SPRING MOUNTAIN RANCH

This weekend was spent out at Spring Mountain Ranch watching this musical:

The story line was a musical in a musical. That might sound odd but it was so clever and actually pretty funny! We laughed hard through the whole show!

This is me and Rochelle, a good friend from my ward, and we also work together in Young Women's. She's awesome and the PERFECT person to put in charge of sides for a picnic. Just look at the picture below! She always goes above and beyond in everything :)

These two fun girls were there too. Lauren, who is also in my ward, and Julie, her friend who is now our friend! Julie is HILARIOUS and we all had good times laughing, and eating, and enjoying the cooler weather under the stars.

Look at this spread! What better way to spend an evening than with a picnic, some music, and a cool breeze coming out from the canyon. Delightful! Next month is Fiddler on the Roof, so it's something more to look forward to! Thank you, Spring Mountain Ranch!

FRUIT PIZZAS

Tonight the Young Women got together for some Fruit Pizza and down time. We've been focused on camp preparation for the last couple of months, so we figured it was time for something simple....

We had two sheet cakes of sugar cookies, so the girls devided into teams and created their own 'masterpieces.' Team #1 decided to do a Mosaic piece (at least that's what they called it):

Team #2 opted to creating a picture of Ashley, one of our Laurels. There's the obvious face, and the rest is hair, a shirt, etc:

The best part about them is how they tasted when we were done! Delicious! I love fruit pizza almost as much as I love these girls!!

JUST BECAUSE

MACI'S BAPTISM

This little girl was baptized this afternoon in the river at Martin's Cove. We sure are proud of her!!

Everyone was able to make it, including Grandma and Grandpa Wilkerson, who surprised us by being there when we arrived. It's not very often that we get to see them, so it made it that much better!Most of Crystal's family was also able to make it out here, so it was a whirlwind weekend full of playing, and cousins, and food, and oodles of pictures!

What a great day for a baptism. Lots of sunny skies, a slight (and sometimes not-so-slight) breeze, and lots of people there who love Maci and love each other. It was perfect!

DECORATING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

My mom brought a box full of holiday decorations down to Casper, so Maci and Chloe decided that they were going to participate in getting ready for the 4th. When they put the flags in the planters out front they ran back and forth, and back and forth, making sure that they were at the same level. Well done, ladies!

DAISY THE RABBIT

Today I came back to Wyoming for the weekend, and the first place I went was to my brother and sister-in-law's house to see my cute little nieces and nephew. And the rest of the family, of course! They were thrilled to introduce me to their new pet rabbit, Daisy, and we spent the entire afternoon playing with her, petting her, and acting like she had accomplished astounding feets by eating grass out of our hands. Seriously. That rabbit is TOO cute!!!

BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS

Every year my friend, Danielle, and I go out on our birthdays to celebrate. Mine is at the beginning of July and hers in August. I had planned a trip back to Wyoming during my birthday, so the day before we grabbed breakfast at Mimi's Cafe on my way to the airport and made a special stop at DSW for some shoes. Hooray!! I love Danielle. I love that we're so different but that we are still such good friends. Everyone needs a friend like Danielle. And everyone needs special birthday cake at Mimi's. Yum! Looking foward to a year full of adventures and experiences!!

BEEHIVE BREAKFAST

Whenever we have a new Beehive join Young Womens, Teresa does a special breakfast for them at her house. She even makes little 'bumblebee' cupcakes and has everyone come in their pajamas. How cute is that?! She's so good with these girls!

Here's our new, darling beehive, Kayla! Everyone was so excited for her to finally join them and it was non-stop giggling and talking. Add the other 5 girls who weren't able to come that morning, and imagine the fun that will be had.....

MODERN DAY LOVE STORY

One of our residents passed away recently and this was the obituary that her husband placed in the paper. It made me emotional reading it, partly because I knew her, and partly because it will just make you emotional. He would faithfully come every single day and visit her. One day I hope to feel this way about someone:

EMMA STILWELL This is not an obituary to notify everyone that a person has died, it is instead a tribute to the best person I ever knew in my nearly 85 years on Earth. Emma Mae Stilwell, Mae as she preferred to be called, was born Oct. 2, 1922 and passed into Heaven May 20, 2011. She was the third child of 12, born into a very large, very poor, and extremely dysfunctional family. Her older sister was sent to live with her grandparents, leaving Mae as the eldest daughter at home. As a young child, when her mother produced a new baby almost annually, the midwife would hand the baby to Mae and was told to go clean it up. After her second grade in school at the age of eight, her father gave her to a couple to live with, that he said he owed a favor. She had to tend to their three children, do housework, and any other chores they might find for her. The youngest child was a girl with epilepsy, and they showed her how to put a wooden spoon or paddle in her mouth when she had a seizure, so she wouldn't bite her tongue off. Quite a life for an eight year old. The only plus was that they sent her to a nice school where she started to learn acrobatics, which she loved. After one year there, her father decided that she was being abused, and took her back home. She completed grades four through six in school, and then her father removed her from school at the age of 12, and sent her to an Italian couple to work for $5.00 a week, and she had to pay him the bulk of the money. She said they were good to her in many ways, and she was taught how to cook. I would put her spaghetti sauce far ahead of any Italian restaurant I ever ate in. She worked there for a number of years. I met Mae by a God given miracle. My first wife walked out on me one night, and left me with my twin daughters who were less than three years old. I was young, hadn't any money, and had no idea what to do. My father (who was a saint), told me to advertise in the newspaper for someone to be a live in Nanny for a motherless home, and he offered to pay them $25.00 a week. It sounds crazy now, but that was 1952. I advertised and must have had 75 calls. Some were not interested, but many were. I interviewed several and chose Mae for the job. She was just wonderful from day one. The children loved her, and she in turn loved them dearly. It was strictly a business relationship for nearly a year, but then we fell in love, and here it's now 2011. I'm not real religious, but I'm either the luckiest person that ever lived, or God stepped in and sent me the most wonderful person that ever lived. It is almost impossible to imagine how much I miss her. There was never an easier person to get along with than Mae. Whatever I wanted to do was just perfect for her too. I truly believe, that if God gave everyone alive one wish, many would choose wealth, many health, a long life, and all kinds of wishes, but if he gave Mae that wish, she would have chosen, "To make "Harry" happy, and for him to love me." I had the best. She wasn't educated, but she had higher morals, ethics, and honesty than anyone I ever knew. My only hope is for God to not keep me around very much longer, and send me to be with her. I'm not sure that I deserve to go to Heaven to be with her, but if I do, I surely can't wait to be with my darling again. - Your devoted husband, Harry

TINY TEMPTATIONS

Yesterday one of my co-employees brought in a bag of watermelon taffy and put it in the candy dish in my office (usually reserved for mints and candies with less long-term effects). Darn those tiny taffys! They've sucked me in!! But at the same time, many thanks to Debbie for always being so good to me.....

GOT THIS SICK DOG

This isn't a picture of Jack, but it might as well have been last night. Poor little Jack the Dog was super sick and there wasn't much I could do to help him. From the way he was acting and whimpering, I could tell that his stomach was hurting him, and every time he took a step or was picked up he would breathe heavy and give a little groan. Luckily my Administrator at work raises show dogs, so her prior recommendations of water, pepto bismol, chicken, and rice did the trick. Today he's still sluggish and not moving very fast, but he's back to staring you down when you're eating, hoping that you'll give him something. I seriously love that dog!

MY BIG FAT GYPSY WEDDING

As fascinating as it is to see their culture come out in the show, here's why I'm really grateful I'm not a gypsy:

1. Their average age to marry is 17 years old. 17!!!!!
2. The traveling gypsys live in trailers. I'm a big fan of them when I'm camping, but not so much to live in.
3. Their wedding dresses are usually twice their weight....which causes them scarring on their hips from it pulling at their skin. The bigger the scar, the better.
4. Girls are expected to clean and have kids. That's pretty much all they are allowed to do. They even have to have permission from their husbands to go out and see family and friends.
5. If a woman divorces an abusive husband she's not allowed to remarry. He can marry as many times as he wants, but she's 'used goods.'
6. There's not an emphasis on education. In fact, it's discouraged when you're a girl because you should be cleaning. Seriously?!?! Even the boys are discouraged once they get older (older meaning 15 and 16) because their focus should be finding a wife.
7. Disputes and disagreements are settled by fist fights that last until one or the other person gives up. You never talk out your problems.
8. They marry their cousins. Enough said.

CHALLENGE

Last week our Bishop issued the challenge to our ward to all read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. We could do it as families, or as individuals, whichever way we decided we wanted to do it. It's only been a week, but I've already had multiple conversations with people who have been experiencing the effects of it. I love that no matter how many times you read the Book of Mormon, you can always experience the peace and power that comes from it. The excitement of knowing it was written by prophets who saw our day. In February I was in Guatemala and saw numerous sites that Church Historians have indicated were sites from the Book of Mormon. The City of Nephi, the Waters of Mormon, even just the wilderness that they walked through. I'm imagining it as I read and it's making it become more real to me. It's making me appreciate even more the sacrifices that were made to keep the plates, and to travel with them, and to preserve them for us. For me. Tomorrow the Young Women are coming over to my house to read. We're going to read for an hour, have lunch, and then spread out and read for another hour. What a great way to spend a Saturday morning, and what a great blessing to be able to bring the Spirit of the Book of Mormon into my home. If only weight loss challenges were this enjoyable......

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

It's been a while since I posted anything. Partly because I've been incredibly busy with some aspects of my life, and partly because I haven't felt like there was much to 'talk' about in my life. It's been almost 3 months so I'll do a quick recap of some changes in a nutshell:

1. New job: I'm still working at the same company as before, but my title now is 'Director of Human Resources.' I'm putting Social Work aside for a while (yippee) and focusing on something different. I started it a couple of months ago and so far I LOVE it!!! I enjoy being able to interact with all of the staff, I like that everything still feels familiar, regardless of how different it is, and I like having a window and private office again. I don't have much time to look out my window, but I like that it's there :)
2. New kind of house: Not a literal new house, but for the first time EVER I am living alone. I know it makes me sound sort of ridiculous saying that, but I like being around people and not having a roommate right now is a HUGE step for me. On the upside, I now have guest bedrooms and a whole slew of new appliances, so if you're ever this way, come by and stay for a bit. Seriously. I'm starting to talk to Jack like he's an actual person.
3. New attitude: Hahaha! Just kidding! But I like to think that I'm trying to stay positive about the little things that life throws my way. I feel like I went through a bit of a slump a couple of months ago and was feeling pretty frustrated with life in general. It didn't take long for me to realize that me feeling down wasn't changing the reality of the situation, so I implemented some goals for myself. It's been awesome and I feel like I'm on the upswing. I'm a big fan of re-evaluation, and it was a good time to do that.
4. New favorite show: NCIS. I'm a bit obsessed with this show right now, and thanks to Netflix I'm going to spend my summer watching all of the episodes from the beginning. Kudos to my old roommate, Melissa, for putting up with hours and hours of episodes when I first discovered it in March. It's fantastic!
5. New favorite food: Vegetable meatloaf!!! Don't wrinkle your nose at this because I found a recipe for meatloaf you make out of ground turkey and oodles of vegetables. It freezes easy, and is delicious!! I literally have been eating it four and five times a week for over a month now and still look forward to it. Yummy!
6. New computer: This was inevitable because my other one shorted out. I still haven't had a chance to touch base with the 'Geek Squad' to see if my information can be salvaged, but I sure am hoping I can save even some of my information. Note to self: Always do a backup!!!

So that's my life right now! Nothing hugely significant, but lots of little things going on. I feel like my life is similar to the picture I posted with this. Lots of awesome scenery and things to be appreciative of, and a road that I find myself on with bends and turns, and the inability to see around the corner. But it's a BEAUTIFUL road and I'm excited to see what lies beyond the tree. Life is good!

SAFETY

Feeling safe has always been a big thing for me. Even if I KNOW I'm safe, I want to make sure I feel like I'm safe. So I was thrilled when they came over the weekend and installed a security system in my home. Any entry into my house is safeguarded, and the thought of being alone at night is less daunting. It's been a good thing.
So the following Monday I came to work with the assurance that there would be less to worry about when I'm not home. It was a short-lived victory. Two hours later I went into my desk and found my wallet missing from my purse. All of my money, checkbook, IDs, Credit and Debit cards, gift cards, contact information....everything was gone. Right out of my office, which would require that the individual go behind my desk, open my drawers, lift if out of the place where it's hidden, and take it out of my purse. Really?! It's like one step forward and two steps back ;) Sigh.......

A FEW LITTLE NEW THINGS

I love the Spring!! It makes me so excited when the weather starts to warm up and I find myself looking for any excuse to be outside. Plus, you get to air out your house, the days start to get longer, and all of a sudden you have motivation for projects like these:

Project #1: Garage makeover. My parents are in town for a week, so my dad spent the last couple of days re-installing cabinets and building shelves in my garage. He is a lifesaver!! I wish I had gotten a 'before' picture, but basically the things in that pile were lining both sides of my garage. Grrrr. I hate clutter.

Thankfully my little CRV doubled as a pickup truck so we could go get supplies! Another reason that I have never had buyers remorse over this handy little vehicle.

So here is the finished product!! It makes such a huge difference when things are organized and it makes me want to do things in my garage again. Thanks, Dad!!!!!

Project #2: Landsaping. Doing something with my yard has been placed on the backburner since moving in to my house. My funds are limited, so I knew it was going to need to be simple. The picture above was how it looked before, and that's AFTER I filled 7 industrial sized bags full of thick weeds that were starting to look like trees. It was hideous.
And here's how it looks now! It's perfect for my lifestyle. Low maintenance with minimal work required. I love it. It's not completely done though. The landscaper, is going to bring some more rock to fill in some areas, and then next week there's a tree being planted in the back corner. I can't wait for the flowers to come out on the bushes. Plus, on two of the plants when the leaves turn white you can eat them and they taste like honey. Just a random tidbit of information.
Jack the Dog is also a big fan. When I can't find him now, he is usually here. Laying in the grass, soaking in the sun.

So special thanks go to: 1. Uncle Sam for helping me fund these little projects 2. Dad for being willing to do TONS of things around the house that I've tried myself but failed at miserably 3. Ed, the landscaper, for giving me such a great deal 4. Mom for helping me clean and organize 5. The man who invented low maintenance, artificial grass 6. And finally...special things go out to the 70 and 80 degree weather that we've been experiencing this last week. Seriously. Thank you!

I GUESS I WAS MEANT TO BE WHITE

I'm one of those people that burns with sunblock. Really burns. So about a month ago I decided I would start tanning a few times a week to slowly build up some color and hopefully eliminate the inevitable vacation sunburn. Four minutes, then five, then six. I built my way up to what I THOUGHT was a decent tan. That was until today, which ironically was my last time to go tanning. As I was walking out of the tanning place the lady said to me, and I quote 'Wow! Your legs are really white!' Yep. Epic failure! I guess I'm meant to be this pasty shade of white.

SICK OF SICK

These last two week have turned me into a cleaning fiend. And not in a good way. At work we've been quarantined because of a nasty flu, so it's been all day long cleaning and disinfecting. Then I go home to a roommate with tonsillitis and another mystery infection that almost landed her in the hospital. Normally I would hope that I don't get sick, and maintain my distance, but in less than a week I'm in Central America sharing hotel rooms and a van with 5 other people. The stomach flu and tonsillitis are not on my travel agenda. So it's been almost two weeks of constant washing, disinfecting...and then washing and disinfecting. It's turned me grumpy and I hate it when I feel grumpy! Yesterday I started getting a sore throat and little white pockets appeared on the back of my throat. Tonsillitis....maybe. Strep Throat.....perhaps. I'm not taking my chances though. Tomorrow I'm starting on a 10 day round of antibiotics. I'm officially sick of the sick!!

JANUARY IN A NUTSHELL

Likes

1. Sales: I can't stand shopping, but I LOVE getting deals on things, so when I replenished my entire collection of Christmas wrapping paper for under 6 dollars I was thrilled!

2. Warm Weather: January was uncharacteristically warm this year. I think we even hit record highs. For someone that doesn't care much for cold anymore, it was a welcomed treat to be able to go outside with nothing but a light jacket, and some days, short sleeves.

3. Young Women in Excellence: We had our YWIE program this month and it turned out so cute! The girls were pretty much in charge of everything and I love seeing them step up and pull it off so nicely. It also helps that they are organized, since I tend to be a bit disorganized!

4. Back yard work: In the process of digging, pulling, and complaining over thistles, I didn't much care for this January event, but what I DO like is how it was when it was done with. Well, mostly done with. This spring I'm going to figure out landscaping and the back yard will be complete!

5. 12 Step Program: I know this is going to sound odd, but last Sunday the missionaries who are over the church's 12 step addiction program came and did a special presentation during the last hour of our 5th Sunday. I LOVED it. I felt the Spirit as they were talking. I felt a desire to help others who are going through difficult trials in their lives. They discussed several addictions like drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc, and put a special emphasis on the addiction of pornography. I've been lucky enough to not have to personally deal with these issues myself, but I appreciated so much the notable love that they feel and openly expressed towards others who are. That's how it should be. The gospel should be a gospel of love, and understanding, and acceptance. It made me appreciate that there are such wonderful people like them to teach us how to be better, and it made me even more grateful for the Atonement in our lives.

6. Office: My pseudo-office was finally, sort of, painted. There have been holes on the walls and white patches for a while, so it's nice to have one solid color. I think the solid color is sort of hideous, but I can't complain. At least it's a solid color.

7. New Testament: I like that we've started studying the New Testament this year. It's familiar to me, and contains some of my favorite stories and teachings. Plus, we got to talk about the birth of Christ again this year, so it felt like the best parts of Christmas again. It was awesome!

Dislikes

1. Dumb injuries: At the end of last year/beginning of this year I started running again to get in shape for my upcoming trip. Less than a week into it a pulled the muscles behind my knee, which I discovered, is INCREDIBLY inconvenient because you can't do anything without bending your knee or straightening it (both hurt - it was super annoying). After going to the doctor and spending the last 3 weeks doing as little as possible with it, as per his request, I'm finally on the mend. I've gone out a couple of times this week for quick walks in the evening, and it is sore the next morning, but nothing like before. This was a ginormous DISLIKE for the month of January.

2. Fees and Dues: I always dislike the beginning of January because with it comes my insurance payment and my HOA payment for the year. It's a huge chunk of money all at once, but I ALSO dislike making a bunch of payments every month, so the one time deal is more convenient. More costly, but more convenient.

3. Planning a trip to Central America: This sounds like an oxymoron since I'm really excited to go, but the actual planning of the trip has been pretty frustrating. Third world countries are way harder to make schedules for than other countries! You can't find anything online, and when you ask about bus schedules everyone says, ' you just put your arm out and grab one.' Ironically, that's the truth, but it's hard planning that way when you need specifics. Plus, it's hard when you have 5 people from different states, and most of them are too busy to give much input. You feel like a travel agent, but like a frustrated travel agent. I know I sound ridiculous complaining about this, but it really WAS a dislike during January. A big one.

CENTRAL AMERICA OR BUST

In just over 2 weeks I'll be in Guatemala climbing to the top of this:
It's called Pacaya Volcano and it's currently active!! You can hike right up to the lava flow and take pictures! Considering how much activity these legs have had in the last 3 months, I'm also stocking up on a lot of this:
We're heading up north and taking some time for climbing around the ruins here. You get to see monkeys, which I'm really excited about, and possibly snakes, which I'm really NOT excited about:
And before we come home we're stopping off at Semuc Chempney to float through caves and play in these natural lagoons in the middle of the jungle:
I'm pretty excited at the though of going to Belize to see this:
And I can't wait to spend a day at Lake Atitlan and kayaking on this:
It's going to be 10 days of memorable adventures, sore muscles, incredible views, and oodles of pictures. Hoping to make it back in one piece....that's the goal :)