend in powdered sugar until nice and creamy.
Keep cold in the refridgerator. It taste better cold, but the freezing process adds to it being moist. Cut and serve. Easily serves 30

Before I forget...someone unplugged my huge deep freeze that's in the garage. Of course no one in my house did it. Must be the ghost who was messing with the AC a while back. I walked out there and it stunk something terrible. EVERYTHING in it is spoiled. Some of it even oozed out the bottom....I know...gross! I hold my breath everytime I go out there. We plugged back in to re-freeze so we can throw it all away. It was FULL! Such a waste...I hate waste! Going to have to start over again.
Okay...I gotta go. Sorry I haven't been around much. I've been busier than ever. Mark and I are going for a walk. We are trying to get in better shape. Said after giving you a recipe for cake. :o) Hey...carrots ARE a vegetable!

Fall stuff

Bear with me...I'm extremely tired and I broke a nail so there will be more type o's than normal.

I had the young women over tonight for a general conference trivia game/halloween party. We all had a great time! These girls never cease to amaze me with their knowledge, sweet spirits, and genuine love and kindness towards each other. I LOVE this group of girls! One leader brought over stuff to make caramel apples, one brought a pumpkin cake and root beer in a kettle with dry ice...so cool! I made sticky popcorn with cashews and reeses pieces. First I thought I burnt up my air popper, but it was just warning me to not put so much in at a time. The girls left with full tummies and bags full of prizes from the game. They are smart girls so they got a lot of prizes.

After they left I quickly walked around and snapped a few pictures of some halloween/fall decorations....at least the ones Mark didn't throw away in the move. Very sore spot right now since his idea of broken and my idea of broken are two totally different things. In Arizona when things are stored in the garage through the summer they tend to fall apart at the glue spots. Every year I fix them and put them out. What he saw was broken crafts and threw them away!!! They were all things I made from buying the wood, cutting, sanding, painting, putting together and sealing...mostly my bigger things that I made during my boutique years. They were A LOT of work. Several were my own designs that I don't have a pattern to. I'm still a tad bit bitter about this one. One day I will get over it...but today is not that day. I still love him to pieces, but dang! :o)

Vacation picture overload

USS Midway

When we got to California we headed straight for the USS Midway to take a tour. This ship is HUGE! It was very interesting and we learned a lot. In my mind it would make sense to tour each level, but apparently they though it would be funny to set up the tour to make you have to go up and down steep stairways as often as possible. My legs were burning. It was quite a workout. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the whole ship. I know I have one from when we took our 20th anniversary cruise.

The Welk Resort

We loved the resort so much! It was beautiful and even though it's really popular with older people, they had a lot to offer for kids. Our villa was bigger that our first house. The boys had a blast and I really enjoyed our beautiful surroundings. We will go back there again. I miss it already.





Pacific Beach
We spent all day Friday at the beach. It was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop the boys from swimming. I think the ocean is incredibly beautiful, but I know how powerful it is, so I have a genuine fear of it, so I just hung out on the beach taking pictures and watching the guys have fun. We haven't been to California since 1999, so it was a real treat for the boys to go to the beach.






Sea World
Saturday we spent the day at Sea World. We loved the shows and the boys loved the rides. It was even colder this day, so I chose not to do the water rides because even though I love them, I knew I'd never dry out. We did sit in the splash zone at every show because the boys wanted to get wet. I brought an umbrella to protect me, Mark and the camera. By the end of this day I couldn't hardly move. I went to get in the car and I literally could not lift my foot up to get in. Mark had to help me. I think it's going to take several day for me to feel good again. I hurt from my head to my toes. Boy do I feel old!







The freeways are beautiful in San Diego...so green and pretty. The drivers on the other hand...not so nice. I'm not saying thet are bad because they're not. I know there are bad drivers everywhere, but California seems to have a much higher concentration of rude drivers. I was scared to death.
I hope I didn't bore you all with so many pictures. I wanted Chad to be able to see a small glimpse of our vacation. I wish him, Sandy, Brek, Brittany and the babies could have come with us. It would have been a blast!
My boy Brek turned 21 on Sunday. It's hard to believe I have a child that is 21 years old.
Happy Birthday Brek!