Oh the Woes...

I consider myself to be a happy person. I tend to look on the bright side of things, the "glass is half full" kinda person, I try not to let little things get me down. However, there are times when something can really take it out of me and within two minutes I become Debbie Downer.

Take last night, for example. Cody, Cache and I went up to Ikea to look around a bit and make some final decisions on some things we want. We're having a great time looking at all the wholesome Ikea goodness, I even run into an old friend of mine from High School! He was there with his wife and son (and although we used to be super close, he sort of talked to me like he was a co-worker or something...really weird...we'll save that for another post) and we chatted for a few minutes.

Then...about 5 minutes later...I realize that my cell phone is gone. Missing. Disappeared. Cody tries to call it, but I had turned it on vibrate when we entered the store. We traced our steps at least 58 times, I searched my bag - nothing. I asked an employee what I should do and she did nothing to ease my worry. "Hmmm" she said, "Yeah...I don't know...geez...that's too bad". When I asked her where I can go for lost and found, she answered, "Once you leave the store, go outside and walk down the front of the building. Go inside this door and go up 3 flights of stairs and you'll see a desk. You can report your phone there."

When we're done shopping we hike up the 3 flights of stairs and the nice woman behind said desk was very nice, but informed me that my phone had not been turned in. Blast. I left my name and Cody's number, but I wasn't too optimistic. Cody took me to Neils for dinner - Neils is this lovely little joint that has the yummiest fish and chips I've ever tasted. When sad? Drown your sorrows in deep fried halibut, works every time. I called Ikea this morning and there is still no sign of my phone. I canceled my number (which I've had for 6 YEARS!!!) and sent out a sad little text informing my friends of my new number. Luckily, I still have my old phone so I'm not totally cut off from the world. *Sigh*, I did love that phone so much...

Today Cody and I are hoping to get lots of house projects done. We have errands and cleaning and yard work to do...it's going to be a long day and I'm beginning to regret that deep fried halibut.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Over sized Bags!

I will admit, I have a large purse and while I love it so - it is a pain to find my keys at times. Howevah! I love the way a large, over sized bag looks. And that's all that matters, right? Fashion over function? Right.

I love the look of this bag - all leathery and worn. I could be Indiana Jones with this bag...

I love this one! You can't really tell from this picture, but it's a pretty big size - like the size of a small duffel bag. Fabulous!
Mmmm, shiny cognac leather with a rad strap - sign me up!

Now, most of these purses I have showcased are more than my mortgage payment. Guess I'll have to go peruse Target and see what I can find!

Flashback Tuesday

Jingle Bells! I realized yesterday that there are 6 months until Christmas. Of course I'm crazy to think of such a thing, but oh how I love the Holidays! Now, you know that Halloween is my favorite Holiday EVER and I host a big Halloween party every year. Recently, I started hosting a big Christmas party, too. Here are some photos from last years' festivities.

Brittany, Jim, Britt's daughter Morgan and Me during the party. I have to say that I find this picture funny - it looks like a family portrait or something and none of us are related. Well, except Brittany and Morgan...

This year we did White Elephants. Everybody brought one and the gifts ranged from thoughtful to racy! Here is Jim choosing his gift.

The big Christmas village Cody and I set up each year. I wasn't really into the whole Christmas Village thing until I met Cody's family. His parents set up a HUGE village every year! It's a tradition for all for all of us to go out the day after Thanksgiving and pick up a few new pieces for our villages. Our village isn't even half the size as Cody's parents, but we'll get there.

Me, Heather, Brittany and Morgan making carmels! Cody's family has this amazing recipe for homemade carmels - they are SO delish. We only make them during Christmas time and I basically live off of them until New Years. It's a pretty involved process to make them, so the girls came over and we made a few batches!

This was the picture we used in our Christmas cards. I love these little PJ's on Cache. They are little long johns with the trap door in the back! I don't know if you can see, but it has "...and to all a good night" embroidered on the back.

Now I'm all giddy for Christmas! I should probably listen to some Christmas tunes while I make breakfast. Ho ho ho!

Strawberry Days

This past week in Pleasant Grove has been the Strawberry Days Festival. I have never gone to Strawberry Days, didn't really know what it was about. All I knew is that there was a rodeo and that some of my cousins had been crowned "Miss Strawberry Days" during their pageant careers. Since Cody now works for Pleasant Grove Fire Dept, he was pretty involved with everything that goes on during this little festival...it's not little at all. As it turns out, it's a huge deal. There is a carnival, a parade, boutiques, contests - everyone in the City turns out for Strawberry Days. Oh, and they are enough strawberries to feed a small country.

I took Cache up to PG on Friday night so we could see the Life Flight Helicopter land at the Fire Station. He played on the fire trucks and later that evening Cody, Cache, and I walked through the carnival with our friends Marc and Jessica (was it full of crazy carnies? You betcha). Cache went on a few rides and had a total blast! Then we all went to get strawberry shakes (yummy) before calling it a night.

This morning was the parade, so I drove Cache over to the Fire Station so he could ride on the Fire Engine with the other fire kids. While I'd like to think he had a great time (he did sound excited when we were in the car on the way there), I think he was a little freaked out to be on top of the Engine. Cody walked with the Honor Guard, he looked very handsome in his dress blues! PG is sort of a small town, so the parade only lasted about an hour. After that we went to the Fire Station and had a big lunch with everyone in the department.

Cody and the Honor Guard opening the Parade

Our friends, Marc and Jessica

Cache and the other fire kids on top of the Engine

Tonight we went to the Rodeo with Marc and Jessica - Cache loved watching the horses and bulls.

It's been a long couple of days and I know Cody is very happy that Strawberry Days is over! I will admit that I enjoyed the perks of being a Fire Wife during the festival, we got reserved seating at the events and some special treatment. It was very fun, but I'm glad I have a year to gear up for the next one...

The First Day of Summer

Yesterday was the official first day of Summer! Hannah invited Cache and I to spend the day up at The Gateway with her and her kids. Little did we know that yesterday's temperature would rival the the temperature of the Sun's surface - it was SO HOT!

We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (yummy) and then took the kids over to the huge fountain.

Cache wasn't too interested in splashing around, but Hannah's girls were able to get a little wet and cool off! I think Hannah and I were thisclose to playing in the fountain, too. Even the shade was hot. We did some shopping at Forever21, but couldn't stay too long because it didn't seem like their AC was working on the 2nd floor. The kids didn't seem to mind too much, it was Hannah and I that did all the complaining! We walked over to meet Trax and I was so looking forward sitting in the air-conditioned train. Hmmm, no such luck. The side we sat on was in the sun the whole way! We were totally dying. Cache was exhausted, so he fell asleep on my shoulder - and for some reason, once kids fall asleep they are a billion degrees! I'm sure we were quite a site - Hannah and I sweating and exhausted, trying to keep our sweaty and tired kids cool and happy until we got to the car. Finally when we reached our stop, Hannah ran to get her car and I waited with the kids. Cache was still sacked out on my shoulder and I was just praying that I didn't collapse from heat exhaustion. It was nice to get in Hannah's car and blast the AC! We really had such a fun day, but I think next time we do that, we'll go at the crack of dawn.

After Hannah dropped me off at my car, Cache and I went over to my parents house to play in their stream in their backyard. I so want one of those! The water was so cold and it felt so good! I took my shoes off and soaked my feet...it was Heaven.

Cache of course got totally drenched (he likes to pick up rocks and throw them in the water). We had a little water fight and we finally cooled off after a long, hot day.

De stars in de skies...

My sister is crafty. She painted these tin stars to put on a wreath on her door. Aren't they great? These are just a few of the ones she painted. I love that she used glitter on some parts of the stars, they look so rad! She and her family come in town again next weekend for the 4th and I'm hoping we can do some crafty things together...





After she sent these to me I realized that I need to start getting my house decorated for the 4th of July! This month flew by, I can't believe that June is almost over...good thing Andrea will be here to help me with some snappy decor.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

White Heels...

I don't know what it is, but I cannot get enough of white stilts! Simple, cut-out, ornamented - doesn't matter. They just seem so...so...60's and saucy. The pair above will be in my closet before long. Oh yes, they will be mine. I have been wary of white heels in the past, so I don't know if this sudden obsession is brought on by the fact that I can't indulge in every fashion whim being pregnant or what, but I must have a pair! Or two...or three.....

Another day, another commercial

Action! I was in another commercial today and it was so much fun. Both of my brothers were there (Marty directed, Rich was assisting) along with a bunch of other guys in the crew. We were filming a commercial about conserving water during the Summer - they are always so clever and done so well. I'll try to post the video once they are done editing it, but basically they filmed a few other women (my Mom was in it, too!) and we all do the same thing - we walk out of a house like we're about to run errands and the weather is different every time (snowing, raining, sunny). My scene was me coming out of a house dressed for Summer and I turn around to see that it's snowing...I know, I know - it doesn't make sense, but I promise it's funny! Anyway, here are some pics from the shoot:

Here's me waiting on the porch for the snow machine.

During one of the takes - I walk out and realize that it's snowing.

There is Marty looking at the shot he just filmed to see if anything needs to be fixed.

It was a fun day! I hope they ask me to do more stuff. I mean, both of my brothers do this for a living, you'd think they'd ask me to do this all the time. Hmmm, maybe I'm not that good...

Happy Fathers Day!

Goodness, where have I been? I feel like I haven't blogged forever. First, I want to wish all the Dad's out there a very Happy Father's Day!
My Dad, Brian. I love my Dad so very much - he's the hardest working man I know. I can talk to him about anything and he has always, always been there for me. I love him so much and he is the world's greatest Dad!

My Father-in-Law, Gary. I can't say enough about him - he has always been so wonderful to me and I just love him. He has been such a great Dad to Cody, we both look up to him. He is fearless and can do just about anything, how great is that?

My husband. Ahhhh, Cody. How lucky am I? Cody is the best Dad for little Cache. I don't know how to say this without it being totally cheesy, but I love that Cody is the one I get to raise children with. Does that even make sense? He's my best friend and it's awesome that we get to do this together. All kids love Cody, he is so patient with Cache, he is the biggest help to me and I don't know if he realizes how wonderful he is. He is such a great Dad, I love him for that. Happy Father's Day!

***

As I said in a previous post, my Sister has been in town and I've been spending almost every day with her. I love when she comes to visit! She'll be back in a few weeks, but I always feel like I need to see her every second when she's in town - she's such a blast to hang out with.

***A few days ago I realized that the girls trip I organize each year is next month!! It came up so fast, I swear I had more time. I'm frantically getting everything ready and I hope it all comes together in time. My life will be pretty crazy until then, wish me luck!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Lucky Magazine!

I tell you what, I love this magazine more than any other...ok, maybe not as much as the Martha Stewart Halloween issue. My sister introduced me to this mag about two years ago and I've been hooked ever since. It's FULL of glorious fashion pieces and it also includes prices and info on where you can buy everything - how great is that? They also have a page full of "Yes" and "Maybe" stickers that you can peel off and put at the top of a page where you have found something you love. I eagerly wait for this lovely little book of Heaven to arrive in my mailbox each month!

In other news, I feel like I have been cut off from the planet. We are getting a new internet service and I haven't had access for two days! (I'm currently using my Mom's computer) Ugh, it seems like forever. Hopefully it will be connected by tomorrow so I can spend countless hours in front of my little screen.

My sister and her kids are in town this week! Today my Mom, Andrea, Jess (sister-in-law) and I went to Ikea for the afternoon, it was fabulous as usual. I'm excited to spend so much time with her this week! She leaves on Saturday and then comes back in three weeks for the 4th of July.

Side note - Cody's 30th Birthday is coming up on July 7th (he was born 7-7-77, and he was 7 lbs. 7 oz. Oh yeah, he was in the paper) and I need some ideas! Usually I'm pretty great at throwing a little Birthday get-together, but I really want this one to be great and I'm not sure what to do. Help me out! (PS - Obviously? Me being pregnant, jumping out of a cake is not an option).

Powell Trip

Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here! Cody and I just got back from spending the weekend in Lake Powell. It was so fantastic, I didn't want to leave. The weather was perfect and we had a total blast! The day we left Provo, the temperature was in the 50's (a rather cold snap in the month of June) and it was overcast and gloomy. But we left this....

For this!

There was a lot of wake surfing - Cody and Jon mastered some new moves. We spent lots of time out on the water, it was beautiful.

Every day we stayed on the water until sunset - how can you beat that view?

Here are our friends Britt, Jon (surfing) and Dan.

Jon and Britt especially loved the sunshine!

Saturday night we drove into Page for dinner. Here's Cody and I as we were leaving the dock. Dinner was delish - we stopped at the grocery store on the way back to get stuff to make some rice krispie treats! On the way back to the boat, we noticed a huge fireworks show across the Lake - we stopped and watched for a while, it was awesome.

The next morning we got up early and drove to Antelope Canyon. It's so pretty - the canyon walls come straight out of the water and the water is so flat it's like a mirror. Jon opted to tour the canyon on a wave runner - here he is following the boat.


One morning Jon and Cody were having a pretty heated discussion over breakfast cereals. As you can see, most of us favor the sugary kinds...the lovely Britt just smiled for the camera hoping to avoid the debate!

It was the best trip, we had a great time. It was hard to leave, but at the same time we were excited to come home and see Cache! My family is taking a trip to Powell next month, I'll be counting the days until then...

Cody's Call

Cody sent me some pictures from a call they went on yesterday at work. Holy Johnnies! This guy was dumping at Geneva and his breaks weren't working so great - the truck slid right off the edge! I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but he was trapped inside the cab of the truck - he had hurt his back and they had to break out the window to get him out. Lots of pictures...

These were taken when they first arrived

Um...

Before they could get the driver out, they had to stabilize the truck to make sure it wouldn't fall. They brought in two bulldozers - a D9 (which means it's ginormous) and a smaller one. These next pictures were taken by a News camera.

That's Cody on the left!

So, what did you do yesterday?