Grocery Shopping. Never Again!

I debated about the title of this post for a long time. I thought about using: "A Belated Christmas Gift", or "The 4th Most Happy Day of My Life!". I finally settled on the one you see.

Obviously, something has me pretty excited!

So, Nick, Reagan and I went to Red Mango last week for some delicious frozen yogurt. As we were exiting the parking lot, something caught my eye and I screamed for Nick to "STOP"! Nick already thinks I am crazy sometimes, so this is nothing new. I made him do a U-Turn in the car to head back to the shining commercial building that had absorbed my attention.

That's right! Davis County, UT has acquired a CAFE ZUPAS!

Jeanne may be the only other person who appreciates this as much as I do. After all, we are both addicted to Zupas.
I am highly encouraging other UT residents to seek our Zupas and give it a try. They will never have a better salad for as long as they live. The Yucatan Chicken Tortilla Soup is heavenly. And don't even get me started on the desserts.

We have eaten there every day since I found out that they opened one two miles from my house. I am not lying. I could probably keep the Layton location in business single-handedly (thank you Nick, for going to work every day so that we can afford to eat there). But I am sure I won't end up being the only patron. Give it a try, I promise: you will not be disappointed! AND, if you want someone to accompany you to Zupas please call me. I am up for it, any day, any time!

Too bad they don't serve breakfast. It looks like I will be venturing to the shopping market occasionally, at least to get ceral and milk.

Which do I hate more?

Words cannot describe my absolute loathing for the tile on our kitchen floor. Truth be told, the entire kitchen could use a renovation. Our appliances are quality/modern stainless steel. But the countertops, cabinets, sink and especially flooring have got to be updated.

That being said.... The heating situation in our basement is also in dire need of fixing. Our furnace is in the attic. Upstairs, the ductwork and returns are all in the ceiling (this is actually pretty nice, because I don't have to strategically place furniture- the way you need to when you don't want to cover up the heating returns when they are in the floor). However, for some reason they did not run any ductwork from the furnace to the basement?

Our basement is 100% finished, but since the winter cold has struck our basement might as well be 0% finished. Spending any amount of time down there turns one in to a Popsicle. It is so cold! They do have the baseboard heaters in each room. But for some unknown reason they are affixed to the wall near the ceiling, not the baseboards????

Anyway, they are an eyesore, they don't heat properly, and they cost a fortune to run.

My conundrum is that I may only have enough money from our 2009 income tax return to change one of these situations.

Pragmatism will probably win out, and we'll end up updating the heating downstairs. After all, my kitchen functions just fine (I do hate to think about how much time I have spent planning all of the changes I would make to the kitchen. I have spent countless hours on the internet researching and know what I would do, down to the last detail. However, most of this planning was done prior to the onset of winter, before I realized what a immediate situation we had going on downstairs. At least that fact makes me feel a little less sheepish and like I wasted my time).

It sounds like the decision has already been made. Yes, we will probably put heat downstairs. So, does anyone have any suggestions? IE- forms of heating that are affordable, and heat well? HVAC companies that are affordable and do a good job? If anyone has had any experience in this arena I'd love to hear the assessment.

Playtime

Why has it been so difficult to blog lately? Maybe because we have had the throw-up flu at our house? Maybe because I have been pulling my hair out dealing with: #1 A refund in the amount of $430 from the billing office of Reagan's pediatrician- it's going on six months now! I have heard every excuse in the book about where the check is. I am guessing someones dog ate it. Or, at least that will be the latest reason they give me for the delay. #2 I am still being "patient" with the IRS when it comes to our new-home-buyer credit. They received the paperwork for this on May 11th. I don't even want to think about how many of my cellular phone minutes have been wasted while I have been on hold (the usual wait is 15-30 minutes) with the IRS. I have called at least once a month, every month for the past 9 months. #3 The HR dept. with Nick's former employer. Apparently, no one ever filled out the paperwork for his departure. They still believe he works there (he hasn't been there for 5 weeks). It has been causing all sorts of headaches for me; and yesterday I had an HR lady arguing with me for a good 10 minutes, trying to tell me that my husband still works there. Um, OK? Whatever you say, "all knowing" HR lady. I'll just ignore the fact that I launder my husband's white labcoat that says "Walgreen's Pharmacist" on the front so that he can wear it to work 4-5 days a week. And that the direct deposit paycheck that has been showing up in our checking account says it is from Walgreen's. Grrrrr.....

As you can see, not a lot of time to blog.

I do have a few minutes this morning, however. And I wanted to post something fun. Reagan is getting pretty good at playing by herself for a few minutes at a time.

She got an Elmo Microwave for Christmas. She loves it! She can play with it, and her little play kitchen for an extended amount of time (at least enough time for me able to do a load of laundry, or do my hair).

These toys may "take some of you back".

The My Little Pony Castle (along with some of the vintage ponies!), and Peaches and Cream Barbie!

And finally....... I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and when I came out I found that Reagan had decided to play "dress up". She picked out this little number all on her own, and put it on herself. I was laughing so hard, it was difficult for me to take a picture.

Yes, the article of clothing, is what you think it is. I should have let her wear it to nursery class on Sunday. She's got a reputation as a rebel, to keep up! Kidding.

The Evolution of Beer

I want to recount an event that happened just this past Sunday. We were at church, and Reagan was in her nursery class. At one point during the worship service I was standing out in the hall near Reagan's class. One of the teachers from Reagan's class came out and had this to say to me: "We took the kids on a little walk around the building, and ever since we arrived back at the classroom Reagan keeps asking for something, and it sounds like the word: "BEER".
BUSTED!
You read correctly, and the teacher heard correctly.

Before any readers get ready to dial DCFS and report me, let me explain:

When I was pregnant with Reagan the only thing I craved was Root Beer. Given the opportunity, I would have gladly stuck my head under a tap of Root Beer and guzzled away.
When Reagan was just a few months old I was eating a Root Beer flavored Popsicle, and figured I'd let her have a taste. She loved it! Nick, ever the responsible parent, didn't approve. And still hates it when I give Reagan Root Beer.
By having a love of Root Beer since before she was born, naturally Reagan had an extra incentive to learn how to ask for it by name.
The only problem turned out to be that it is much easier for her to just say "Beer", rather than "Root Beer".
At first Nick and I thought it was pretty funny to hear Reagan ask for Beer, so we didn't attempt to correct her. I guess we created a monster.

In "Reagan's world" there are two types of beverages: Milk and Beer (every other type of liquid, besides is milk has been dubbed Beer).

My guess is that during her little walk at Nursery class, Reagan walked past the drinking fountain in the church and wanted a drink. The only way she knows how to ask for Water, is by saying "Beer".

And, there you go. That is how Reagan asking for Beer came to be.
The fact that we are LDS, and NEVER have beer in the house makes this even funnier, and finally, that Reagan would ask for it at church makes it downright hilarious!

It is going to be even more interesting to see what kind of things come out of Reagan's mouth as she develops an even more extensive vocabulary.

San Francisco

I have no "still pictures" from Christmas day due entirely to the fact that we had an outbound flight scheduled for Dec. 26 @ 7AM, and the camera was packed, along with everything else we needed for the trip, on Dec. 24th. We do have video, but I won't bore people with that. It will be just for the Scheurer family home video library.

Rest assured, our Christmas was wonderful. Reagan received a "play kitchen" from Santa. She was in love with it! Nick started putting it together days before Christmas. All said and done, the thing probably had a good 4 hours of assembly time put in to it!

So, San Francisco. Whose idea was it to take a vacation the day after Christmas, to a non-tropic locale? Oh yeah, mine. I can't claim that all of my ideas are genius. I'm still being reminded of the fact that it was my awful idea to move back to UT. Again, sorry- Nick.

My parents went to Cancun on Dec. 27th. That would have been ideal, but we didn't have the $$$ for something like that.

So, off to San Francisco it was.

Things weren't all bad. We can laugh at the mishaps now.

To start things off... (we should have seen this as a bad omen) our GPS malfunctioned and changed the address to Chinatown that we had input. Literally, we were driving aimlessly around downtown S.F. for 10 minutes before we checked the address in the unit, only to find that it had somehow changed itself to another address. We had dinner reservations at a restaurant in Ghiradelli Square. In order to make the reservation we decided to "bag" Chinatown (for that day, anyway) and we headed to dinner.

McCormick and Schmick has to be one of our favorite restaurants. Yes, it is a chain, but they know how to do seafood. We ate there all of the time in Seattle, and even had a magnificent meal there recently, in Las Vegas. The meal in S.F. wasn't bad, the service, however.... Our server was inept and slow. Those qualities are the worst in a waiter.

By the time our meal was done we weren't up for much else so we went back to the hotel.

Day 2: We were "up and at em'" early. And on our way to Muir Woods to see the giant Redwoods. When I was making the itinerary for the trip I copied and pasted the Longitude and Latitude for the location of the front gate of the national park, so that we could input it in our GPS. Well, rather than using my instructions Nick simply input Muir Woods National Monument in to the GPS. We arrived at the destination, and I didn't think we were in the right place.

(Reagan thought this drinking fountain in the parking lot was the greatest thing, EVER!)

So, Nick input the degrees of Long. & Lat. in to the GPS to make sure we were where we needed to be. It took an awful long time calculating; and then gave us directions to a destination a hour away.

We packed up in to the car again, and headed down the coastal highway 1. At one point our GPS lead us to a dead end. Someone had posted a sign that said: "This is not the way to --- Rd. Even if your GPS says so! Go back down the street, turn right, blah, blah, blah". That added 20 minutes to our trip.

The drive was beautiful. Very scenic.

As we arrived closer to our destination, I started feeling like something wasn't right. There weren't a lot of huge trees on the horizon like I would have expected. I said to Nick: "Remember a little while ago when I didn't get mad at you for taking us to the wrong place?". I wanted the same courtesy for the same mistake.

Our destination turned out to be a beach. By this time we had been in the car for 2+ hours. The only things that saved us on this trip was #1. the fact that we talked Nick's parent's in to accompanying us #2. The portable DVD player and the several Elmo DVD's that we brought with us too. Reagan never would have been as manageable without them! When we stopped in the parking lot at the beach Nick checked the P.O.S. GPS only to discover that the numbers for the Long. & Lat. had been changed?! We still have no explanation.

The beach turned out to be a fun expedition. Nick was (as always) a great Dad, and braved the cold so that he and Reagan could run in the ocean sans footwear.

Reagan's first trip to the ocean was a success!

On the trip back we ate at a quaint cafe. It was so nice to be able to eat outdoors in December! The food and the beach were enough for us to be able to say that the entire trip wasn't a total bust. At that point, though, I couldn't tell whether Nick wanted to throw the GPS, or himself, in the ocean more!

The day wasn't over, so we decided to take one more stab at finding Muir Woods. Glutton for punishment, I know.

And guess what? The place we had originally driven to that morning was the right place. How was I supposed to know? It has been 15 years since I was last there.

It is impossible to describe the grandeur the Redwood trees posses. Try as I might, I could never fit an entire redwood tree in to the viewfinder of my camera.

Day 3: With Nick's Dad driving :) we found Chinatown.

We had a good time Shopping. We grabbed some treats at a Chinese bakery. I SO should have not eaten that HomBow (more on that later).

In the afternoon we went to Pier 39. Reagan loved the Carousel! She talked her "soft-touch" Daddy in to paying for two rides!

We were disappointed that there were only 3 sea lions to see. The last time I was there I remember that the sea lions covered the dozen floating platforms available to them, and they were so NOISY! This time, however, the floating platforms were completely vacant. There were 3 of them sitting on a pier across the water from us, but that was it. The next morning at breakfast the news did a story on the the vanishing sea lions at pier 39, but the volume on the TV wasn't turned on (of course); so we couldn't get the full-story? From what we could gather there was a guy in custody for shooting at the sea lions. Sad.

After Pier 39 I was really starting to feel under the weather. I begged the crew to take me back to the hotel (Reagan also needed a nap). It was either food poisoning (think, Hom Bow); or 24 hour flu that lead to my "worshipping of the porcelain god" that evening. We missed our dinner reservation at the Stinking Rose, and Breakfast the next morning at Mama's.

Nick's parents were able to go see a movie that night, so that lessened my guilt for ruining the night.

Nick is the most wonderful, considerate husband imaginable. He took care of everything from that point on, and made sure I was as comfortable as I could possibly be.

In the end... we have had better vacations. But S.F. wasn't miserable. We got to see all of the sights, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, we were able to dine on fresh seafood.

Quick Post. No Pic's.

As of this week Reagan has really gotten in to the "spirit of Christmas" by adding a new word to her vocabulary:
"MINE!"
Isn't it fitting? Sigh.

And if we hadn't realized that winter is here, already... we are being heavily reminded by the different "bugs" that are infecting each one of our family members. Nick was sick a few weeks ago, then Reagan, then me. Now, it's Reagan's turn again. She has "the croup". We took her to the ER in the middle of the night. She woke up coughing and it sounded like she could hardly breathe. After 4 hours... we were discharged with a mini-lecture from the nurse about which symptoms in children truly warrant a trip to the ER. Well, excuse me for being a first-time Mom! If I hadn't honestly thought my daughter was very ill I wouldn't have brought her in. Live and Learn and then pay the hospital bills, I guess.

I know I alluded to the "not so great" situation with Nick's job in a prior post. Well, Nick's employment took a positive turn. He just finished his first official week as a pharmacist at Walgreen's. It was a hard decision to make, especially because Nick really liked his co-workers at Albertson's. But in the end when we made a list there were more "pro's" with Walgreen's. If you want to hear the entire story, I'd be happy to share it in person. It's way too long for a post. And if you do want to get the "nitty gritty", be ready for an earful (because really, can I ever refrain from keeping my opinion concise?!).

It's beginning to look a little bit like Christmas.

This is the first year of my married life that I have been able to decorate our home for Christmas. In years past there was really no reason to, because we were always going to be somewhere other than our own house for Christmas.

Also, apparently the reason we didn't decorate is because I had no decorations. I hauled the rubbermaid tubs that contain my Christmas decorations upstairs, and after putting up every single, solitary item the tubs contained; all I could think was: "is that it?!". Yes, my decor was pretty sparse.

Nick will be happy to know that I refrained from going on a Christmas Decoration Spending Spree. I will just "make do" this year, with what I have, and I'll be sure to hit up the after Christmas sales, to get stuff at killer prices for next year.

We do have stockings. Can you guess which stocking belongs to each member of our family?

I received this Christmas ornament as a gift (10 years ago, at least). It wasn't until last year that Nick took a good look at it and pointed the inappropriateness of it out. Prior to that, I had never noticed that... yes indeed, the mouse inside the clock is sitting on the toilet with his pants pulled down. Who makes a Christmas ornament like that?! Oh well, it fits Nick's personality really well, so it will be a permanent fixture on our Christmas tree.

Reagan got one of the "countdown til' Christmas calendars". She has no idea what Christmas is, but she knows there is a little piece of chocolate inside each square, and she makes sure to tell me that she wants a piece every morning after we get her dressed for the day.

I have been playing my John Denver and the Muppets, a Christmas Together CD nonstop! The music from that album reminds me of Christmases past more than anything else. When I was really little we would listen to the vinyl record while we were putting up the Christmas ornaments. A little later we got it on cassette tape. Finally, we upgraded to a CD. I took that CD with me, my first Christmas season away from home as a freshman in college at SUU. When we weren't busy stealing Christmas trees..... I was subjecting Ruthann and Tierney to the vocal stylings of John Denver and the Muppets. I know they both HATED it, but I don't think they will ever forget it (I know I won't)!

Figgy Pudding.... It's made with figs...... And Bacon.

Oates', Newton's & West's in the Shire.

Last night we had a very last-minute Christmas dinner party. It started out as get together for dinner with the West's, since we haven't seen them in FOREVER. Neither of us wanted to get sitters for the kids and it is so hard to have a conversation with other adults if you go out to dinner with the kids, because you are constantly trying to keep a rodeo under control.

In the end, we decided to have them over to our house for dinner.

This lead to the invitation of the Newton's and the Oates' as well (literally, the day of).

It turned out well. The dinner was a little "well-done", because we were trying to keep it warm while every one of the other families struggled to navigate through our neighborhood to find our house. But it wasn't really about the food anyway (except for the dessert that Jon's wife made that was "out of this world" delicious!). It was all about the company and catching up with old friends. One of the funniest parts of the conversation was when we started talking about all of the funny first names that we could give our children. All of us have unique-ish last names. Newton's talked about how they loved the first name: Isaac, but thought it would be setting the bar a little high for that kid. West's mentioned the name: Easton. Hilarious! Nick still thinks it would be great to give one of our potential children the middle name: Del, because that means "of the"- in Spanish. So our kid would be: Joe "of the" Shire. I'm still laughing from all of the good conversation. And just like in High School the guys started pulling out the "one liners" from popular sitcoms of our "era"- ie- Seinfeld, and The Simpson's. It was a great night.

Santa made a surprise visit. That Santa Claus looks an awful lot like my little brother, Brian! Maybe that is why Jenny was so fond of him. Ha Ha.

This little guy didn't know what to make of Santa? What a handsome boy.

Reagan surprised me. This is the girl who will walk up to total strangers in the grocery store and want them to pick her up. But with Santa was not as social. Once again it proves what a mean Mom I am because I got a kick out of the fact that I now have a picture of Reagan sitting on Santa's lap crying!

She was happy to see Santa go. This picture is blurry, but it is because Reagan was so animated about waiving goodbye to Santa.

Reagan was the only one of the kids who didn't like Santa. It was a real treat to have him come, Brian was such a good sport about it.

The night was a success. It was sad to see it end. We can't let another 4 years pass before we do it again!

Now I remember.

It has been snowing all day, and usually I would be cursing the awful driving conditions and freezing cold. Wishing that I were in a warmer climate (like: Seattle). But today I am grateful to be in UT.
I have been suffering from a sinus infection since Wednesday. I would love to have gone straight to bed. But with a toddler in the house that does not happen. Instead, I spent a good part of the day, yesterday; sitting on the couch watching Reagan create mess after mess. I had no energy to do anything about it.
Of course, all I could muster for dinner was a BP&J sandwich. One of the pieces I gave Reagan must have been too big because she started to choke on it. She coughed it up but also threw up. Just what I needed (eye roll). My Mom came over and put Reagan in the tub. Then, Jenny (my most-amazing sister-in-law) came to the house and entertained Reagan for 2+ hours so that I could rest.
This morning, Heather came and picked up Reagan and took care of her all day so that I could go to the doctor and have some down-time.
Living in UT isn't so bad. My family is here.
Happy Birthday, Mom!

Family Picture

We had family pictures done at Inkley's. Reagan looks adorable, but I wish the photographer would have spent a little more time touching things up electronically, so that Nick's hair, my hair and my pants didn't blend in with the background.

Rise and Shout!

Last year I treated Haley to lunch as a result of BYU losing the Holy War. But this year it looks like the reverse is true. Go Cougars.

My Dad graciously offered us his season tickets to the game. The group that ended up going consisted of: Me, Nick, Brian Scheurer, Jeff (my Ute Fan Brother-In-Law) and Jeff's two Ute-Fan minions: his Dad and friend.

As always, I visited with my BYU-Blue-Blood relatives before the game. Here I am with my wonderful cousin, Julie.


The throw-back uniforms (in tribute to the 1984 championship team) were such a treat to see. My own opinion is that they ought to go back to them! Gary Crowton was coach when they unveiled the new/current colors; and along with forgetting Coach Crowton why don't we forget the new colors and go "old school"?

I could hardly contain myself when Tight End George caught the game winning touch-down. The stadium erupted! Really, I almost peed my pants from the excitement (the fact that I was jumping up and down like a deranged Easter Bunny did nothing to help my bladder control either. Ha Ha.)


I did manage to compose myself, and made it to the Ladies Room. But not before I got a picture of me and Nick beaming with pride.

Go Blue! I love the Cougars. Always have, always will.

Giving Thanks.

I am thankful for our cozy home. But sometimes, boy- do we miss having a landlord! It is so nice to have someone else responsible for the upkeep of your residence. Since purchasing our home I have found myself having this sentiment several times. Most recently... The morning before Thanksgiving. We were hosting it for Nick's family again this year. Nick and I both thought it would be fun to build a fire in the wood stove that we recently had installed in the basement family room and decided to give it a trial run the morning before Turkey Day. Nick prepped everything, Scout Style, and lit the match. He got a big fire going in a matter of seconds, but much to our dismay the smoke was not disappearing up the pipe. Rather, it was seeping out of every crevice of the wood stove directly in to the room! We put out the fire, but the damage was already done. Our basement smelled like campfire.

Nick enlisted the help of his brother to try to solve the problem. We don't have a flue on the chimney, so that couldn't have been the problem. Nick and Brian climbed on to the roof and lowered a flashlight down the chimney. It did not meet any resistance, and proved that nothing was blocking the fireplace. We were at a loss??? It is still a mystery, and to boot: my basement still smells like icky campfire. I don't really want to pay to have someone come out and diagnose the problem, so we may just end up not using the wood burning stove, in fear of having a repeat scenario.

Thanksgiving day, itself was awesome! Nick, ever the chef in the kitchen; did not disappoint. He made a "from scratch" herb gravy that was the best I have ever tasted.

Reagan really stuffed herself, not!

She had Cereal, and Celery.


And some of uncle Nathan's pie, that she enjoyed feeding to him, more than feeding to herself.

We had a riot playing Guitar Hero, World Tour after the meal and between several helpings of pie.

I (once again) showed my ineptness at cooking. The night before thanksgiving I started making pies. The first piecrust was cooking by itself. I took it out of the oven and started to empty the beans that I was using as piecrust weights in to a bowl, and ended up dumping the piecrust out. Of course. Nick made a trip to the store and got me two more piecrusts. While he was gone I cooked another pie shell, and poured the pumpkin pie filling in to the crust. The crust shrunk and Nick said I added too much cinnamon to the filling. Pie #2 ruined. I cooked the two crusts Nick brought home from the store and they turned out fine. I put Nick's favorite (Raspberry Sour Cream) pie in the oven. The brown sugar crumble topping wasn't cooking, so my brilliant idea was to turn on the broiler and finish the pie. Little did I know I was actually FINISHING THE PIE OFF! The brown sugar ended up caramelizing and pie #3 went to the garbage. The last pie turned out, but only because it had a pre-done piecrust and the filling was instant chocolate pudding.

Village Inn came to the rescue Thanksgiving Morning. I managed to get their last pumpkin pie.

My talent never has been AND will never will be cooking. Shopping, however, is a different story. Yipee for Black Friday. I hauled Nick out of bed at the wicked hour of 4AM to go shopping with me on the day after Thanksgiving. Nick was a good sport, but it was obvious he didn't get a "charge" out of it the way I do! I felt a real sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when we returned home from our visit to the countless number of stores we patronized and realized that we had managed to buy everything I set out to get (with the exception of two items. The Power Wheels Barbie Jeep, and the Leather Executive Chair). I was so tired by the end of the day, but that doesn't deter me from doing it again next year!

Weight. Wait?!

Nick and I are getting more life insurance, and had the mini-physicals done yesterday. Ladies, I am sure you will agree with me and the shock I was feeling when the Phlebotomist lady announced Nick's weight. He has lost 10 pounds in the last year, without even trying! Argh. Some things are inexplicable. Like your husband being able to eat as much as he wants, whenever he wants and still managing to LOSE weight. Another example: my two little nephews having the most beautiful and long eyelashes you have ever seen! Boys just can't appreciate things like that.
Back to the weight loss.... I just don't understand it? Especially considering, that it was far easier to eat healthy when we lived in the Pacific Northwest (Whole Foods was a few miles away, we usually had fresh fish at least 3 times a week, we were able to find quality organic produce in every grocery store, the list goes on and on...). One would think that by moving to land-locked, steak and potatoes UT the pounds would be packing on, and not vice versa. Oh well, at least I still weigh less than my handsome husband. That is something to be grateful for. One of the worst days of my life was the day I went to a prenatal checkup and found that my weight had surpassed Nick's. Thank goodness that is over!

Last night I hosted the pampered chef party. Having Heather as a pampered chef consultant isn't doing anything to help me keep a trim figure :) The "trial runs" she has been doing on the recipes for her parties just cannot be passed up!
It is no secret that I am a failure in the kitchen. I hate cooking. I have long thought that Heather got the cooking talent that was meant for me, because Heather has more than the normal person's share of aptitude in the kitchen.


Here are some of the delectable treats Heather whipped up for my party.

Honestly, I love good food, so I ought to stop complaining. In fact, I am incredibly lucky to have found a husband who (more than) makes up for my faults, especially in the kitchen! Nick is a phenomenal cook, AND- here's the kicker: he LOVES doing it! Nick will be preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for the 3rd year in a row, and I know I am not the only one who is looking forward to it! Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A Whole Lot of Changin' Goin' On.

FYI: My Sister is a Pampered Chef Consultant and I agreed to host a party for her; Friday, November 20th @ 6:30 PM. If, by some unfortunately oversight, you did not receive an invitation to this party; and would like to attend- just let me know and I'll get the information to you. The more the merrier!

SOOO "cliche", but so true: "The only thing constant in life, is change".

The good change, for us:


Nick's Mini Cooper arrived, safe and sound, from Texas. As I mentioned previously, Nick bought the car off of eBay, from a BMW dealership on Plano, TX. I kept repeating that I hoped this would turn out to be a screaming deal, for us. Rather than a cautionary tale.
I did get a little worried at one point when I called the transport company that was shipping the car to UT and their "hold" music was MJ's Smooth Criminal- on repeat! Fortune was on our side, though, and things went well. Nick loves his new ride.


One (of the two) exterior projects on the house that I wanted to have completed was done. Nick and his Dad put up the shutters, and they look great! I am hoping to have the vinyl porch railing done next year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!


Obviously (as you can see from the shutter picture), we also had our first substantial snowfall. I put Reagan in her little snow suit and boots. As soon as we got outside she did a face-plant in to the snow. I picked her up and cleaned her off, but also took this picture. Nick said it was mean of me to take pictures of our daughter crying, but I think it is comical. Besides, after she realized that the snow wasn't going to kill her she had a great time. She picked up on the fact that eating snow is apparently, delicious, all on her own. Smart girl! I am sure that if Nick were writing this post he would insert some joke about staying away from the yellow snow, right here- but I like to think I am above such humor. Love you, dear!


The biggest change that I am absolutely loving, are the changes we made to the interior fireplaces! We moved the Wood Burning stove downstairs. And I had the space left vacant by the move: fitted with a gas fireplace insert. You can see the "before and after" above. To make this change happen, I was on a pretty tight budget. Ideally, I would have loved to rip the brick out and replace it with stone and a gigantic mantle. However, I still love how it turned out. You can make things just as pretty, even when you are pinching your pennies!

Lastly, the not so great change: and also my reason for not blogging as much lately.... I have been thinking and thinking about whether I ought to even mention anything. The argument in my head: " It has been such a big part of our life the past few weeks, I don't know how I can not mention it". "However, I don't want my blogging about it to turn in to a pity party, that all of my readers are invited to...". So, I'll keep it concise.
UT Albertson's were purchased by the locally owned Associated Foods. The buyout has not gone smoothly, and it seems that there has been zero communication between the "higher-ups" and the employees. Nick still has a job, but he no longer has a contract with his employer. This little paragraph of explanation is just the tip of the iceberg- to say the least! All I can ask for is that everyone send "happy thoughts" our way, while we try to wade through this unexpected mess. There are a lot of hard decisions that need to be made, and what I wouldn't give to own a crystal ball to see the future and what will be the best for our family.
I'll cut away from being all "cryptic". And conclude with wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I, for one, and thankful for the continued readership and comments that my blog receives!