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.