Vive in praesentia:

FSA Regional Conference

2009-11-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

The real purpose of my trip to Portland was to help out at the FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) Regional Conference. I was asked to speak way back in July (by the co-chairs over the conference, the Harrisons, who just happened to be in Carol's ward, which is how I ended up there in the first place). In July, November seemed so far away! But those months just slipped by. I was excited to do it- it was my third conference, and my second birthmother panel. And so glad to have a reason to visit Carol at the same time. Just a perfect opportunity!

The theme was "Families by Divine Design". And it was pretty emotionally and spiritually powerful, as always. This was the first time though that Wendy and Roman were not with me at an FSA conference. Wendy so badly wanted to be there but it just wasn't possible this time. I did miss them! But with that exception, I think this was honestly the best conference I have been to so far. (maybe that also has to do with the fact that I actually stayed for the whole thing? Well, most of it) Highlights for me were: a beautiful and tear-jerking arrangement of "From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Your's", Elder Brinkerhoff's address, speaking with Melissa and Lindsey (more on that below), meeting and hearing from Monica Blume (more on that too), and meeting new friends! I love the bond that seems to come so easily within the adoption community. And speaking of new friends....

This is Melissa and her mom. Melissa was part of the adoption triad program on Friday evening. She was adopted as an infant through LDS Family Services and spoke about her feelings and insights about having being adopted. She's really amazing. For only 18 years old, she is very mature and insightful (and a great speaker!). I also got to meet her family and in particular I really loved her mom. They are all just sweet, wonderful people! (And do you love how we're all coordinated in black, white, and gray? Haha)

Saturday morning I was on a birthparent panel with the ladies above, Annie and Nicole, and one birthfather, Steve. Each told their stories and then answered some questions. I loved hearing their stories! I was particularly impressed with how brave Annie was to come share her experience only a few months after she placed her twins. (Twins!) I was so privileged to meet and speak with these wonderful people.

Here (again ) is Melissa, me, and the always amazing Lindsey, or "mrs. r". (Again with the white, black, and gray matching outfits...) I have heard bits and pieces of Lindsey's story from her blogging, but it was so great to hear her speak directly about the divine design of her family. I appreciated her comments so much, and found that I could apply her insights to my own life, even though we have different experiences. My sister felt the same way! I think clearly Lindsey was inspired in being able to show everyone how to consecrate trials and adversity for our growth and gain. I love these girls.

I have to say the biggest highlight for me over the course of the conference was hearing from and meeting Monica Blume. (Once again, color coordinated-- I swear there wasn't a color dress code for the conference!) Remember when I said I was excited to meet her? I went to a couple of sessions that she presented, one of which being specifically about birth parents. I learned a lot from those sessions. I just love her perspective and understanding. And turns out she's a marathon runner, so she gave me some tips for when I do mine in January!

I am so grateful to the Harrisons for flying me up to Portland and giving me this opportunity. I had a wonderful, memorable time and learned much more (I'm sure) than what I was able to share. I'll be working on adapting my talk from Friday night into a blog post for a birthmothers' blog, so be looking for that if you're interested in what I had to say.

I love adoption. Love it. Why? Because it involves all different types of people who seem to have one thing in common nearly across the board-- they have big hearts. I find that anyone involved in a positive adoption experience has been able to turn huge amounts of pain into beauty and joy. And I love that. I love living for today (vive in praesentia!) by learning from the past and hoping for the future. It's a beautiful way to live.

The best surprise....

2009-11-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

To make up for not being able to personally be at the conference, Wendy sent me a surprise gift via the Lindsey express....and she left me in suspense until the very end....and I LOVED IT! (still do) It was the perfect ending to the nearly perfect weekend.

Yeah, that part is definitely my favorite. :)

And the book is not all....I also got a new photo montage on CD! It really made my weekend (which is a tall order for an already amazing weekend!) Thanks again Wendy and Roman!

So You Think You Can Dance?

2009-11-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Actually, I don't dance....but I do watch very well. :)

Disco!

The butt dance. :)

One of my favorites: Romeo and Juliet

Bollywood!

We were too chicken to try sneaking a picture, but when LeeAnn and I were walking into this restaurant next to the Arena, we both recognized this girl sitting at the bar. You know when you see someone and you think you know them, but you don't know how? When we figured out we both recognized her, we were racking our brains trying to remember who the heck she was. I finally figured it out....anyone else recognize her?:

Anyone? Hmmmmm?

Elodie Otto: she was on The Hills. She worked with Heidi at Bolthouse. Don't ask me how I remembered that! But I'm glad because it was driving us crazy.

Portland, OR

2009-11-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

This is what I miss about Fall outside the desert:

I do not, however, miss the cold. Brrrr.

But it was fun getting to spend a few days with Carol and family!

Benno likes to pretend he hates me (but I know the truth). These are the kind of looks I was getting all weekend. Haha. Disdain never looked so cute.

This is so cute.....specifically the very end:

We went to several of my favorite places:

Ikea- Breakfast for $2? How can you beat that? And thank goodness I finally found a viking hat with a removable beard. I've been looking for one of those everywhere!

the Nike employee store- I could spend hours in this place. And I felt semi-legit this time buying running gear, you know. Always kinda felt like a poser before.

Powell's bookstore, and . . .

Moonstruck Chocolates! Yum:

Ever wondered what's inside an eyeball?

Answer: peanut butter and jelly! (of course)

Did I mention I had fun in Portland?? :)

National Adoption Day

2009-11-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

I thought this was interesting....in the Arizona State Bar e-newsletter ("eLegal"), this is what they wrote in a blip about Adoption Day in Maricopa County:

"On Nov. 21, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a record-setting 292 kids will join their forever families on National Adoption Day."

Kinda cool, huh? I thought only LDS used that term. :) Of course, all families can be forever, and these wonderful families will get that opportunity at some point. I love adoption!

I totally yanked this from Lindsey....

2009-11-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

Go see her post here, and watch this awesome (short) video. LOVE it.

Happy National Adoption Month!

p.s. Do you want to help celebrate the adoptions of hundreds of kids in Maricopa County? November 21st is National Adoption Day at the Durango Juvenile Court and I will be there volunteering. If you want to join in the fun (and it's basically one big par-tay) let me know and I'll get you hooked up!

Finally, more Halloween pictures.

2009-11-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this is the same adorable, lovable James from this post? Who knew he could transform into THAT? *shudder*

Who wouldn't want to stick their face in a bowl of jello?! Really?

Haunted House! (this is the best I could get)

2009-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Crappy picture, huh? I bet you can't even tell what it is. Well this explains why I don't really have any pictures from the haunted house: there was so much dirt in the air that this is how the pictures came out! And it was too dark not to use a flash. So, no pictures. And it also explains why I left feeling like my lungs were filled with dirt and why my throat hurt the next morning.

But enough complaining... while I have been to scarier haunted houses, I can't lie, this one had me pretty freaked out. The best part though was LeeAnn practically clawing me everytime she got scared and the guys trying to make us go first (but no such luck) and, of course, the birth canal! LOL. No haunted house will ever be the same without one. Or two.

Check out how dirty my feet were when we got back to the car.....gross. It took a while to get all the dirt off my shoes.

Why, Southwest? Why?

2009-11-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Why must you shame me for being "late" by tying a huge fluorescent yellow tag to my luggage with LATE in large, bold type? Is that really necessary? (For the record I really wasn't that late, I made my flight just fine and my luggage arrived on the same flight. SO THERE Southwest.)

True Food

2009-11-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago LeeAnn and I went to this yummy place at the Biltmore called True Food. The food is organic and fresh and I am a huge fan of it! The food was also was very pretty (as well as tasty) and sadly I didn't get a picture of my salad but I did get a picture of my totally fun drink, which was honeydew, lime, and fresh mint. All I could really taste was the honeydew but I still liked it. I would definitely hit this place up again! (even though LeeAnn thinks she gave the impression we were lesbians because she got there first and said her "girlfriend" was coming to meet her, and it just seemed like a restaurant that lesbians would love)(not that I stereotype at all).

Jen's Bridal Shower.....sniff :(

2009-11-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

Going totally out of order (I still owe more Halloween pics), here finally are some photos from Jen's bridal shower last weekend. It was a gorgeous, perfect day to sit outside and eat yummy food on the back porch. And shut up, who has a soft-serve ice cream machine at their house?! That was too awesome.

Jen got some really cute gifts, the "cutest" of which I caringly spared from posting on my public blog...hehe.

Jen-- you will be missed in the Scottsdale 3rd Ward!! I have never known anyone else to be so talented at genuine friendshipping/fellowshipping/welcoming, etc. You filled your calling perfectly and it just won't be the same without you there.

Love you, and happy wedding on Nov. 7th!!!

Why it's weird I saw that white rabbit this morning....

2009-11-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

No, David didn't hack into my blog. I did in fact have my own animal sighting. And I was in fact Alice in Wonderland tonight for Halloween. Sadly I didn't see the white rabbit again the rest of the day! That darn thing...

More pictures to come. But I wanted to end the agonizing suspense. :)

(if you look closely you can see my knee is taped. I don't want to hear any "I told you so's" but my knee started bothering me this week- that's what I get for announcing I'm running the marathon)(not that it's going to stop me. Nothing will.)

I swear this is true!

2009-10-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I left my house at a little before 6am. It was still dark outside.

Across the street in my neighbor's yard was a fairly large white rabbit. It looked like the kind you get at the pet store, not the ones you occasionally see hopping around out here in the wild. But it was a pure, white rabbit.

I have never seen it before.

It was really strange.

If you don't know why this was a strange coincidence and significant enough for me to mention, you will later.....

Unnaturally tall men throw an orange ball around.

2009-10-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

And it was fun! Suns vs. Kings. Just a preseason game, but we totally smoked 'em anyway.

Sadly it seems I didn't get any photos of the one we dubbed "ponytail guy", who's job we decided was to stand there and look pretty.

But this guy, #2, was pretty rad. This "little" (he's 6'2" but appears small next to the others) dude is from Slovenia. Who knew they made good basketball players in Slovenia?! Where the heck is that, anyway?

Thanks James for dragging me along. ;)

Katie: 1, Scorpion: 0.

2009-10-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

Sucker.

I tried pouring bleach on it first but apparently that does not instantly kill scorpions, as I had imagined. So I had to get brutal and grab something to smash it with. These things are so nasty. *shudder*

(by the way, there really is a good reason why I had clothes hangers in the bath tub, but it's completely irrelevant)

A kind of monumental announcement.

2009-10-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

"All saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;‘And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;‘And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.’" -Doctrine & Covenants Sec. 89

I sure am banking on that last part about running and not being weary...

Most of you should know I've been training for a half marathon since August. It's been going really well. I've been very faithful to my schedule, and all week long look forward to my long runs on Saturday mornings at Granada Park with the rest of my team. It's kind of crazy how unlike me this has been.

Especially because I've not been running the half marathon schedule, but the full one. Yes, the big kahuna. The whole enchilada. Etc. For the last few weeks I've been going back and forth- should I or shouldn't I? Is my body ready? Am I just asking for an injury?? Should I just stick with the half and do the full next year? Or should I go for it now? After reading book after book (finding all kinds of contradictory information), researching online, talking it over, thinking it over, and finally getting the advice of our awesome Coach Dave (who is better than some crummy book from the library), I have come to a decision.

This is it. I'm doing it. 26.2.

I just think it's the right time. I have the time to devote to the training. I have the desire. I'm loving the challenge and the high of achieving new heights in my mileage. It's so therapeutic (and goodness knows I need an outlet). The race will be January 17, 2010, and 2010 is the year I turn 30. Why not start the celebration of turning 30 by doing something monumental?! Something kinda crazy...

(and I have no desire to follow Emily's lead and celebrate the big 30 by jumping out of an airplane)

So hope and wish and pray and believe with me that my mind and body can do this. I know my mind can, I'm going on pure faith in Coach Dave that my body can too. And I am so excited!

My new necklace.

2009-10-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

You know how I said I ordered a custom necklace from r house couture? Well, it came today. (yay) And I love, love, love it. The beads are garnet and turquoise.

{The little man is always close to my heart.}

Have you ever seen a hotter group of girls in your whole life?

2009-10-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

(I know, silly question, of course you haven't.)

Even more than their hotness, these girls are all intelligent, funny, ambitious, and just overall fabulous. Not a single air-head amongst them.

So want to know what's really crazy? With the exception of LeeAnn's sister, the lovely redhead, we are all single. (as in unmarried- significant in our LDS culture) Which of course begs the question, what the H is wrong with the men of Phoenix, AZ?! (there is no answer to that)

Well, our fabulosity is quite intimidating, I'll give them that. But there's really no other excuse.

But moving on to more important things.... Friday was LeeAnn's birthday, so we all went to Rustler's Rooste and boy was it a crazy place!! But really fun.

Happy birthday, LeeAnn!!

^Randa is quite possibly one of the sweetest people in the whole world (she's a nurse for sick babies- so perfect for her). Love this girl.

Christine was either hiding behind Brooke on purpose or totally got shafted on this one, lol.

It wouldn't be a birthday dinner without a big balloon hat (don't worry, mine last year was WAY bigger and WAY more embarrassing)

Oh, but there was more......

[I had a bite of the eclair and YUM.]

But that wasn't all..... Who knew there was a restaurant that serves cotton candy?! Awesome!

Christine thought it was awesome too.....

Another group shot! (It was like paparazzi all night long....we like pictures, ok?!)

What a fun night. :)

What I'll be doing next month. (so excited, by the way)

2009-10-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

FSA West and Idaho Regional Conference 2009 Flyer

I hope I do okay.

I'm excited to see Mrs. R again, to thank her in person for the beautiful jewelry I have purchased from her Etsy shop, r house couture (waiting for my second necklace to come in the mail...this one was a custom order and I can't wait to see it), and give her a big congrats on winning her adoption case!

I'm really excited to meet Monica Blume too. I read "For the Love of a Child: The Journey of Adoption" a while ago and I tell you, that book should be sold with a box of kleenex! It's wonderful.

And then of course seeing the Xanthos clan is always something to look forward to. Only 3 weeks away! (I can't believe it, seems like yesterday it was 3 months. I'd better get pondering on what I should speak about.)

"Real as the Sunrise"

2009-10-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Another one of my Daily Gems that I found too beautiful and inspiring not to share:

"The year was 1820, the season spring. The boy with questions walked into the grove of his father's farm. There, finding himself alone, he pleaded in prayer for that wisdom which James promised would be given liberally to those who ask of God in faith. (See James 1:5.) There, in circumstances which he has described in much detail, he beheld the Father and the Son, the great God of the universe and the risen Lord, both of whom spoke to him. "This transcendent experience opened the marvelous work of restoration. It lifted the curtain on the long-promised dispensation of the fulness of times. "For more than a century and a half, enemies, critics, and some would-be scholars have worn out their lives trying to disprove the validity of that vision. Of course they cannot understand it. The things of God are understood by the Spirit of God. There had been nothing of comparable magnitude since the Son of God walked the earth in mortality. Without it as a foundation stone for our faith and organization, we have nothing. With it, we have everything. "Much has been written, much will be written, in an effort to explain it away. The finite mind cannot comprehend it. But the testimony of the Holy Spirit, experienced by countless numbers of people all through the years since it happened, bears witness that it is true, that it happened as Joseph Smith said it happened, that it was as real as the sunrise over Palmyra, that it is an essential foundation stone, a cornerstone, without which the Church could not be 'fitly framed together.' "

Gordon B. Hinckley, The Cornerstones of Our Faith, Ensign, Nov. 1984, 52

Oh and by the way, add me to the "countless numbers of people" who bear witness that this is true.

Want to know what I'm doing right now?

2009-10-13T22:08:00.001-07:00

I'm eating a bowl of Count Chocula. That's right!

Heck. Yeah.

Piano skillz.

2009-10-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to lunch at Allen's Bistro.
There was a piano in the corner.

I played it first and there's no video of it because, well, I'm the one with the camera.
I'm not sad though, because let's just say I'm glad I went first; the others totally showed me up! Despite the piano being painfully out of tune.

Iván showed me up first.... I was impressed! Who knew?

Then the cook came out and showed us BOTH up.

And then he really got going...

Show off.

We missed you, Maury and Carol, et. al.!

2009-10-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

I heart my family. Big.
Saturday we had dinner at Cracker Barrell in Glendale. I finally met my newest nephew and he's super cute! (like anyone expects any less) If only Maury and Carol were there it would have been more perfecter. Yep I said that.

I'm starting to get sentimental about our little Nora getting married. Sniff, sniff.

Apparently I scare babies.....

And babies scare Nora.....

(Good, you should be scared....for a while...lol)

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Kirsten!

2009-10-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

['Happy Birthday, Kirsten', for all you non-German speakers)(or those who don't know how to use Google]

Friday night we welcomed Kirsten into the 28 year old club (a very chic club which I will unfortunately be leaving soon) by going to Oktoberfest at Tempe Beach Park. It was great for people watching. What is it about fair-type events that bring out the freak shows?

Some people really think that Mormons have horns. As you can see, the rumors are true! ;)

Spencer specifically wanted me to get him stuffing fries in his face. Crazy kid.

Tim and his chocolate covered banana: a love story.

There were some regular bands, which was fine, but what really rocked was the POLKA!:

And more...

And here, we are discussing the eternal question of who leads when two lesbians polka together: (Kirsten: "It's always the taller one.")

Love triangle.

2009-10-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Just because I ~~threatened~~ promised Jason I would post this. I managed to snap a picture before he destroyed my Post-it.

Don't try to understand it.

It's funny...

2009-09-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

I know I've been really vague about the "suckiness" that's going on, and for the most part that will have to stay vague. (because a lot of it has to do with my job and for various ethical reasons I can't post too much on my public blog)

But I will tell you that I felt like a crazy person for most of last week. No I literally mean crazy, as in mentally unstable, not sane, nuts, etc. It's scary to feel like you might snap at any moment. And that's how I was feeling. That might even be more information than I needed to share.

Anywho.... So along comes these two days I said I was dreading (and I really, really was) and funny thing- I feel okay. I'm rolling with it. My insanely crazy-packed schedule is lightening up to a tolerable level. But even the remaining craziness I find myself able to handle. I have more patience than I expected to have or that I usually have. I no longer feel like I'm teetering on the edge of sanity or that I might punch the next person that ticks me off. I'm really okay.

That leads me to think: "what the heck was I so worked up about? What was the big deal? This wasn't so bad at all! I really made a big deal out of nothing..."

But when I really thought about it, I realized- it's not that it wasn't a big deal. That insane stress I was feeling was very real and I didn't make it all up in my head.

See, I had several kind, sweet friends directly tell me (independently) that they would pray for me to help me get through my stressful time, even without knowing why I was so stressed. And I don't doubt they meant it and that they did in fact pray for me. So [silly me] the reason I feel okay right now and the reason my hell week turned out to be not so bad is because prayers are heard and answered. And sometimes we get what we ask for.... I got what I asked for, and what my friends asked for on my behalf-- I got through my stress in one piece and when I needed it, my burdens were made light. It's kind of miraculous when you put it all together.

How many times do we fail to show gratitude for blessings of peace, comfort, help, and other answers to prayers, because we don't realize that the reason we feel better is because prayers were uttered and answered on our behalf?

To all those who helped lighten my load this week, whether by praying for me, bringing me kleenex when I ran out in the middle of an emotional breakdown in the office next door (and then offering to juggle for me even though you don't know how), helping covering my hearings, offering to help, or keeping me in your thoughts, Thank You. You were part of my small miracle this week. And you know who you are.

An award for me!! I feel so special!

2009-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late in formally accepting my award here, but (again) I had a truly heinous week. This was truly one of the bright spots though...

Sweet Amy, writer of My LaLa Land, nominated my blog for this award. :D Seriously, it made me smile! Still does. Thanks Amy!!

And now I must pass on the smiles. In nominating others for this award I'm of course a little biased toward my love for adoption-related blogs (at least for the first two):

Jessa- The Site for Birthmothers by Birthmothers- Jessa does a great job of bringing fellow birthmothers together and giving us a chance to answer questions and speak out and to promote birthmother events and activities.

Liz- Our Little Family- Liz is an open book about her feelings and always has uplifting things to say, even during her greatest trials. She's also a good friend of mine. :)

Emily- Fabulous and Loving It- Emily is both hilarious and interesting. And a great wakeboarder! When I really need to laugh I'll go to this post in particular. Love ya, Emily.

So to my nominations, here's what you do next:

*Accept and post the award to your blog
*Link to the person from whom you received it
*Pass the award to 5 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement. (Like Amy I only did 3, maybe we should just formally change it to 3)
*Let them know they have been chosen for this award

Sucky.

2009-09-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have an ultra-sucky couple of days coming up. I had a pretty sucky week last week. I've been pretty sucky at keeping up on some things and writing some emails, and have at times been a sucky person.

Sigh.

Just two more days and I'll probably get out from under this cloud.

I'm Farrah!!

2009-09-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know she's the dead one. But let's not look at it that way.
Let's all agree that out of the three Charlie's Angels, Farrah was everyone's favorite. She was the star. You know it's true!

As I said, and as you can see, I'm the Farrah: (okay so maybe it has something to do with me being blonde, but I still think I'm the star!)(my humility is astounding)

Maria gave me bunny ears out of pure jealousy!

Now why is it that my girl is so scantily clad, but the other ones aren't? A see-through shirt? Really?!

Are you wondering what this was all about? To celebrate one year of the Juvenile Public Defender being our very own separate office, (and doing quite well thank you very much) we had a lunch to celebrate and Chris made us all these awesome awards. Maria, K-Bad, and I won the Charlie's Angels awards, which is better than the Three Stooges, which frankly is what I would have expected. If only we all carried guns in real life...

Exhibit #1...

2009-09-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

. . . in support of my contention that Art ran over and killed Santa Claus, with his brand new shiny car. But then again, wouldn't he have used one of his many guns if he really had it out for Santa that bad?

I will get to the bottom of this.

This photo deserved its own post.

2009-09-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

I just think this is kind of hilarious. Clearly none of us were expecting to be photographed at that moment, and we all look a little out of it. lol

Lacy's Baby Shower

2009-09-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dave for trading Saturday back-up with me so I could go to my sister-in-law Lacy's baby shower on Aug. 22nd! (and it was not really a fair trade; that Saturday ended up being crazy and the day I took in return, well I didn't even have to go in. Sorry Dave)

It was at Olive Garden so while the room they gave us was about 150 degrees, at least the food was deelish. It was really fun to see everyone. And luckily Burke made his appearance only a few days later!

Theora writing her name on her name tag all by herself (don't help me, mom!!!). She did an impressively good job!

Carly had recently woken up from a nap and still wasn't sure about any of us... the smiles finally came a little later.

It's a boy!

Theora the elder, a.k.a. Grandma Shelley and I. I think this one needs to be framed.

Some random shots from the shower...Lacy opening her presents.

Gotta love these sparkly shoes!

Theora, modeling her lovely hairstyle by Yours Truly.

Baking Adventures

2009-09-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

You know I love to cook! And to take pictures of my creations so I can brag about them on my narcissistic blog... :)

Because my food storage mostly consists of cases of stuff from Costco and boxes of cereal, I have quite a bit of soy milk. I needed to find a good use for the soy milk (everyone knows you have to cycle through your food storage so it doesn't go bad by the time The Great Famine comes) so I went online and found this delightful recipe for Soymilk Flan. Yum...

Here it is:

I make treats nearly every week for my choir but I was especially proud of these frosted sugar cookies. Because, come on- look how cute they are! And that is a lot of work!

Enter to win an adorable doll and help a very deserving family! All in one :)

2009-09-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

If you don't know Mrs. R, you should. She's an adoption advocate superstar! She's also a mother who's been fighting for her baby boy, and you can imagine it hasn't been cheap. (You can read on her blog all about the scary contested adoption, but in summary they had a trial last Friday and are now waiting on the judge to make his decision-- if you can, please pray and fast for them and their judge)

Humble Like This Child is doing a raffle to help Mr. and Mrs. R with their legal costs. A $1 contribution earns you one raffle entry to win one of their adorable custom dolls (makes an awesome gift if you don't have little ones!). Check out the link to HLTC's website for more info and to get yourself entered in the raffle!

You can also support the R House by checking out the awesome jewelry at their Etsy shop, R House Couture-- I bought this one and love it, in fact I've been wearing it everyday since I got it, in support of their ongoing battle to keep their family intact:

Because- "Hope . . . is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear."

- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 21–24.

Marshmallow Fondant

2009-09-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm going totally out of order because I had mentioned I would blog about my adventures in making marshmallow fondant (MMF) . . . I don't want to disappoint, as I know you have all been on pins and needles waiting to hear about it.

I was watching too many episodes of Cake Boss and suddenly got the urge to try it. So I used an online tutorial (which I'll have to search for whenever I want to make it again- my bookmarks on my poor laptop are unable to be reached, but that's another story) And here it is, being created:

Of course I used my heart-shaped cake pan. First I frosted the cake with a coconut buttercream frosting.

Then I rolled out the plain white MMF and draped it over the cake. It's kind of like playing with play dough. :)

Then I colored some MMF blue and did my very best bow. . . this took several tries and is a lot harder than I envisioned it being. This was the best I could do. It was so late by the time I got to this step, I was just ready to be done. Next time hopefully I'll give myself more time to work on it.

I took the cake into work with me which was random because it wasn't anyone's birthday. It was just an experimental cake but I had to do something with it. . . so my dear co-workers benefitted from my random urge to try making MMF. I believe the verdict was it tasted pretty good (I don't recommend eating regular fondant). Now I know I can do it!

Here piggy piggy!

2009-09-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning after my run in Granada Park, I met up with Jen, LeeAnn, and Christine at Bacon in Scottsdale. Sadly the breakfast club is getting broken up, thanks to Bryan soon stealing Jen away from us forever!* So we had to get in at least one more Saturday morning breakfast.

*In the form of marriage- they aren't actually going away but we all know we will never see each other anymore: this is a sad fact of life.

I agonized over whether to get the $4 hot chocolate. No, I wasn't cold at all (that is apparently the natural question that follows), it just sounded really good. But $4 good? It reminded me of this scene in Pulp Fiction which you probably shouldn't watch because it has vulgar language (is there a scene in Pulp Fiction that doesn't?). But there, I warned you properly. Yes, I got the hot chocolate. Yes, it was pretty freaking good, though maybe not $4 good. ;)

No one bothered to tell me it was 'show your BYU spirit' day so I was the only one not wearing BYU gear! Though I did watch most of the game later that day so that should make up for it. Where the Dbacks shame and disappoint (see following post), the Cougars are doing amazing so far!! Truly amazing. I'm so proud.

There was a guy in a pig suit walking around outside the restaurant holding a sign and LeeAnn was determined to get a picture with him. It was kind of hilarious how determined she was! Here she is flagging the guy down, all the way at the end of the street.

He wasn't a very fast pig. But that's okay...

Finally we got our photo with the pig. :)

It was a fun morning with some fun girls, and some really yummy food!

The Dbacks: another lousy performance

2009-09-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, Diamondbacks. Why must you suck so much at baseball? Isn't it kind of important that you don't suck at that one thing- baseball? Oh well.

Despite that minor detail, we did have fun at the game a couple nights ago. I went with my friends Jenna and her husband Dillon, and Mike. I must say we looked rather color-coordinated, don't you think?

We were all wondering why both teams were wearing red hats. Not unusual for the Dbacks but confusing for the Brewers. Did they change their colors? How can we tell the teams apart if they all wear the same colors? These questions we tossed around for a while until someone (probably my brilliant self) realized that the red hats had something to do with 9/11. So congrats to us for figuring it out!

After the game we went up onto the upper level for the fireworks. Fireworks make me happy!! This time they played patriotic music probably, again, because it was 9/11. Here is a taste of the show for your viewing pleasure: (I tried to upload video but the internet hates me tonight and I just can't seem to figure it out)

Where oh where do I begin?

2009-09-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

The trouble with getting really behind on blogging is deciding whether to go back to where I left off or starting with the most recent and then going backwards.... That way at least I'm caught up on the present even if I don't get all the posts done tonight. Yes I think I will do the latter.

Also, this is my sneak-a-licious way of burying this particular post so that only my most dedicated readers will see it. (evil laugh)

So you know how I said I have a crush on this guy? Well, I have a much bigger crush on this guy: (it helps that I actually know him)(never mind that this is a heinous picture of me)

His name is Mike. He's nice. The end. :)

I think....

2009-09-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

that being a birth mom is kind of like being a fairy godmother.

That's all.

Two daily thoughts I loved.

2009-09-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

“We need strong Christians who can persevere against hardship, who can sustain hope through tragedy, who can lift others by their example and their compassion, and who can consistently overcome temptations. We need strong Christians who can make important things happen by their faith and who can defend the truth of Jesus Christ against moral relativism and militant atheism.”

D. Todd Christofferson, “The Power of Covenants,” Ensign, May 2009, 19–20

_____________________________________________________

“With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. . . . It is in the nature of our being human that comfort gives way to distress, periods of good health come to an end, and misfortunes arrive. . . . The arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger. . . . “The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of [Heavenly Father and the Savior’s] infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life.”

Henry B. Eyring, “Adversity,” Ensign, May 2009, 23

TRUST.

2009-09-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

This may seem kind of out of place here on my blog. I usually talk about light-hearted things like, well, fruit and my hair. So far I haven't had too much overly-serious stuff. But I was so struck by this post on the R house that I had to put my feelings down in writing. Had to. As in, I am totally neglecting things I need to be doing right now in order to write this post.

It comes in the form of two letters, letters to two separate but related groups of people out there. Real people, but ones I don't actually know. (Let me emphasize that because in no way do I want anyone to think that the second letter is based on my personal experience, quite the opposite is true. I am one very lucky girl) For simplicity's sake alone I'm leaving the men out of the equation.

_____________________________________________________

Dear prospective birthmothers,

Please be careful with the dear women who you contact and befriend as potential adoptive mothers to your children. Most have known so much loss and heartbreak already through infertility. They have had to surrender nearly all control over the creation of their family. By the time you meet them their hearts have been broken apart and stitched back together, sometimes over and over.

Your interest in them will fill them with hope and cautious excitement. Please be completely honest with them. If you're not sure about adoption, and are just looking at the possibilities, great- if you aren't sure about them and just want to know them, wonderful- if you are flying blindly through an unfamiliar and confusing crisis, I completely understand. But if they know where you are on that spectrum, it can prevent unnecessary hurt. Please try to minimize that hurt.

I realize this will require you to know yourself to some degree. You may not know yourself yet. (again I understand) But I only ask you proceed with the utmost caution- of course even to the very last minute you're free to change your mind, to choose someone else, to question your decision . . . but please, do not trifle with these sacred things.

You hold delicate and fragile, deep and real feelings in your unsteady hands; be ever so careful with them.

Sincerely,
Me.

____________________________________________________

Dear adoptive parents,

Please be careful with your child's dear birthmother. She has shown you the ultimate trust- out of all the people in the world, she chose YOU to raise her child. The child that she loves so much, she allowed her own heart to be broken into pieces in order to give him the world. And you are the key to that world. It is a heavy responsibility you may not have wanted in the first place, but it was your path and you now carry this responsibility on your unsteady shoulders.

Remember that you first trusted her and she did not let you down. Please don't break that trust she now holds in you.

Your actions now will show your regard for her; in her healing process you can help or you can hinder. You have the power to hold her grief over her head like a rain cloud, if you choose to go back on your word and cut off contact with her. You've known grief, you've known pain. Don't let fear or insecurity or anything like it cause your child's dear birthmother to feel more pain than she has to.

She will never forget her child, please never forget her.

Sincerely,
Me.

My race blog!!

2009-08-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I'm pretty behind on posting. I still haven't blogged about flowers, marshmallow fondant, or Charlie's Angels. (now aren't you in suspense for those posts?)

I've been busy, busy on some other projects- one of them is my new RACE BLOG, which you'll just have to check out to see what it's all about. :) I'm still working on it but it's together enough to start promoting.

http://supportkatiesrace.blogspot.com

Fruit Karma

2009-08-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, summer time. One of the best things about summer is the fruit. Watermelon, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and it goes on and on.

But what I find so frustrating is how unpredictable grocery store fruit can be. Especially watermelon: you just never know what is underneath that rind until you cut into it. It could be grainy and bland or red and lusciously sweet. Even nectarines can be sneaky little suckers. The skin might looks okay and it might feel ripe to the touch but I have been fooled many times. Even within the same batch at the store, you might luck out and get one AMAZING nectarine and the next could be hard or dry. Such is life.

This week, I have been unusually blessed with good fruit karma. I got a watermelon at Fry's and it turned out to be so perfect. Dark red all the way through, sweet, and crisp. That's rare for a seedless one. Then I got some white nectarines. Again, total luck. I love a nectarine that dribbles juice down your chin when you bite into it. And then I got some raspberries at Costco that were quite nearly perfect as well. Good raspberries remind me of Grandma Shelley, who used to pick cases and cases of raspberries and make jam when she lived with us in Maryland. (though nothing really compares to the taste of berries picked straight off the plant)

I don't know what I did to deserve such perfectly delicious fruit this week, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

I have a crush on this guy.

2009-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

His name is Dave Eggers. He writes books. Read one, you won't be sorry. (unless you hate awesome writing, in which case you shouldn't bother reading anything)

I suggest A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read it in 2001 back when no one had ever heard of Dave Eggers. Who am I kidding, I doubt anyone knows who he is still... you're welcome Dave, now that I've blogged about you you're going to be huge!

A message from my bananas:

2009-08-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

How thoughtful.

Absolute Power with Absolute Control

2009-08-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

That is how my favorite BYU religion professor, Brother Parker, defined "Meekness". I've always remembered that.

I get quotes from talks or articles by LDS leaders in my email every day, and this was today's. I just wanted to share. It's about meekness.

"Meekness will permit us to endure more graciously the cruel caricaturing and misrepresentation that accompanies discipleship—especially in the rugged last days of this dispensation. Remember the fingers of scorn in Lehi's vision which pointed and mocked at those who clung to the iron rod? (See 1 Ne. 8:26–33.) The mockers were not a small minority. And they were persistent and preoccupied in their scorn of the Saints. You will come to see that preoccupation."Meekness permits us to be prompted as to whether to speak out or, as Jesus once did, be silent. But even when the meek speak up, they do so without speaking down."I stress again that meekness does not mean we are bereft of boldness. A meek, imprisoned Joseph Smith displayed remarkable boldness in rebuking the grossness of the guards in Richmond jail:" 'Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant!' (History of the Church, 3:208.)"Isn't it interesting that, in a world wrongly impressed with machismo, we see more and more coarseness which is mistaken for manliness, more and more selfishness masquerading as individuality?"

Neal A. Maxwell, "Meekness—A Dimension of True Discipleship," Ensign, Mar. 1983, 73–74

Happy birthday Emily! Yee-haw!

2009-08-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Emily, inexplicably dressed like it's the dead of winter, turned 25 [again- how many times again I shall not disclose] a couple of weeks ago. She celebrated by going sky-diving a few months ago. (I think she's crazy, but this is coming from someone who has not shampoo'ed their hair in over a month) We celebrated by having a delightful dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Remind me never to have a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse because I really don't want to sit on a saddle in the middle of the restaurant while all the servers sing me a weird birthday song and all my friends coerce me into striking poses. But that's what birthdays are for, aren't they?

Love you Emily!!

This time, we didn't even plan it!

2009-08-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

We own so many of the same clothes, we knew it was inevitable. If only K-Bad had worn a white shirt. It would have been a hundred times awesomer.

I guess this is a good time to tell the switching pants story, which I know you've been dying to hear ever since this post. One day, finding myself in a mini-predicament, I had a conversation with K-Bad that went something like this:

Me: Hey, I have a weird question for you.

K-Bad: Yeah?

Me: What size is your skirt?

K-Bad: I think it's a 4.

Me: Perfect. Hey, I have an even weirder question for you.

K-Bad: Yeah?

Me: Can I switch my pants for your skirt?

K-Bad: Ohhhhhhh kayyyyyy.... sure.

Me: YOU ROCK!

My predicament was that I wanted to go to the temple after work but I had worn pants that day. It wouldn't have been the end of the world to go home and change, but I really didn't want to have to do that. K-Bad and I are pretty much the same size so seeing that she was wearing a skirt that day gave me this brilliant idea. Thanks to K-Bad for being a good sport and though she was confused by me, even after I explained why I needed to wear a skirt, she was kind enough to switch with me. :)

What's even funnier is how the switch went down. We each went into an office while Maria, our helper, gave K-Bad my pants and gave me her skirt. It's nice to have friends who support my religious practices even while thinking I'm a total weirdo! They're the best.

Hair update.

2009-08-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

I think it's time for an update on how my formerly-shampoo'ed hair is doing. The answer is spectacularly!! As you can see by my ticker, it's been one month, one week, and one day since shampoo touched my head and I am never (what never? no never. what never? well, hardly ever!*) going to shampoo again.

This was a couple weeks ago, but here is what we call super curly, thanks to Kate's tips for how to dry curly hair. It involves not combing the hair after getting out of the shower and not towel-drying it too much. I had to use my dryer with the diffuser because I just don't have time to fully air-dry. But I was surprised how much curlier it got. And look how short it looks!
Then we have the wavy look, below (different day; same backdrop; different white shirt, in case you were confused). No curling iron of any kind needed- this is my hair's natural wave, helped only by a little product and by pinning up the top half of my hair while it's still a tiny bit damp, blow-drying the bottom half with a boar-bristle round brush. My hair would never have this much body and wave when it was slicked down with cones and flattened by sulfates.

* Ten points to whoever gets the reference. Without google cheating! (and twenty extra points if you sing it to me next time you see me)

Get ready....

2009-08-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

For a ton of blog posts. I am so behind, but I am vowing to work on it tonight. I have lots of fun pictures to share!

Not surprisingly, I'm sobbing through most of it.

2009-07-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

But in a good way.

I'm watching the 16 and Pregnant finale and figured I'd give my thoughts as they come.

I got hooked on this show kind of against my will. At first I really had no desire to see it but I think I saw some snippets here and there and before I knew it I was watching every episode. I've found it kinda fascinating.

I think it's interesting that they're only doing one adoption episode out of the bunch (the kids in the other episodes all chose to parent). But what has stood out to me is how most of the boys/fathers have been very immature and not very responsible after (and sometimes before) the baby is born. With the exception of maybe the last week's episode, I haven't been too impressed with any of the boys.

I'm really impressed with these kids. Really impressed. Especially the boy/birthfather, probably because of the stark contrast he is to the boys in the other episodes. I see him standing up to his white trash, in-n-out of prison dad who told him he's not being a man by "giving his baby away", and that makes me want to give him a high five!

The girl's mom makes me equally SICK. She's not at all supportive of the adoption plan. Which is fine, she doesn't have to agree but.... she bought a bassinet[?!] and tried talking her daughter out of the adoption, telling her that she still has time to change her mind. How cruel is that when your daughter is intent on and content with adoption and you buy a pink bassinet and set it up in the corner, to taunt her? UGH! These parents are just disgusting to me. The kids/birthparents impress me so much because considering where they came from, they are so very mature and strong. Wise. Their parents have a lot to learn from them.

I like that they're showing the open relationship they have with the adoptive parents. It really seems like they bonded and developed the genuine friendship that I think is so crucial.

How could you not cry when the birthfather read his letter to his daughter? I can't get over how impressive this kid is.

I was a little sad at first that they said they didn't want to hold the baby after she was born. I'm a big believer that you have to say hello before you can say goodbye. I think it's a huge fallacy that holding the baby makes it harder because it causes you to bond- whether you like it or not, you are already bonded by some degree. But luckily they did end up holding her and I'm sure they will be glad they took that time with her.

I think it's wonderful for this little girl that she has this experience forever captured on tape. She'll never be able to doubt how much her birthparents love her when she sees it.

I don't like that the adoption caseworker was being 'politely pushy' at the hospital when she basically said "okay it's been 5 hours since delivery, can we kick out the family and friends and bring in the adoptive parents?" Yeah I wasn't a fan of that at all. It should be 100% up to the birthparents to decide who's there in the hospital and when.

The necklace gift was really sweet. You just can't deny the bond that these people have with each other. It's wonderful.

So I don't know how much sense that will all make if you didn't see the show, but those are my thoughts. I thought it was a very well done episode and I'm so happy that MTV presented this positive story about adoption.

Day at the Science Center with Carissa and Olivia

2009-07-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

Considering it was 114 on Saturday, I think it's pretty commendable that we even ventured outside. It was HOT! But the nice cool air-conditioned Science Center was fun. This adorable little girl is growing up way too fast. It was probably March when I last saw her and I'm telling you, the kid has doubled. And doubled in cuteness too, if that was even possible!

I guess she wore herself out...
Can you even stand how cute her sandals are?! I can't!

Who knew such beauty could be found in the Walmart parking lot?

2009-07-12T23:46:00.001-07:00

In all fairness, Walmart had nothing to do with the beauty.

A 2nd birthday, a pirate party, new p.j.'s, and a trip to the zoo.

2009-07-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

Me: Hey Roman, guess what?

Roman: Uh-huh

Me: I love you!

Roman: Okay.

(we had this conversation several times during my visit)

Look who I found at the Orquirrh Mountain temple open house!

2009-07-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

None other than miss Emily Chipman. :) Can you believe we just happened to be there the same time? She was there with her beautiful family, about to see her parents off on their mission and it was so nice to see her {as it always is}.

We weren't sure about this angle, but I don't think it turned out so bad after all:

Hoover Dam or alien construction site? You decide.

2009-07-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

On my way to Utah I drove through the Hoover Dam at night, which I learned is a fabulous time to do it. It used to be a quick drive but in the last few years Hoover Dam has become a nightmare time-sucker! Going through at night was a breeze.

I tried to get some pictures of the highway being built over the dam which honestly looked pretty freaky! It looked more to me like some aliens are up to no good, possibly building some sort of lair disguised as a highway bridge? I'll believe it's a highway when I see it...

K-Bad, I heart you.

2009-07-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

K-Bad, attorney extraordinaire (that's her real title, check her office if you don't believe me) is responsible for this genius creation.

And this was us dressed as twins on Halloween '07!
Apparently all it takes for people to get you mixed up is having the same first name. Other than that, we pretty much have no physical similarities. Katie claims to be 5'2" but Maria and I proved her wrong. She is 5'3" easily. (we kicked her out of the 5'2" club) Although I take that back about having no physical similarities- we are the same size as evidenced by the day we traded pants. That's a good story!

Oh, did you want me to tell it? Some other time. :)

Catching up and a new haircut.

2009-07-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I fell behind on my blogging. I've been sick for the better part of the last two weeks and have spent a good portion of that time either sleeping or whining to myself as I lay on the couch watching tv. Blogging takes too much brain power and I have been zapped. But my health is slowly returning (out, evil virus!) and thank goodness for that.

One thing I twittered about but failed to mention here is that while in Utah, all my hopes and dreams came true (in other words I got a haircut from the lovely and talented Kate)! Never mind the fact that I had just gotten a drastic cut a mere 4 weeks or so ago, but that's not important. What's important is that my hair is now even shorter and spunkier! I love to be spunky. Since I was having too much fun at the July 4th BBQ to take ANY pictures, I'm kinda glad I took these few pics of my hair so I have at least that much to document the day with.*

* I'm aware of the fact that this is not grammatically correct sentence structure. Deal with it. If I said "I'm kinda glad I took these few pics of my hair so I have at least that much with which to document the day" I would sound kind of ridiculous.**

** But I'm too prideful to let a purposeful grammatical error go by without acknowledging it.***

*** Maybe that makes me more ridiculous in the long run...

Sunday will come.

2009-06-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

I got back from Utah on Thursday. I was listening to the radio and heard, as I was driving down my street, that Michael Jackson died. Sadness. I still wasn't feeling well but figured I'd rest all Thursday evening and then hopefully would start feeling better the next day and could get back to normal.

I was surprised to find I actually felt worse, not better on Friday. This lovely scene at the side of my bed pretty much sums up my day:
I was given these tablets a few months ago (the last time I was sick-- what's up with my immune system lately?) that are like Airborne on steroids. These things fizz like nothing else! The writing on the container is mostly in German but I'm pretty sure it's just a power dose of Vitamin C and zinc. I was really wishing I had this stuff when I first started feeling sick but I was about 700 miles away from it. Bummer. I've been drinking it like crazy since I got back but that was probably a little too late.
While this was all going on, we were all hoping for a miracle in Texas. This potential miracle had a lot of forces working against it, and I'm sad to say those forces won out. No miracle. Huge disappointment. Sadness.

In my mail yesterday, I got a newsletter from the BYU College of Health and Human Performance. I read that Dr. Keith Karren was retiring. Dr. Karren, who's undying optimism for life and never-ending perkiness I have not forgotten from my days as a Health Science major at BYU.... His big thing was the mind-body connection. He taught of the power of the mind to influence the health of the body.

Building off of what I learned from Dr. Karren, I have to believe that the reason I'm not getting any better is because I'm pretty much surrounded by sadness right now. And it isn't just the things I've written about here, it seems that amongst my friends there have been a never-ending string of disappointments and tragedies. Whenever we think the streak is being broken, we're disappointed once again. Tears, tears, and more tears. I've been putting too many names of people I love on the temple prayer roll recently. Too many.

So when I read this tag line on the new "Mormon Message" on Facebook, it seemed completely appropriate: "No matter how dark our Friday, Sunday will come." I watched the video and found comfort. Hope. Between laying around being sick all day and one huge disappointment, yesterday truly was a dark Friday. But thank you Elder Worthlin for reminding us that Sunday will come....

Maybe soon I can start to feel better.

Two new temples and concessions for free speech: "hooray for the First Amendment- now go stand by that trash can"

2009-06-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

In lieu of actually going to church today because Roman wasn't feeling well, Wendy, Roman and I ended up going to see the two new temples in the Salt Lake valley: Draper and Orquirrh Mountain. We're going to the open house for the Orquirrh Mountain temple on Tuesday so I'll get to see the inside then.

First we went to the Draper temple, which was dedicated back in March. Gorgeous, as always.
We all wore our pajamas!

On the street right above the temple are some ridiculously ginormous houses (the picture really doesn't do them justice):
Some flowers:
Then across the valley we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. The tents are up because of the open house, which wasn't going on today because it's Sunday. But there were some security guys in white shirts there who must have been bored because they were zipping around the parking lot on their golf carts. I thought they were going to tell us we couldn't be there because the parking lot was all blocked off, but they completely ignored us.

This one is a darker color. It's pretty! I love that beam of light shining right on the angel Moroni in this first photo.

Speaking of the angel Moroni, it was struck by lightening not too long ago and you can see the black marks on it.
If you look between the trees you can see the Draper temple, can you see it? It looks far away but it really only took about 15 minutes to get from one to the other. (by freeway of course)
Then you can also see the Jordan River temple down the hill in the other direction. See it?
A nice view of the mountains:

Now the part about free speech....we thought these signs were kind of funny. There's a small lot over on one side of the temple and there were signs that said: "Free speech standing area". Why people would take their time to go protest the building of a temple in Utah I don't quite understand, but hey, who doesn't heart the first Amendment? I love that this sign was right next to a trash can. Good place for the protesters if you ask me!

Where am I again?

2009-06-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Utah on Saturday to find it cold, windy, and rainy. The Wasatch mountains were covered in dark, stormy clouds....and I started to wonder, where the heck am I? Did I overshoot my drive and end up in Portland or something? This isn't normal June weather in the Utah valley.

I looked around for some confirmation that I was, in fact, in the right place...and...

Yep I'm in Utah.

2009-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

I finally scanned some old pictures.

2009-06-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

This is probably my favorite of the bunch- my 3rd birthday with my favorite cousin "Big Katie". (of course I am "little Katie")
This blue dress is one of the ones I posted here...
Carol, you look just like Anthony here! Crazy:
Don't be jealous of my outfit:
Who wouldn't want to run wild through the Lincoln Memorial?
I never did update the teeny tiny clothing thread with pictures, and by now they would just be buried so....I'm posting them here.

**I've just been informed that the picture of me running is actually at the Jefferson Memorial. I should have known that since Lincoln is sitting in a giant chair, not standing...Boo on me!

Arson = bad

2009-06-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Dearest kids:

There are lots of mischievous* things you can do to occupy your time. But arson should not be one of them! I'm not advocating other crimes either but I'm just saying if you're going to break the law, don't set stuff on fire please. Why do I single out arson? Well, people have major trust issues with kids that set stuff on fire. No one will take you in residential placement if you're a known arsonist. And that is defined very broadly; you only need one conviction to be considered a full-blown arsonist apparently.

Sex offenders? No problem getting them treatment. But arsonists? Well, no one wants to sleep in the same building with you. Even the sex offenders.....SO DON'T DO IT!

Your's Truly,
Your Attorney

*Recently there was a rolicking debate on the correct pronunciation of mishchievous. So I'm curious, how do YOU pronounce it?

Days 5 and 6

2009-06-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's been 6 days since shampoo touched my head and I'm loving it!
Here on Day 6, I was feeling the curly vibe so here you go: curly. Although I'm not feeling the loving karmic vibes from the universe because I got a freakin' speeding ticket on my way to FHE Monday night. Lame!! That's a real ticket from a real cop, not those stupid photo tickets that I don't pay. And I wouldn't have even gone that particular way had I not been going to Sunflower market first to get coconut oil. So I choose to blame my no-poo adventure for my ticket. (not myself for speeding.....allegedly)

Day 6 I washed with baking soda diluted in water and a couple drops of peppermint oil. Then I rinsed with diluted ACV with a few drops of sweet orange oil, which mostly took the icky vinegar smell away! I was in a hurry so I ended up scrunching more than I thought I would, but putting coconut oil on the ends helped to soften it up. (thanks for the tip, Kate!)

Day 7 I just rinsed with some chamomile tea and then used safe conditioner. I'll tell you what, my hair hasn't felt this soft since I was a kid!! Seriously! It's awesome. I round-brushed it and was pleased to see that my color seems to be holding up fine. (there was some fear that baking soda and/or vinegar would strip the color) But I think it looks okay so far.

I don't know how long to keep posting these pictures and updates....I wonder if this is interesting to anyone but me and my fellow no-poo'ers!

Sunday dinners are the best!

2009-06-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I invited some friends over for dinner at la casa de Katie. Let me tell you what, I have some really fun friends! How did I get so lucky? I made spaghetti and meatballs and breadsticks courtesy of Our Best Bites, which never lets me down. I did however let myself down because something about the breadsticks just wasn't quite right. But the first time I made them they were completely inedible so this was an improvement. I will be trying again, I can promise you that!
We were very entertained by an old hymn book with some very strange songs in it! Some favorites were "Affection" (a song basically about making out at nighttime) and "I am a Mormon Boy". I wish I'd gotten James' and Paul's rendition of "I am a Mormon Boy" because it was truly epic, but luckily I did capture "The Bees of Deseret": (background buzzing courtesy of the lovely Cheya)

Click on that to enlarge it so you can see the words! This book is priceless. It says it was published in 1909, which leads me to believe it was really fun to live in 1909. It does have some regular hymns in it but I'm thinking (and hoping) this isn't an actual Hymn (big H) book because it's called "Deseret Songs". And if these songs were in the original Hymnal, then Emma Smith was a total whackjob.

Later we played a game where we drew song titles out of a bowl and tried to hum the tune until someone could guess the name of the song. You could resort to a taboo-style of describing the title if you didn't know the tune or if your humming skills were so poor that no one knew what on earth you were humming... I even did a charades-style act out of Thriller because it was just easier to do the zombie dance.

Josh was hilarious to play this game with because he kept getting songs that were total stumpers and he freaked out about it. Plus I think he thought wildly gesturing would somehow help his team guess correctly! :D I only caught the tail end of it the first time he took his turn, but as you can see I captured his other turns as well and it just kept getting funnier...

The song was "If You Feel Inclined to Censure"- that's not really that hard, is it? ;)

Josh, we seriously love you.

Not even sure what to title this one!

2009-06-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

There's probably no way to say this without sounding snotty, but here goes... (after all this is my blog) :P

I need somewhere to say this: I HATE DEBATING WITH STUPID PEOPLE! And there's a LOT of stupid people out there. And for some reason they all congregate on the debate board on babycenter. Don't ask me to explain what/where that is because you'll be tempted to go there, and I care too much about my blog readers to let you do that!

When I was in high school I took honors and AP classes. So I had classes with the same group of kids for the most part. I didn't turn 16 until my junior year and for some crazy reason I took Driver's Ed. the second half of that year. I'm not holding myself out to be a Mensa member or anything, but I didn't realize just how comfortable I was in my little zone of honors classes. So when I stepped outside my zone and took this Driver's Ed class with the 'general population' of my high school.....I hated it. I just had no idea how little I could relate to kids who were on a different intellectual level than me! Again that sounds so snotty but I'm just being honest about how I felt at the time.

What even brought back these memories from 12 years ago? I let boredom take me to the "Debate Team" board on babycenter and honestly, I want my brain cells back! Sadly I think several of them were irreparably harmed just from reading some of these so-called debates. You wouldn't believe the spin that has gone on in the world of abortion debates. There are all sorts of justifications for even elective, late-term abortions and it's really scary to realize people really think that way. But that can be a separate post all in itself.... I dared to post a few things on a few topics and quickly learned I was dealing with some real dipsticks. That's the nicest word I can come up with! Every now and then I will go there just to read all the posts and I seriously leave feeling much dumber than when I started.

Take, for instance, this lovely gem on a debate about the 'pregnant man' giving birth to a second child:

hes got girl parts down under. "he" wanted kids maybe so he only chopped his boobs and left the rest alone.

he had vag birth with no drugs for both births.

Oh, thank you for clearing that up...."he's got girl parts", great!

And more enlightening discussion from another nitwit:

its abnormal if its not considered "normal" by christian american standards then its wrong evil and the children will suffer. these children will not have body image issues because thats not what was wrong.. this person was born the wrong sex and in order to live sanely the did something about it. if anything these kids will learn that even god can make mistacks and that love and understanding everything will be ok.. these children will not judge people nor will they learn to hate what is different.. but what does that matter.. the only way to fit in is to be like normal hetero christians

Didn't you all know that God can make mistacks?? Didn't you know that? No, you must be evil hetero Christians.

But then how can you really take some of these people seriously when they have signatures like the following on all of their posts: (this one comes courtesy of a fellow named "ilovefairymen")

"One of Lifes Simple Joys is Playing With the Boys"

Straight? So is Spaghetti Till You Heat it Up!

I'm Gayer Then You!

SIGH.

Day 4

2009-06-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

This photo is interesting for a few reasons:

1. I didn't realize how red my low-lights are! Maybe it's the lighting, or maybe my hair is really that red.

2. I might have overdone it a tad on the cornstarch because I can see it in the front of my hair from this angle....oh well. Maybe people just thought I've been rolling around in my attic and got some dust in my hair. No, I'd rather it just look like cornstarch. I'll be rinsing it tonight or tomorrow morning for sure.

3. SHINY! :D

Days 2 and 3....so far so good.

2009-06-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my day 2. I just scrubbed my scalp and hair with the safe conditioner, though I didn't attempt to do my hair so I can't really say if it would have passed muster or not. I put it up while it was still wet so this is how it looked when I took it down:
That's mostly my natural wave with some weird kinks in it....but hey, it's pretty shiny! Shiny is good.

This is Sunday, day 3. The night before I spent way too much time reading online about all sorts of alternative washes/rinses. (alternative to apple cider vinegar, that is) I decided to try a chamomile tea rinse since it's a little kinder to the hair than vinegar and certainly smells nicer! I just happened to have 12 spare egg yolks (haha, weird but true! that's what happens when you make angel food cake and have to use 12 egg whites- now, any ideas for the other 11?) so I mixed an egg yolk with some baking soda and diluted it with some water. I felt like a crazy chemist, or maybe just a crazy person. Then I rinsed with chamomile-mint tea (and water, you still wash it all out before you're done) and round brushed my hair with a boar bristle brush. Here was the result:

I can honestly say my hair felt great today! It didn't feel greasy at all and smelled like, well, chamomile tea. I think diluting down the baking soda was good because that made it less abrasive. The abrasiveness is good for cleaning the scalp but is also quite harsh, especially on fine, color-treated hair. (a.k.a mine)

I was very happy with my hair today! So far this experiment is going well. But I shouldn't tempt fate by getting too excited just yet...

Here I'm either winking or having a seizure. You decide:

Once upon a time, I was teeny tiny.

2009-06-06T00:55:00.000-07:00

And these were some teeny tiny things I wore. My mom sent me the best surprise a while ago- a box full of memories! (and some that even pre-date my memory) Clothes, shoes, and photographs from a time long, long ago. I cried. How could I not? Look at these, only a small sampling:

So, so precious.

I'll scan some of the photos too. (tomorrow--it's past my bed time) So check back for an updated post!

Two nieces.

2009-06-06T00:44:00.001-07:00

I hate to say it but they don't make the best companions at a baseball game...due I'm sure to short attention spans. But they sure are cute!

Days 0 and 1.

2009-06-06T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here was me after my last shampoo and conditioning sans-cones. I'm calling this Day 0.
And here's me on my official Day 1 of no 'poo. Which is very unremarkable because I already washed every other day. My day 2 will be when I start feeling some pride about all this. (Or horror.) But it was a ponytail day. Mostly due to a lack of time though, not because my hair was especially heinous or anything.
I wonder if it's weird to people in other cars that I'm taking pictures of myself while sitting at a stoplight.... the things a girl's gotta do to be a committed blogger!

My turn to no-poo.

2009-06-03T21:08:00.001-07:00

Gotta give some credit to my inspiration. Without Jenna I would probably never have even wanted to try this.

She does a pretty good job of explaining it so I won't re-invent the wheel. Plus, a simple Google search will give you plenty to read on no-pooing! Don't worry folks, I'm not forming dreads. The idea is that my hair will be more healthy and beautiful, not gross. Though I will admit the whole idea of foregoing shampooing altogether sounds pretty gross at first.

I went to the store tonight and got the supplies I will need to begin this little adventure. I haven't bought Suave hair stuff in ages. But this is on the approved (cone-free) list! Most of my products, however, are not cone-free. A.k.a. naughty. I guess technically the day after tomorrow will be my first poo-free day because I'll have to shampoo one last time to get rid of the yucky cones currently on my hair. Then the fun begins. We'll just take this one day at a time, ok?

NAUGHTY PRODUCTS:

These guys are riding the bench for a while. I'll have to admit I cried a little when I realized I had to set aside my S Factor moisture serum! I love that stuff and it is NOT cheap. But let's face it, I'm not crunchy enough to go no-poo forever. I fully expect to be bringing it back out before too long.

But how long is the question...... we'll just have to see, won't we?

Rick, sent to us from Heaven

2009-06-01T21:16:00.001-07:00

Saturday night. LeeAnn's friend invites us to a "bonfire". Sounds fun, right? Doesn't sound at all scary or life-threatening, does it? Well it was both: scary and life-threatening.

Let me take a time-out to make an observation... I've noticed that as I get older, I get prissier. I once liked camping and such things but not so much anymore. So romping in the desert isn't generally my idea of fun. Unless it's in a prissy SUV that we don't want to get dirty.

Back to Saturday. The location for this bonfire might have been in New Mexico because it felt like we were driving forever. But little did I know we were about to experience a real-life version of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. Good thing I'm prone to nausea! That just made it all more fun. I sound like I was having a miserable time but that's not really true. It's just kind of funny in retrospect because if I knew what this little outing was going to be like I never would have gone. (the best adventures in life start that way) Let me just skip right to the scary part. We are way the heck out in the desert, seemingly the middle of nowhere. The jeep suddenly started making a horrible crunching sound and we had to stop. Hmmm, something about an axle? Don't ask me. But all I know is the jeep was broken. And we had no tools. And no cell phone reception. Awesome!

As I try to suppress my panic, we get out of the jeep. Good time to build a fire, right? Might as well. We're not going anywhere anytime soon. We (ok, Rob) makes a sad attempt at building a fire.

This is where the gift from Heaven comes in. Another jeep pulls up rapidly behind us. Hooray! And it's Rick. Rick who steps out of the driver's seat with a beer in his hand (I'm not judging! I love this guy!) and proceeds to pull out a huge box of tools. Ok, who just happens to carry that around with them?? (answer: Rick)

How can I explain Rick? This guy is very prepared. Not only does he have all these tools but he has a gun strapped to his side and offers us all a beer. Wow, how nice. Of course none of us drink beer but it was so very nice of him to offer. He never stops talking the entire time he's there. Wherever he was headed, whatever he was up to, he has completely interrupted his plans to help us fix our jeep without batting an eyelid. Oddly he never really acknowledged any of us lovely ladies. Rick is apparently a man's man. That's fine, as long as he helps us not be stranded I'm cool with it.

He even assisted Rob with the pathetic fire and within seconds of attending to it, we have a robust campfire. Rick is truly magical!
While waiting, we entertain ourselves with an ax and a machete. Why not?

There's some manly talk about tools and car parts that none of the rest of us can understand.... some talk about jeep clubs, and what not.

And finally, it's fixed! Rick climbs back into his jeep and drives away as mysteriously as he appeared. Rick was truly a blessing, I only wish I'd had a beer to offer him in return. What a great guy!

The following video is important for only one reason:

It's made me realize I have kind of an obnoxious laugh. Why didn't anyone tell me?

We hiked, we ate.

2009-05-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

My Memorial Day weekend fun kicked off with some hiking at South Mountain. Not the prettiest scenery ever, but that's Phoenix for you. But the most important thing is the company and that was fantastic.

Ahhh, breakfast. We waited a long time to get a table at this tiny hole in the wall place, Matt's Big Breakfast. A long time. In the hot sun. Worth it? YES. I'm going to say best hash browns ever. Best waffles still belongs to Lolo's. Beware the boiling hot syrup though! I'm not kidding, we had Brandon's hand on ice after he learned the hard way that his container of syrup was the temperature of magma.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant, asked for a Diet Coke, and gotten the reply "Is Diet RC ok?" If you'd like that experience, go to MBB. I didn't even know RC existed anymore! But I do now. No it doesn't taste any better than I remember.

Identical twin spoons

2009-05-28T22:58:00.001-07:00

One bag; two spoons. It (they?) came with my hot fudge sundae today at McDonald's. Kind of miraculous, don't you think?

Gee, my hair smells terrible*

2009-05-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I do not have dandruff.

But I read somewhere online that dandruff shampoo is really good for your hair and scalp in general and should be used once every week or two. Since everything on the internet is true, I bought some Neutrogena T-gel and used it this morning. I don't doubt this stuff is good for hair but holy stink-fest. I nearly gagged in the shower at the smell of this stuff. But I figured I could endure it for as long as it takes to lather and rinse (no repeating here). Too bad the smell lingers. I tried moussing and spraying my hair with heavily-scented products to try and banish the stench but all I can smell is that nasty shampoo!! My head smells like moth balls. Gross!

I apologize to anyone who smells my head today and says to themself, "Katie must have been rolling around in moth balls again". Please forgive me!

* For pop culture reference, see the source of all knowledge: wikipedia.

So who's brilliant idea was this one?

2009-05-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

At the end of a long hallway of courtrooms.....

and benches...

WAY down at the end past the benches where the, you know- people- would be sitting....

There is a tiny little sign stuck to the big brick wall. Can you see it there? Barely?

Well it turns out there's some useful information on the tiny sign, but you have to get about 6 inches away from it to see what it says...

Considering that I had worked here for nearly 2 years before ever noticing the tiny sign myself, I'm willing to bet that pretty much no one ever sees it. So, to whoever's grand idea it was to stick the tiny sign at the end of the long hallway, THANKS. Our tax dollars hard at work!

Hair cut.

2009-05-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Realizing my hair hasn't been short since I took the bar exam (5 years ago!), and with the long hot summer starting, I got the strong urge to chop off my hair. And I gave in this time. I'm quite happy with my decision, thank you.

Sad- my hair once on my head now on the floor. Look how curly it is! I should really let my natural curl do its thing more often.

Not a great picture of me but the promised "after" pic, in the cute salon where I get to feel pretty every 6 or 7 weeks. 'Hair Do' in Gilbert by the awesome Casey, to give the proper plug. ;)

After my hair appointment I met my visiting teacher at the temple grounds to enjoy the surprisingly cool weather. It really was gorgeous outside. It was so nice to walk around and see all the brides and grooms having their pictures taken. One bride had on a mid-calf length dress with green shoes and a green sash. Very unique and very cute!

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get anything but perfect pictures of the temple. It's just too beautiful.

I like to scope out the brides whenever I'm at the temple to make sure no one is wearing my dress. A big fear I'm having is that my style of dress will suddenly get trendy. I doubt this will happen because it's fairly different from the current trends, but you never know.... I will be one unhappy girl if that happens. It's not returnable but more importantly, I LOVE it. I fully intend on wearing it eventually.

Who says lawyers can't rock?!

2009-05-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

What's more entertaining than a bunch of public defenders playing Rock Band in the middle of the day? Not much!

I don't even remember now what song I sang, but I did rock it out. That I know.

And of course: the "goodbye again" cake. (For the "I'm retiring. Again. But for reals this time." party)

Sometimes you just need a day off.

2009-04-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

I sure needed one today. So I took one. I drove up to Sedona and did some mountain biking: just me and my ipod. Sedona, as always, was beautiful. But it was actually super hot there and the sun was beating right down on me, so after a little while I decided to just keep driving up to Flagstaff. Flag was perfect! Cooler and a little overcast. I just really needed this.