FHE stands for....

Family Home Evening. But tonight with several of the "men" gone from our ward to take the YM Canoing down the Colorado River, it stood for:

Friends (and food),

House full of kids, &

Even chocolate chip cookies!

With some last minute planning, a few of us (temporarily widowed women) got together and ate take out, let the kids run wild, and watched two chick flicks back to back!!! I can't remember a time when that's happened in recent years!

We watched this: And then this:

Fun chick flicks that even Megan could watch with us. She loved being part of the "girl" group and not having to be in charge of the kids. The rest of the kids watched Jimmy Neutron and Shrek the Third in the other room.

Fun was had by all, lots of chocolate chip cookies were consumed and children are now sleeping soundly in their beds! All in all, a successful FHE!

Spiritual Feast

Last Night I attended a Feast... our church had it's annual Relief Society Broadcast. Click Here if you want to watch it online. If you are LDS and missed it last night, make sure to take some time to watch it online. Reading it in the Ensign will never have the same effect. (I took 8 pages of notes....scribbling furiously in the dark... looking at them today, I can't even decifer half of them... good thing I can reprint the talks online!) Sister Julie Beck gave a talk that I'm thinking she wrote just for me... okay, probably not... but it seemed that way. I'm not sure what it is, but I LOVE her talks. I always feel like I can totally connect with her.... I just get where she's coming from and I'm always inspired to do better. Sister Allred and Sister Thompson gave very inspirational messages. President Uchtdorf hit it out of the ballpark with his talk. I loved the story about him making Fried Eggs.... hilarious!What a great man... here's two quotes I want to remember....

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." (from the author of Peter Pan)

"As daughters of Heavenly Father, Happiness is YOUR heritage." (empasis added by me!)

This last week has been a real adventure for me. I've had to make lots of time for prayer and meditation. Last night's broadcast had special meaning for me as I was made our ward's newest RS President this morning. On one hand, I'm excited to get to know the sisters in our ward on a more personal level... on the other hand, I'm terrified about some of the new "responsibilities" I will have. (And you don't want to see my new meeting schedule!!!)

I came home after being at the church for 5 hours today (3 hour block, plus meetings) and spent the rest of my day getting Taylor and Eric ready to go on a Young Men's Super Activity. And all this weekend, I've been fighting a monster of a head cold... today, I'm so congested that I can't even get my ears to pop... but one sudafed and two extra strength tylenol later, I'm feeling almost normal. I just need to get the middle two down for the night so I can crash and maybe sleep some of this misery off!

Say a prayer or two for us this week, if you don't mind. :) I've already gotten "phone calls" about my new RS duties and I'm going to be anxious about our guys having a safe trip this week!

"Pumper-Rumper" the Sequel

This is Eric's youngest brother, Matt. Early on in life, he earned the nickname "Pump" (which created all kinds of other nicknames... see title for one example....) Pump had so much energy that he never sat down. Not only was he full of energy, he was full of life. (He still is, and we love that about him!) He's always happy and cheerful. Eric remembers that he used to commentate his own baseball games in his sleep - no doubt he was dreaming of hitting a grand slam and winning it all! He had endless energy, and everyone loved his cheerful attitude. (Even when I joined the family when he was 14, this was evident still the case!)

Our youngest, Brayden, who we affectionately call "little B" or just "B" for short appears to be another Pump. He has boundless energy. He is the happiest child I have ever had.

The problem is that his "pump"ness is KILLING me! He is up at 6:00 a.m. EVERY SINGLE DAY... no matter what time he goes to bed. (I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed at 6:45 when the alarm goes off, and it's usually only the intense need to drain my bladder that gets my body moving each morning....) Of course, he doesn't think he needs a nap, but by 3-5 p.m. it's obvious he isn't going to make it to bedtime. And if he takes a nap, which he almost always does at the most inconvienent time, he will be up until at least 10 p.m. each night. (Remember that he will still get up at 6:00 a.m. no matter what.) Last night, at 10:30 after I'd repeatedly put him back in his bed I finally laid down with him until he fell asleep somewhere around 10:45ish. Even when I "force" a nap at lunchtime, he still stays up late and is bouncing around the house (making messes like the Tasmanian Devil....)

Anyone out there have any advice??? He's wearing me out, but it's hard to stay mad for long, because he's just SO DARN CUTE!

The Good Samaritan

This week has been a bit stressful for me.

First of all, I'm having issues with my car's DVD system, and with a big road trip looming ahead, I've been constantly nagging (this is no exaggeration) my dealer to get the problem resolved. Last Thursday, they "fixed" it, but they really didn't fix it and now I have to take it back again... Eric needs my car for the YM Super Activity next week, so I only have this week to get all the issues resolved. I'm really annoyed that it's been such a big production to get it resolved. Lesson learned from this: NEVER buy an "aftermarket" DVD system from your car dealer... if you want a DVD system and the car wasn't built with it factory installed, go to Best Buy or Circuit City... I think you'll have been luck with them.

Next, I came home Monday morning from the gym, only to have phone message from Taylor that he left his Trumpet at the bus stop and he needed me to grab it and bring it to the school so he could play at the assembly at the end of the day with the Band. Of course, I was completely annoyed by this... so, I loaded Brayden up into the car and headed over to our neighborhood playground which serves as the bus stop and searched to no avail. It was GONE! It hadn't even been 2 hours since Taylor got on his bus. I spent the next couple hours on the phone trying to get ahold of the transportation office to see if by chance he left it on the bus... several phone calls later they confirmed that it wasn't on the bus and they hoped he didn't leave it at the bus stop... (which he later confirmed that he did....) By noon, I'd made some "LOST" flyers and posted them on all the mailboxes since Taylor got a new case this year, and I've yet to get him a new "name tag" for it. So, it had NO identification anywhere on or in the case (dumb, yeah, I know....) All day Monday passed, all day Tuesday passed and no word... I'd basically lost hope by today that I'd ever see it again, when I got a voicemail this afternoon from a Hispanic woman who spoke poor English, but I did understand the word "trumpet" in her message. I called back and she confirmed they had it.... (HALLELUJAH!!!!) and she would have her husband call me later to arrange drop off (since he speaks better English). An hour later, Jose called and told me they had the trumpet. He didn't seem to understand where I lived, but I'd gathered earlier from the wife that they lived in the nearby trailer park (of which I'm pretty familiar....) so I offered to come to them to get it. He was thrilled, I was thrilled and 10 minutes later I had Taylor's trumpet back! What nice people they were! I was so wishing I could have brought them a plate of cookies or something as a "thank you". In this day and age, you just never expect to get something valuable back that's been lost... what a wonderful surprise it was today and a big answer to our prayers! (Everyone in the family had been praying for the return of Taylor's trumpet... we own it, if it had been a rental, it would have insurance to cover the loss....)

So this post is a tribute to all the Good Samaritans out there... have you come across a good Samaritan lately???

Crazy Hair Day

Today was Crazy Hair Day for Megan and Ian. This is one of their most favorite days of the year... because they get to dress up and be totally silly...

Megan - front:

Megan - back:
Ian - front:
Ian - Back:

This is the first time we have tried "colored" hair spray and Ian said he was sweating "blue" during recess.... yuck! I'm sending him upstairs right now to wash it all out!

I think it's "interesting" that the schools promote things like this, but the kids are NOT allowed to Dress Up for Halloween.... hmmm....

The "Nose Bidet"

Thanks, Oprah!!! I can't believe I just said that... I don't even watch Oprah!! Really, I don't! But, I have to thank her for this - courtesy of Dr. Oz... it's called the "Neti Pot". I've heard about this "gadget" a couple of different times over the last year, but I finally decided to really look into it last night. One trip to Walgreens and $10 later.... With Fall allergies, just days around the corner I'm starting to get jittery... Last year I suffered worse than any prior allergy year I've ever had. Now, I'm armed with the proper medication to keep my symptoms manageable, but they are expensive and I don't like being dependant on them. So, I googled "neti pot" and the first article I came across hailed Oprah and Dr. Oz for bringing this info to the public! Oprah called it a "nose bidet". Yeah... now that I've tried it, I can understand where she got that one! There are many "testimonials" online about this thing and how it can completely eliminate the need for allergy and asthma meds... I'm really hoping for that since I suffer with chronic sinus problems from September to May. (I never in a million years thought I'd be grateful for the 100+ degree heat, but I was... it took my allergies away!)

Click Here for more information on how it works! I'll keep you posted as my allergies get into full swing! I'm hoping that tomorrow I can control the urge to breathe in through my nose while this stuff filters through the nasal passages... inhaling saline isn't a pleasant thing to do!

Piracy is Our Only Option...

I've been sickened... and sickened... and sickened some more each day as I turn on Fox News in my car and hear about Bank Failures, Insurance Bailouts and Mortgage Takeovers. How did this happen and what is the solution?

(Picture me up on my soap box right now....)

My personal belief is that in our "credit crazed" society, way too many people got mortgage loans they had no business even applying for... then underqualified Mortgage Brokers got them said loans, even though everyone involved knew it was a risky deal... then, home prices fall (as they always do every 10 years or so....) and then all H*LL breaks loose! Can I just say that as a "Responsible" Tax Payer and someone who has never missed a Mortgage Payment, this just INFURIATES ME!!!!!

So, a stray thought came to me earlier today... I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo and I'm thinking that maybe the only way to protect my hard earned salary, 401K and other assests is to convert it all to Gold Coins and bury it in a Secret Location. (Of course, the time to convert to Gold was last week, as the price of Gold is shooting through the roof this week... wonder why???) The only potential problem I forsee with this plan is that I have a really bad habit of hiding things away for a rainy day and then forgetting where said "hiding place" is.... hmmmm.....

(A $5 Blockbuster gift card to the commenter who can tell me what movie I quoted in the title and which character said it....)

A Cure for Withdrawls

Just one more reason to warm up your DVR's for next week - I saw this commercial during the Olympics and died laughing. I think my favorite part of this show is the Jim/Dwight rivalry...

I'm Finally Back!

Well as Christy mentioned I am finally back from China and am just starting the feel like myself again. I had no jet lag on the way over, but I have felt very tired since getting back on Saturday night. This is probably the main reason I have not done a post-trip report before now.

Overall, the trip was very enjoyable and I would definitely do it again if the opportunity presented itself. However, I can definitely say I am glad that I am not a career traveler. It is definitely hard to be away from Christy and the kids for that long and would be almost unbearable if I had to do it all the time.

Anyway, the reason for my trip to China was an operations conference for our company's field managers. Although I did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing moments, once the show got rolling there was very little time to do much of anything outside of conference activities. On Thursday evening we did, however, have a team building event which was setup similar to the Amazing Race (luckily without any FearFactor eating endevours) in the old portion of Macau. Macau for those who don't know use to be a Portuguese trading colony (similar to the British influence in Hong Kong) and so a lot of the clues of challenges involved piecing together different historical facts from Macau's Portuguese heritage.

Anyway, since my lunch break is nearing an end, I will post a couple pictures form the trip and my experiences last week in China.

This is a picture of the whole Applied Materials' Team at the beginning of our team building challenge:

Amazing picture of one of the dance moves. Everyone thought it was amazing when these acrobats jumped from the ground to on top of the table, until they say this. I have a video of about 75% of the dance routine and if I can get it cut down to a manageable size I will post it.

Here is a picture of me (IDBS t-shirt) and some of my team members trying to get that next clue:

Picture of cathedral that contained one of the much needed clues (we had to draw a picture of the cross on top of the church).

Picture of a "Macau Tower" (taken from a bus) where we had dinner after the team building activity. The dinner was awesome, but the views from the tower were breathtaking.

Picture of the "Grand Lisboa Hotel & Casino". Not that I spend anytime here at all, because I didn't, but I thought that this was a very unique building that was just plain and simply "enormous". This building can be seen from almost everywhere in Macau. Essentially, Macau is the "Vegas" of China. A lot of gambling goes on, on this small island.

This is a picture of a gold "human" statue that was trying to earn a buck inside the shopping mall at the Venetian where we were staying. Occasionally and if you stood there long enough, he would do the "Mr. Roboto" and move a little.

This a picture of an older man wearing one of those typical Chinese hats. Safe to say that this guy has it handled if it started to rain.

As parting words, the last couple of shots are pictures of and from my hotel room. The company definitely didn't skimp on the accomodations.

Congrats Cougars!

Was this an awesome game, or what??? This is my kind of football game... lots of scoring... perfect defense and whomping on a team that was talking trash earlier in the week. I only saw the first half, but that's when most of the action was anyway! Maybe Eric will be so inspired, he'll put the BYU fight song as his ringtone for his cell phone again! If you got to see this game in person, please post comments about the "live" experience!

Good News...

Eric just called from LAX... I've been waiting all night for this phone call! It's so glad to have him back on US soil! While he was away we couldn't communicate by any means other than email and that wasn't terribly effective. I can't say that's happened to us before... usually we can at least send text messages via cell phones, but not this time. It was so good to hear his voice, even if it was only for a minute before he lost his signal in the airport. It's too late tonight to grab a flight to Phoenix, so he's going to sleep at an airport Embassy and fly home tomorrow! It will be wonderful to have him back!

UPDATE: Eric arrived home yesterday at lunch. Whew! I've spent most of the weekend trying to get massive amounts of laundry done and he's spent his time trying to get his body back on a normal sleep cycle. Pictures from China to be posted very soon!

You Know Autumn is Coming...

... in Phoenix when you walk outside at 7:30 p.m. and there is a wonderful cool breeze. Yeah, you heard me right... a cool breeze (very much like a Delta breeze for my CA contingent....) It was absolutely heaven and I'm already planning to let everyone sleep with their windows open tonight! YIPPEE! This may not occur again for several more weeks, so I am going to try to enjoy EVERY LAST MINUTE of it! And tomorrow's forecasted high? 94 degrees! I just can't tell you how happy this makes me!

Today was so much better than the rest of the week has been... I woke up feeling good, and my dog did too... no accidents last night. It must have been an omen for a good day! I've exercised, read scriptures, colored my hair and watched last night's Project Runway.... and I have a chick flick I'm saving for as soon as the kiddos go to bed!

Husband Appreciation Week

Before Eric left for China, he told me that this week would become "husband appreciation week". Honestly, for a minute, I didn't get his meaning... he must have realized that by the dumb look on my face because he added... "you know when you have to drive Taylor to soccer practice every morning at 7 a.m. and then take care of all the scout stuff too because I won't be there to help out...." Oh, yeah... ugh...as if my plate isn't full enough already...

And let me tell you.... a week it has been!!! (And it's only Wednesday night....)

Monday, I was running on 5 hours of sleep. I don't always sleep well while hubby is away and Sunday night presented itself with further complications (stomach issues)... needless to say, I rolled around in bed until 1 a.m. when I finally gave up and turned on Fox News... nothing like the 1 a.m. reruns from earlier in the day!

Tuesday, I had a big activity I was in charge of at the church in the evening. Even though I thought I had anticipated all possible scenarios, preparing for it still took most of my day. I came home last night at 9:30 and crashed on the couch. Kicked Taylor off the xbox and played a puzzle game for 30 minutes until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and went to bed. Brayden joined me sometime between one and two after I rescued him from a meltdown on the stairs... he had to go potty, but couldn't seem to find the way to the potty on his own. Let's just say the night went downhill after I had to start sharing my king size bed with a 3 year old. Anyone who has had a three year old in their bed knows what I'm talking about here.

Today, my body just shut down from sheer exhaustion. The only thing that saved me was a trip to Walgreens with my best friend who showed me how to get tons of free stuff using their cool rebate program. We both got a Cherry Coke Zero and that really made my day. We both also bought hair dye and plan to color our hair tomorrow. That's always something I look forward to! I also called the Chevy dealer for the umpteenth time about fixing my broken DVD player in the car. Our upcoming road trip won't be bearable without it working. Once again I was put off another week, but the guy promised to come to my house to do the install. I hope he really means it, because I'm getting tired of waiting for this to happen. (Eric - you will be happy to know that they no longer make current crappy model, so we are getting an upgraded player... it just hasn't arrived yet... oh, and you're much anticipated package from ecost.com arrived safe and sound yesterday (I think... haven't been checking the box religiously....)) And I'll try not to mention again how much I'm hating Wednesday evenings right now (because I don't want to be labeled a complainer or anything)... I practically live in my car driving around to piano lessons, cub scouts, mutual and soccer games. Tonight I gave the YM's leaders a laugh when I pulled up to drop off Taylor and my dinner was in a bowl in my lap (I was sneaking bites at red lights... well mostly red lights...)

And if my 3 year old dumps out one more box of toys, I will officially LOSE IT!!! Every time I have to pick up a box of toys he has dumped and left out, I put it away in a place he can't find it and dump it out again. By the weekend, we will no longer have any toys or boardgames left at the rate we are going.... this morning I stepped on a hot wheels style airplane and nearly created a puncture wound in the bottom of my foot. If it wasn't for the overly dry and calloused feet I've created this summer, I might have needed a tetanus shot.

Tomorrow, I absolutely need to focus on these things:

1) going to the gym... I made a workout schedule to help me prepare for my tri race that is less than 8 weeks away, but I haven't exactly followed it... I've been exercising everyday, but not what I planned on. (I know, that doesn't make sense to anyone but me.)
2)washing dishes and scrubbing countertops... I ran the dishwasher today, but I have about six skillets that are dirty and need washing stacked all over the kitchen.
3)sorting through the mail that's been accumulating on the phone counter for over a month. The other day I noticed that I got a renewel for the dog license and it's 4 months overdue... sad thing is that I never remembered getting the first one. Maybe it really did get lost in the mail, not in my kitchen. I can hope!
4)taking 90 minutes to relax and watch a chick flick I checked out at the library in anticipation of having so much free time with Eric gone... who was I kidding? But it's due back Friday, so now I have a deadline.... (And dad, I got yours and mom's email replies... just want to take the time to respond when I can sit and think clearly... hasn't happened yet today... maybe tomorrow.... maybe not....)
5)And is it too much to ask my dog to refrain from pooping in my laundry room again? This has happened two more times since Eric left, but I haven't been able to put him out to sleep at night due to thunder/lightning. He must be losing his sense of smell in his old age, because it used to bother him to sleep near his own poop... not so much anymore!

So in light of all this info... I hope that my dear husband realizes how much I appreciate him, but when he gets his cute little behind back to the USA,
"Wife Appreciation Week" is going to start!
(Honey, you have been warned!) :)

Greetings from China!

Well, as many of you know I am in China this week for a work conference. I arrived yesterday morning and it has been an adventure so far. I am resorting to blogging because so far I have not been able to get any e-mail out since leaving Hong Kong.

Like I said, I arrived yesterday morning at about 5:00am local time after about 20 hours of travel. Phoenix to LA, then 3 hour lay-over, then 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. From the Hong Kong Airport I rode a 30 minute train to the Hong Kong harbor. The photo below is picture of some of the Hong Kong high-rises from the high speed train.

After arriving at Hong Kong Harbor, I then took a 20 minute troll with my massive suitcase in tow, from train station to the harbor boat dock. The picture below is a snapshot of the similar boat the I wrote about 40-50 miles from Hong Kong to Macau.

The picture below shows how busy Hong Kong harbor can get.

Once I arrived in Macau I was able to get a free shuttle over to the hotel, The Venetian Macau (pictured below).

Unfortunately because my flight arrived so early I arrived at the hotel before check-in time. Luckily, I was able to store my suitcase at the hotel and then I hit the on-site shops (for window shopping that is!). The shops at the Venetian are mainly all the brands you've heard of, just in Chinese pricing. There do not seem to be any discounts to be had here, nor any authenic Chinese souvenir action. What to bring home for the kids will be the big question?

Here is a picture of the "indoor" shop atmosphere!

Since my sleeping schedule is still off and its about 3:ooam here or so, I am going to try and get some sleep before heading to the gym and will try to post some more content later.

Oh, Crap!

Yes, it happened again... our dog had some bladder control issues during the night... usually it happens on a weekday and Eric leaves it and goes to work, (leaving me to clean it up). But this time it was a Saturday, so he decided to clean it up himself... but, he didn't go into the job unarmed! Seeing these pictures ha strengthened my resolve to paint my laundry room... I just need to decide what color to use! It looks so messy and blah... it needs some help!

Balancing Act

Brayden practicing his yoga moves... this one is called Downward Facing Dog Pose....

I constantly find myself seeking Balance. Balance between work and fun. Balance between church and other volunteering. Balance between taking care of my family and taking care of me. Just when I have a workable routine, life changes and I'm forced to start all over to figure out how to get everything done in a day that needs to be done.

I once read about a very good idea from Julie Beck... it goes something like this (I'm paraphrasing): divide your day into 3 categories: "must do", "should do" and "would like to do". Put all your daily tasks into one of these 3 catergories and then do them in the order of their priority." It's a great concept, but I struggle to know what should be on the "must do" list and what can go on the other lists. Do you know what I mean???

About a month or so ago I stumbled across a blog about exercising. That's something I've really struggled with over the last year. I feel like I haven't had the energy, time or interest in it. I'm finally getting back on track, and signing up for a Triathlon on November 1st was just the "kick in the butt" that I needed. Anyway, this blog was talking about daily priorities... this girl related that if she can get three things done in the beginning of the day, then all else will just fall into place. Are you dying to know what she said? It's not rocket science, but it really simplified things for me in my mind. The first three things she does during the day is 1)personal prayer 2)personal scripture study and 3)exercise. So about 3 weeks ago I decided those would be my primary goals during the day and then I'd just work up from there. I didn't know how hard it was going to be. There are days like today when it takes me until noon to accomplish all three. I'm not ready to abandon this plan, but I'm really wishing I could be a bit more productive and get them done earlier. I know I should just set the alarm and get up before my kids, but I am NOT a morning person and it just won't happen. I even thought about trying to get up an hour earlier than I do now so I can go to the gym without kids (before Eric leaves) and save $10 a month on daycare at the gym. Then I realized that no matter how much I fantasize about being that "together", it just isn't going to happen. So, I'm trying to be realistic, and be productive at the same time... is that an impossible expectation??? I need some input here... how do you achieve Balance in life?

They Don't Make Em Like They Used To...

It's always such a pleasant surprise when you get good customer service anymore. I'm finding that more and more companies are so unwilling to stand behind their products and they don't offer warranties that really mean anything. We have a Jansport backpack that we bought when Megan was born. We used it as a "diaper bag" when she was a baby and have used it ever since for things like camping trips, boat trips, baseball games, etc. I can't tell you the number of miles we have put on this backpack. It has a rubber bottom so it's perfect for places that may have wet ground. We love it! Just this summer the zipper has started to fail. It splits open all the time. That's the only problem we've had with this backpack. So, we checked a couple stores and discovered that they no longer make the "rubber bottom" version. Then I remembered that Jansport supposedly has a lifetime warranty on their products, so we got online, got the phone number and I just gave them a call. I can ship the backpack back in a box and they will repair it for free and send it back to me. This backpack is more than 11 years old and they said it was "no problem". How AWESOME is that???