12 on the 12th--December 2018 Edition

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1. I am listening to and reading The Screwtape Letters for book club, it's a favorite.
2. Randy shopped for ugly Christmas sweaters for me for work.
3. Lunch at Kneaders with my book.
4. I bought a pointsettia for my desk at work.
5. Signing in to my computer.
6. There's a giant flag outside my window at work, it's pretty cool.
7. I got a little down time before book club.
8. My current read.
9. Our group photo via self timer.
10. Our wrapped books for our exchange.
11. The haul of gifts.
12. The Cedar Hills round-about lights after dropping Jenn home.

12 on the 12th--November 2018 Edition

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1. A very November scene in the front yard.
2. My exit for work.
3. My desk 5 days into my new job.
4. My favorite part of the day is my 1 hour lunch/reading break.
5. My new work.
6. Amy drew names for Christmas.
7. Laundry.
8. Sweet Ferris hoping for a snack.
9. Tana French's latest book.
10. I wrote a few notes.
11. Randy and I have been watching The Great British Baking Show.
12. Whitney is working at Target for the Christmas Season.

12 on the 12th--September Edition

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1. Car selfie before heading off to school and work.
2. Dropping Whitney at the high school, it's crazy she's in 10th grade this year.
3. I got a gift from my secret, secret pal at work which was a big surprise.
4. Dropping Whitney off at the high school in the afternoon for drama rehearsal.
5. Ferris loves being in the the cozy with me.
6. Even though I like this book it's taking me forever to read (3 weeks!).
7. We learned about the Flag for Activity Days.
8. We got drive thru Little Caesars and found out they didn't give us Pepperoni!
9. I went for a lovely walk.
10. This was a cool view approaching our house.
11. Whitney was messing around with make-up.
12. Whitney's room makeover collage wall.

12 on the 12th--August Edition

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1. I went on a power walk with my friend Hayley, we had over 9000 steps by 8:45am!
2. Landon leaving for work (his friend Levi drove him all summer).
3. Our new kitty Ferris (poor Phoebe got hit by a car last month).
4. I dropped Whitney off at my mom's to go shopping.
5. I went to get a couple pairs of shoes Landon wanted for his birthday.
6. I checked out the amazing new Harmon's store at Traverse Mountain, I wanted to move in.
7. Our house still decorated for Landon's birthday week.
8. I bought myself flowers just because I love them.
9. Sweet siesta reading/napping time in the afternoon.
10. My mom and I went to see Whitney in Bye, Bye Birdie.
11. The program for the show.
12. I love watching the Olympics!

12 on the 12th--March Edition

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1. It's always exciting to wake up to spring weather.
2. Randy's little unemployment, work-from-home station.
3. I worked on organizing our office/craft room (this is always on my agenda and never really looks like I've made a dent).
4. Landon dusting the family room.
5. Our wall of 12 on the 12th photo grids from last year, I love this.
6. I mailed a birthday card.
7. The weather was so nice Landon laid out in the sun...with his socks on!
8. The first bloom of the season.
9. I read outside for over an hour.
10. Whitney getting the clothes out of the dryer.
11. A close-up of Peep, I love his pink nose.
12. Reviewing my accountability goals for the week.

12 on the 12th--October Edition

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1. I was up early to get the balloons out of my car and to hang decorations for Randy's birthday.
2. Randy's "corner presents".
3. He requested Raspberry Muffins and chocolate milk for his birthday breakfast.
4. He's easy to please.
5. Whitney giving Junie some loves.
6. It was rainy and dark when we went to church at 8:45am.
7. I got released as Primary Secretary (and am now serving as 2nd Counselor in the Stake Primary).
8. Landon checking game footage.
9. I got a couple hours to read and nap before having to go visit another ward's primary.
10. The day ended up being beautiful and sunny.
11. Birthday kisses for Randy.
12. Lori joined us for dinner and dessert.

A Dog Sitting Staycation of Sorts

Adam and Amy's family were headed to Mexico for 9 days so I agreed to watch Lola (their 18 month old Bulldog) and house sit while they were gone. I needed to be home for the weekend (church responsibilities don't you know) so Amy dropped Lola off to Lori at work (since she works close to them) and Lori brought her over to us on Friday (6/27).

She gave Landon lots of love and entertained us for awhile, especially as she tried to find Junie (the cat).

Junie has got some made tree climbing skills and spent the majority of the weekend in the garage or up in trees with Lola down below.

By the end of the weekend they were able to be much closer to each other, but every time Lola tried to play Junie would get nervous and make a run for it.

It was adorable and a little sad.

On Tuesday morning Lola and I picked up Michelle for a girls' getaway of sorts.

Our first stop was take-out from Rusted Sun.

I got Pepperoni on my half and Michelle got some sort of bbq, pepper, bacon concoction.

Lola was happy to be home, but missed her peeps (she always looks depressed to me) and chose to lounge on the tracks of the sliding doors. What the?!

Michelle and I are kindred spirits and therefore chose reading and napping for our afternoon activity (yes, it's an activity). She camped out on the super comfy couch in the great room.

I chose the stylish gray couch (which isn't quite as comfy) in the living room. Both rooms had fantastic ceiling fans and lots of natural light.

 This was the view from where I lounged.

After reading and napping for a few hours we grabbed a couple beverages and reconvened in the yellow chairs for more reading.

Both of us finished the books we'd brought with us and got to start new books (which we ended up finishing the next day).

Lola was at our feet doing dramatic sighs which cracked us up.

We could not believe how sunny it was so late, but their house faces West and gets gorgeous light and sunsets.

Photos really don't do the sunsets justice.

Lola loves the deck because it gives her a clear view of her friend Junebug (a 3 month old Bulldog) who lives across the street.

I love this shot Michelle took (she's so stealthy).

We stayed up way too late (1:00am) watching Failure to Launch and Letters to Juliette.

This is how Lola and I slept! She dominated the bed so I slept horizontally across the bottom.

The next morning we ate toast and read our books on the front deck (it's shaded in the morning and is the perfect place to read).

After our leisurely morning we both went back to bed because we had stayed up too late and not slept well. We ended up getting ready at 4:00pm! It was such a weird time warp.

We hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast (which was toast) so we decided to head up to Ruth's Diner for dinner.

It was hot, but we had a shady table out back under the trees so it was delightful and the food was really good.

I love a shady spot and would have enjoyed the twinkly lights above had it been dark enough for them...another time perhaps.

Sadly it was time for Michelle to head back home, so we loaded Lola up in the car (she puts her front paws in and then waits to be lifted up) and went to the Frontrunner station.

Michelle took Frontrunner home.

20 minutes after Michelle left, Whitney arrived and the girls' getaway continued though in a different way.

Miscellaneous Monday--Phone Edition

We've been having some deliciously mild, beautiful summer weather which facilitated some hours of outdoor reading for me. I was reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which I ended up loving.

While Whitney was at Girl's Camp I was on Junie duty. I played with her each morning and night and one morning watched a movie in the kids' room while she purred like crazy and slept on me.

Later in the day we hung outside together, she's just happy to be with me.

I had some Zen moments lying under these trees.

It's been delightful having Michelle back home.

Whitney got home from Girl's Camp on Friday the 20th. I had been praying all week she'd have a good experience and strengthen her testimony.

She talked for 2 hours straight telling me all about it!

She was full of sass and silly.

It was a great week!

I am still making lots of tags. I can get 35-40 tags from one sheet of cardstock.

Landon's floor naps continue.

I took Whitney to meet Adam for a ride back to his house to stay with the cousins for a few days and he surprised us by picking her up in this 1957 convertible.

Landon has been having football practice in the evenings so I've been shuttling him to the high school in the mornings for driver's ed and in the evening for football. Good times.

I love, love, love it that Whitney can take the train back from Adam and Amy's house! She spent 3 days and nights with the girls playing and swimming in their pool.

Amie and I met up for lunch and a visit to Wal-Mart, where she stocked up on hair gel.

I had to work on Friday from 8-12 and it was so weird to be there with no students or administrators. I only saw 4 teachers and a couple custodians. I worked on a master key list and listened to some TED talks. Not too shabby.

Landon's hair is officially LARGE these days. He can style it down to a normal size for church and what-not, but he enjoys bulking it up when he's just hanging out...it's highly amusing.