Sister Bachelorette

Guess we won't be seeing any overnight "Fantasy Suite" dates on THIS one will we???

Oooo! Ooooo!

Of course this is happening on a day I cannot possibly get away from prior engagements... BUT I thought I'd throw it out there for all you ladies who might want to go! (PICK ME UP SOMETHING WHILE YOU'RE THERE!!!) :-)

One of my latest favs:

Sun-Shiney Day

1.Road to the Middle of Nowhere (But your NOWHERE is my HOME!) : PIONEER CROSSING opens TOMORROW!

2. Gracias, Southwest: Bought my plane ticket to Orlando for only $250. Can't wait for the end of October: Ohana, 20+, French bakery, The Bat Cave, humidity, brown
hair, Menchies, and getting paid great money for doing what I love - can't get a whole lot better. And since I got such a cheap flight, I'll be able to use most of the money I make on ... paying off the cars. :-) I am awesome. We're on the home stretch with the truck!!! HALLELUJAH!

3. Bliss: Wedding #2 out of 3 for the summer happened this weekend. Congrats to my sweet step-sister Kaitlyn and her awesome new hubby. I love temple sealings. I get giddy- and Chuck tells me I always like him more after we attend a sealing. :-) I love weddings.


4. Time: Every so often I get contemplative and nostalgic and just plain grateful for the things I've been able to do with my little life. Today in Relief Society I had time to think about how quickly time passes. How in the WORLD did I get where I am now? It's still strange for me to think about all the goals I had at eighteen- and minus one thing on that list (being an EFY counselor)- I have accomplished it all. And, to give myself credit, I WAS hired as a counselor the summer of '03, but accepted another job before EFY offered. :-) It makes me happy. And makes me think that this coming year- the big 3-0 needs to bring a whole new list of goals.

I am so grateful for my growing up time at Ricks College, my social time at Weber State's Institute, my performing time at BYU majoring in MDT and being a part of the Young Ambassadors, moving to the other side of the world, and finally ending up in Florida where I met the cute boy I am married to now. (Which, I might add, several people vocally expressed that I would "never find anyone to marry out there!) Ha! I showed YOU! :-)

I just can't believe how quickly all that time passed by. It's eleven years after high school and sometimes I still feel like that giddy little girl waiting for life to begin. Now I'm here. In the middle of it all. Hmmm. How did that happen?

5. Schedule: Tomorrow begins the BACK TO SCHOOL/FALL schedule of life that will run for the next eight months. Phew. Here we go...

6. Kiddy Singing: This week I recorded some songs for the little preschool I work for. Hilarious. But fun.

7. Bachelor: Bachelor Pad - It's awful and Chuck and I are eating it up! Oh! And I am excited for this fall season of reality TV!!!

8. Sundee: Thank heaven for The Day of Rest. I used it fully today.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I just surf YouTube for inspiring performances... ya know- cuz I'm a nerd like that.




And sometimes I find things like this:

South Pacific at the Lincoln Center - PBS

Nothing like old fashioned glorious musical theatre to make this girl's heart sing with happiness. Haven't had a chance to watch the whole thing yet- but what I DID see of it last night as I cleaned my lil' house was beautiful.

Oh, and I miss the stage.

Late. Not THAT Kind.

Happies:


1. Late Nights with the Texans: Stayed up till two a.m. last night playing with these folks. Oh, how I miss them.

2. Houses Bigger Than Anyone Needs: Chuckster and I drove all around Utahn creation this week seeing the Parade of Homes. And I thought I had a bug to decorate my house before... What fun we had.

Our Fav- The Monarch


3. Frozen Goodness: During our Parade of Homes festivities we got ourselves some yummy frozen yogurt- WHICH reminded me how excited I am for MENCHIES to be in Utah!!!

4. Plans: Heading to Orlando in October. I think I'll be ready for the work/play I'll be able to do. I'll be ready for it.

5. Green: Paid $914 towards the truck today. I just keep pluggin' along.

6. Mawwige: Wedding this week. We all know, I do, I really do, love weddings.

7. Manifesto: Spent a little time this week writing in my handy dandy little online journal, "What I Want My Daughters to Know About Marriage." I spared all of you from this rant (not a negative one, mind you), but if I do say so myself, it was quite brilliant. And it made me happy.

8. M. Gilbert: The cat is nuts. But he still makes me laugh and I love him lots. Apparently he wishes he were meat. He has an obsession with jumping into the fridge. UGH.

9. Wrapping Up: Summer is coming to an end. I'm excited to get back into the regular routine of the preschool/dance studio, life at the Scera on Thursdays... it'll be good for me. And for the pocketbook.

10. Sing Sing Sing: Got a saaaaaaweet gig with the Hale in Orem in a couple weeks. I'm totally excited about it.

Yep. And since I went to bed at 2 a.m. last night, 10:30 is where I end things tonight. Night!

Sunny

I work a lot now. I am tired. But I have found that, oddly enough, I am more productive and more efficient with my time when I am REALLY busy. Hmmm. Discoveries...

Things that kept me happy this past week-

1. Weeping Women: Today I went to Relief Society again. For the first time in a long, long time. (I went once for Mothers Day but before that we're talking like a few weeks after we moved in. So more than a year ago...) ANYWAY- I went today. And I needed it. Our ward is at capacity again (we're talking about 360 in our Primary, folks) and the Primary Pres. has decided to let someone else doing Singing Time for Senior Primary. Which means I get to go hang out with the ladies. I'm REALLY happy about it.

2. And We'll Have FUN FUN FUN: THESE PEOPLE are coming rill soon. Pretty much can't wait.

3. Totally Reality: I mentioned it before, but I thoroughly enjoyed the season finale of The Bachelorette. I did. I'm not a giddy girly person either- and that had me squealing.

4. Lite: I haven't eaten out for a week. One whole week. This is progress people. Someday I may even go back to running five miles a day like I used to... Before the cruise, before the crazies of 2010... Yeah.

5. Flap Ball Change: Cute Hubby bought me a chunk of wood to tappity tap on with my new DVDs. It's going to take everything inside of me to seriously buckle down and beef up those skills, but I need something to focus on, ya know?

6. Plans: Have my next trip to Orlando planned. It's the last year of the 20+ show I've participated in since 2007, so this is it. Off I'll go to do that show one last time at the beginning of November. After that it'll be Beauty and the Beast about once every six months.

And someday soon we'll go on another cruise.

Yes people. Someday we will actually plan a trip that has nothing to do with Disney- but while we've got the perks, we just gotta take advantage of them, right?

7. Closer: Every time I write a check that goes towards paying our cars off I get happy. I'd be happiER if those dollars were buying us clothes or furniture or something of that sort, but for now I will continue to use every penny I make and every extra penny we have to pay off those awesome cars that we've already owned for three years. Patience...

Now I need to clean my house and get it ready for the week ahead. Yay me.

PS: I want to spice up the blog. I feel like LIFE itself - when I'm not living in another country or pretending to be someone else with a good portion of my life - can be quite dull to write about. But I am happy to report that I am quite content with real "life." It's taken a long time to "settle down" if you will, but I'm in a good place. It feels nice.

So whaddya think? Shall I now write about the stats of my KITTY?!?!? (Ya know, cuz I said I was gonna spice up the blog...)

Oh my gosh you guys! M. Gilbert had his eight week checkup this week and here are his stats:

Height: 90th Percentile!
Weight: 95th Percentile!
Head: 5th Percentile!

Looks like we have a weird one on our hands! The pediatrician thinks it'll all turn out just fine.

Likes:
Mommy
Fuzzy blanket that he thinks is his real cat mommy
Daddy's feet, toes, legs- anything biteable and/or scratchable
His laser toy
Playing in his litter box
Climbing me like a tree
Climbing anything like a tree
The pantry
Socks
The bed skirt

Dislikes:
OUTSIDE
Loud noises
Daddy wrapping him up in a blanket to see how long it takes him to get out
Being thrown out of the pantry
Chewing carpet strands
Holding still
Being obedient

Milestones:
- Pooped in the litter box all by himself today!
- Counts to six.
- Knows how to play the harmonica.
- Eats solids.
- Claps his paws and says "hello!"

Yes. I am mocking. And it's all out of pure love for all of you. ;-)

Reminders

Googly Eyes

So I'm a sucker, OK? Gotta tell y'all how much this girl LOVED the BACHELORETTE finale on Monday night. Also gotta tell you that her hubby loved it too! :-)

Now that I am finished speaking in the third person, I'll tell you what else I have loved lately:

- Working: It's kept me busy but I am enjoying it. I'm glad that I have things to keep me busy and that I have the discipline to put every penny I make into loan payments... GET. IT. OVER. WITH.

- Friends: Had a fun night with the "high school and before" ladies on Friday night.

For Aubrey:

Yes. This bow is for serious at Forever 21. Yes. I have seen it worn by teenage girls. Yes. I think it's ridiculous.

- Outside: Chuck and I had a fabulous little jaunt up to Stewart Falls near Sundance last night. On the way home we took a gander at Squaw Peak. Refreshing.

Pics to come...

- Kitty: He is obnoxious and wants to play/and/or/be with me or his Papa Chuckie ALL the time. My foot has become a chew toy and our downstairs spare bathroom has become the baby's bedroom. He's just so darn cute.