Uuuhh. . . SWEET!

So, ModBe clothing went out of business a few months back and it was a sad day in my life. I LOVED their swim line. Some of the best swim suits I have ever owned. So, imagine my surprise when I was checking my old hotmail email just now and in my junk box, there was an email saying that ModBe swim is BACK! Yipppeee!!! Just click here and start finding your ideal swimsuit. And hey, spread the word!

The Lovely Lisa

Hello my friends. Have I ever told you about my amazing (with a capital "A") cousin, Lisa? Let me do so, now.

There are few people I have met in my life that have an incredibly positive attitude all the time, but she is one of those few. She's got a beautiful family of three little girls, the youngest of whom has had very serious medical problems. But Lisa, the fabulous lady that she is, doesn't see these problems as such, but as a challenge. A Personal challenge. And she researches and problem solves and ALWAYS, like I mentioned above, has a positive attitude. And she loves her girls and her husband more than anything. It's plain to see. Everyday that I read her amazing blog, I am just blown away by her faith, her happiness and her love. I aspire to be as amazing as she. (And she ROCKS at the violin! As a recent lover of violinists, since my husband is one, as is his whole family, I just love to hear her play. Which she did so, at Dallin and my reception in Dec 2008.)

Another amazing cousin of mine, Marilyn, nominated Lisa for a Mother's Day Makeover over at Make You Over. Not that Lisa NEEDS a makeover, but for being so amazing as she is, she certainly DESERVES one. So, head on over there and vote for her! Trust me, she is more than deserving of this wonderful opportunity.

You're The One That I Want, You Are The One I Want, Ooh-Ooh-Ooh!

This weekend, Dallin and I made the trek back up to Washington to see Clayton play Kenickie in the musical Grease. It was awesome! The vocals were unreal, the costuming was perfect and the acting was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend you all go see it, if you are in the Tri-City area. It will be playing again this weekend on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 at Chiawana High School. (They might even have a matinee on Saturday, but I'm not sure.) My only disappointment about the play was the fact that Dallin and I didn't get a picture with Clayton in his sweet get-up! :) He looked awesome with his hair all slicked back and in his black leather jacket and all. :)

Saturday was a pretty laid back day, we went and saw the newest addition to the Bill and Carolyn Henry family, little Savannah Henry and I've got the baby fever now. She is absolutely precious. I got to hold her for about 20 minutes and I was in heaven. Needless to say, I want more time with my new little niece. :) Then I went and got my hair done by my awesome hairdresser, and cousin, Heather. Seriously, if you want the best coloring of your life, go to Heather. And the best hair cut. I have NEVER been dissatisfied. She works at Studio One in Kennewick. Call and book an appointment. Now. :) You won't regret it, I promise! Then, I did a little shopping around town with my mom, which is always a good time. After that, Dallin and I headed out to Kerry and Bonnie's with the original intent of riding razors. We ended up watching Avatar instead. :) It was pretty good. Total political agenda, which bugged me, but nevertheless, good. And then we headed to Red Robin with Bryce and Andrea and had us some delicious dinner. (And we finally used up our Red Robin gift cards from Christmas! Did I tell you how we got 4 $25 gift cards to that place from 4 different people? Apparently, we love Red Robin a lot. :)) And then we finished off the night chit-chattin with my mom and dad. Pretty awesome day.

Sunday I finally pulled out my camera and started snappin pictures because my mom and dad's yard is beautiful right now! And then Rachel and Chad's girls wanted to get in on the action, so we had us a little photo shoot. :)

I haven't even had time to edit any of these, so they are all SOOC (straight out of camera). I thought they all turned out pretty cute though. :)

K, fine. Blogger's being dumb and won't let me upload any pictures. But don't you worry, I'll get to the bottom of this! Needless to say, it was a fun filled weekend that went by way too fast, as do all good visits to the fam. Can't wait to see everyone again!

Oh Salem. . .

I decided I needed to familiarize myself with Salem today. You know, scope out all the best shopping places, i.e. TJ Maxx, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. I was on a hunt for cheap storage solutions. Our place is small, and I want to maximize the space. Thanks to my wonderful phone for having unlimited texting and the ability to text google for addresses and directions (our internet wasn't working yet) I found all the places I needed to go!

As a side note: have any of you ever used google text? It's amazing. Just enter in 466453 as the number (google) and then text away! Example: I want to know what the weather is going to be for today. So, I enter in google's number (well, it's just programmed into my address book) and enter the words, "weather, salem OR" and send it off. A couple seconds later, I get the current temp as well as a three day forecast. Pretty sweet, eh? Or, perhaps, you're super curious about what time it is in china right now? Just enter in Time: Bejing, China. Seconds later, you'll find out the current time. So, today, I needed the address to TJ Maxx. So, I entered in, TJ Maxx, Salem OR and got the address. Then, to get the directions, I just entered my current address and then the word "to" and then TJ Maxx's address. Worked like a charm. Did the same thing when I wanted to figure out how to get from TJ Maxx to Target. I love Google.

So, on my from our new apartment to TJ Maxx, I was at the intersection of Commercial St. and Madrona. Commercial is a busy road with lots of traffic and lots of weird people walking down it. Today, there was a man waiting to cross the road and he just looked a little scary. I couldn't tell if he was mentally unwell, or if he was physically unwell, but whatever it was, I locked my doors. He was wringing his hands, looking this way and that, never making eye contact with anyone. I thought maybe he was deprived of drugs? I don't know. All I know is I felt for the poor man.

Later, as I drove from the Maxx to Target, I saw a kid on Center st. Center st. runs through a little bit of a rough patch of town for a few blocks and then it enters into a much safer part of town. As I was driving, I saw a kid (and I really wish I would have taken a picture) who was in camo looking skinny jeans and combat boots. Oh yeah. And then he had on a very fitted jacket with a guitar strapped across his back. As I passed, he was talking to himself (while muttering, so it seemed, four letter curse words under his breath). I just started laughing. It's a different world down here, people. But, I love it. Our ward is the bomb and we've got the best upstairs neighbors (in the form of my brother and sister in law. a sister in law who shares my name. it's not confusing or anything though.) We like Salem. Despite the weirdo's walkin down the street. :)

8

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When I was 16, I went out to New Jersey to visit Tara and David for a month. I loved it there. We were a 45 minute train ride away from Manhattan and I craved the big city atmosphere. While I was there, I drove around Edison a few times to run errands for Tara while she was taking care of the wee babes, Luke and Mathew. And while I ran those errands, I learned that driving around New Jersey was NOT like driving in Washington. (Mind you, I had had my license for 3 months. Count it. THREE MONTHS. I was a skilled driver.) In New Jersey, if there is the smallest space between two cars, you get out in that intersection. 'Cause if ya don't, then you get a LONG line of honkin cars behind you. I learned what it was to get out into an intersection, and FAST!

Since that time, I still implement my New Jersey driving habits here in Washington, where the pace is just a little slower than average. And when someone else waits for multiple cars to go by before they pull out, it maddens me. I get a wee bit impatient. I may or may not have road rage. Anyway, for some reason, whenever I am with Dallin and he is driving, I have gotten into this habit where if he doesn't go when I think he should, I say, "You could have gone 8 times!" Every time. Why the magical number 8? Who knows. It just flows out of my mouth though. It's natural. Dallin has decided this is the magical number for me and we're going to end up having 8 kids. I tell him he's out of his mind. Unless I can get pregnant 4 times and they're all twins, then I might consider it. Other than that? No way. No how.

But I digress. So, today I was thinking about us moving again down to Salem, and I thought about all the moves we've done recently. And guess what I figured out? In the last year and a half, I have moved 8 times. 8. There it is again. The magical number 8. It haunts me everywhere I go. And we're moving into apartment B8! I'm telling you, I am destined to have the number 8 everywhere in my life. Ok, maybe not. But I thought it was kind of funny that the number I always use just happens to now represent the amount of times I have moved in the last year and a half. And yes, I give you all permission to feel sorry for me. :) Ha, who am I kidding, I'm not even sorry for myself! I've got this whole packing thing down to a science. And I de-clutter every time I move. I get rid of all my unused junk and clothes. (Gives me excuses to go by more clothes! :)) See the pluses here people?? I'm telling you, moving is great. But, when the day comes that I won't have to move anymore, I will be mighty thankful. Then I'll just have to be super organized and motivated and de-junk every few months. You know, keep with the tradition.

And that is my tale about the number 8.

Love It.

I love purses. Have I ever confessed that here? I find myself drawn to Dooney and Bourke, Louis Vuitton, Coach, etc. Yes. I'm serious. I've never owned a single purse from any of them though. I can't justify the money. Seriously? I won't spend over $60 bucks on a pair of jeans, much less $200 on a purse. But, back to the point of this post. My lovely cousin Danyelle (or Dandee, as you may know her) is giving away the pattern to the cutest purse on her blog! Please, go check it out. You'll thank me. I promise. :) And spread the blog love! Let everyone else know about her awesome personal blog, as well as My Favorite Things. They're two of my favorites. I always get excited when they pop up on my Google Reader. :)