LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

Today Salt Lake City woke up to some pretty good, wet snow.

I was invited to go to breakfast with some friends this morning. We went to the Golden Corral and it was a first for me. I must say I was pleasantly surprised and Kristian and Aly even paid. (Kristian is my 3rd cousin and I went to elementary school with him. Then they have been in my ward and I was Aly's visiting teacher for about a year).

Upon arriving home from breakfast I found my two neighbor girls outside playing in the snow. Mikaela and Samantha are two of the cutest girls and it has been a LONG time since I have "played" in the snow, so I asked if I could join them.

I decided that I needed to go put my snowpants on so that I could actually sit in the snow and really "play." I just bought new snowpants and gloves and was excited to use them for the first time. (I am hoping to maybe get up on the slopes this season for the first time in 12 years so I wanted to be prepared).

They had red plastic cups and were building a "snowhouse." Like a sandcastle, but with snow. I kept calling it a snowcastle, but was corrected several times, it was a "snowhouse." It was a 3 story snowhouse and was quite fabulous if I do say so myself. I am sad I didn't get a picture. Although there is room for improvement with our technique and we probably won't be winning any snow sculpture contests in the near future, we had a lot of fun. I realized that I need to play in the snow more often. We were then going to build a snowman and a snowwoman, but mom said it was lunchtime for the girls and then Sam had to take a nap. That will have to be our next snow building project. I will try to get a picture next time. Maybe there will be enough snow in Richfield to build something over Christmas with my nieces and nephews. I will pack my snowpants!

OUT WITH THE OLD.....IN WITH THE NEW

I know that I am way past due for a new blog posting, but I did warn you that my postings would be very sporatic, so I don't say I never told you so.

My condo was built in 1985 and so I have been wanting to do some remodel/upgrade projects for a while now. I have done a few things, but nothing you would really notice......the boring stuff (new furnace, air conditioner, new windows, & sliding glass door, etc.).

I have lots of ideas and plans in my head that hopefully will materialize this next year. Now the fun stuff starts. I get to pick out paint, tile, new fixtures and who knows what else. This last month however I did get started on the fun stuff. I ordered all new appliances for my kitchen. I went with stainless steel and I love them! I had a microhood installed which I did not have before. With such a small kitchen it is nice to have my microwave off of the counter. I wanted to post a "before" and "after," but until I obtain the "before" picture that is on my parent's camera.....for now you just get the "after."

I apologize for the boring subject matter of this post. I am sure it is more exciting for me than for you.

VAMPIRE VS. WEREWOLF

For those of you who were sucked into the craze of the "Twilight" books by Stephenie Meyer, here is my two cents for whatever it is worth.

********ATTENTION********ATTENTION********ATTENTION*********

May contain spoilers.

You may not want to read on if you have not yet read or finished these books

When I first heard about the books, I wasn't really dying to read them, however I was a bit curious as to what all the hype was about. Then, after being told by several people that I "had to" read these books, I did eventually succomb to the peer pressure and began to read. I think I have a mild case of ADD and if a book doesn't grab me right off, I have a tendency to give up on it. As for the twilight books, I can't say they are the best books I have ever read in my life, but they did hold my interest and kept me wanting to read more, which says something.
I finally finished #3 "Eclipse" last night. I will admit that there were times that I was an Edward fan, but in the end, I am campaigning for Jacob.
This is totally just my opinion, but I think this is a classic example of what a teenage girl is in love with (pretty boy with $$) versus the more mature perspective of what is really important (someone who truly loves you and would do anything for you. Someone you would love to grow old with and who you can really identify with) I know that Bella doesn't claim she is interested in Edward's money, etc., but to me it seemed like she felt a little insecure around him and the Cullen's, but she could just relax and be herself with Jacob.
But hey.......what do I know about matters of the heart. Apparently I haven't figured out how to find one boy that is interested in me, let alone two. Bella is WAY ahead of me in this department.

If you have read these books and feel strongly one way or another, I have posted a poll. I am interested to see what everyone thinks. Ü

RETIREMENT/BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

I have the cutest and best DAD in the whole universe!!

Thursday, October 25th was my dad's birthday. He also retired the same day. My parents had been planning on coming to SLC on Friday to run some errands, staying overnight and then continuing on to Idaho Falls Saturday morning to spend a couple of days with my sister and her family.

Long story short......my sisters and I decided we wanted to do something special for my dad. He is such a hard worker and both he and my mom have done so much for us.

Debra & I convinced them that we wanted to do some birthday shopping, take them to dinner, etc. We told them also that we had a surprise but we needed a commitment that they were for sure coming and could be in Salt Lake around 1:00.

I left work early and met my parents at my house. Debra was also able to get off work early and I told my parents we were just waiting to go to lunch because Debra was going to meet us at my house. Little did they know that Debra was at the airport picking up Laura who had just flown in from Oklahoma and dropping her off with Angela (who had just arrived from Idaho Falls) before showing up at my house.

So Debra arrives and the parents are happy and excited to go to lunch to celebrate with the two daughters that live in Utah. We are just talking when there is a knock at the door. I claim to have no clue who that could possibly be. My mom answers the door and it took her a minute to realize that Angela was actually standing there and then she starts freaking out, as does my dad. A couple minutes later Laura just walks through the door. You would have thought they had just won the lottery! They could not believe it! The best part was that we actually pulled off the surprise. They had no idea. All of the grandkids had been grounded from the phone so that they wouldn't spoil the surprise.

We really had nothing planned other than the acutal surprise of us all being together. Among other things, we went to lunch, picked up a chocolate rum cake from the best bakery in the state (Glaus Pastry Shoppe), shopped for and bought a new camera for my dad. To kill the rest of the time before going to dinner, we ended up at FAT CATS for a little bit of bowling. VERY RANDOM! I think that is a first. Never been bowling with my parents before.

After dinner at the Pagoda (my parent's favorite) when came back to my house to play some games that Debra had come up with that all had to do with memories of dad. The day couldn't have been better! We laughed, and laughed and laughed.

Everyone came to my house the next morning for breakfast and then we had to get Laura to the airport. Angela, my parents & I then went to lunch before they are headed north for Idaho.

THE BIG "31"

Yesterday I celebrated the 31st anniversary of my birth.

Nothing too eventful happened, but I had the opportunity to celebrate with (or at least talk with) many of my friends and family members, exactly how I would have chosen to spend it. I have been blessed to have so many fabulous people in my life!

If you are reading this, you can be assured that you have touched my life in some way or another.

Here's to hoping for another great year and more time spent with all of you.

"GOONIES" & "THE PLAN OF SALVATION"

I love movies and I often find analogies in many of them. Many think I am crazy, and I probably am, but one of my favorites is the analogy between the great 1985 hit "The Goonies" & the plan of salvation.

For starters......we are all on a quest for our own treasure, that of eternal life/exaltation.

We have been given everything that we need to find exactly that.

The goonies had the treasure map, the copper stone, etc. We have a living prophet, scriptures, general conference, church magazines/books, church meetings, temples, etc. to help us learn the things that we need to know to gain our "treasure."

The goonies had the Fratelli's that were trying to keep them from reaching the treasure, as well as boobie traps and Troy and his friends. Satan doesn't want us to obtain our treasure, and there are other obstacles and trials that we have to overcome as well. On the other hand we have many friends and family on our side that supporting us along the way and helping us make it.

When the goonies get to the bone-piano scene, Andy is tested to see if she paid enough attention in her piano classes to allow them to continue on their journey rather than halting their progression. Have we paid attention and learned enough to be able to pass our tests?

When they finally arrive at the pirate ship, the treasure is greater than they had imagined. Once they get to the beach.....the end of their search, all of their loved ones are there to meet them.

A LITTLE PEAK INTO MY LIFE

I was tagged back in August by my dear friend Kim to post this list, so here goes.......

5 Things I was Doing 10 Years Ago-

1. To the date, I had just over one week before I was to enter the MTC and embark on that great adventure. Hopefully I was appreciating the luxurious comforts of America since I would have to live without them for the next 18 months.
2. Just prior to leaving on my mission, I had been working at a doctor's office in Sandy by Alta View Hospital (Dr. Dietz, Hawkins, Breding & Liu).
3. I was enjoying my last couple of days as a "not quite legal" 20 year-old.
4. I was driving a white, Chevy Cavalier Z24 (A sporty little 2-door thing with some serious get-up-and-go).
5. I had a pretty serious crush on Matt McIff from high school as well as our old neighbor from Sandy, Zachary Terry.

5 Things On My To-Do List Today

1. Update my blog.
2. Laundry/Put new sheets on my bed.
3. Go to the gym.
4. Order new appliances for my kitchen (I am going stainless steel! ) YAY! I have them all picked out, I just need to order them.
5. Do something fun.....catch a movie or something.

5 Snacks I Enjoy (It depends if I am trying to be healthy or not) Ü

1. Sunflower Seeds ("Spitz" are my preferred brand)
2. Microwave popcorn
3. Hostess Donettes
4. String Cheese
5. Cold Cereal

5 Songs I Know the Lyrics To (there are many, but here is a sampling)

1. "The Greatest Love of All" - Whitney Houton
2. "On My Own"* - Les Miserables
3. "Sold (The Grundy County Auction) - John Michael Montgomery.
4. "My Wish" - Rascal Flatts
5. "Mandy" - Barry Manilow

5 Things I Would Do If I were A Millionnaire

1. QUIT MY JOB!
2. Take my whole family on a cruise
3. Trade in the Honda Accord for a BMW
4. Do some major remodel on my condo, or probably just buy a new one and upgrade.
5. Invest the rest of it well, so that I can live and travel off of the interest.

5 Bad Habits

1. I take forever to go to bed - I am not doing anything important but just keep putting it off and then regret not going to bed sooner.
2. I rip my hangnails rather than clip them.
3. I always forget to attach my attachments when sending emails.
4. I eat when I am bored.
5. After vacation or being gone for a weekend, my bag will just sit on my bedroom floor for a week or so. I HATE UNPACKING!

5 Things I'd Never Wear Again (I guess we should never say never....but I think I can be pretty confident here.)

1. Banana Clips
2. High-top sneakers (I had some cool LA Gear & Reebok ones)
3. Overalls of any kind
4. Anything & everything that I was wearing on my mission. I look at pictures and just cringe.
5. Leg warmers

5 Favorite Toys (I don't know what really classifies itself as a toy for the adult population, but I'll give this one a try).

1. I do have quite a bit of fun with my Nintendo Wii.
2. My laptop
3. My tennis racquet (I stole that one from Kim)
4. I probably spend more time with my TV/VCR/DVD-R than I should
5. My MP3 player

4 Jobs I've Had

1. Parson's Bakery (Richfield, UT)
2. Rick's College Registrar's Office (Rexburg, ID)
3. LDS Hospital Radiology (SLC, UT)
4. Dominion Engineering (SLC, UT)

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Top Gun
2. Retun to Me
3. Goonies
4. Princess Bride

4 Places I've Lived

1. Sandy, UT
2. Richfield, UT
3. Rexburg, ID
4. Sao Paulo, Brazil

4 Shows I Enjoy

1. Biggest Loser (motivates me to get my butt of the couch, but Jillian would make me cry).
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Home Remodel/Repair shows (especially on TLC)
4. What Not to Wear

5 Places I've Been On Vacation (okay, so I know I have listed more than five, but some of them go together)

1. Ocho Rios, Jamaica/Grand Cayman/Cozumel - CRUISE
2. Cancun/Chitchten Itza
3. Cabo San Lucas/Mazatlan/Puerto Vallarta - CRUISE
4. San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas/St. John; St. Maarten - CRUISE
5. Wapanucka, Oklahoma & Idaho Falls, ID (I know you are all jealous of these exotic destinations, but some of the cutest kids in the world live there.)

4 Favorite Restaurants

1. Anything Chinese (NMandarin, Sampan, PF Chang's, etc.)
2. Brazilian Churrasco (Rodizio Grill , Tucano's, BrazaGrill, etc.)
3. Macoroni Grill
4. Market Street Grill

HOW COOL AM I?

I promise that I won't let it go to my head, but check out my new masthead!

I must say that I am quite impressed with myself. My friend Kim has one of the funnest blogs and it is always changing. After picking her brain for a while today I thought I would attempt to change my blog up a bit. This did take me a while with a couple of trial runs and still needs some fine tuning, but I thought it was kind of festive.
I know that everyone is probably thinking, "she should be working on new posts rather than the appearance of the blog since it as been over a month since Trisha has posted anything." And I totally agree!
I promise within the next couple of days I will get some more posts up there and try to stay more up to date.
Stay tuned............

JESUS WANTS ME FOR A SUNBEAM

A week ago Saturday I received the "dreaded phone call."

Caller: "Sister Jordan?"
Me: "Yes, this is she."
Caller: "The Bishop would like to meet with you tomorrow morning at 9:50, can you make it?"

Ugghhh! Not only did this call wake me up, but all of the possibilities for a new calling started going through my mind. There are some doosies that I want to try and stay away from. I will not mention any of them by name in fear of that coming back to bite me later.
I retired from the singles ward scene and had been at a home ward now for 3 months. I was called to do the RS Newsletter once a month. A great calling, might I add. I suppose it is like life on a mission. When you have a companion that you really get along well with, you only get to be companions for one, maybe two months. My newsletter calling was too good to last for more than 2 months.
Okay, so enough of the suspense.......I was called to be the Primary Secretary.
I am really excited. I have never served in the primary before. I can't wait to get to know all of the children. We have an interesting situation where our primary is combined with the primary of another ward, so I will be keeping track of the kids from 2 different wards. I am going to have to brush up on my primary songs and learn some new ones. It has been a LONG time since I was in primary last.

GENERAL CONFERENCE ON STEROIDS

Two weeks ago I decided to take the whole week off of work to attend "BYU Education Week" with my mom.

We were staying with my aunt & uncle at their "get-away" in Saratoga Springs. Not only did we learn alot, but we had a lot of fun.

I LOVE general conference, it always motivates me and makes me excited to "be a little better," and to step it up a notch. Education Week was like general conference on steroids . . . . lasting 5 days instead of just 2.

Although motivating, these opportunities are always humbling. They remind me of how much I don't know and how much better I can do. I am always jealous of those who are basically paid to study the scriptures (seminary, institute, religion teachers, etc.) How do they know sooo much? I guess if I were to study and teach about the scriptures the amount of time that I spent at work, I would know a lot more!!

I think that everyone knows certain teachers that they enjoy the most because of a particular teaching style. I have always love S. Michael Wilcox. I made sure that I went to all of his classes. The first day he taught a 3 part class on parables. It was fabulous. I am very left-brained and seem to struggle with interpreting symbolism. It always makes sense when someone explains it to me, but I never would have come up with that on my own. If I do try to interpret the symbolism, how am I to know if I am correct? Math always made sense to me, because 2+2 will always be 4.

Then on Friday he taught a 2 part class on Friday on "The Contributions of C.S. Lewis to Chirstianity." Bro. Wilcox did his Ph.d dissertation on C.S. Lewis. I loved the class, but now I feel like I want to read all of C.S. Lewis's books. As if the list of books I want to read isn't long enough already.

Now general conference is in one month. How lucky am I??

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Last night two of my friends, Lori & Amy, set me up. When I met up with them they introduced us and I must say that it truly was "love at first sight . . . . . . . . he had me at hello."

Amy: "Trisha this is IKEA. IKEA this is Trisha"

That place is fabulous!!! I don't know if they have a wedding registry, but I am going to register there even if they don't. I figure if people think I am registered there only to discover there is no registry, they can just purchase anything IKEA or a gift certificate and I will love it.
If you have never experienced this "mecca* of retail treasures" I highly recommend it. The only disappointment came when I went to purchase a twist cone as we were leaving and I discovered that they only have vanilla. I thought the Swedes were known for their chocolate?? Nobody is perfect, so I guess I shouldn't expect that in a date.

I am hoping there will a 2nd, 3rd, 4th date, etc. and that this might be the beginning of beautiful friendship.

*Mecca = any place that many people visit or hope to visit (as defined by dictionary.com)

Can we say "SPORADIC?"

Now you know how my journal feels. There is some serious neglect for a month or so, and then I try to play catch up. So here goes with the "Catch-up" attempt.

IDAHO HAS MORE THAN JUST POTATOES

Thursday night my mom and I took off and headed north. In December my sister, Angela, and her family moved to Idaho Falls. I had not been up there to visit her yet so my mom and I were going up to spend the weekend.

They have a brand new, beautiful home and 3 of the cutest kids ever. We had a really good time except for the fact that Angela and Dallin were not feeling well most of the time.

My mom and I got there late Thursday night. Friday we packed picnic lunches and went over to the falls (which I just learned are actually a hydroelectric power generator) by the temple. There are grassy areas and picnic tables all around the falls. After lunch we got to have snowcones. Tigersblood is my favorite. YUM!! (It reminds me riding my bike with my dad and sisters over to the Shopko parking lot in Sandy for snowcones). After lunch we went to feed the canadian geese. The kids loved that but we all ended up with duck poop all over our shoes.

Saturday my mom and I took Dallin and Jesika to the Tautphaus Zoo where we saw the baby penguins, watched an Animal Encounters show "around the world in 20 minutes where they told us about a lot of animals from around the world. After the show, the kids were able to touch the different animals and have their pictures taken. Then we went to lunch at McDonald's and then went back to our hotel to take the kids swimming.

Sunday I went to church with Tom and Jesika while my mom stayed home with Angela, Dallin and Bridger. Then our little Idahoan adventure came to an end and it is back to life in the real world.

TO CATCH A BOUQUET

In my last entry I mentioned that my sister just got married making me the last remaining single in my family. Most of my friends are married, as are all of my cousins older than me and several of the younger ones. Anyway, my point is that I think it is about my turn, so I was determined to catch the bouquet this time around (understanding, of course that the whole "catching the bouquet" thing is purely superstition and is not a guarantee). However, I figure that I can use all the help that I can get, superstitious or not.

Let me set the stage...............It was the summer of 1999. I was 22 and had been home from my mission for only a couple of months and my oldest sister was getting married. She and I had it all planned. She was going to toss the bouquet right to me. So bouquet tossing time arrives and there was a whole herd of single gals crowded together just hoping and wishing and wishing and hoping that they would be the lucky catchee, thus increasing their chances for an opportunity to tie the knot, but I had insider information. I was going to be the lucky one that night, or so I thought. In case you hadn't noticed, I am not the tallest person in the world measuring in at 5' nothing on a good day. My sister turned around, wound up, and the bouquet went flying. It was right on track, coming straight towards me when my 14 year-old cousin, Cheryl (who has several inches on me) practically tackled me to secure a nice catch of the bouquet. Needless to say, I was not happy.

Okay, so back to present day 2007...........Cheryl was in London and would not be attending this wedding celebration, however her sister Lindsay was going to be there and is one of the only other singles girls that I knew I had to worry about as competition for said bouquet. We had a family reunion the Monday before the wedding and I had a serious talk with Lindsay about the bouquet tossing. She agreed that although she towers over me, she would let me catch it. So the time came for the "tossing of the bouquet" and they called for all single girls. My cousin Lindsay and I ended up being the only ones up for the toss. I am pleased to report that I am the proud new owner of a beautiful bouquet.

Maybe now after I make a wish upon a star, throw some salt over my shoulder and throw a nickle in a wishing well I might actually meet my prince charming. . . I will keep you posted. ( **Posted** No pun intended).

TWO WEDDINGS AND A BAPTISM

Exciting.. My first official blog post!!
The last two weeks have been super fun. It all started on the 4th of July. My day-off began with me sleeping in, followed by some poolside reading. FABULOUS!! After a couple of hours at my pool I went with my parents to the airport to meet my sister Laura and her family who had just arrived from Oklahoma. From the airport we headed south to the Marriott Residence Inn out in Sandy where we met up with my for other sister Angela and her family who were also in town from Idaho Falls. We couldn't even get to our hotel because Sandy City had blocked off all of the streets surrounding our hotel for the Sandy City parade. We finally convinced some of the police officers to let us through so that we could get to our hotel. After dinner we just walked outside and had fabulous seats for the parade. The kids loved it and collected lots of candy, to their parents dismay. I had to work on Thursday morning, but that afternoon I met my mom and my 3 sisters at the Brickhouse Day Spa & Retreat for an afternoon of pampering.
Friday was the big wedding!! My baby sister, Debra, married Ryan S. Wing on 07-06-07. It was truly the wedding of a princess complete with a tiara and the horse and carriage.
There was the ceremony followed by pictures and ended with the wedding dinner. Friday night after the wedding we (everyone but the newlyweds) drove to Richfield.
Saturday was nasty in Richfield. The whole town was raining ash from the Milford Flat fire and the air was dark and kind of creepy. That afternoon my oldest niece, Halee, was baptized on her 8th birthday. She wanted to do it out here so that more of her family could be there.
Later that night I went to a wedding reception for Cody Quarnberg, a friend from high school. His dad is in the stake presidency with my dad. It was fun to see him. I probably haven't seen him in 10+ years.
I had to come back to SLC Sunday night to work. I left work on Wednesday afternoon to go back to Richfield and spend the rest of the week with my adorable nieces and nephews. Thursday we went swimming at the Salina pool. The kids loved the slide. My dad spent about an hour at the bottom just catching kids. Angela and her kids had to leave on Friday afternoon. On Saturday we took a picnic up the canyon to Monrovian Park and played in the stream. My dad made fishing poles (a stick with some string on it) for the girls and Jarrett loved throwing rocks in and watching them splash. I was nice to be able to cool off a tiny bit. Saturday night my mom and I went to see Harry Potter. (Didn't love it). It is becoming too dark and evil for my liking.
It is sooo much fun to spend time with my family. We have so much fun together.

*****Okay, so I am new at this and I think this entry might have too much unnecessary info that might have made it boring. I will work on this and try to do better next time. *****

READY OR NOT, HERE I COME......

I have finally succumbed to all of the pressure to join the world of bloggers. I have resisted until now knowing that I am not as witty as many of my "blogger friends" whose stories are very entertaining and also fearing that do not have anything exciting to comment on.

My baby sister just got married, followed by my nieces baptism. All of my family was in town for these events, so I figured that now would be a good time to start my blogging. I can probably come up with a few exciting stories and a couple of photos, but after blog #1, the good stories might be few and far between. So here goes nothing. . . . . . . .