Running

I went running today. Apparently the trail was absolutely destroyed in last night's storm. I'll be more careful next time . . .



-- Post From My iPhone

allstate!!!

HEEYYYYY y'alll!!!1

so, if i don't blog about this, the next time i talk to heather, she'll make me get on the computer and blog about it right then and there. :D

All-State was just GOSH DARNNN AAAAAAAMMMMAZZINGGGG!!! :D Seriously, i loved it so much! it was such an amazing experience!! Mom said the SSAA choir was better than SATB.. doesn't happen very often.. :D hehehe. I'm really excited to get my CD!!

Sadly, my choir director wasn't able to come, because the music department trip was scheduled for the same weekend. He was intending to drive down on Saturday for the concert, but his car broke down. :( And the only reason he drove up to Williamsburg, where the dpt trip was, was to drive to Fredericksburg for me on Saturday, and his car broke. :(

And apparently I get a certificate and a MEDAL!! How exciting is that??? I haven't gotten them yet. The director I was under is mailing them to Mr. Bowen. :) I'm so excited! I didn't know I got a medal!!! WOOT WOOT YAYYY!!!

ANYWAYSSS!!! That was more than I intended to write, and I would love to give you more details! Just call me!!!! :D I love you all SOOOOOO much!!!! Photo Friday tomorrow!! Don't forget!!!
i'll try and take some pictures of the BEAUTIFUL scenery surrounding our everyday life and put them up. It's amazing. SOOO green and lush. like you're driving through the middle of a forest. :)

Just Sitting Around

One day last week while working on the computer the boys gathered around to be with mom and Jacob, as usual, found the best seat in the house--I don't know how he does it but I had to take a pic and share it!  

Cookbook update continued

We made "Aji de Pollo," and it was great!  We took James' suggestion and used salt instead of ajinomoto (MSG) and it worked really well.  If you make it, put 1 and 1/2 tsp salt instead of ajinomoto (you can add more salt to taste at the end).  Two tips:  First, when you blend the crackers, milk and peppers, add some of the saved chicken broth.  Otherwise, it won't mix up well or pour out well.  Secondly, the consistency is supposed to be like a thick soup (like chili, but without chunks), so that it can spread over rice but is not runny.  Good luck if you want to make it, call if you have questions!

Spring is in the air!

A little fishing...



A little Easter....
And story time with Grandpa....
Could it get much better? Yep, we are camping tomorrow! Eventually I will blog that too. Enjoy the pictures!

prom!

so here is my prom story i guess.

I got up like, 10, and mom and i went to target, and i got some awesome shoes. :) we came home, did my hair cuz mom is amazing like that. (except i did make the actual twist...)
Then i did my makeup etc, and put on some cool nails,(that are still on, i should add... $5!!)
and finished getting ready and cody came, and we finished up our getting readiness, and mom took some lovely pictures. :) thanks mom.Then we went to dinner, (1/2 an hour late, but that's ok...my fault!) it's because mom cares. she had to make me a bag, and i didn't even take it. but she had to make it cuz she cares. :) anyways, we went to Applebees, and that was good. We thought there were only going to be 4 of us, but there were 8. fun fun.

Then we went to Prom. Some stuff happened with some cars, we danced, (but most of the music was really stupid), so we sat a lot, but hey! i thought it was fun!!!

so yeah. that was my junior prom. got home about 11:30. Didn't go to after prom. i heard it was lots of fun, though.

me again

hellooo!!!
goodnews!!!
i'll be able to come to the family reunion!!!! atleast, probably.
i'm a delegate alternate for governor's school. so if some people just decide they don't wanna go, (psh, don't know WHY that would happen), i could go. but the chance is pretty slim.
So i didn't get a rejection. I just didn't get an acceptance. :) positive me.
gotta go finish getting ready!! my hair is prettty! :D

happy time!

Hello again my lovely family!

I got some good news!!!!
I got a 28 on my ACT!!! yayyyyy!!!!!!!!!! the writing isn't up yet, but yep. 32 on English, 25 on Math..... 27 on Reading, 26 on Science. i think. :)

ok, hopefully happy news will come about governor's school now. i gotta go get readddy!

hello my lovely family!

Well hello everyone!!!
I successfully missed Photo Friday again. Super duper sorry. :(
But today is prom. :) Hopefully it's gonna be super exciting. :) When I get pictures downloaded, i'll put them up here, so you can see. :)
ok, that is a lot of smileys. sorry. but anyways.
what's going on with Joe's job? apparently something is going on with JJ, seems mom's talking to them right now, and i'm only hearing 1 side of the conversation... can be kinda annoying... How's the job searching and interviewing for James?? Michelle and Bryce... how's everybody's health? and everything else?
I should find out about governor's school today, also. if i don't, i have to wait until monday, or tuesday. or whenever. it's getting reallllly annoying. eeek! letters were sent out the 15th, so it should BE here!!!! i'll let you know. :)
well, i love you all so much!!!!

Friday

Here it is, Friday again! Now that I'm teaching seminary, I look forward to Friday's more than I did before. No seminary lesson, only a YW lesson (although this week is Bishop's Fireside during YM/YW time)--real holiday!

I spent today working on prom dresses. Marquie's is all done. Awaiting a final fitting and critique. And, I finished a little jacket for one of the young women in our ward. I'm so glad there are still young women who want to be modest! Will post a picture of Marquie when I get one and she downloads it :)

The picture, Marquie took yesterday in our backyard. Awesome! While some of you had snow, we had fog!

Job or lack there of

More info... We are going on a date tonight! We have a gift card to a nice Italian place, so we are going to use it. We even managed to scrounge up a babysitter. Yipppeee for us! I will try to call you people tonight or tomorrow. Joe has kind of been hogging the phone, since he no longer has a cell phone. He is meeting with a contractor tomorrow about a job. This will be a temporary job, we are still praying for the D.C job. Babysitter should be here soon. Don't worry! We are going to be just fine. Thanks for all your prayers and love!

Joe lost his job today. Now everybody knows. LOVE YOU!

Interview

While I was talking to Mom today I got a beep.  Mom can testify that I ignored it because we never stopped chatting.  It was an interview offer at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, IL.  I'll give you the date when I confirm it with them, but you can start praying now!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Love you all! If you want to see the video that was posted here, you can access it at lds.org. It was taking up so much room!

So much to do

A quick look at our weekend. Yes, this is Marquie with her hands actually holding raw bacon. It was touch and go for a while, but she made it through. She even took ground sausage right out of the bag. WHOA!! I knew you would all be skeptical of her really accomplishing this feat, so I took a picture. Yeah Marquie! Next stop, raw chicken.... Did you hear her scream?

What is this you say... Yes, another dog. NO WE ARE NOT KEEPING HIM, DESPITE MANY PROTESTS. I don't know why strays find us, just suckers I suppose. HE is very well trained. Scratches at the door to go out and everything. He was very matted, so Joe cut off all his hair and gave him a bath. Ginger and he get along very well. No, not THAT well. They just slept outside on the ground. We can't find out if she belongs to anyone until Monday. We bought her a collar so we can take her out and tie her in the garage tonight. OY!


These are the happy egg hunters. Still speaking to each other after an intense outdoor Easter egg hunt. They had lots of fun. They enjoyed hiding them for each other afterward also.

Lastly, our first cookout of the year. While by the fire it was actually quite nice. We roasted hot dogs and followed it up with the classic s'more. Mmmm. Then everybody scrubbed in the tub and went to bed. Ahhh, peaceful quiet. Too bad we still have Easter shopping to do when Marquie gets home. I am actually looking forward to it. Everything is already half off. Yeah!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Photo Friday

I took this on January 16th, 2009.

Good Friday

Just a reminder to us all as we head into our Easter Weekend. A great quote from Elder Holland's Conference Talk:

"My...plea at Easter time is that these scenes of Christ’s lonely sacrifice, laced with moments of denial and abandonment and, at least once, outright betrayal, must never be reenacted by us. He has walked alone once. Now, may I ask that never again will He have to confront sin without our aid and assistance, that never again will He find only unresponsive onlookers when He sees you and me along His Via Dolorosa in our present day. As we approach this holy week—Passover Thursday with its Paschal Lamb, atoning Friday with its cross, Resurrection Sunday with its empty tomb—may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,” for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone."

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ!!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!

Blog Addition

I LOVE the addition of the family picture on the blog--well most of the family.

Oops

Cookbook update

Just wanted to let you all know I finally figured out what "ajinomoto" is.  The peruvian dish I put in the cookbook called "Aji de Pollo," calls for 1 1/2 tsp ajinomoto, and I honestly didn't know what it was.  When I asked the Peruvian family I made this dish with what it was called in English, they had no idea.

After a little bit of research I discovered that "ajinomoto" is actually MSG.  No wonder I haven't been able to find it in any grocery store.  Contrary to Justin's beliefs, I wasn't trying to kill you all by way of cancer.  Love you!  I'm going to try to make it without the ajinomoto and I'll tell you how it is.

A Great Photographer

I just have to say that Marquie is a great photographer!  Here are some great pics she took while we were in DC.  Keep up the good work!

Dorothy!

If only she could wear those during her performance!  Good luck Marquie and enjoy Spring Break!

Appreciation

Since it's Friday and it's been awhile since I've blogged, I've been thinking all day on just what I could blog about. The last few weeks have been such a whirlwind, not a lot of time for contemplating, but as I sit at the computer today, I want you all to know that I feel LOVED. I truly feel loved. Thank you to all of you, my family, for caring about me, for visiting me, for calling me, for emailing me, for making me feel like an important part of your lives. It matters.

Hmmmm part 2

O.K., now that you have all had plenty of time to wonder, BLOG IT! Yes, to answer your questions, I am crazy! Love you all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!