800 miles (of boredom)...

I drove to the whole other side of my state on Wednesday afternoon. Like, 4+ hours away from the town where I reside. Thursday, I went to a seminar, which was really quite good. That afternoon, I drove to the land of my inheritance. Like, 4.5 hours away from my seminar was. Can you say BORING?

I took an audio book along with me: A Painted House by John Grisham. Not his best book, but not bad. Thing is, I should've taken two books on CD, because approximately 45 minutes into my drive home, the book was over.

Like I said: BORING.

So, what did I do with my remaining time? I called my momma. Listened to some music. Listened to my thoughts.

Boy was I ever glad to reach my parent's abode...

Which looks like this now, by the way...

They had it re-sided, and I think it's lovely. So different from the house I grew up in, but there you go...

Friday, I hung out with Vance and Baby Jane. (Poor little Janie Bug...she's had a cold and has been super congested and booger-y of late. But can I just say? That child is adorable, even all bawl-y with her face covered in boogers and tears. Seriously. Adorable.)

Friday afternoon I chillaxed in O-town (30 minutes each way) with Mom, Abby, and Jane for a bit whilst Dad and Vance watched The Draft. (And I thought the 4.5 hour drive x2 was boring!) Okay, I'll say it, we weren't chillaxin' at all: we were shopping. Bra shopping. A necessary evil. I don't exactly love shopping anyway, but bra shopping has got to be the worst. In case you were unawares...

On Saturday, I got my hair did by Lindsey the Great, then I played with Marshall and Goose at John Adams Park. Then I went to lunch with my folks.

Then I drove back home. Like, 2.25 more hours in my car.

Oh well, at least I got to play with Jane and Marshall...

I could just kiss her little cheeks into oblivion...

Seriously. Adorable.

Are you jealous of the cuteness of my niece?

Jumpin' Janie...

Marshall playin' baseball with his dad...


More baseball...

Now it's Monday: back to the grindstone. And I hate sounding all negative and stuff, but DANG, Monday consistently proves itself the worst day of the week. EVERY WEEK. Good thing it's almost Tuesday...

heather's day...

Today is Heather's 28th birthday. We've been best friends for nearly half our lives--ever since the day we met.

Heather and I met by chance at cross country (CC) practice the summer before our freshman year of high school. I signed up for CC because it was a high school sport I didn't have to try out for. Heather signed up because her older brothers used to run CC and they told her she'd love it.

I think CC practice began sometime in July of that year (1996). Our coach was a nerdy 9th grade English teacher with skinny legs and short shorts. He led his team on a "short run" that first day of practice; a mere 3 miles. (!)

Varsity ran with JV at practice, and although there were a handful of freshmen, most of the rest of the team were all returning members from the year before: running was in their blood.

Running was NOT in my blood, nor in Heather's. We were soon both at the back of the pack, and once we'd run a few blocks and found ourselves at Pioneer Park, we decided to walk a minute to catch our breath. We ended up sitting on swings and talking for the remainder of our "run."

After some time, we decided to jog back to the high school where we met up with the rest of our team.

This quickly became our tradition: start running with the team, lag behind, and end up finishing our run at a snail's pace.

Obviously we weren't cut out for varsity, but I like to think that we both joined CC that year not by chance, nor for the actual sport of running, but to meet each other and become the best of friends.

Heather's family lived in Mantua; her house was roughly 4 miles from mine. We spent tons of time together that summer (thanks to our mamas for driving us back and forth between Mantua and Brigham...)

That fateful summer day was just the beginning. Heather and I were best friends throughout our entire high school careers. There was just something special between us from the start.

Here are some of my favorite Heather moments:

-Little Valley Days
-Making Heather laugh so hard she had to sit on her feet to keep from peeing
(which happened almost every day)
-"THERE'S A MAN IN YOUR CAR!"
-Watching millions of episodes of The X Files (That Mulder is such a Fox!)
-Watching her eat an entire jar of green olives in one sitting
-Going to a Raptors game with my folks and porking down on cotton candy
(that she may or may not have dipped in mustard. On purpose)
-Our trip to Bear Lake with her folks where Heather caught a fish with her hands
and named it "Frincess" (Yes, I spelled that right)
-My first date with Heather's then-boyfriend's best friend
(who sat super close and came in for a kiss. ACK!)
-Being constantly amazed at her natural ability to flirt
(while my flirting came across...awkward)
-Buying penny candy at the Country Market. (LOTS of penny candies!)
-Making our ridiculously embarrassing music videos
-Color Guard
-LOTS MORE!

Heather's been married now for 8 years, and I'm still single. She lives in Zion, and I live North-of-Zion. We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do, it's like exactly NO TIME has passed; we revert back to what we were in high school, laughing all the while.

I miss my Heather. I'm glad she's been a part of my life since such a tender young age. And I'm glad she married an awesome guy who lets us be silly when we get together, letting us do what we do without judgment. (If Kris does judge, I haven't heard about it...)

Here's to you, Heather! Although a lot of time and space are between us, I still consider you to be the best! LOVE YOU!

Manic Monday...

Wow. This past Monday was SO a Monday; do you comprehend what I'm implying here? It felt like a Monday through and through...

And here are the two major highlights of my Manic Monday:

*Whilst at work, one of my clients (a 7 year old kiddo) said to me, "Do you look bigger today, or is it just me?" What the what?! Did you really just say that, child? And how am I supposed to take that? I hadn't been feeling particularly pudgy before that comment, but afterward, I had to wonder...I totally laughed, by the way. The verbage alone, coming out of a 7 year old kid, is hilarity at its finest.

It made me stop and think for a minute, though...

*Tuesday was my friend Matt's birthday. On Monday night, I delivered a birthday card (placed in a ziplock bag) on his windshield. That way, he'd have it on his way to work, see. I was being thoughtful. When I got to his place, I noticed that, in the dark and covered in snow, a few of the cars in the driveway/in front of the house looked quite similar. So what did I do? I peaked in the car's backseat window to check for Matt's stuff, to make sure I put the card on the right windshield. Doi.

As I was walking around to the front of the car to place the card under his windshield wiper, Matt's previously unseen neighbor charged at me in the darkness and asked me (in a very forceful voice) just what in the heck I was doing there. Then he said (still very aggressively) that I needed to leave or he'd call the Sheriff. What the what?! I told him, taken aback, that I was just putting a birthday card on my friend's car.

The neighbor man didn't even try to listen to me; he talked right through my explanation and told me, as he came even closer--within striking distance, I daresay--"It's past 11 at night, and you shouldn't be here prowling around people's cars. If you don't leave NOW, I'm going to call the Sheriff." (Not the cops, but the Sheriff, specifically.) He was an older man, quite sturdy with a beard, and I was scared of him. So I got into my car and drove away, feeling quite small and...criminal? Seriously! That man made me feel like a jerkwad! And PS, I feel quite confident that the dude took down my license plate number.

In a way, I guess it's great that Matt's neighbor was looking out for him, right? But the guy was totally missing logic. In spades. #1: I was a girl, all by my lonesome, with a card in hand. Sure I was wearing a coat (a bright red coat, no less!) and beanie, but it was snowing. Totally appropriate. #2: We live in rural North-of-Zion; grand theft auto ain't a thang that happens here, do you know what I mean? #3: I've been told (by a handful of people) that I'm one of the least threatening-looking people they've ever met. Y'all have seen pictures of me; do I seem threatening to you? Be honest with me, peeps...Also, I think he could've handled it in a much nicer way. If something looks suspicious, as you approach the situation and see that it's a non-threatening girl, you might approach the gal and ask, "What's going on?" And then maybe--just maybe--listen to her response?

Humbug on him!

It's really a funny story now, but at the time I surely didn't think so...

something to smile about...

I had a delightful weekend in Zion, just so you know. I headed southward with Brent on Thursday afternoon and spent the entire weekend with my family.

Yep, three glorious days of O-family fun, which included (but was not limited to):

*Baby Jane crying any time we made eye contact on Thursday.
(Okay, that part sucked, but she quickly got over it and remembered she loved me)
*Taking a drive to Logan with Vance and Janie
*Dyeing Easter eggs with Marshall (his first time ever!)
*Getting to play with all my nieces and nephews!!!
*A surprise visit from Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kathy
*HOMEMADE PIZZA
*General Conference!!!
*Chatting with my folks
*Going for a walk or two...
*Other stuff...

Funny story: while all the boys were at Priesthood Session, I visited with Momma and Kathy. I told them about a time a few years ago when the boys had returned from the Priesthood Session, and I asked Aaron who had spoken and what they had said. Aaron responded with, "I can't tell you; the stuff they tell us at Priesthood Session is for men only." He kept on refusing to tell me, so I said, "Fine, I'll just wait until the Conference Report comes out next month," to which Aaron replied, "They change the talks for the Conference Report; you'll never know what they told us..." Mom and Kathy thought the exchange was funny, because that's SO like Aaron. About 30 minutes later, Brent and Uncle Kurt returned from the Priesthood Session, and I asked a similar question: "What did they talk about tonight?" And Uncle Kurt said, "I can't tell you because you don't hold the priesthood." Haha! I love my family...

Anyhoo, I actually took a ton of pictures this past weekend. (I've kinda started sucking at that when 2009 went away...) So here are some pictures of the people (and things) that made me smile all weekend long:

This child (and his cute little smirk)

This child (and his ecstasy over dyeing Easter eggs)

This child (and his love of Cars)

This child (and her long skinny tongue)

Papa reading to the boys...

Brightly colored Easter eggs...

Posing in Pink with this Pretty Princess...

An Easter bouquet...

Wishing you and yours a happy (almost belated!) Easter...