Things that make you go hmmmm......

So I was thinking about all the crazy stuff that I hear in a day...and the weird things that people tell me. (This was brought on by the constant chorus of the diarrhea song that I heard non stop this afternoon....)
So here are my some favorites this week...
*"Well, obviously stay away from the strippers and the alcohol" - this was particularly funny because it was by an old lady in Sunday School at Church, who was dead serious!!!!
*"You don't believe in Saints!?!?! They're real you know!" - When a kid found out I wasn't Catholic
*"I know why you are trying to catch me! I know all about your time machine!" - overheard on the playground
* "Why are you talking like a farm girl?!" - This was after I came home from a visit to Utah...apparently I picked up a bit of an accent (thanks Trudy)
* " 'Which has the biggest volcano in the world a. Yellowstone b. Hawaii or a. China'.......'Ummmm, the bottom a'." - Conversation between two 9 year old friends

There are SO many more...maybe if I can remember more of them I will post again. If nothing else, my life is entertaining!

It's Swinter!

Well, it's been almost a year...and I can't believe that the last post I've had was about Transformers!!! When I realized that, I just had to rectify that situation! In case you were wondering, yes, I too found the Revenge of the Fallen incredibly disappointing. I'm still upset about it nearly a year later. I'll be honest, I couldn't even tell the difference between the good robots and the bad most of the time. During all of the action scenes I was inadvertently cheering for the wrong side...Oh, well.
So...in case you were wondering I am still alive. Nothing too new or exciting to report. I've been teaching 3rd grade for the last 8 or so months and am now looking forward to the home stretch. So far so good!
I have been cursing Mark Ronchetti quite frequently. I don't know about where you're at but we've been experiencing ridiculous weather swings. Saturday I woke up to a solid 4 inches of snow and today was enjoying every minute of almost 70 degree weather. I'm hoping that this Swinter ridiculousness will quit already...let me clarify...I've been coming down with a bad case of Spring Fever!
Anyway, I figured I would update...maybe I'll try to keep this up a little more! No promises...I do have commitment issues after all!
Catcha later!

Wednesday is a Special DAY!!!

Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen opens today!!!! Woo-hoo!!! I am more than just a little excited (if you couldn't tell). Unfortunately I will not be there to see it until this weekend (hopefully). Instead I will be kickin' it with the youth tonight - we will be attempting to play a life sized game of Life (the kids will be their game pieces and we will be drawing the game board in the parking lot with chalk). So wish us luck as we try to figure it out! I will let you know how it turns out!....and don't go spoilin' the movie for me if you see it first!

Captians Log - Vacation 2009

Today’s post is really just for my sake. I just got back from a super fun family vacation that I don’t want to forget so today’s blog is mostly going to be a journaling type day…feel free to read on but I thought I should warn you first!
My brother, sister-in-law, sister and three nephews drove down from Utah on Thursday night. They left late and got to our house around 9 o’clock Friday morning. Needless to say the grown-ups were pretty wiped out from driving all night and the kiddies were significantly less so from sleeping most of the way. So I took to boys to town and had lunch and went to watch UP in 3D (My critique…it was pretty boring. Even the kids got bored, Night at the Museum 2 was way better) on the way home we stopped at Baskin Robbins for ice cream. Later that night we invited the missionaries over for dinner and had a bar-b-q.
The following morning we got up and headed out to Hobbs. We decided to leave early enough so that we could have breakfast at McDonalds in Roswell and let the kids play in the spaceship play area. Once in Hobbs we went to lunch at Big Cheese Pizza (my fave!) and did a little shopping with my sisters. (It’s totally a good thing we don’t all live by each other, everything we picked up was ‘Oooh, that is SO cute. You should totally get it!’ We all decided that if we all lived near each other we would be completely broke ALL of the time!) Later that night we all played a rousing game of trivial pursuit which of course my Dad totally killed us at (seriously, who knows Swedish tennis players…apparently my dad!). The rest of the night we played games and fired up the bar-b-q again.
Sunday was chill, we went to church (of course) and kicked back at my parents house the rest of the day doing a whole lot of nothing, I even got a nap out of it!
Monday we headed to Carlsbad and hit the Caverns. For those of you who have never been I totally recommend it! It was a lot of fun hiking through the caves. I can’t let myself think too much about being that far underground (750 feet down – about the depth of a 7 story building) however, otherwise I totally freak out. Honestly, could you imagine an earthquake there?!? We also ate lunch at Furrs (Trudy’s fave) and had some tasty frito pies for dinner (which I almost never get to eat because I don’t make a pot of beans for myself!).
Tuesday we spent most of the day at the pool. They had slides and about a billion people (even though my mom kept saying how it wasn’t very busy). Our family friends the Smouses were there too and it was fun to play with all the kids. Especially with Nate who is a 3 year old who thinks he can do anything but who in reality doesn’t swim. That crazy kid even shouts “Cannonball” and throws himself into the pool! It was hilarious. I also sunburned my left ear…apparently I missed a spot during the slathering of the sunscreen. Afterward, the girls went to hobby lobby for some craft fun. The rest of the evening we watched movies and just hung out.
Wednesday we were off to San Antonio! We drove and stopped a few times along the way and enjoyed the ride (at least in our car). Once in San Antonio we spent the rest of the day/night on the Riverwalk. It was really neat to see all the different shops and restaurants. We even took a boat ride tour which was really awesome. We ate at a Mexican restaurant which was pretty decent (it actually tasted really good since it was 10:00 at night by the time we finally got around to eating).
Thursday was our Sea World day! We were there from opening to almost closing in 106 degree weather with humidity well above that! It was HOT but it was wonderful! We got to feed the dolphins and go to the aquariums. We saw Shamu and the killer whale show ‘Believe’ as well as the dolphin/beluga whale show with the acrobats. The kids rode several rides and especially loved the Shamu ride. I even rode the Journey to Atlantis ride and was quickly reminded why I don’t ride the rides. Yes, I am still afraid of heights and I still don’t love roller coasters. There was so much to do that we didn’t even scratch the surface of the whole park. We didn’t do the water park because there just wasn’t enough time. Later that night we played in the hotel pool which was also very fun.
Friday we hit the Alamo and all the historic type things. I know a lot of people find this stuff really boring, but I totally get into all that historic stuff! I was really neat to see, and it didn’t hurt that it was air conditioned. We sat outside and ate snow cones which was great (I had pineapple), except there was an old guy there who was shouting religion at us. It was a very interesting experience. After the Alamo we headed back to NM! We stopped in Odessa and had a great steak dinner at a little steakhouse. It was delicious!
Saturday morning was the Primary Carnival that my mom was putting on. Bettie and I got stuck at the face painting booth which was kind of cool. After the carnival my brother and sister and their families headed out so they could make it back to Utah by Sunday evening. Bettie and I stayed another day and just kicked with my parents.
We finally got home around 10 on Sunday night too tired to even unpack.
Now I need a vacation from the vacation just to recoup! It was a great trip all around and I loved spending time with my whole family which hasn’t happened in well over a year!
Thanks family, IT WAS GREAT!!!

Confession

So here are some random confessions that are pretty stupid but true:
- Sometimes I play CSI with the scotch tape at work
- I have a list of celebrities that I am secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) obsessed with, including a top 5 hottest
- When I'm driving by myself sometimes I try to make a loud siren noise (this mostly consists of me screaming at the top of my lungs)
- I laugh at my own jokes more than anyone else
- I know every word to Ice Ice Baby and am pretty proud (and secretly happy) when it comes on and I sing along
- I have worn a bodysuit and done a version of Beyonce's Single Lady dance (only in my own home without an audience, of course)
- I am not superstitious but still do superstitious things...you know, just in case.
- I will make up elaborate stories if I know someone is eavesdropping on my conversation in a restaurant.
- I eavesdrop on other people's conversations in restaurants.
- Ice Ice Baby isn't the only 90's song that I know and am proud to sing
- I sometimes draw fake beauty marks on my face with eyeliner, but I usually can't stop at one and before I know it I've drawn a constellation on my face...and then I connect the dots...
- I waste a lot of eyeliner
- Sometimes I act dumb so that I don't have to do something or explain something.
- Sometimes I act deaf for the same above mentioned reason.
- I sometimes ignore people I know in the store just because I don't want to talk to them (or have to explain the weird eyeliner marks all over my face)
- I will wave my arms around a room every so often, just in case my magic powers have kicked in.

I'm kind of getting carried away here but I thought these are just some of the weird things I needed to get off my chest. Do you have any confessions you want to share?

Once again, a UFO has landed in America, the only country UFOs ever seem to land in.

I think that the alien invasion has begun. I assume it will be subtle, so most of you probably haven’t noticed yet. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert by any means (Although I have been to Roswell on several occasions…okay, the extent of my Roswell experience is also limited to the McDonalds shaped like a space ship, the Arby’s which apparently has no alien affiliation, and two marginally scary gas stations where I have frequented in my many travels to and from hell…aka Hobbs) but I’m pretty sure that alien invasion is the only logical explanation for several different things that I’ve noticed lately. On a cliff driving from Los Alamos there is a yellow sign. It looks like a yellow diamond traffic sign similar to a deer crossing sign, only instead of a picture of a deer it is an alien face. This particular sign is in a very inconspicuous place, in fact I bet the majority of people who drive down that hill have never even noticed it. (Several people can attest to its existence…I’ve pointed it out to them and they can see it too…so I’m pretty sure it’s not imaginary). It is in the middle of a very high cliff, stuck into a boulder which sits upon another even bigger boulder. I don’t think that a human could feasibly reach it so it goes without saying that the aliens must have planted it.
Secondly there is a particularly suspicious news woman who anchors one of the local news channels. I call her “Crazy Eyes Ribano” which is not even remotely close to her assumed alias…her name is actually Shelly Ribando, but trust me, Crazy Eyes fits her much better. She apparently has an aversion to blinking. As Bettie says, she looks like she is trying to have a staring contest with the camera and is determined to win. (In fact, Bettie usually yells at the TV to tell her “It’s a camera, it’s not going to blink!”…there’s a lot of yelling at the TV in our home.) She seems almost normal in every other way, so I’m marginally confident that she is indeed a visitor among us (an alien, if you will).
There have probably been more signs, but I am just now being made aware of the invasion myself. Have any of you noticed anything?

P.S. Here is my dad’s favorite saying about Hobbs, which is why I refer to it as hell (other than the fact that it’s been over 100 degrees long before May even began)…If the devil owned Hobbs and Hell, he would live in Hell and rent out Hobbs!

It was a Mother of a Day!

I’m not even sure if anyone is reading this anymore. I did however get an irate phone call from my mother telling me that she is expecting an update…even though I usually talk to her multiple times a day…and tell her everything I’m thinking!!! (Believe it or not, those of you who don’t have the pleasure of frequent conversations with me…it’s not any different than my blog. Yes, I really do talk like this…and I really do rant about the stupid things that I post and my mom, Cecilia and Bettie can attest to this!)
It’s been a long time, so I’m just going to update you on some of the strange things I’ve observed lately. This morning I was held up in traffic because there was a coyote in the road! I was going to say that he was painting a big ACME target but then that would be a giant exaggeration (I don’t want to be known as the girl who cried coyote!). Now, I don’t live in the middle of nowhere…we have a Walmart for heaven’s sakes! Okay, so maybe having a Walmart isn’t the mark of urban life, but you’d think that there wouldn’t be wildlife wreaking havoc on my commute!
I did get to spend mother’s day with my mom and dad which was pretty great (even if most of the time was spent in the car). We met them in Albuquerque on Friday night and took my mom to dinner and a movie (my dad went and had dinner with his mom). Saturday I went to the temple with my mom. That was a very cool experience and one of the highlights of my weekend. It was pretty awesome to be there with my mom and to be able to think about the eternal nature of our families. I’m grateful to know that no matter what happens in this life, if we choose the right we can be together forever. Afterward we did a little shopping and headed out to Gallup. On Saturday afternoon my cousin Tyler was baptized and I had the honor of speaking at the service. It was a really spiritually uplifting day for me. Many of my cousins and their families along with aunts and uncles and my grandma were all there. It had been a long time since I’d seen many of them and it was a lot of fun.
I have been enjoying the weather we have been experiencing. I don’t know about where you are, but it has been shorts and flip-flop weather which I love!! It makes me excited for summer and wish that I was a kid again. I would love it even more if I knew how to set up the air conditioner and didn’t have to melt in the house at night! Speaking of melting houses, my brother and sister-in-law almost lost their home when their landlord started his kitchen on fire on Mother’s Day (they live in a basement apartment and their landlord lives above them)!!! Thankfully everyone was safe and the home was saved! It will be a pain for them with the smoke damage but luckily it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. They’ve had a lot of close calls this year but the Lord has definitely watched out for them and everything continues to work out.
So I hope you had a great Mother’s Day too!