8 years....It's Independence Day! (flashback)

It's hard to believe it has been 8 years since our country was attacked by terrorists.

People are still healing from that grave day.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I wanted to be reminded of those images I saw 8 years ago.

Images that looked like they were from a Hollywood action film.

Images of peoples' lives being changed forever.

Images of people surviving a battle in the heart of New York City.

Images of business men covered in soot and clutching their briefcase, like they were clutching to life and trying to breath, let alone absorb what was happening.

I did.

I looked at the pictures that are so readily at hand through an image search.

They reminded me of the stories that came in the days following.

Stories that aren't pictured.

The stories of family members worrying for their loved ones who worked in the World Trade Center.

Stories of survival.

Stories of loss.

So heart breaking.

I am so grateful to live in a free country.

I am so grateful to be able to travel freely.

To pursue education how and where I please.

I am so grateful to be able to speak my mind.

I am so grateful for the men and women that uphold these freedoms and defend this country.

I am so grateful to be able to worship freely according to the dictates of my own conscience.

I don't worship the flag but, I do believe it is a wonderful and honorable symbol of our freedom.

And that it should be respected.

"Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there

Oh say, does that starspangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the of the brave?"

Yes, it does!

I will always remember.

On a lighter note....It's Independence Day

- - -Flashback- - -

We played on the tramp and waited for everyone to be ready.

We went to the festivities at the Middle School.

There were lots of races.

Three legged were the most fun!

Sisters.

Good Form!

They Lost. Darn!

Mother & Son.

Good Form!

They lost! Darn!

Husband & Wife.

Crazy Form! Look at me...I look like I'm in it to win it. Don't I?

It paid off! We won!!!

What did we win?

Just the opportunity to take a picture with our fists of victory in the air!

The Grease Pole!

Actually there are two. One for the kids and one for the adults.

Every Fourth of July, Salina City stakes two poles in the grass and then they lather it up with animal fat, hence the name - The Grease Poll!

What do they do with this?

They take volunteers -

teams of four -

the teams climb the Grease Pole.

And you say...

WHY!?!

WHY NOT!

No really...there is MONEY all over that thing!

Hundreds of dollars!

THATS WHY!

This was Jill (Nate's sister) and her team. They tried. It was HARD!

They only got a dollar. Darn!

They shared a slushy. Yea!

Ok, I'm sensing you have more questions about this Grease Pole.

Where does the money come from?

Donations - wouldn't you donate some money to watch people try to climb a grease pole?

Besides the money slathered all over the pole, what is the teams incentive to try to get to the top?

THE JACKPOT!

There is a ribbon towards the top of the pole...also held on by the grease and if you get that ribbon you get hundreds of dollars. This year I think the jackpot was $450! Plus, whatever you are able to get off the pole, which was about $150 total.

Here is the team that wins every year. They get MOST of the money and the JACKPOT!

Don't hate me but, I only got a picture of them getting ready. My camera died. So, you'll just have to go to Salina next year and watch these guys climb...they've got a really good system.

We had a great BBQ - again no pics. Sorry!

Nate and the gang play Ultimate Frisbee - Nate's favorite! Again no pics. Sorry!

And then we did poppers and sparklers on the deck. FUN!!!

Let Freedom Ring!

Internet?....Have I told you lately that I Love You?

Who doesn't love the internet? Seriously! The information super highway, it is!

The Story...
Someone, who shall remain un-named, but who shouldn't be touching my iPod, was touching my iPod. For some reason I have been super tired and headachey this week so I was passed out on the couch like a drunk lady (never been drunk, but I've seen passed out drunk ladies on TV and the internet and such and I know you have too...so you know what I looked like). So, while I was passed out, previously mentioned un-named little person played with my iPod. When I found the iPod it was no longer color...I'm mean the screen was now black and white. What? How? And it was frozen on a weird screen I had never seen before. It said, "OK, to disconnect from Disk Mode." What? Disk Mode?

Well, I heard once that if an iPod ever freezes you can reboot it. Actually, I had a friend who had one a long time ago, before I had one and she had to keep rebooting hers. I thought I knew the combination or at least could figure it out. Nothing I tried worked. I started to panick...heavy breathing...remorse for passing out on the couch without putting the un-named down for a nap....you know the usual frustration and guilt.

Then a light went on in my head...the same light that brightens my day on a super regular basis....
CHECK THE INTERNET!!!

I pulled up an Internet Explorer window, clicked on my swagbucks.com button and swagged, How to restart a frozen iPod and I got this! PLUS, 3 swagbucks!!! If you don't want to click on the link....I'll tell you...I got the answer! Hold Menu and the Select Center Button for about 10-15 seconds and bam! Your iPod will reboot!

Not only do I get great information about how to fix my little hand held electronic mp3 listening device, I...

Watch TV shows (which I can't do on my tv, since it only shows snow and DVDs);
Keep current on all my family and friend blogs;
Get directions and even a map highlighting my route;
Get email....isn't email amazing!?!?
Get coupons and learn about good deals (apparently everybody knows I'm a CHEAPSKATE!)
Instant message with my friends around the world - Oyunmaa (Mongolia) and Ida (Norway).
Self Diagnosis...you know my hand disease, which thankfully hasn't been bothering me lately.
I find good recipes that have even been rated for their goodness, in a snap...or should I say in a click click click of my keys.
And much much more!!!

Has the internet saved your life....or the life of something you own or love? Tell me about it.

I love you internet!

PS - do you swag? Wouldn't you like to earn money while you search the internet? Check out my link to the right and sign up to swag through me....it sends a few swagbucks my way. Thank you!

Good News and Bad News

Good News:

We got invited to a party!

Bad News:

It was our awesome maintenance man's retirement party.

(Bad news for us...good news for him.)

Good News:

They had THIS at the party!!!!

(Five Layer,ChocolateMouse,ChocolateChip,Cream Cheese Frosting Cake of Divine Goodness!)

It was also cool because the General Manager guy made a speech before he gave Tom his retirement gift and the told us a lot about the history of the apartments we live in. The apartments are 25 years old and the land used to be a chicken farm. There was a farm house on the northeast corner of the property. The GM was directly involved in the building of the apartments. This complex has only seen two property managers and both were a couple. Tom and Judy are the second and they have been doing it for 20 years! Good news Judy is not retiring...YET!

Good News:
After studying and researching laptops since Nathan started grad school he finally ordered one on Saturday! His current laptop is very old and very useless. He finally found an acceptable price for what he deams acceptable in bells and whistles. And one of the deciding factors for finally ordering it on Saturday was because they were having a Labor day sale so we got $50 off!

THIS is on it's way!

Bad News:
Today we both got an email from Toshiba with THIS in it!
Excuse me! They extended their Labor Day sale AND they took another $50 off!

Good News:
I called Toshiba and told them our situation and asked if we could cancel and then reorder. They said they would just adjust our price. No need to cancel and reorder! $100 off baby!

Good News:

ShopKo had a sale on running shoes.

Nathan suggested I get some new ones since

A) They were on sale and

B) I needed some real bad.

Bad News:

I got new shoes on Saturday and on Monday I hurt my foot!

(not the best pictures, they don't do the injury justice, but I think you get the idea)

Nathan and I Labored on the holiday and Nathan built me shelves in our garage. They look great (forth coming blog). After working on the shelves all morning and into the afternoon we decided to take a break and eat and then put Marley down for a nap. I WILL not leave our building while Marley is sleeping even to work in the garage, (paranoid?) so Nathan stayed in the apartment and I went back out to organize all our junk and put it on the shelves. Just as I was finishing up I decided I would clean out and set up the bike trailer so it would be set up and ready in case Marley and I want to just hit the trail sometime. Well, I lifted it up and I was shaking it out to remove dirt and leaves. As I was thrusting it toward the ground it slipped from my hand and slammed down directly on top of my left foot. It instantly started swelling so bad that when I put any pressure on it, it felt like it was going to explode. So, I sent Nathan a text and told him I hurt my foot and I needed help. He was picturing the shelves had fallen on me (there is no way, they are so sturdy). He had to carry me into the house...I'm so glad he is SO strong...I am H.E.A.V.Y. It was kind of embarrassing too. There were peeps, neighbors and such outside. Nobody we know, but still.

Good News:

Marley is well and happy.Sometimes she looks a little crazy.
But, she is well.

Bad News:

It's raining so, no playdate at the park. BOOO!!!

Good News:

The hills are alive with the sound of music!

(Marley loves this movie, she loves the music and the kids)

Why? Why Not!

Nate and I had been craving Cheesey Balls since we saw The Office where Pam, Ryan and Michael keep throwing them in each others' mouths.

So, we finally got some and one day, soon after, I saw this:

The Cheesey Balls by the glass cake thingy. And I thought, that would be fun to make the cake thingy into a bowl thingy and put the Cheesey Balls in the cake thingy.

No. Not like that. Like, pour them in!

So, one day. I did! Why not!

Doesn't it look like it's fit for a party?

I ate WAY too many!

I thought doing this would keep them from going stale.

Nope. The next day they were stale.

Lucky for us, we had eaten A LOT, only about a dozen went stale. Sacrificing a dozen was worthy it for the purpose of testing to see if the cake thingy locks in Cheesey Ball freshness.

Now we know....it doesn't.

Oh well, it was fun for awhile.

My next question....

Why turn your Jeep Cherokee into a Jeep Wrangler?

(Saw this beauty at Home Depot today.)

Why not! And load all the kids up in it!

(TWO car seats in this puppy! Fun!)

Why let your daughter play with the duster?

Why not!
She is a seriously hard worker. Loves dusting and putting stuff in the garbage. Why not let her help while she is willing!


Why does Marley like shoes on, first thing in the morning? Who knows, but when it's combined with a furry coat?

Why not!
Seriously!

WHY NOT!

Flashback...And then the present....

Once we lived in Salina for a summer.

ONE time we went to the Library.

Mom used the internet while Da-ti and Marley explored.

When mom was done with the internet, she looked ALL OVER the little library and couldn't find her explorers. She finally ended up outside and walked to the front of the library, where she found them!

Marley counting the Red Cars, while Da-ti counted the Blue Cars.

And Marley waxed profoundly about diapers, and naps, and whole milk.

And Da-ti listened.

And then they discovered they had been discovered.

THE END!

Back to the here and now….

well, this past weekend and then the here and now:

Saturday we went to the Annual Trendwood Ward Pig Roast! We went last year for the first time and it was a blast! That’s where we first got hooked on our friends JJ and Shalantie, though our quiet relationship started before that at Time Warner Cable Co.

Anyway, the Pig Roast had a great turn out both last year and this year! By the grace and due diligence of someone in our ward we even avoided a tragedy. While we were getting read to go and getting ready to put all our precious cargo in The Black Pearl, Marley started to take off for the other side of the parking lot. I freaked because there were lots of vehicles backing out and driving away, so I put the diaper bag down on the ground to run after her. I got my stinker pants and buckled her squirrely tooshie into the car seat. I had put the diaper bag down on the other side of the Pearl so, I didn’t see it, jumped in the car and we drove away.

Didn't realize we didn’t have the diaper bag until we got home. I volunteered to return to the Park while Nathan took Marley in to put her to bed. As I drove I thought of what was in the diaper bag.

No identification…I used to keep a 3x5 card in there with our name, address and phone number…but, it kept falling out and it looked like garbage so I ended up throwing it away.

Marley’s CTR bag with some of her most prized possessions, TOYS! A little lion hand puppet from her cousin Sam and Aunt Julie (SAD! I love that thing!), an old wallet with old cards – just for Marley to riffle through and make a mess of, and her fake keys – so she would stop losing ours. BUMMER!!!

AND OUR CAMERA!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

When I got to the parking lot. No diaper bag. I felt sick.

I prayed that someone from our ward picked it up…which I thought was a long shot because we were some of the last ones to leave (PARTY ANIMALS!!!! WOOOT!)

When I got home me and Nate looked online to see if we could find a suitable camera for a good price. No luck. So, I prayed again.

There were a few things I wanted to take pictures of Sunday morning….no camera. Again I prayed.

Sunday after church I went to the chapel to retrieve my husby and daughter (who had crashed – fallen asleep in Nathan’s arms and looked dead). And what did I see by my husby and dead daughter, THE DIAPER BAG!!!

I don’t know who picked it up but, the Bishop held it up in the combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting and Nathan had to be the poor chump to raise his hand and say it was ours.

I’m so grateful!

NOW

I smell a poopie...gotta go change it and then go run. Yesterday I ran 2.5 with no Marley. Today I'm running 3 with Marley. Even though it is harder to run with the Marley, the good thing is when I do, she carries all my junk, keys, phone, water, etc.