Jared LOVES to play soccer

Jared found some of Christopher’s old (very old) shin guards & decided then & there that he was going to play soccer this fall. I secretly wished that he would not remember when sign-ups came around, but he reminded me every day.

On Friday night it started to rain and lightning right before practice so it was canceled. He was SO disappointed!!! Not so disappointed that video games couldn’t make everything better though.All was not lost though as the first game was the next morning.

 

 

 

Jared diligently listened to most of what Coach Nick said. He had to sit out for the first few minutes because he had missed the only other practice (and he had never even been to a soccer game before).

His enthusiasm was so pure – it was really fun to watch. I am sure that soccer will get serious very soon, but it was nice to see him just scrap around with a bunch of like-minded kids, unaware of scoring and strategy.

Jared has on red shoes. He was great at chasing the ball, getting in and kicking a bit, and SKIPPING. Whenever he wasn’t running after the ball, he was skipping on the field. It was seriously one of the best soccer moments of my life!!!

Christopher’s Cross Country Saga

Chris is running x-country for his high school this year. He enjoys it when his calves are not cramping up & CRAMPING his style. Yesterday, he was running when he was stricken by exceedingly painful & severe leg cramps. He fell to the ground and would have quickly recovered if the friendly (& possibly bored) paramedics who work next to the campus had not driven by and seen something to do. I had to tell them that I did not want him transferred to the hospital & sign something stating that I understood that he had been treated.

Fast forward 24 hours. Scott got off work early. Jared waited in the car line (extra long since I was late). Ryan walked to the car instead of waiting. We drove one hour and thirty minutes to the town of Salem. We excitedly walked down the hill to see Chris race. There were three high schools there and almost ninety runners. It was going to be a great race… except the coach would not let Chris race. OK, I can see his point – let him get a practice under his belt before letting him run off in the traffic & everything. But (and it’s as huge as the state of Texas) BUT – do you think it might have been nice to notify the parents of his disqualification??? Almost four hours of extra driving and an hour waiting for the last runners to come in. Could you just pick up the phone & let me know of a detail like your kid’s not going to run?

You better believe that I am going to count the time spent driving to and from the meet towards my service hours for the school. I took bagels and tangerines for the runners so I think it’s legit.

The following are some photos from the trip…

    The post-race pep rally – Chris could have probably placed in the race. He had turned in practice times faster than the winning times today. At least they are having a rematch on September 10th.

Lake Keowee – love the green foliage, the blue water, and even the color of the red clay on the shore.

Random friend pictures

         

The Rohms, the Wallaces, the Barlows, & the Andersons – our lives are richly blessed by great people in our lives. With my picture-a-day project, i have tried to capture more of the day-to-day happenings & people. It’s funny that with all the pictures I take, I still miss so many.

OK, today’s imponderable. Why do all of my cameras eventually lose their ability to take sharp, crisp, and focused photos???

Happy Birthday babe!

 

We helped Scott celebrate his birthday on Saturday & Sunday. He wanted to hang the Christmas tree in the garage so he spent a good portion of the afternoon putting a bicycle hanging rack on the roof of the garage & then hanging the 10-foot Christmas tree from the rack. We went out to dinner at Lieu’s & tried two new items – Mandarin rib eye steak and seared scallops – both very good but not very Chinese-y. After dinner we went to downtown G’ville & walked around. It was very crowded because of the US bike racing tournament that was happening this weekend.

 

 

 

Scott is a great guy for a million reasons – let me give you the first ten or so that pop into my head.

• He is a great husband! He is so sweet & loving with me – and really wants me to be happy. Our 21st anniversary was August 22nd. I still choose US!
• He is a loving dad! Every night he plays a game with Jared when he pretends that Jared is not on his back while he carries him upstairs. He helps Ryan with his pitching. He helps Chris with ideas on running faster.
• He is a devoted home teacher. A few weeks ago he took part of a day off to go help one of his families with a kitchen project. He totally loves this family & wants to help them every way that he can. He sees most of his families every single month.
• He is easy to live with. He doesn’t have a short temper & he is hard-working.
• He honors his parents. I haven’t ever heard him say bad things about his mom & dad. He tries to live the principles that they taught him.
• He is a natural athlete. Whether it is running, skiing, tae kwon do, flag football, softball, mountain biking, tennis, diving, or whatever, he is a great competitor. Most people work for years to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but Scott did it on his second try.
• He is a good cook. He can cook & bake almost anything.
• He is a good problem-solver. When something doesn’t work right in the house, he frequently engineers a solution. When he wants to build a piece of furniture, he quickly draws up the design on a CAD system & I can see exactly what he’s making.
• He is fun-loving. He knows all sorts of games & activities to do with groups of people.
• He wants to do what is right. He is truly a great person!!!

A really bad day

How does a bad day earn its unique classification? Let’s see. I think that Thursday/Friday meets the criteria.

The kids & I were loading the dishwasher & tidying the kitchen late Thursday evening when I noticed that there was a puddle of water on the floor & the dishwasher hadn’t fully drained. I was a little bit excited to think that we might possibly be able to replace the loudest dishwasher in the world with something a bit quieter & much more efficient at washing dishes. On a hunch, I went downstairs to see if the water was leaking through the floor & into the guest bedroom. It was pouring through the moldings around the window!!! And the biggest problem of all? Scott was in Wichita & it was almost 10 p.m.

I called the Barlows (again!!!) and blubbered something about the pipes & the water. He told me that I needed to check underneath the sink to see where the water was coming from. Under the sink? Nothing there… oh… water & lots of spinach under there. And did I mention that in the seven years and five days that we have lived in this house, I have never even given a second thought to the piles of stuff under the kitchen sink. Once we quit running the faucet and pouring things down the drain, the water problem went away. I used our handy dandy $20 2.5-gallon shop vac & sucked away the water and spinach and then went to bed. Don’t you love Ryan’s sign to help remind us to not use the sink?

The next morning I had an appointment with Honda because my check engine light had been coming on for a few weeks. I dropped off the car & the shuttle driver took me to the airport where I picked up Scott’s car from long-term parking. My service guy called & said, “Do you have a pen & a piece of paper???” Bad news and none of it covered by the extended warranty. Luckily, we went 93000 miles before having to pour some money back into the van. Pretty reliable. And the service guy told us that once we complete X, Y, & Z, we should be good for another 90k miles!

This picture was taken by Crystal from the backseat when we were lost in D.C. in March. I love that you can see both of us & the car – a rare view.

I realized while I was out driving around  that I did not want to have Scott fixing the sink when he got back from his trip to Wichitia. I called our contractor friend & asked if he could come & fix the problem. He was there within two hours and fixed it and then didn’t charge me for the repair.

Scott’s flight from Wichita to Atlanta was delayed – causing him to miss the connecting flight. The next two flights were booked so he was able to rent a car ($200 for a 3-hour rental:!@) to drive home. We were so glad to have him home!!! And I was really glad the contractor came so Scott wasn’t up at midnight trying to repair the sink.

Update: I forgot the rest of the day (and probably the worst thing of all). While the boys and I were scurrying around to pick things up for Scott, I moved Jared’s bed against a different wall. The A/C had leaked through his mattress a few times & I wanted to make sure that everything had dried out. It had not – I think that there is mold under the carpet. It was still wet in a small area & has been wet for weeks and weeks. :(  We pulled the moisture-preserving plastic folder off the spot & turned the fan on. One day when we are really, really brave we will peel back the carpet & see if there’s any further action needed. [Realistically folks, it’s been at least two weeks. It can wait until we have  a free half day.]

Funny thing. While the day was happening, I felt like it was the end of the world. Writing about it three days later, it doesn’t seem like it was all that bad or insurmountable. I wish that perspective was as easy to gain at the moment I need it rather than just in hindsight.

The Alligator King and His Seven Sons

Too cute!

Charity Never Faileth

 

“Charity Never Faileth” stems from the first Relief Society meeting. The sisters were asked by the Prophet Joseph Smith to assist the brethren “in looking to the wants of the poor—searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their wants.” The sisters took this call to heart and became a society devoted to seeking out the poor and needy.

For the last two weeks, I have been poor in spirit and pretty needy as well. I have longed for something to help me kick this long-lasting bronchitis thing that I have.  I am on my second round of antibiotics, eight different allergy/cold/cough remedies, and various ice cream bars & juices. I have not felt this sick since… mono? the flu? walking pneumonia? I honestly can’t remember.

For several days (or probably even a week) my 11-year-old son Ryan helped me do everything necessary throughout the day. He brought me drinks & Tylenol & made me lunch & took care of his younger brother. I was too sick to get off the couch to make (or even think about) dinner. After working from 4 a.m.-6 p.m.  Scott was hungry & not thinking about dinner either. We ate some good fast food & I was a regular at Bruesters for their Italian ice. I should have had some meals in the freezer that were easy to pull out & prepare in the crock pot but I didn’t. (Good preparedness thought though.) Honestly, I didn’t ever say to anyone, “Could you please bring me dinner?” because if I would have, they would have. I just couldn’t even think straight. (And a few people even asked and I said no.)

Today, my long-time friend Mimi called to tell me about a mutual friend that she had met & enjoyed talking with. She told me that I sounded awful & then said, “I’m bringing you some of Dr. Morse’s garlic chicken noodle soup!” She showed up this afternoon with chicken noodle soup, rolls, orange juice, a bouquet of roses, and a heart full of love. She immediately sat me down & made me eat soup & then said, “I think I’ll just clean up your kitchen for you.” (We had a YSA party here tonight… and the house hadn’t been picked up in two weeks… and we were on a deadline …and I was in no condition to do it myself.) She totally cleaned my kitchen (better than I could ever do). She tenderly ministered to my long-sick-and-sad heart. She blessed me beyond measure. I just kept hugging her & sobbing. I could not find the right words to express just how thankful I was.

I call this the Julie Jacobsen principle. When we lived in Washington state, we moved from Renton to Maple Valley (20” away). The house that we bought had a few issues – divorced single guy who had dogs & berber carpet & loved the colors blue & grey. Julie & her husband Mike invited us to come & live at their house for 3-4 days. She fed us breakfast & dinner. She kept Christopher (4-1/2) all day for days. She let her husband Mike work late into the night helping Scott to rip out the carpet & paint the entire house before the carpet installers arrived. Julie once said to another friend that when she served, instead of thinking, “Is this enough?” She said that she tried to think, “Have I done everything that I could?” 

I am so blessed to be surrounded by good people…

• who give my kids rides to school
• who bring my kids home from baseball practice
• who check in on me every single day
• who keep my kids extra long at the pool so I can take a nap in a quiet house
• and many more things which I have undoubtedly forgotten to mention but for which I am eternally grateful.

Thank you. I am inspired.

I am feeling better & hope to continue to do so. I hope that I can have a more giving heart. I hope that I can be more prayerful, more faithful, more able to give Heavenly Father the opportunity to bless me. I hope that I can be an instrument in ministering to others.

12 on the 12th August

 

I hesitate to post this because it was such a lame day. However, I have been taking photos for 15 months now & don’t want to blow the streak. Luckily, most days are better than this one. I have LOVED doing the 12-on-the-12th project for all of the months except this one. I was feeling so horrible yesterday that I couldn’t even bring myself to take pictures. I took nine but had to do make-ups on the 13th.

 

• Chris went to his 3rd day of school. He overslept a little but was able to get ready in 15”.
• I went to the doctor & got medicine for the horrible cough thing that I’ve had going on. I have sat on the couch & watched HGTV 24-7 for three days. I like HGTV, but not that much. I am now taking Singulair-Claritin-Mucinex-2 inhalers-prednisone-Zithromax & hope to be feeling much better by the weekend.
• #2 & #3 came to Costco with me where we bought a *cough*healthy*cough* lunch of hot dogs, pizza, soda pop, & a smoothie.
• We stopped by Blockbuster on the way home so that we would have something besides the same-old TV shows to entertain us all afternoon.
• Ryan had to have an appliance put in to hold space for his 12-yo molars. And he got a tooth pulled with roots that resemble the robot attacking the city in the Incredibles movie.
• We went to pick up Chris at school because it was raining & x-country was canceled.
• Continuing on the healthy kick, the boys went to Jack in the Box for dinner while I had leftover steak, rice, & vegetables. And a quick little trip to Bruesters for a pink lemonade Italian ice & a pint of double chocolate chunk ice cream.
• Chris presented his Eagle Scout project idea to the Scout committee. They gave some great suggestions at writing a more complete plan & it seems like a go.
• We sent the kids to bed & settled in for a good night’s rest when Jared came & announced that his bed was wet. And he is very potty trained. The ceiling was leaking (again) because the air conditioner froze & thawed & drained into the pan & overflowed into his bed. :( Scott climbed up into the attic & vacuumed out the mess with our new little 2.5 gallon wet-dry vac. ($20 well spent)
• Ryan hung out until about midnight when he was exhausted enough that he didn’t care that his tooth on Tylenol still hurt.

Some days are just better than others for posting. The day before we had a birthday/pizza party for Jared at our neighborhood pool. Luckily, the prednisone should help my sunburn too.

Once upon a time…

Travis & Lisa were sealed in the Columbia Temple on Saturday. They were beautiful & glowing. Almost all of their family members were there. We knew that we were witnessing a sacred event & felt privileged to see it.  We love them both. Here are a few of my favorite pictures -

 

           

8 things

I am planning on blogging pictures from the trip but got a little side-tracked. (Surprise?!)

My friend Crystal tagged me, and I am looking for something to do until my back feels better. (Minor tweak, major ouch!)

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Woke up at 10:15 a.m. (Hey! It’s 8:15 Utah time –respectable, right?)
2. Made Magic Mix alfredo sauce & ate a pathetic dinner.
3. Worked on Sudoku puzzles. I had to figure out what a “remote pair chain” was. I think I get it now. 
4. Took the kids to scouts.
5. Downloaded pictures from our trip out west. I realized that every single picture had a smudge on the lower center part of the picture. Every.Single.Shot. 
6. Wrote a huge to-do list on my white board. Nothing like getting back to reality, huh? 
7. Watched part of the League of Extraordinary Men. I still don’t get it & I’ve seen part of it several times.
8. Reread a few chapters of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. I am starting to like this book!

8 Favorite Shows
1. Divine Design
2. Deserving Design with Vern Yip
3. Biggest Loser...but I can't take the 2 hours, so I usually DVR it and watch the 2 hours in about 45 minutes.
4. Cash Cab
5. What Not to Wear. My favorite part is the haircut. I wish I could have Nick cut my hair!
6. Good Eats. Is this still on? I haven’t seen it in a while.!
7. Sports Center – the highlights.
8. Everything else HGTV & Food Network (especially the kitchen one).

8 Favorite Restaurants (in no particular order)
1. Lieu’s. They know us by name & we have a favorite waiter. 
2. Sonic – I love their crushed ice!
3. Cafe Rio (in Bountiful)
4. Moe’s
5. Salsarita’s
6. Bone Fish Grill
7. Chick Fil A
8. Zaxbys

8 things I look forward to:
1. Being back in shape. I haven’t really done anything productive since April.
2. My back feeling better. I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been bent in half.
3. Seeing Lisa & Travis get married on Saturday & going to the reception.
4. Getting away for our 21st wedding anniversary (just saying… hint hint!)
5. Running a half marathon.
6. Having TV downstairs.
7. Seeing Wicked in February 2010.

8. Seeing Scott.

8 people I tag: (I'll use last names lest anyone wonder if they have actually been tagged :))
… anyone who wants to play!

Is it already that time again?

 

On July 12th, we once again celebrated by taking many more pictures than twelve. The day was exceptionally busy & tiring. I feel like I take the same pictures every month, but then when I review them it doesn’t seem so.

• The kids had cold cereal for breakfast. I was too stressed out to do anything fancy.
• Scott spoke in church at the Anderson ward for his high council assignment.
• I spoke in our ward. I can’t remember speaking for a long time so it was my turn. Topic? Virtue.
• I taught Sunday school. I had my camera with me in class & I was just too chicken to have someone take my picture. I should have done it before everyone got there or after most of the class left. I was certifiably boring & hope to never be that bad again.
• Scott & I got home about the same time. He had had even less sleep than I had so he crashed for a few hours.
• The kids were restless so I didn’t feel like I could nap at the same time. So, I worked on sorting the food in the food storage room. It was definitely not a Sunday activity but it got rid of nervous energy & kept me awake.
• Dinner was French toast, food storage ham & eggs, & orange juice. The French toast was wonderful.
• FHE with the YSAs was nice. Kenny taught the lesson & we sat around & talked about what he said. He was really a great teacher. We played Catch Phrase & then ate ice cream. Chris & Emily then serenaded us with Disney songs.
• Scott & the boys watched Harry Potter before falling asleep.

Customer Service

Sometimes when Scott walks in the door, he finds me with wads of hair in my hands, pacing, eyes bulging with one hand holding a phone to my ear & the other bag elbow deep in a bag of chips or cookies. What is the problem? I am talking to customer service.

Tonight I had to make several (as in SEVEN) phone calls to get my problem fully resolved. The funniest part – a confirmation of the spelling of my name

J… as in Juliet E… as in Elephant N… as in Never N… as in Never A… as in Antelope

and then the confirmation of bellsouth D… as in Dell… um NO!

… need I say more? I couldn’t think fast enough to double-check the confirmation letters. I was really, really frustrated!!!!!!! Scott was here to hear & was laughing out loud in the other room.

The best part (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my tongue)? I never got the email.

From the folks at “You don’t see that every day!”

I was waiting for Jared’s friend to come play when I noticed a very large bird perched on the neighbor’s roof. I wasn’t sure if it was an egret or a heron. Now I know that it is both. An egret is a type of heron. We frequently see egrets near the beach or in rivers. What a fun treat to see one here at the neighbor’s house. I don't know if you can see in the pictures, but this is a BIG bird (at least 3 feet tall)!

Five (or Six...) Things I Hate to Do.

Over at ScrapHappy, Lain posted a list of five things she hates to do. I will copy her great idea with a list of my own. Scott will probably read this & disagree but these are the 5 off the top of my head.

1. I hate turning left across busy roads. I shop at Publix because I can turn right out of the parking lot to go home.

2. I hate cleaning food scraps out of the kitchen sink.

3. I hate shopping at Wal*Mart. I walk around & think, “Wow! There is some really great stuff here… and the prices are good… I should shop here more often.!” and then Wham! I am confronted with a huge line that snakes through the store. One cashier is on duty for 50 million people & the others are standing around gabbing like there’s not a problem. If you ever hear a deranged woman screaming, “I Hate Wal*Mart!” just turn the other way, it’s going to be me.

4. I hate putting laundry away. I am not the best at washing or drying or folding, but I really hate Hate HATE putting stuff away. It seems like once I open a drawer, I have to refold what the elves unfolded overnight. Or I go to hang up clothes, & I’ve run out of hangers.

5. I hate being too warm. I run my air conditioner in the car in December. I am the designated “fan girl” at the gym & always position myself in a direct line with the fan. We keep the house at a balmy 70 degrees until we get the first electric bill of the year.

OK, that’s the short list. What about yours? What do you hate?

(6) Emergency amendment – I HATE talking to insurance companies, especially when I do not understand their English. I hate the buck being passed & making 7, 8, or 9 phone calls to get my simple-to-me questions answered!!!!!!!!!

this moment

Right now, Jared is upstairs sleeping off a three-day whirlwind beach trip. We ended up driving home late last night because we had had enough sand & sun & were just going to go to church somewhere there & then drive home. We think he has pink-eye mixed with too much sand & sunscreen in his eyes. His right eye looks bad – it looks like a black eye.

Dad & the boys are at church in primary & priesthood meetings, planning scout camp adventures & practicing for the primary program.

And I am catching up at Google Reader. I have 326 posts to read; I’ll most likely blow most of them away.

I have plans to tag & print all of my pictures of the day for this year. I think that I may have missed a day or two here & there, but in general I have taken a picture every day for the whole year. And snapfish has a 1 cent print sale going on for the first 50 prints.

What’s on your mind right now?

Seattle & Six Flags trips

Scott was in Seattle last week on business & had the opportunity & adventure of mountain biking & hiking. He hiked Mt. Si with two of his Greenville co-workers, Vince & Michelle. On Saturday, he went & visited his all-time best friend Curt & went mountain biking.

 

 

Yesterday, I took Chris & Ryan & the YSA to Six Flags over Georgia. It was a grand adventure – a little rough getting started but hopefully fun for all. I went on two great rides & then was done for the day. Bummer, huh? I don’t LOVE the rides but I definitely like going on them at least once. Luckily we bought season’s passes last year on our last visit for $20 per person  (?! great deal!)

 

How do you fit 12 people in a van? Very carefully!!! We didn’t drive down this way – just crowded around the air-conditioner at lunch time. Four girls fit neatly in the second row & then two of us got front & center.

  

Baseball is over. Happy? Sad? Lost? Not quite sure.

Ryan’s team lost both of their tournament games. It is really weird to be back to our regular summer – not exactly sure what to do every night about 5:30 p.m. but we’ll be able to fill the void, I’m sure. This picture is the team after they lost 23-13 in searing temperatures. It was a closer game than the score indicates. The last inning just got away from them. Great kids, fun parents, good coaches.