Nard Removal

Our glorious fall weather took a winter-like turn this afternoon when the rain turned to snowy slush for about 15 minutes (long enough to smear the ink on the mailing label of the Fall Swap package I was mailing, sorry Heather) and the temperatures dipped severely.

Landon still opted to wear shorts to his game.

Whitney and I froze our nards off on the sidelines. I had on cozy lounge pants, but it turns out they did absolutely nothing to warm my butt cheeks. Whitney had on 2 hoodies, a blanket and Randy's huge warm coat (which she stole from me) and gloves but was still freezing!


It was nice that the slushing stopped just before the game started; it was still windy and cold but oh so beautiful outside.

There is snow on the mountains! Landon played well in this game--he scored an extra point, had a couple catches and a great kick off.

Look at that crazy sky!

Is that a homeless person??

No, that's just Whitney gathering all her gear after the game. She packs food and activities as if she's going to be gone for a week!


We were so frozen after the game that we turned the heat on in the car for the first time of the season! I had the air conditioning going just yesterday...why does this surprise me every year?


I surprised the kids by driving to Little Caesar's for some cheap pizza. We just had to have something hot to eat. The kids both happily held the hot boxes on their laps during the car ride home and I teased them by saying I really needed to sit on one of the boxes to get warm again, but that would have been a waste of $5.

P.S. I'm not helping coach Landon's team this season because he got a coach who is used to working with the same assistant coach each time and didn't really need me. She was nice enough about it and would take my help (hence my participation at the first practice) but since they don't really need me I'm happy to watch from seat on the sidelines. It's kind of nice to be able to drop him off at practices and to just show up and enjoy the games.

**When was the last time you froze your nards off?
Do you have any homeless looking family members?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm having a hard time recovering from being so cold. This is such an unusual sensation for me since I'm always overheated that it feels like my body is in revolt.

I've Been Served!

Remember how at last week's service auction I won a weeding (not wedding, which is what I originally typed) service? Well, Sara has already come and served me and now my front beds are weed free!

(She authorized this photo.)

She arrived at 9:20 Monday morning and stayed for 2 hours! Her little daughter Madison (who I used to babysit when she'd go to the temple) played happily the entire time.


Sara finished the big, main bed (which is all I expected her to do) and then moved on to the terrible bed that Randy and I choose not to see. It is full of grass and really dense weeds, plus the dirt is super hard so it's really, really difficult to weed. But Sara insisted on doing it and got half of it done Monday and then returned Tuesday morning to finish the other half--for a total of 3 hours of weeding! She even killed a huge black widow spider (ew...shivers!) that was climbing up the side of our porch (no doubt making her way into the house to kill me!).


I felt some guilt about this since I really hate weeding, but Sara assured me that this is what I bought from her and that she bought services from other people and will be cashing those in herself. I ended up doing a mini-clean up of the garage, and we were able to visit while she worked. At one point, I was sitting on the porch while she weeded and was hit with guilty feelings again, but they weren't strong enough to make me get down on my knees to weed!

It was such a boost to have that big job done before winter hits again. Maybe this time Randy and I will be motivated enough to amend the soil so that it will be decent for spring flowers. At any rate, we were very pleased with Sara's great service and love the service auction plan!

**How do you feel about weeding?
Would you have felt guilty letting her work?
Have you served anyone this week?**

Comment Window Tidbit: We're having our first fantastically fall-like weather today with a chilly temperature, wind and rain, it's glorious!

Remember My Name, Remember, Remember

Last Saturday afternoon I met up with my mom and sisters at Thanksgiving Point for lunch and a movie. They ordered lunch while I was over buying the movie tickets, but when I joined them my lunch wasn't ready yet (it was aBBQ beef sandwich). I ended up eating all of my chips while I waited, and they were done eating by the time my sandwich arrived...what the?


Adam dropped Amy off at the theater on his way over to our house, so she wasn't able to join us for lunch but made it in time for the movie.


We were all excited to see "Fame", especially since Kherington from So You Think You Can Dance is in it. We had medium-high expectations going in, but ended up being really disappointed.


It felt like the season premiere of a new TV series or something, like they couldn't jam everything into it that they wanted to but that they had lots of story lines to develop. It felt like a lot of random scenes spliced together with no flow. We probably wouldn't have minded so much if there had been more dancing, but there was disappointingly little.


I grew up listening to the original "Fame" movie soundtrack and know every word of every song. I also loved the TV series that was on in the early 80s and used to watch it on my parents' bed while practicing my splits (which I never was very good at). I had the albums from the TV show too and practically wore them out; it's kind of sad that I have no idea where they are now. Good times.

**Have you seen this movie?
Did you watch the TV show as a kid?
Could/can you do the splits?
Did you have albums?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Is anyone else having a hard time with the weird in-between, seasonal temperature swings going on right now? I love how cool it is at night and in the morning, but then get overheated in the day.

Busted Campout, plus Winners

I'm late in posting about this, but we had our 2nd annual Family Backyard Campout on September 18-19th.


The kids and I started the campout the way we start every visit to Freakin Eagle Mountain...in traffic! Granted, it was Friday evening rush hour but still, it took 17 minutes to go 1 mile due to construction and volume of cars. Serenity now!


As we sat in traffic we saw the wind get stronger and the sky get darker so we feared our campout was doomed. We pulled up at the house just in time to see the dismantling of the tents (we'd missed the set up because we were stuck in traffic, darn).


I thought the colors of the sky and the surrounding plants were rather beautiful and took a bunch of photos.

These clouds looked surreal and huge to me.

{Photo by Amy}

We moved all the gear into the porch and ended up eating dinner and chatting all evening out there. We love the screened in porch so much, it's really a more accurate indication of the way our family likes to spend time "outside".

{Photo by Amy}

The wind died down and it didn't end up raining, so we could have slept outside after all. Randy and Jared made a fire in the fire pit so the kids still got to make s'mores and hang out.

{Photo by Amy}

It's a good thing Amy went outside and took pictures by the fire because I was so comfy chatting on the porch I didn't take any photos the rest of the night!

{Photo by Robyn}

The girls set up their sleeping bags in one of the empty guest rooms (formerly Robyn and Jared's room), while Lori and Amy set up their sleeping bags in the other empty guest room (Adam was at home sick that night).

{Photo by Amy}

{Photo by Robyn}

Landon and Austin were the smart ones and claimed the couches in the downstairs family room, and Robyn and Jared claimed the den. My parents got their own cozy bed of course!

{Photo by Amy}

Ashley had fallen asleep on Robyn's lap while we were chatting on the porch and was able to make the transition to sleeping bag and giggly-girl filled room without waking up.

Randy and I got the raw end of the deal and ended up on our air mattresses (by the way Michelle I borrowed yours) in the exercise room. It was nice to have ceiling fans going, but as my air mattress lost air again (I have no idea why and really must find the source) I ended up on the very hard floor. It was a long, uncomfortable night for me and a rough one for Randy even though his mattress stayed inflated.


In the morning Lori and I were in charge of breakfast and made bacon, fruit and "The Guidry Special" (English muffins dipped in pancake batter and fried then dipped in powdered sugar--it's like dessert). Afterward the kids went back downstairs to play and the rest of us sat around talking for hours (except my dad who did yard work and Jared who was working elsewhere).

Edited to add: "The Guidry Special" was named after the family of Adam's best friend from first grade when we lived in Missouri. His last name was Guidry and his mom taught my mom how to make it.

Overall it was a successful camp-in, even though we basically sacrificed a good night's sleep and were tired all day Saturday.

**Have you ever had a camp-in?
Do you ever sleep well when you camp?
Can cousin fun ever be overestimated?
Do you like to just sit and talk with family?**

Congratulations to these good mail winners--please email me with your mailing info at stuart_jill@hotmail.com

20--Jodi
17--2 Green Eyed Girls
11--Alisa
14--Gail
35--Anita K.

Comment Window Tidbit: The leaves on our trees are changing color, apparently Fall is really here!

Sunday Thoughts

I loved this thought from this month's Visiting Teaching Message and absolutely know it's true. We all know we need to have balance in our lives, so why is it so easy to neglect the spiritual side of things? I have found that by focusing on my own spiritual nourishment I am happier in my daily life, feel lighter and more at peace, feel hopeful, am kinder to others and am able to handle the problems that come my way.

**Thoughts**

Comment Window Tidbit: Our Primary Program today was a great success, but I feel physically spent after crawling around behind the scenes making sure everyone knew what they were doing. Sweating at church is never pretty for me.

Good Mail For Me and For You

I feel like I've gotten into a good rhythm (it always takes me several tries to spell that word right) of posting my good mail, sending thank yous and sending good mail prizes to those who comment on my good mail posts lately. I've always got mail in motion and I love that.


Collette sent me this very cute card (that I think I was with her at Target when she originally bought) to thank me for visiting her and helping her when she was in the hospital last month.


Patsy sent me this cute, wrapped Symphony candy bar and note to thank me for sending her a feel-good book after she was swinging low from a hard week and from reading A Thousand Splendid Suns (which is a good book but definitely upsetting).


Dana has started a new soap-making company in addition to her fabulous jewelry business and sent me a bar of the best smelling soap I've ever had!


Amy M. sent me one of her fabulous photo cards (have you checked out her Etsy shop?) to thank me for the dance mix cd I recently sent her--she entertains us with her sweet moves on game night some times (I really should capture it on video).


Natasha's sweet daughter Luci sent me this darling thank you note for giving Natasha my "sticker secret" so they could make sticker pictures for Luci's student council election.


Kim Sue sent me this great (I love pen images) card to thank me for sending her some birthday stationery.


My hair stylist Sharolynn gave me a "Mr. Pumice" (hilarious name) block to help me maintain my feet in-between pedicures (which sadly are very far apart these days), which reminded me that she'd also given me this bottle of dry shampoo on a previous visit. So nice!


Linda sent me this very nice, letter press card (I love those) to thank me for the 70s cd I sent her after she won one of my blog giveaways.


This nice note from Charlotte arrived just minutes ago (how's that for up-to-date?) thanking me for her birthday stationery and a mix cd I gave her when she came back to school.


I just have to add that this is Whitney's ensemble for today, she is also wearing a tail.

I'd like everyone who reads this post to comment on it and be entered to win my drawing. It doesn't matter if you've won before or if you are commenting out of the blue for a chance to win, just do it! It's just for fun, it's no big whoop.

**Have you won something before?
Do you have some sweet dance moves?
Have you sent anything lately?**

Comment Window Tidbit: "I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly...HIGH! I feel it coming together..."

Five for Friday--Haircut Week Edition

1. This is the inside of the thank you card Whitney wrote my mom this week thanking her for teaching her how to "sow" (sew) pillows and for taking her shopping for school clothes. I love it that Whitney drew pictures of all the items, she can't help herself, she has to draw.


Speaking of drawing, this is Whitney's homework sheet from the other day. She did the drawings at home, but still it's kind of like playing "find the math" or something since the animals have taken over the page--she's says her teacher doesn't mind, also since when are 3 problems homework?


2. I called in an order to Cafe Rio the other day and when I picked it up found out that instead of "Jill S." the woman had typed in "Jail S." That was a first for me--I've been "Joe" before, but never "Jail."


3. Landon needs a haircut almost every 3 weeks, but sometimes life gets crazy and time gets away from us. This time it was 5 weeks between haircuts and he'd gotten to the point that I could hardly look at him! He had Elvis-length sideburns and when he'd gel the front up it made a wall! But he didn't want to get it cut!!


He looked sooooo much better afterward, but kept acting like he didn't like it so Whitney was helping him smile. It's amazing how a haircut can transform him (or anyone really)!


4. I spent the hour of car time during Whitney's art class making my Paris photo cards for our Enrichment Service Auction. It was NOT easy to do that in the car, but I was rather pleased with my efficient use of time. I finished with time to spare so I ended up reading and falling asleep again; Whitney had to knock on the car window to wake me up!


5. Sweet Fancy Moses I finally got my hair cut and colored and my eyebrows waxed yesterday after 4 months of grow-out time! I can't believe I made it that long, but my color was so good last time that it blended well and didn't leave me with heinous roots. It was a blessing for sure, because it saved me a lot of money! This time was also nice because I had the gift certificate from Michelle to cushion the blow. Woohoo, Paris here I come!

**Do you an enjoy an illustrated thank you note?
How does your name get messed up?
How often do your boys have to get hair cuts?
Have you ever made cards in the car before?
Do you get your eyebrows waxed?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Why are Thursday nights always the best nights of TV? Last night we recorded Survivor, The Office, Community, The Mentalist and Project Runway...that's a good night!

My Kind of Auction

Last night our Relief Society held a Service Auction which involved many of the women in the ward donating goods and services for each other to bid on. It was really well organized, had a good turn out, and ended up being a lot of fun.


There was a table displaying many of the items being auctioned, so we were able to check those out before bidding.

There were 3 darling receiving blankets.

Vouchers for BYU basketball games.

Homemade cookies, bread and rolls, then some photo cards and 2 photo shoots from me. Edited to add: I failed to mention the cute tags I used were from Linda and the lovely pink ribbon was from Kristi. I love how good mail generosity just keeps on giving!

And two 1-hour massages!

They gave us all a questionnaire to fill out (front and back) to "earn" the points we'd be bidding with. I ended up earning 487 points, but there were many people with more than that.


They had placed a variety of cupcakes on each table for us to eat throughout the night, and I thought they were photo worthy for sure.

The Bishop did a great job as our auctioneer.


They also had paddles for each of us to do our bidding.
(I don't think I've ever had bidding to do before.)

The Enrichment committee was so on top of things that they instantly created a receipt for the person who "sold" the item and had a certificate for the person who won the item. I ended up winning a certificate for 2 homemade pies, a weeding service (oh guilt, I fear the woman will turn and run when she sees our weeds), and a certificate for some homemade rolls and homemade honey as well, I just need to put in my order when I want them.


It was a fun night and reminded me that we all have so much to offer one another. All the mothers with little kids were vying to win the babysitting services offered, and hair cuts were a hot item as well. People offered to create Family Home Evening lessons and treats, tutor math, help with genealogy, give a pedicure, set up place settings for a party up to 20 people (great idea!), host a bbq, give a computer lesson, room organizing and decorating, party favor box, teach how to make European bread and on and on. Wouldn't it be nice if we were forthcoming with these services year round?

**Have you been to a service auction before?
What would you donate?
How can we help each other better year round?
What would you have bid on?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I slept okay last night but eyes didn't seem to get the message. Luckily I get to sit in front of a mirror for 2 hours at the salon today, that'll be the self-esteem boost I need.