GO COUGARS!!!

I'm taking a trip called the "whirlwind weekend of college tours" trip. I took a break in these college visits to go to the BYU vs Oregon State game with Heidi. Heidi wants to be a BYU cheerleader. So she watched the stunting very intently. It was such a fun game. I'm so grateful to my sis-in-law, Melissa, who had tickets for us and drove us. What a fun time. Legends Grille was the perfect choice for lunch and Melissa knew just where to park. We walked to the stadium from the Tanner bldg and on the way saw the band marching down the street to the stadium. So cool. Heidi's friend Sidney from California met up with us and she went with us to the game as well. And then to top it off, I got to see and hug one of my closest high school friends, Sabrina. BYU lost but it was still such a fun day.

Hawaiian Meatballs

Today I am making this off of Pinterest.  Here is the link.  I'm going to change it up a bit.  I'm going to make mine with regular rice and I'm going to make it in my slow cooker.  Yep, Again!  I am loving me some slow cookin'!  Oh, and I'm going to omit the green peppers.  If I put green peppers in rice around here there would be a major protest.  I personally think it sounds yummy but I'm not eating rice nowadays so I will just leave it out. 

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Chicken & Dumplings Revisited

Found this on Pinterest. I Have a great recipe for chicken and dumplings and this is practically the same. The difference? Cornmeal dumplings!!! Doesn't that sound yummy? And....it's made in my slow cooker. Lately I've been using my slow cooker a lot. Several times a week in fact. So this recipe is perfect for my family.

http://pinterest.com/pin/115475177916868048/

Note:  Although the flavor of this was great, I did not care for the dumplings.  I will stick with my regular chicken and dumpling recipe.

Wedding Weekend

 Dinner at Claim Jumper

The Happy Groom

The Gorgeous Bride

Nana with Makenzie, Emma & Heidi

Our Family

This past weekend Chris' brother, Matt, got married.  He married a wonderful woman that we all love and it was really fun to be part of all the excitement.  We attended the sealing at the Portland Oregon Temple and then had pictures outside.  Oh, the night before was a dinner at Claim Jumper for all the family. After the sealing and pictures we went to a house that Jaleen's family had rented in SE Portland.  Wow, it was nice, right on the river.  There we had lunch and then hurried off for the two hour drive south to where the reception was going to be held.  Once there I filled 50 fall themed cellophane bags with homemade caramels and since my work was done I took a nap.  That night was the reception and then it was the two hour drive north to go back home.  Whew, a long day!  But it was worth it.  Congratulations, Matt and Jaleen!

If All Dreams Mean Something....What About This?

It was the grand opening of our French antique shop. We were in a small town in Oklahoma.  The shop was rustic, with antique windows, fireplace for heat and a small bedroom for someone to live in to keep an eye on our shop.  My co-owner?  Someone famous.  And she had just appraoched me to talk to me about going to France in June or July to do some antique shopping.  I was going through my mind what I had going on in during those months. 

The co-owner and I were inside talking to customers when a homeless kid walks in.  He has been there before asking us for money.  We offered him some work around the place and he scoffed at us and left.  He is dressed like he's from the early 1900's in brown woolen knickers and little cap.  He asks us again for help.  I am the one he asks.  My partner is having a discussion with someone over in the corner.  I offer him a bath and a meal.  He accepts this and then all of a sudden Chris is there and we are giving this kid a bath right there in the room.  It is a dirt floor and the water pools on the floor not seeping in but running in tiny rivers all over toward the door.  The kid is mad about the bath and tries to bite me but I'm quicker and don't let him.  He says he will towel dry himself.  As he grabs the towel another boy, a bit older, about 13 comes out of the bathroom stall with a towel around him.  Apparently he had a bath too!  I point out that he needs to get really dried off just like the older boy did.  So the younger boy goes into the bathroom stall and we can see from underneath that he pees all over the floor on purpose.  And because it doesn't seep in, it runs all over everywhere, reaching towards the other people.  He doesn't seem to care because he steps right into it and then comes out with his towel on.





Weird dream that I had after taking my daughter to a doctor's appointment this morning.  I slept from 9:30-noon.

I Finally Got My Purse

For my 75 pound reward I decided on a purse. I found a butterscotch leather one that I loved so I bought it and had my mom keep it in her room until I had lost the 4 more pounds I needed to lose. It has taken me forever to lose those 4 pounds. But finally, on Wednesday, I did!

I love my new purse.

It's been so hard for me to lose this weight I'm thinking an 85 pound reward may be necessary to keep my motivation up. My 100 pound reward is set...a trip to Hawaii.

My ER Trip

Two nights ago I spent the evening in the ER. Not Fun. I had this pain in my back that was excruciating.  I took a prescription muscle relaxer of my husbands and two of his pain meds as well and it didn't cut the pain.  That's when I called the big guns.  The Priesthood.  Our home teacher came over and helped Chris give me a blessing.  His young son came with him, he's probably four years-old.  After the blessing he looked me in the eyes as I was hunched over in pain and said I will feel better because his dad can make people feel better.  Such a sweet moment in a time filled with pain.  That was indeed a tender mercy from the Lord. 

We headed to the ER after it appeared that the medication was not working.  They admitted me right away thank goodness and got me hooked up to some IV pain meds.  Within a few minutes I was feeling somewhat better although the nausea from the pain was still there.  And even with the anti nausea IV medicine I was still feeling like I needed to throw up. Isn't that just the worst feeling?

They did a CAT scan and found.....nothing.  Isn't that great?  Not really.  I seriously would have been elated to find out what was causing it.  But the CAT scan showed nothing.  So I went home around 1 a.m. feeling discouraged and frustrated. 

Yesterday I felt pretty good.  Today I feel horrible.  I feel like my body got hit by a car.  I sure wish I knew what was wrong with me.