Dear Lorena and family

I spent many of my life min. with the Dayley/Davis clan in high school. While I have a ton of embarrassing moments with them all and I could go on for many days of experiences, I am going to focus on 3 physical activity memories.

You see this wonderful family loves physical labor and hard work. I learned fast to buck up and deal with it when I was around them. There is no room for ninnies, and while they may love you despite your lack of physical drive, there is also no room for failure.

Physical feat #1

I learned to move pipe at their house.

Being only 111 lbs in high school I looked very silly in those giant rubber boots. I looked even more silly the first time I tried to lift the pipe and it didn't to anything. But I was tough and I imagined my non-existent dying children trapped under the pipe and lifted those pipes full of water. I think it was on the second one I was shown how to drain them first. Even then I didn't always wait to empty them because I was a slow worker. Like I implied before, an attribute such as this wasn't the most valued. So I grew some muscles and carried those water laden pipes because I wasn't about to fail, because FAILURE is unacceptable.

Physical feat #2

I learned to survive.

In an effort to do activities more like the boys, Katie and I formed a coalition to backpack like scouts. We worked together, with help, and put together a backpacking trip that the scouts had been on before us in search for a trail to the lake. Never having found the lake, we too were subject to the hard work of 14 miles through the brush, trees, bugs and mud. This first trip was littered with beehives. Lucky for all of you, I can only guess which ones came. If I rack my brain, I think I could get all your names, but I am choosing to just leave these up for the imagination.

The Hike started out well, everyone had energy and we worked well together. However, eventually the hiking went something like this:

in result, packs became heavy. At first we split the goods between the adults, however that only worked until they all had almost 2 times the weight they were supposed to be carrying. We had to make it work so Kate and I took extra weight as well. I remember it as a large amount more than we were supposed to have as well. We didn't have a choice we had to keep going because whether we made it to the lake or went back, we had to learn to survive. (ah ha! the magic lesson word!)

After splitting up some of the packs girls were carrying, we came up with a better plan for the hiking Kate and I were in the back this time setting the pace from behind. Efficiency. Beautiful.

This is where I mainly learned the "no room for ninnies" rule first hand because Kate was quite the slave driver. She did a lot of yelling/encouraging. But we got there! in just enough time to set up camp for the night.

This being my first backpacking trip, I learned how wonderful food is. It's amazing what you can survive on. It's also amazing how good bare essentials can be when you have been working so hard for them. I am specifically trying to get to squeezable peanut butter. We only brought one tube for one lunch of crackers and peanut butter. After the lunch was over Katie and I had the responsibility of holding it, which meant we ate it while we walked. I can't describe how fantastic it was to squeeze a strip on your finger and lick it off slowly. I've tried it since and clearly it's not the same. However! I can't shake the memory as one of the best things I have ever eaten.

The next trip Katie and I had to carry all our own food because we needed to be punished for eating all the peanut butter.

Physical feat #3

This has no lesson learned and doesn't really end all that happy.

Those that wanted to were invited to go on the 20 miler with the scouts out on the BLM land. For those of you who need to know what BLM land is

It's just like this. Its barren land that animals are allowed to graze on. The only water sources are large tractor tires full of water in the middle of nowhere. Usually they have dead rodents floating around in them because the mice are so desperate for water they dive in and then can't get back out.

Clearly you don't drink out of them.

It was hot and long and supposed to be done in one day. We didn't bring anything other than food and water really. Some barely brought that. In fact, many ran out of water. We were having to ration our water between all of us. I remember one person needed water so bad and then drank a whole bottle. All this no water business occurred half way through.

Those boys they trucked through without one complaint. Well, maybe that girls were out there and they had to share their water. Something stupid to say would be "well we created opportunities for them to be prepared little scouts." I guess we did do that, but I don't think in scouts they teach you to be prepared to give all your bare essentials to idiots that didn't bring their own.

In the end most of the girls got picked up with 2 or 3 miles left. One got picked up because of blisters that had popped and come back and popped a few times and had taken over her feat. All in all I did it, but it isn't a fond memory.

And there you go, a tribute to yet another of Lorena's posts. While I enjoy the physical activities, I hear ya sista!

I saw this today on failblog.org I just thought it was funny. I usually get a smile, this one I laughed at.

Things that I have been doing lately

Time goes by pretty slowly around here. I have had some interesting experiences that really only I appreciate fully. Here are a few of my favorites.

I am proud of the name wall. It took me a while because I had to make each one a file because I don't have any of those fonts on my computer. The flash caught the papers, but imagine it as I see it, it's almost like I used my bottle of whiteout to paint each one of those on!Yeah you see it now!

This is my first attempt at fondant. It tasted better than it looks.

A little bird decided it wanted to live here. I wouldn't have minded if he would have been quiet. I thought it was the smoke alarm with a dead battery. It was frustrating for a whole freaking hour of answering the phone and not finding the bad smoke alarm. When I found the bird all he did was hop away from me and not back out the door.

Once he got out of the door I stupidly left the door open and he came back in. Again the bird when out. I shut the door, but not hard enough because yes as you are predicting it opened and he came back in.

I didn't realized that we could rent more than I dwelling. I think that if a group of us get together we could rent some other place which would solve having to beat out people for an apartment because we can stay wherever we want, we are renting it.

This was the sign outside a preschool. I have nothing else to say.

I made this at work. It ruined my right thumb cuticle. But I used a whole box!

I do all the paperwork here and I got one of these in the box. It's not that funny, but I still giggle when I read it. HA

Just words no pictures

So I love pretty sparkly things. Thus naturally I enjoy looking at prom pictures, wedding pictures and pageant pictures.

This month, I miss the pageant. I enjoyed it, and later decided that I had got my fill of being in it, but I still enjoy watching and being interested in them. However, I wish that things were different because I want to be in it. I never got a sash. I think thats what it is. If only I had a sash I might not have this want or need to do a pageant.

Things I really enjoyed:

the crown it was really pretty

the dress it also was really pretty

the thrill

the smiling

learning to dance

Things I didn't like:

not knowing the girls very well

always comparing myself

I guess I always felt good because I had decided that I had had my fill. However, now I feel left out because I can't be in it.

I have come up with a solution. I am going to have my own pageant. It will probably take place bi-monthly in my living room. I welcome contestants but know that I am experienced and I am also the judge. I will probably win but it would deffinately be more fun if someone was there.

Yes I think this will be a great solution.

Great plans!

I am going HERE this weekend

Not much of a friend to me. Looks like a rock.

I've Been Mislead

I was googling things to do in Charlotte. By the way if anyone knows of something....

I came across this link that says "Carolina Raptor Center"

Of course my first thought was "oh my gosh, all of that raptor attack training will come to use as I place myself at the mercy of the ever so feared creatures.

Unfortunately we are now calling all birds of prey "raptors." I realize that I knew something of this before...but why can't it be called, "Carolina Birds of Prey Center," or "Carolina Nearly Extinct and Mostly Illegal to Kill Birds Center." I am outraged! Clearly I expected more of this place.

An event to remember

We were all sitting around the pool when a fight broke out. Ofcourse I started snapping pics in case something fun happened as they fell in the pool together. Except I got something so much better.

With permission of the victim, I was able to post the event. However, I promissed not to name them by name so they might be able to find jobs in the future. But it was as funny as it would seem.

Mostly thoughts for myself

I think it's been while since I just shared a thought without pictures. I was commenting on someones blog realizing that what I was saying was preachy so now I am going to preach for myself. 

I admire people that make decisions. I really dislike people that take forever to just pick what meal they want (Jack does this bad, but I actually love him, dislike waiting) I especially admire people that make them and then admit that's what they want to do. 

A friend of mine once talked to me about deciding something, and as long as you stick to it whether you are confident or not, that is the way to make a decision. Having faith in yourself and not justifying your actions for others is the way to go. 

It's said that when you dislike something about someone else, chances are that is something that you hate about yourself. I think that about this decision making thing. I can do better. 

I think in the last year, I have made the best decisions. I think what made them good is, I decided and I stuck by myself for them. Many times I was tempted to go back because I enjoyed my life. But that is when things don't change, and clearly I can see that my life is better. I don't ever think where I am now is where I thought I would be a year ago. I mean I didn't even want to talk to Jack, thought I was going to be with someone else. I figured I would stay in Provo, happy working in my favorite job at the middle school in Special Ed. Really, my life wasn't all that bad before. But I wasn't progressing. 

I think taking my leap of faith with something different made my life MUCH better! While I am somewhere different, at least I feel like I am learning to swim instead of still dog paddling. This is literal  because for the first time in years I swam under water without plugging my nose because I decided it was best to progress with my swimming. Really, standing around has gotten old. 

I did it because I jumped, I changed my direction, left my comfort zone, quit making excuses. 

Now to muster the bravery to keep it up, more jumping. Maybe tomorrow I will dive in the water. Thanks Lorena 

Here are some thoughts from the shower....

My best friend Mandy.

I'm sad we wern't in the same type pose, but switched spots, tender enough!

Once when I was living in Park Place our shower was unavailable, so Eric and Mandy were so nice to let me come over and bathe myself. I think this was the first time I noticed how neat and clean she is. There was just enough shampoo/cleaning supplies for what she needed and nothing extra. The sink had soap and Eric's favorite Gold Bond lotion  (I made a link for this because I want to make sure that everyone knows that it is indeed an awesome lotion for your skin.) I am and was so impressed with how she keeps her home. 

I thought of this today in the shower when I counted how many bottles of things I have and Jack has in there. 4 bottles for hair care, Shaving creme, body wash, loofah , razor, wash cloth and then 1 hair and 1 body bottle +loofah. I thought "Mandy's shower doesn't look like this."

The more I thought about Mandy and her cleanliness, the more I thought of all the extra things I have vs. her. The amount of clothes, makecup, hair stuff; I guess stuff in general. Then I thought of her simple personality as well. How she doesn't seem to complain, and she is very good about keeping her business to herself or just those that she feels she should know. 

Once I made a big mistake and gave her a skunk streak when highlighting her hair. She was very forgiving, especially since we really weren't best friends then. 

And now a list of things that I like about Mandy:

Her love for pink

Her simple, direct and effective parenting style

Her ability to look at a situation for the pros and cons

also to deduce the next best solution

Her efficientcy on the phone

Her talent in quickly solving problems

Her taste in music, clothes, baby clothes and kitchen untencils

How she likes gilmore girls and our discussions we have about the show

Her googling ability (saved me a few times)

Her williness to jump to help when needed

Midnight Harry Potter movies

Her smile

Her family (it's not her, but I do like them)

Her collection of flip flops

Her need to use a lot of pillows-in conjunction the way she sleeps (or slept, it's been a while) on them

The way she rolls her eyes

The way she celebrates "whoot-whoot"

The way she cooks

How she gives directions

Our matching movie popcorn shirts

How she was the only one (and eric) to give me real bystander advice when it came to a few decisions I've made in the past couple of years

How she still cared about me just as much when I gave her the immature "I know what I'm doing"

How she let me live with her for like a year

How she fed me durring that time too

Her name

I especially like how much I like being her friend

so this ode to Mandy, the bestest best friend I have had. Happy Birthday!

Um...I just figured out that a crazy girl I once knew somehow works for/with my uncle? hmmm....Rachel, Megan, Lillian, Chelsea I think you'd remember her. I don't feel anything but uncomfortable. 

The Ween-o-Rama

I am embarrassed that I have never blogged about this. I am proud, I just didn't realize that I never recorded it. 

two years ago I participated in a competition called queen o the ween. I beauty pageant held at the ween o rama. 

With help I made this dress out of a giant roll of shrink wrap. It took about 5 hours. This was the dress and questions section. 
This was my talent. I ate a hot dog like a turttle. This talent has not been shared very often since. Most importantly, my husband has never seen it. 
I had a big group of support. I think this might be an outing that Ruby went to and could be added to Sara's list. 
This is when I won.

This was my competition. It was tough, but I pulled through in the end. 

I was one of the best experiences of my life! Wouldn't you know it's going on again this year. Click Here to check out the website for more details. There is a little pic of me on the site as well. Even a button with my picture as the watermark. 

If any of you have a chance to attend, I would encourage you. It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!

Coolest things

Lately I keep seeing some really cool things. Later tonight I will be seeing terminator. I think it might end up on my coolest things list, so I hope I am not disappointed. 

I got to go hang out with some of the other wives at the park yesterday. It was fun. We got to go downtown in greenville to a cool place called falls park. On the way back we walked past this cool little bike shop. This one was $400. Maybe after I pay for everything else, I will buy this. Cool!

Greetings!

We are still alive. And to be quite honest, really liking it here. We are liking it so much that as a WE, we would like to tell you about our experiences together. Thus, you should go here to check it out. 

Pool party and a BBQ

Well our office has been doing rather well here in sunny Greenville. To celebrate we had a shindig at our complex's pool. The food was great, and so was the entertainment. As you can see there was a basketball game. On the side for those that didn't want to participate with them there was a yoga ball that was too cool to leave alone. View the videos so really capture the magic.


Jack was happily watching, and I was happily watching him. 

New Surroundings

Thinks are going well here. Oh boys it's been quite rainy! But my job doesn't really require me to go anywhere. I sit in the office all day and schedule installations. 

However, lucky for me I am not all on my own. I would like you to all meet my assistant Nygil. 

As you can see he is very helpful. A cross between a pig and a cat, he spends most of the day reminding me of his presence by snoring next to the wall. 
But all is well and at least I am not lonely!

South Carolina, we made it!

Well we made it! Here is a view of the land and about where we live. We are only 6 miles from the airport so really this is about it. 

It seemed like every plane we got on got smaller and smaller. Yeah there were only 2 seats on our side and one on the other side. 
We were getting bored, but we wanted to document the beginning of our trip!
Before we left we stopped at my Aunt and Uncle's house. That day their daughter Emma had brought home their class assignment of re-creating the farmer and his wife picture that most are familliar with. However, they were supposed to turn it into an Easter style picture. I think my favorite is the carrot ears. 
This is Emma. Yes, we all decided the picture was a little disturbing, but yet creative. 
We took miss jenny with us to the storage unit. She now is gaurding the unit. We figure if someone tries to steal all of our stuff, then they deserve to pee their pants in fear. 
This is what our trunk looked like before we shipped it out here. It was totally full. Oh and yes of course when we got here the car had to be jumped. Isn't that awsome. 
We got a good deal because they ran out of smaller units so ours was huge. We may consider moving in. Our friends Heather and Will came to help us out. That is Will in the background.
The last day of work we had some fun with the camera. This is one of my jobs to take the C-section biohazard cart down to the processing center. I get to go in the operating room to retrieve it and mop up a little. So obviously I get to dress up a little. 
This is Heather. She and I worked on the Labor and Delivery floor together. We had a whole heap of fun playing with color. 

Moving

We have decided to move. Jack has an oportunity to work with a mission buddy/ies selling security systems this summer. So in about two weeks we leave for South Carolina. The company is shipping our car out for us and then flying us out there. We are pretty excited to move, live in the south, have a change. But no worries we will be back, and we will keep you updated on our happenings!

Trying to keep up

Seems like everything gets so busy at the end of the semester, even if you aren't in school. For Jack and I, well Jack describes it as "Friday I will have a life again." This is only partially true for he still has finals at the end of the month, but whatever. 

First of all, I took a picture of a picture so I could post to all the world that Becca did in fact reach her goal for the wedding jumping picture! Not only that but she looks really good doing it!  

We had a chance to go to Jack's mission reunion. It was pretty entertaining. We met some unique people. The mission pres. wife spoke which was pretty good. 

We also had a chance to use our mini-slider from Mary and Braxton. Because it was such a unique gift we felt like it deserved a spot on the blog. It was so fun, and it came with recipies. The slider is a stove top mini-hamburger maker. SO COOL!

A few weeks ago my Grandpa Rice passed away. He was buried here near Logan so my family spent some time here for a few days. Here are a few highlights. Here is a link to the rest of them if anyone would like to have some.

Mostly I just wanted to post about how we got to the cemetery as they were digging the grave. I have never seen that so I tried to capture a few shots to share. I think the guys working were a little confused, the one looked like we had just driven by like he  was some safari atraction. Really, it was kind of like that. 

That's it! until next time!