Easter Weekend...

Ok, now I can fill you in on all the goodness of last weekend!  Friday I spent most of my day cleaning up the house, getting it ready for pictures.  There was so much to do!  I got a lot accomplished and was pretty exhausted at days' end.  

Saturday we went over to Cody's parents house for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt.  Cache had a blast!  He made out like a bandit (and about $5.00 in change - he was somehow drawn to the eggs containing money).  We had a delicious lunch, complete with deviled eggs and hot spinach dip.  It was a gorgeous day - clear and sunny, perfect for finding eggs.

It was so nice to just sit in the sun and hang out with the family.  I needed to get Cole back home to take his nap (and uh, I may or may not have taken a wee nap, myself), but Cache stayed behind and rode 4-wheelers and played in the pasture.  In the evening we drove up to see my parents for a bit, then came home and I put the kids to bed.  Later Tom and Tanya came over and we watched "Oceans' 13" - such a great movie, no?  We laughed and snacked, so great when they come over.

The next morning Cache found a trail of Easter Eggs leading to his fancy basket!  It kept him busy all day!  

Cody brought me some bright yellow lilies, how cute is he?  Church was great, then Adam and Ann came over that afternoon.  We had a great time visiting them - we don't see them enough.

 

Later that night, we went back up to my parents house and colored Easter Eggs.  You all know the creativity that my siblings possess, which is why I so love this picture of Marty - we take our crafts very seriously, you understand. 

Cache created some great eggs - I was so proud!  All in all, we had a fabulous Easter.

Monday we got some more house things taken care of and started making a pile of things to take to our storage unit.  Cody's parents were kind enough to let us use their horse trailer to load up our stuff.  How in the world do we accumulate so much rubbish?  I don't even know what half of those boxes hold, but until I have a few days to sit and organize, into storage they go! 

We went up to the Fire Station in PG and Cache played at the park for a little bit.  I have loved that the weather has been warm enough for him to play outside.

Tuesday night was another 'Thrillionaires' show - and it was SO great!  I felt it was much better than last week.  The workshop we had before the show was very helpful - we really listened to each other and the show ran so much smoother.  The musical portion was so much fun.  MacLain was there this week and he and I had a few duets together.  I've known him since 7th grade and we both had a hard time singing to each other without laughing.  So much fun!  No show this coming Tuesday, but the following Tuesday for sure! 

Last night Tonya came over for a spell, I so love it when she comes over.  She stayed for dinner and much chatting.  She's coming over again tonight and I'm looking forward to it!  More good news?  Andrea is coming into town tonight!!  She'll be staying the weekend and I am so stoked to see her, as always.  She and Rich are going to see 'Vampire Weekend' on Monday night.  I love this band, but I'm sort of a weirdo - I had the opportunity to go to the concert with them and sort of declined.  Why did I do that?  Why am I so lame about concerts?  We all know that I have gone to concerts before, many-a-concert in fact.  Recently I just haven't been that...interested, I guess.  That is, unless Bon Jovi comes to town.  

I think that sums up the goings on.  Oh!  The house showing went really well yesterday.  Adam said they were in the house for a long time and their realtor said that they really like the house.  I guess we'll see what happens!  I am loving having a super clean house, now if only I can maintain it...

HolyMotherOf...

Whoa!  Busy weekend!  So, so much to post about - but alas, I shall have to wait to post aboutall the happenings of the past few days, but I will soon.  Sooooon!

Biggest news - our house went on the Market today!  The pictures turned out awesome and it was great to see the "For Sale" sign on our front lawn.  Better news?  Someone wants to come see it.  TOMORROW.  Word - how cool is that?  Well, cool and terrifying.  We've been spending the past few days clearing out some clutter and storing things in a storage unit.  We have a few more things to get done tonight, but I'm optimistic that the house will show really well.  Here are the pictures - 

What do think?  You like, eh?  Want to purchase?  Buy me!  I am signing off, now - but I promise to be back soon.  Cross your fingers, wish us luck!

Apron strings

Today started out great.  It was raining hard early this morning, but by 10:00 it was sunny and clear - gorgeous!  I met Tanya for lunch at Los Hermanos - Tom even had a Peachy Rico with us.  We talked for a few hours...so great.   Then Tanya and I headed to the Mall to do some shopping, browsing...good times.  I came home and that's when Cody tells me, "Adam's going to come take pictures of the house" (Adam is our friend who will be selling our house).  To which I reply, "Oh, really?  When?"  Cody answers, "Saturday".

This is where my good day ends.

Saturday?!?!  Are you kidding me?  Oh, and the real kicker - Cody goes to work tomorrow for 48 hours.  Awesome.  That means I'm left to get the house all ready by myself.  Now, I realize I don't have to have EVERYTHING done, but you can sympathize with my panic, right?  Our upstairs is absolute chaos right now - Cache's room is almost done, but we've moved everything to the middle of the room so we could put up the chair rail.  Now that it's up, I will be the one moving everything back - the bed, dresser, toy box, etc.  Not to mention taking a few things to the garage or basement (where NO pictures will be taken - not on this go, anyway).  I also have to muster up the man power to move Cache's old twin mattress...ssssomewhere.  I have a huge clock to hang, blinds to put up, towels to wash, floors to vacuum.  Oh, and I have two kids, did I mention?  I have plants that need to be potted - ugh.  OH - and the worst room in the house?  The room that's the farthest away from being 'show' ready?  Master Bedroom.  Yep.  Not sure any pictures will be taken of that room on Saturday, either.

Now, rather than get a head start on some of these projects, I sit and blog my worries.  I unload it all upon you, dear friends.  I apologize.  Parts of me feel positive - that I will be able to get most of the things done tomorrow.  Although, I am doing it by myself...that's a scary thought.  Maybe I should start drinking coffee?

What a night!

Last night was so much fun!  I had a fabulous time and it was so great having people I knew in the audience.  THANK YOU to everyone who came!  That meant the world - you good sports, you.  My entire family was there and it was awesome for them to come and show their support (although my Dad did mention that watching our kids might have been more fun - ha!).  My dear friend Whitney came (Whit - that was so awesome) and Suzanne even made an appearance!  So again, thank you everybody - thank you, thank you!

The show went really well.  We do two shows - a play and then a musical, but last night we were short a piano player, so we just did two plays.  The first one was good - a bit rough, but it had it's moments, it came together and it was good.  However, I think the second show was a lot smoother!  We seemed to get into the groove and focused on the story - it was great!  Hannah did a fabulous job - it was her first time!  And Tanya - brilliant as ever.  Man, everyone just did so well - I love watching from the side of the stage.  My hair however?  Eh, not so great.  It was alright, I guess, but not nearly as saucy as I hoped it would be.  I needed more time to curl it, so it turned out to be this...fluffy, bubble coif.  I think I'll be going straight next time!  I can't wait to see what the next show will be about.  I'll let you know if I'm in that one - I'm having the best time doing this - thanks for amusing me!

Showtime!

Before I delve into the excitement I'm feeling about tonight's show, I have to gush about my nephew Graham.  On Sunday evening I took the boys up to my parents house.  My Aunt Trudy was there (who I lived with when I lived in Vegas - LOVE her!) and Jess and Marty were there, too - with leetle Graham!  He is the cutest thing ever - a carbon copy of Marty, dimples and all.  Cole and Graham were staring at each other, talking to each other - ohmygosh, it was the cutest thing watching them.  They're only 6 weeks apart - just look at these wee cousins!

Yesterday Cody and I ran some errands, got the car washed, etc.  We stopped to have some lunch and let Cache play at the park.  It wasn't very warm, but Cache didn't seem to mind!  He was climbing on everything and had to go on every slide.  He even went down the highest one there!  I was so proud.  The sunshine is infectious - I've said it before and I'll say it again - when it's sunny out, you get all this energy to get things done!  And boy, we have a list of things.  Today our house is in shambles because we are working on putting up the chair rail in Cache's room, flipping his bed (It's one of those beds where it can either sit on the floor or be raised higher so he can climb a ladder to it - we're pretty sure that he's used to sleeping in a bed and not a crib, so he won't fall out...we hope), and going through his vast inventory of toys.  I even used a nail gun for the first time today!  You know when you watch those home improvement shows and they have the wife use power tools for the first time?  And she's all, "Oooh, that's sorta loud, there now" or "Gee, these are fun!  I think I need to get some for me!  Bah-hahaha!"  Yeah, well, I was totally that chick today.  Maybe not as bad, but I was doing the girly sound effects every time the gun went off.  I was all, "Ooh!" - those suckers are loud!  But the fact that I can still see and have all my appendages should speak volumes of my radness.  Volumes.

And finally, yes, tonight is the Cheap Thrills show.  Ahh!  I think it was better not knowing I was in the show until just before, because I'm feeling a wee bit nervous.  Mostly excited, but I actually have people coming to see me tonight and I truly hope I'm not lame.  The theme tonight is Modern-Day Film Noir, so as a tribute to the style of film I'm going to curl my hair and hopefully it will look saucy, ala Marilyn Monroe...ish.  We'll see!  I think Tanya might come over and we'll be getting ready together - curling hair, eyelashes, putting on each other's lipstick, having a pillow fight...Wish me luck!  I'm ready for my close up...

On The Mend

Hooray for good health!  Things have been on the up and up since my Hospital stint on Thursday.  Thursday night, however, Cody got really sick and both of us were sickies on Friday.  Luckily, the kids were content with watching movie after movie and playing on their own (for Cole that just means crawling around on the floor putting everything in his mouth).  Saturday Cody went to work and by Saturday afternoon we were both back to normal.  NO idea what was going around in this family, Cache even complained of stomach cramps Friday night, but we're better!  Yay!

Last night Cody took Cache to a Fire Dept. party in Midway.  Lots of sledding, hot chocolate, that sort of thing.  I planned on staying home with Cole and I heard that Cache had a total blast!  He didn't want to come inside, but his hands and feet were frozen solid.  He loved sledding - we'll have to try and take him again before the snow melts.  As I said, I planned on staying home with Cole - that is, until I found out Tanya would be down here.  I used my charm to persuade her to come play with me while Tom performed in a Thrillionaires show.  And it worked!  She came over, made rice krispie treats (I don't have enough of those  in my life - always so good) and we chatted for a few hours about every topic.  It was so much fun!  Tom came by after his show and we settled in to watch "The Maltese Falcon".  For our Thrillionaires class we were asked to watch a Film Noir (which is the theme for the show this Tuesday...that you're all coming to...) and it was fabulous.  In a dramatic, silly sort of way...No no, it was good, and I'm glad I got to see an example of true Film Noir.

Is our house up for sale?  Well, see...lots of things have come up in the past few weeks that have taken priority over getting our house on the market.  However, I think this will be blitzkrieg week.  At least I hope so!  Who knows what will come up now...we'll be crossing our fingers that all goes well and we'll get a lot done!

E.R.

"Name of the patient checking in?"

"Julia Jolley"

How was your day?  I spent half my day in the ER.  I woke up in the middle of the night with the most painful stomach cramps.  I have had these before, but it's a few years.  I had been curled up in a ball until Cody woke up and asked if I wanted to go to the Hospital.  Unless I'm in labor, I never really want to go to the hospital, but since I had been crying because the pain was so sever - I agreed.  We packed up the kids, checked in at the Hospital and I even got to don one of those fancy, backless gowns.  Meow.  The Dr. came in and pressed on my stomach (OW) to see if he could locate the source of the pain - appendix, gall bladder, etc.  Turns out it was neither - so they weren't sure what was wrong.  My white cell blood count was high, so they gave me a CAT scan to see if everything was running properly.  Finally, 3 1/2 hours later they let me get dressed as they wrote out some prescriptions for me.  As soon as I stood up, I got so dizzy and after I was dressed I collapsed on the bed again feeling so. sick.  The pain was back, nausea, ugh - it was miserable.  They gave me an oxygen mask and a shot of some medication to help with the pain.  Ahhh, Morphine!  I have to go back tomorrow so the Dr. can check me again, but I'm hoping the worst is behind me.  Even though they weren't positive about what was causing the pain, I was so relieved to find out that I didn't have appendicitis or an extra 58 feet of intestine, or something.  I'm sure everything's fine, I'll keep you posted!

We all know that "E.R" stands for Emergency Room, but I found out that it also stands for "Enema Refusal".  One of Cody's old Fire Captains works at the Hospital and decided it would be hilarious to tell me that I may have to get an enema...and that he would be the one to do it.  I started shaking in my half-smock with nervous laughter, saying, "Oohh ho ho, Steve...you're...you're not serious...haha......are you?"  I was thisclose to saying that I had made the whole thing up just so I could avoid this horrific procedure.  Never fear - he was in fact joking and I was able to leave the hospital without that embarrassing task performed by a friend of mine.  Ew, can you imagine??

Tanya came over to hang out tonight and it was so nice having her here.  We just talked and were lazy - the best kind of hang out, ever.  Tom joined us later (he was performing in a show) and we had a quick chat over some dinner.  Cody started to feel sick, so he went upstairs to lie down.  I certainly hope we both feel better by tomorrow!  

And finally, something exciting happened near our house this evening.  Cody went to get my prescriptions filled at a pharmacy nearby and about an hour later he ran another errand...only to find that said Pharmacy had just been robbed and was flanked with police cars and 'do not cross' tape!!  Whoa dude - how lucky that he wasn't there when that happened!  

Alright - I'm off to take some 'fell better' medicine and hopefully get a full night's sleep.  We still have a house we need to get ready to put on the market so there is no time to spare!

Canadian Cross

Most of you know that I have been attending an acting workshop each week for the past few months - it's with a group called 'The Thrillionaires' and I love it! I have met great people there and it's the perfect thing for my theater fix. When the seasoned veterans do a show, they actually do a show. A play and a musical - all made up as they go along. Brilliance! I have learned so much in these workshops and my goal is to one day be asked to join them on stage. Then you can all come and throw roses at my feet.

Since I was out of town last week, I missed an important class where they introduced some changes to the workshops. The Thrillionaires do a show every Tuesday night at 8:00, and now our workshop is also on Tuesday a few hours before the show starts. Instead of the show being made up of just the veterans, class members can be invited to do the show with them! Radical, no? Well, radical and scary. Last night was the first time they were going to have class members in the show. I wasn't asked, so I was content sitting in the audience and watching my peers work their magic. A few minutes before the show started, Brett motioned me over to the door and said, "Hey, what are you doing out there?" to which I replied, "Um, watching the show?" "No no, we want you to be in it! We want you to be the Canadian Cross with Tom for the first show, and maybe we'll have you step up for the musical". Now, lemme explain what a 'Canadian Cross' is....well, I don't really know why it's called a Canadian Cross, but basically you are a fill in, i.e. - a waiter, customer, friend, etc. A small part that can walk on and add a bit to the show. Does that make sense? Anyway, I was so stoked! We all walk on stage to greet the audience and I'm trying to act all cool and confidant. "Yeah, oh yeah I've done this before. I rock at this". The first show was great - I loved it! During intermission they asked me to be an actual part of the musical...whoa. I opted to be a towel/maid who was in love with the concierge at a fancy hotel. Word. I got to sing a great song of unrequited love and yes, we did end up together at the end. It was such a high!! I so hope I get to do another show soon, it was a total blast. You will come see me, won't you?


**UPDATE** Dearest BC fans, I just found out that I have been asked to do the show next Tuesday!! Please, please come! Here is the info -

Tuesday, March 18th @ 8:00pm
Covey Center for the Arts, Blackbox Theater (Thrillionaires) in Provo
Tickets are $5.oo

Positive

The trip was amazing.  We stayed with my sister on Wednesday night and spent some time shopping on Thursday morning.  Andrea joined Cody and I for lunch, it was great to see her - but we never have enough time!  We drove to California Thursday afternoon and headed straight to Brad and Katie's house.  When I saw Katie it was like we had never been strangers!  We just hugged and laughed and hugged some more.  She had such a positive spirit about her.  There was such a peaceful, loving spirit in their home.  There was a lot of family there, lots of flowers and cards.   We visited for a few minutes and then Cody and I headed out to get our Hotel.  We went to dinner with Kate and had some time to unwind before going to bed.  The next morning was the service and it couldn't have been a more beautiful day.  Clear skies, warm, it was gorgeous.  It was a graveside service and lots of people came to show their love and support.  The service was short but so incredible - again, that feeling of comfort and love was overwhelming.  Brad and Katie were so positive which set the tone.  We hugged and talked with them a bit afterwards, I just love them both so much.  Cody and I went back to the Hotel to change and grabbed some lunch at In-N-Out.  We weren't sure when to go by the house (they invited everyone over) or if we would even go by - they had so many friends and family members, we didn't want to intrude on that time.  Cody and I did some shopping and then decided it would be cool to head down to Oceanside.  On our way I got a text from Kate saying that the family wanted some time to themselves, so Cody and I decided to wait until the next morning to see them.  Katie called me a little later and she sounded exhausted - quite a day!  Still, she was witty and positive.  She told Cody and I to have a crazy night on the town and made me promise to come by the next day before we left.  

Oceanside was so beautiful!  I don't think I have ever been there before, it was awesome.  We walked on the pier and watched the surfers.  It was evening and all the buildings were orange from the sun...  

Cody and I watching the surfers...

Sunset

We walked along the beach and looked for sea shells...it was just such a beautiful place.  On our way back to Temecula we got off the freeway a bit early to avoid some traffic which put us on the road through Old Town Temecula.  What did we find?  Much to our surprise, there was a hot rod car show!  

We immediately found some parking and started walking the street.  It was like a scene out of a movie - they had oldies blaring from the speakers (which were on each lamp post) and all these glossy, gorgeous restored cars.  The night was winding down, so we grabbed some ice cream and decided we would come back in the morning.  The next day there were a lot more cars and hundreds of people - still so cool!   It was fun looking at all the glorious cars - Cody was checking under the hoods and looking at the interior...I was just fascinated with the pretty colors and shiny chrome.  After our car fix we grabbed some lunch and went to see Brad and Katie on our way out of town.  We all sat in the living room and talked for about an hour.  Both their families were there and it was nice to just hang out and talk.  Brad's family is huge into cars and as soon as Brad's Dad found out that Cody has a Dodge Coronet he wants to restore, his Dad said with bright eyes, "Oh, you're a Mopar guy!".  It was over after that - they talked cars and parts and exchanged email addresses.  Sadly, it was time for us to go.  I gave Katie a big hug, we were sad to be parting.  Brad told us they would be coming up soon and that we needed to get together - I can hardly wait!  As we were driving away I just felt such...comfort.  I wasn't looking forward to this weekend, no doubt about it.  What a difficult reason to travel and unfortunate circumstances to see someone you love.  I know that Cody and I were both a bit nervous, we weren't sure how we would be able to comfort them.  But to enter their home and just feel this overwhelming feeling of love and understanding was such a blessing for us.  It made this weekend a great experience for us both - that positive spirit stayed with us the entire time.  It would have been great to spend more time with them and catch up, but I knew it wasn't the trip for that.  What a blessing to have the opportunity to go!  It was such an uplifting, positive weekend.  What a comfort the Gospel is.  Cody and I had so much fun together, we have never been on a trip alone (without kids or friends) and we got to know each other all over again.  I am so glad he was able to come with me!

We got home last night and we were so excited to see the kids!  I kissed their little cheeks and squeezed them so tight they were struggling to get free.  We missed them so much, it seems like they have grown a ton!   Cole has improved quite a bit on his crawling - he's figured out how to scoot himself around so he's more mobile.  Awesome.  He'll probably be driving by Friday.  Can't keep my eyes off him for a second!  Thank you for keeping Brad and Katie and their family in your prayers - you could certainly feel an uplifting spirit when you were around them.

Trip to California...

You may recall a post a few months back that talked about 'Phone Phriends'.  I talked about my friend Katie who I instantly bonded with when I called to get her address for a Christmas card (she married a friend of mine, but we had never met).  We talk quite often, usually for hours at a time.  We have loads in common and always talk about how great it would be if we lived closer to each other (she live in California)!  She had her 3rd baby last Monday - a beautiful little girl names Elise.  Her husband (Brad) sent me a text when they were in the hospital, and then sent a picture of the new little baby.  I tried calling Katie a few days later, but I knew she must have her hands full with her two other children along with a newborn!  Sunday night I got a text from her that said, "Call if you can".  It was late, I was actually about to go to bed, but I felt that I needed to call her.  She answered, sounding exhausted.  She proceeded to tell me that her little baby girl passed away on Friday, there was an infection in her blood.  We both began to cry.  I just kept saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...".  I reached over to grab Cody's hand.  When I hung up, I just started sobbing.  What a painful thing to go through.  I wish I could have been sitting on a couch with her so we could just hug and cry.  My heart just breaks for her and her little family!  Brad's parents are currently serving a mission in Korea but were able to fly in for two weeks, I know it will help having them there.  They are surrounded by family, friends and lots of support.  Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

Claustrofudge

Last night Cody and I had Tom and Tonya over for dinner - 'Din with the Quinn's' is how I like to say it.  It was SUCH a blast!  They are so funny, we laughed all night.  I met T&T in my Thrillionaires class and instantly knew they were Jolley friend material.  We had some yummy burritos and refreshed ourselves with Cokes in glass bottles - how cool is that?  Very posh, if you ask me.  Then we rocked out with some Guitar Hero and Tonya had some sweet moves!  She's so limber, they are both true rockers at heart.  Finally we finished up the evening with more chatting and apple pie.  Delish!  We could have talked until dawn, but sadly they had a 45 minute drive home and it was getting late.  We were sad to see them go - we'll have to do something soon.  Love them!

Now for some house news - remember I said that Cody and I were going to look at a house Friday afternoon?  We did indeed.  We were warned that the house was being rented and may not be in the best condition, etc.  But hey!  We've got open minds, we can handle mess.  What we weren't informed about was the fact that there were about 8 cats living there, as well.  The minute we walk in we're hit with that...musty, animal smell...which only got worse as we continued to look at the home.  Not to mention that "the house may not be in the best condition" meant that you may not be able to open the doors to the bedrooms all the way due to mass amounts of clothing on the floor.  Ahem.  Needless to say, we would have to have grand vision to see what this house could become.   We left, a little disappointed. 

 On our way out, however, Cody noticed another home up the road that was be.eautiful.  We called the realtor, walked through it, great lay out, huge yard, no cats, what's not to love?  We can't stop thinking about this lovely little abode, so we decided that we want to get our house on the market - in one week.  Yes folks, March 10th.  Possible?  Yes.  Daunting?  Yes.  But we simply have to do it if we want to move.  But I am not dismayed!  For I believe that together we can conquer this task!  No if you'll excuse me, I need to slap on some rubber gloves and put on my goggles - I have a house to clean...