Happy Boo to You

Here is my little devil... okay, so he is not really that little!

We went to our ward's trunk or treat this Halloween just like we did last year. Our friend's the Young's came in from out in Pahrump and went with us. There was not really a lot of people there (I think because it was a 3-day weekend here in Nevada (Nevada Day) and because of Halloween being on a Friday) but the kids still raked in the candy! We saw lots of cute costumes and hung out for the evening.

After some time at the church we decided that we wanted to walk the neighborhood too and see what was going on there. We took the kids out and they had a good time until they got scared by one house and then they were pretty much done!

It was a fun and safe Halloween and that is what counts.

Cast Your Vote!

Well we just got home from VOTING!!!

There were lots of people out tonight and that is a good thing. This has been a long time coming and I am ready for the election to be over and done with. I am tired of getting phone calls and tired of the commercials and ready to just see what happens in the end. I don't know if the person I voted for will win or lose but I got out and made my voice heard and that is all that I can really do....

SPT: 100 Things #28

#28: I love to Snowboard

I do love to snowboard. I am not very good at it, but it is something that Dan and I have found that we can do together and that we enjoy and that makes it even better. We took our very first lesson in 2005 and then bought our gear in 2006 and have been going ever since.

I told him that I wanted to try it out but that I had to have a lesson. I am the kind of person that gets frustrated very easily if I don't know how to do something and especially if everyone else does. I knew that he would be able to pick it up and that I would have a harder time so if I didn't get a lesson and at least have some idea of what I was SUPPOSE to be doing that I would get angry and give up. So we took the lesson together, got the basics down and then were on our own. I was pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and giving it a go. I was not fabulous by any means (and still am not) but went back the next day for more. Dan has gotten pretty good and attempts jumps and turns, while I on the other hand feel like I have had a successful day if I go up and down the mountain without having a horrible spill. We have Mt. Charleston close by so that is where we go most often. It does not have the best snow but it is close and that makes it nice. We have been to Big Bear in California and that makes a fun trip, and we have also been to BrianHead in Utah and so far that is our favorite. We will see what this season brings us!

I am still not a huge fan of the chairlifts. In fact I HATE them. I nearly panic when it is my turn to get off but I know there is no other way to get to the top of the mountain. I fell one time pretty bad (my jacket got caught somehow and nearly ripped my arm off) and now I am pretty scared of them! But snowboarding is a great activity and so much fun for us to go and enjoy the outdoors and the time together. We are for sure not the best ones on the mountain and got started a little late in life, but it shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks and they can still have fun!

Can you help?

I am always looking to THIS girl for inspiration and advice and once again I found some. Only this time she is not dishing out advice about adoption or offering hope when there seems to be none... she is asking for help. She is asking for us to help out someone who really could use some.

We are coming up on a hard time of year, during a hard year and what better thing can we do then search within ourselves and help someone else who really needs a helping hand. Read a little bit about her story and see what you can do. Anything will help I am sure.

Surprise Weekend

So the surprise was a success, THANK GOODNESS. It has been a stressful couple of months trying to keep things under wrap but on Saturday things came together and the shower went off without a hitch.

We left for Arizona on Friday morning and arrived to spend the evening with mom, dad, Amy and Steve. We just hung out and enjoyed some time together. We then made sure that we had things ready for the big party on Saturday. We then woke up on Saturday morning and had to put our plan into action. We had to get Amy out of the house. We took her to Wal-Mart and Starbucks and Jamba Juice. Once we got the call from mom that "Nate and Katie were ready for lunch" we came back and got the big surprise. Amy was truly surprised and that was all worth it. The shower went off great and she got lots of great gifts for their little one who will soon be here.

The rest of the weekend was smooth sailing. We had pizza for dinner and celebrated the upcoming holiday with some pumpkin carving; Styrofoam pumpkins that is.... It was so much fun. Everyone got into the spirit and had a great time. We carved a bunch of fun pumpkins and they all looked great, especially for first timers. The kids then went to a movie and saw Eagle Eye. We had to get up and head home on Sunday which is never fun. It was a long drive but the weekend had been well worth it. It is always great to see family and we won't be able to see them for the holidays this year so this was our big trip. After getting home, we just relaxed with a football game... The Steelers lost but it was a good game!

Hockey Game

I went to my very first hockey game tonight. It was the Las Vegas Wranglers versus Canada. I can now say that I am not a hockey fan. I decided that I would give it a try and go to the game and the game was fun but I did not get it at all. I had a good time hanging out with friends and the experience but I have no idea about the rules or anything about what is really going on. I don't understand why they get called for the penalties when they do, whey they start the puck off on the side of the rink... all kinds of weird things. I guess I will just stick with football.

Yoga... BIKRAM YOGA that is

Last night Dan and I were able to attend a free Yoga class. I have always wanted to try Yoga, Dan probably not so much but he is a good sport. This was not your typical Yoga though. This was what they call Bikram Yoga. This is Yoga done in an extremely HOT room, increasing sweating and detoxification. It was crazy!

This was our first Yoga class at all and then we decided we go not hold back and go with Bikram Yoga... what were we thinking?

No, honestly it was actually really interesting and really neat. We both had a really good time and enjoyed the class. I was really proud of Dan. He did a good job for being the sports guy that he is and not really the Yoga type. He hung in and did the entire class. I did okay with most of the poses but the heat did get to me a bit and made me a little dizzy here and there.

We are definitely going to try and check out a regular Yoga class when we find one around town and see what we think about that, then we will make our final decision. Yoga. Or Bikram Yoga. We will see what we decide.

SPT 100 Things: #21

#21: My favorite calling was as Assistant Girls Camp Director

I know I have plenty more time to have lots more callings but up until now this was by far my most exciting and fulfilling calling. I loved being a part of Girls Camp and working with the girls. I had been in Young Women's as the Mia Maid Advisor but working on camp was so much more exciting. Not only was the director my best friend (Yeah!) but I had never been to camp myself so that was fun too. We were able to plan what we wanted, eat what we wanted, and do the activities that we wanted. It was awesome. We also had a chance to really get to know the girls on a different level. It is great to take them out of their normal enviornment and see them interact with you and each other. They all were really great girls and I loved the whole experience.

I don't know what my future holds as far as callings go, but it is going to take a pretty amazing calling to top this one!

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

The weekend was actually okay. We were able to do some housecleaning, organizing, and shopping that needed to get done (sounds really exciting right?!) but the end of the week and part of the weekend was still quite stressful and not pleasant. I had seen my fair share of Tylenol and Excedrin Migraine recently and that has not been fun.

I don't know what it is exactly but I have been having a lot of annoying headaches. I would not classify them as my migraines (thank goodness) but they have been daily, annoying headaches and that is almost worse. They just stick around all day! I know I have been stressing over certain things and been really busy with work and other parts of my life but usually that doesn't effect me like this.... Maybe I am just getting old and need to chill out a bit. I look forward to this coming weekend when we will be able to go spend some time with family and just relax. Hopefully I will feel okay and be able to just relax and have a good time; if I can make it through another week!

SPT 100 Things #14

#14 - I Love the Rain

I do love the rain. I love the smell that it has. I love the coolness that it brings to the air. I love what it does for our Earth. I love to sit inside and watch it fall. I love to stay at home all day and watch movies, cuddled up in a blanket on days that it rains. I love to build fires when it rains. I don't like to drive in the rain very much. I don't use umbrellas, they are just too much extra work. I just walk fast!

It is a shame that I live in the desert because it doesn't rain that often here. But maybe that is a good thing after all. Because maybe if it rained all of the time I wouldn't appreciate it and wouldn't love it so much!

California Adventure

What a weekend. We again had a busy, yet exciting, weekend. This time we headed down to California to have a little fun!

We left on Thursday evening with our friends Brian and Cindy. It was suppose to be 5 of us, but at the last minute our friend Daniel decided he was too overwhelmed with work and school and could not make it. Too bad for him, he missed an awesome trip!

First thing on our agenda was a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure bright and early on Friday morning. We were able to get in right when the park opened at 8am and we stayed ALL DAY! We were able to see and do everything and that was great. We closed the park down leaving at 11:11pm. That was a full day for sure. The crowds were light and the weather was great. It would have been a perfect day it we would not have gotten soaked on Splash Mountain and taken all day to dry off.... oh well, we know better for new time. My favorite part was the fireworks of course! I love fireworks and Disney sure knows how to put on a show.

Saturday we decided we were going to head to Downtown LA for a bit and see Chinatown and also eat at my favorite restaurant ever... Chinese Friends. It was fabulous!!! After a little bit of sightseeing (and a lot of traffic - gotta love LA) we came back and got ready for the main event of the evening. Knott's Scary Farm. This was quite the event. It was so much fun and we all enjoyed ourselves for sure. Brian and Cindy didn't know what to expect but said they are ready to go back next year for sure. There were a lot of people there but it wasn't too bad. We made it out alive, even though we did pass a couple chainsaws once or twice during the night!!!

Sunday we had a great breakfast from our hostess with the mostess and then we drove up to Santa Monica just to take a look around there before we headed home.

It was a great vacation. We are all very tired and sore from all of the walking that we did and you should hear Dan's voice (or lack thereof!) But it was fun that is for sure.

SPT - My 100 things #7

# 7 - My best friend lives in the UK

My best friend's name is Lina and we met in 1993 when I was only 12! At the time she lived in Sweden and had come over to watch her older sister graduate from high school here in America. Her sister had just spent a year living with my family as a foreign exchange student. That was the start of a very long friendship and a lot of crazy mischief....

After the two weeks she spent here with her family we wrote letters back and forth and stayed in touch. Two summers later she came and spent the summer with me and we had a great time. Then and there we decided that she had to come and spend a year with us like her older sister did, living and going to school here. After lots of hard work, paperwork and talking our parents into it, our plan finally worked. During the school year of 1996-1997 she came. It was a great year. We did everything together. We had separate rooms but didn't really need them because it was like a sleepover every night. It was the hardest thing to have to say goodbye and watch her get on that plane to go back home.

The next year I graduated and for my graduation gift I was able to go to Sweden to spend some time with her. It was a great time in that I was able to see her and also see her older sister once again and her parents.

We then didn't see each other for quite a long time and have had to keep up our friendship through emails (thank goodness for the computer). But then we got a call from her sister saying that she was getting married. What an opportunity! My whole family decided it was a great excuse and we all made the trip. This was in 2004, and this time I was able to take my husband. Then in the summer of 2007 she came to visit with her new boyfriend who she had met through work who lives in the UK and we had a great visit. She proceeded to tell me that she was moving out of Sweden and going to live in the UK. How weird? She was always my friend who lived in Sweden. Still a crazy thing for me to get use to.

Well a few weeks ago she called and told me they were getting married next September! So now I will be saving money and next year my whole family once again will be making a trip to visit but this time we are off to the UK.

It is so great to have such a wonderful friend and one that no matter how much time has passed we can always pick up right where we left off. It also doesn't matter the distant we understand each other and are there for each other. She is truly like a sister to me. We have spent most of our relationship apart and that is just how it is. We cherish the time we are able to spend with one another and I guess that makes us more appreciate of one another in a way. Can't wait to see her in 9/09!!!!

Conference Weekend

Another six months has come and gone and we were blessed with the opportunity to hear from our Prophet and his apostles. Dan and I have the calling of being the Stake Technology Specialists (a fancy name for being in charge of taping and recording anything that comes across from Salt Lake), so that means we always get to see all sessions of conference.

These sessions were no different! They left us feeling uplifted and inspired. I usually leave feeling that there was one or two talks that were especially for me and this time the one that sticks in my mind for sure was the talk by the Prophet himself on making sure that we life for today and do all that we can with it. We need to remember the past and prepare for the future, but we need to do all that we can with today. We need to reach out to those who are in need and we need to tell those that we love we are thinking of them and leave nothing unsaid. For some reason this is the talk to spoke the strongest to me. I hope to be able to learn from this and become a better person, a good example and take advantage of the time that I have and do the most important things with it.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. The Steelers won yet again!! Now we have to get ready for a short work week and our trip to California that we have planned for the weekend, YEAH!

Lee Denim Day 2008

Today is Lee Denim Day for 2008... It is always the first Friday in October (so you can remember for next year!)

This is such a great cause and such an easy event and easy fundraiser for a huge program. Click here and you can learn more about what is going on today.

You can support the cause by making a $5 donation (or more of course), showing your supporting by sporting some pink with your jeans today, buying a pair of Lee jeans online and they will do the donating for you!

Whatever you do just remember all of those who have lost their lives because of breast cancer, those who have survived breast cancer (yeah!) and those who we hope will never have to deal with breast cancer due to all of the research that is being done because of the donations and great programs like this....

8 Things Tag

I was tagged by Janeal over at { Enjoying Life } so I figured I would go ahead and play along... Who doesn't love a good tag???

8 THINGS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT:

* Adoption
* The Gospel
* My husband (my marriage)
* Having fun!
* Scrapbooking
* Blogging (okay, not passionate but really enjoy)
* Helping others
* Organizing (to a fault sometimes)
* My family

8 WORDS OR PHRASES I SAY WAAAY TOO OFTEN:

* Fan-ta-bu-lous
* Ridunculous
* "No stinkin' way"
* "Check you later!"
* "Oh Snap"
* "Daniel" (when I am whining to my husband!!)
* "For real?"
* "anyways..."

8 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:

* Be a mom (a really good one)
* Learn how to sew
* Take a photo class
* See a taping of Oprah
* Be a better friend
* Attend an Olympic games
* See my family sealed
* See a Steelers Game in Pittsburgh


8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY PAST:

* People can change
* Learn to forgive, it is worth it
* Patience is something I didn't always have
* Be grateful for what you have and recognize it at all times
* Laugh at yourself - not others!
* Everything happens for a reason
* You have to have Faith!
* Some of the things you learn are taught by those you are teaching.

8 PLACES I WOULD LOVE TO SEE:

* The UK (should be checked off next September!)
* The Eiffel Tower
* New York
* The Sacred Grove
* Australia
* Italy
* Whistler, Canada
* Hawaii

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY NEED OR WANT:

* A baby to call our own
* A new camera
* More time in the day
* To sell our timeshare
* A vacation to anywhere!!!
* A back massage
* More discipline in my life
* A brown Coach purse

8 MORE PEOPLE I TAG!

* Amy W.
* Kirsten K.
* Kim H.
* Rebecca J.
* Kristen
* Holly U.
* Linda I.
* Joanne F.

Date Night

Last night we had a date night and went to see FOREVER STRONG, the new movie out that is slightly LDS related. It is about the Highland rugby team. It was a good movie with a good moral meaning behind it. Not totally LDS but worth seeing still the same.

It was fun to go and also fun to actually be able to see this kind of movie. Usually Utah and Mesa are the places that get these kinds of movies so it was great that Nevada actually got this movie and not only did Nevada get this movie but it was actually at my dad's theater so we got to see if for free!!! What a great date night.