Blast From the Past

Since Christmas, I have been scanning all my old pictures. I came across this one and we had a good laugh, so I thought I'd share it with you all! (this is John's brother, David). Enjoy!

A Year in the Life

Garrett has been working on this all year and it's finally complete!

We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet

I think nearly everyone has a prophet whom they feel is "their" prophet. Usually it's the prophet who was called during the time they were born, baptized, growing up, or during a specific time in their adult life. I have always considered President Hinckley to be "my" prophet. I remember many times as a youth sitting in the Exeter Stake Center (NH) and listening to him counsel us as youth specifically. I remember the talk on the "Six B's", and I remember when he added 3 more "B's" to the list. He dedicated the Boston Temple, and my mom sang in the small choir for it. He presented the Proclamation to the Family, which is one of my favorite documents. He called my Grandpa S* (really, on the phone!) and called him to be the President of the Palmyra Temple. President Hinckley will always have a special place in my heart and I will always consider him to be "my prophet". He always inspired me to do a little better, stand a little taller, and be a little kinder.

I always thought that I would be pretty devastated when died, but tonight as I heard the news of his passing, I couldn't help but rejoice that he has finally joined his wife, Marjorie. Of course, it's sad for the world to lose such a wonderful prophet, but the Church is taken care of. The Church will continue to thrive and grow. But can you imagine the rejoicing in Heaven, and the happiness that he and his wife must be feeling right now? Can you imagine the kinds of rewards in Heaven that he will receive? What a reunion that must be taking place!

I will miss President Hinckley for his wit, for the humor and sparkle in his eyes, for the wonderful way that he built up the Saints and led us through the scary world that surrounds us.

Today in our regional Stake Conference, which was broadcast to the South, President Monson spoke. After the Conference, Garrett and I were discussing his talk, which was about missionary work. It was a little odd, however. Both of us found it a little hard to follow, and President Monson seemed distracted. I think he probably knew what was in store for him, and was contemplating the mantle that would soon be placed on his shoulders.

I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I am thankful that we have living prophets and apostles who speak in behalf of the Lord. The world can be a scary and dark place, but the Lord's Church is a beacon of light in my life. I am so grateful for a loving family, and wonderful parents who taught me the true Gospel. I am thankful for temple work, and for eternal marriage, and the knowledge that I can be with my family forever.

Happy Birthday, Abby!!

My baby is 1! I can't believe it was a year ago that Abby was born. We had a great little party for her yesterday and I made this little slideshow of her life in pictures. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's a Man Shower!

Normally, baby showers are for people having their first baby (in my opinion). But what do you do when your friend is pregnant with her second child but it's her first boy? You throw a Man Shower! What's a Man Shower, you ask? Well, it's a Baby Shower that is for the Dad-to-be! My friend Abbie and I wanted to do something special for our friends Bobby and Rachelle, who are expecting their first boy, so this was perfect! It was a couples' party and we invited all our good friends from the Ward. It was a surprise for Bobby, which made it even more fun. Bobby is one of the funniest people that Garrett and I have ever met, so putting him in the spotlight at a party was just so much fun. Everything was perfect! We played typical baby shower games that I usually HATE (melting chocolate bars in diapers and guessing which kind it is, smelling the baby food to guess the flavor, etc), but since it was a Man Shower with everything aimed at "guy" humor, it was just perfect. The guys served themselves food first (hot dogs and nachos!), and talked about whatever they wanted (politics and sports) without us giving them a hard time. Everyone seemed to have a really great time and it was a huge hit. We definitely need to go global with this idea. Remember, you heard it here first: Man Shower. Congratulations to Bobby and Rachelle!

Chugging water from sippy cups

Not everyone was coordinated enough

Guessing the candy bar

Some of the gang

Opening presents

The Personal Versatile Countertop Magician

Most people don't know this, but I LOVE the Magic Bullet infomercial! It's hilarious! If I'm flipping through channels and I see that it's on TV, I will always watch this over any other show. Mick and Mimi (the hosts of the show) have a bunch of crazy people sitting at their countertop while they demonstrate the wonders of this "ultimate countertop magician". They show them how to make guacamole, a ham and cheese omelet, broccoli cheddar soup, blueberry muffins, chocolate mousse, margaritas, banana muffins, salsa, bean dip, coffee, mixed berry smoothies, pesto, a chicken salad sandwich, nacho cheese, a glass of vegetable juice, and a chocolate-chocolate chip peppermint milkshake. Even Hazel, the chain-smoking aunt, seems to get excited over the Magician, because, according to her, "Dinner is always a production". And, it even makes six different kinds of frozen drinks! It's "the ultimate party machine"!

One of my favorite parts, however, is the voice-over telling everyone how wonderful this personal magician is. Keeping in line with the "laws" that all infomercials seem to have, they show (in black and white) someone grating cheese like it's the hardest thing they've ever done. Cut to full color, with someone tossing a whole chunk of cheese into the Magic Bullet, because it'll grate the cheese for you!!! Then, cut to black and white again, while someone is chopping an onion like it's the hardest thing in the world to do. Cut back to full color... the Magic Bullet will chop it for you!!

I don't have a Magic Bullet, but clearly I desperately need one. According to Mick and Mimi, I've been living in the Dark Ages without one. Everyone in the world should have a Magic Bullet. 30 Minute Meals?? Move over, Rachael Ray. With the Magic Bullet in my kitchen, I can have food on the table in less than 2 minutes.

What's your favorite infomercial?

This is not a paid advertisement. I do not really want a Magic Bullet.

Through the Years

Since I got a scanner for Christmas (thanks, G!), I have been very busy scanning all my pictures onto disks and photoshopping many of them to restore them. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the pictures, so enjoy! Sorry, most of them are of me, because they were just my pictures. My goal for the next year or two is to scan all of mom and dad's pictures that they have, as well as my grandparents' photos, and Garrett's family photos, so that they can be preserved for everyone's enjoyment. Let me know what you think!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One of My Biggest Regrets

Garrett and I were married in August 2004 (NOT a regret!!!). The same week we were married, Google stock went public. I remember considering buying a few stocks, but the price tag was pretty hefty ($100 a share) and we just didn't have the funds to risk. Also, with the whirlwind of the wedding, I just plain forgot. Anyway, this is probably one of my biggest regrets! Is that lame? You probably won't think it's lame when you learn that Google stock is now worth over $600 a share and it continues to rise. So now the question remains... should people still buy it? When my parents were young-marrieds in 1983, they had the opportunity to purchase a stock in Birkshire Hathaway for $250 per share, but unfortunately, they didn't have the money for it back then. Today, Birkshire Hathaway is trading for over 130k dollars per share (yes, one hundred and thirty THOUSAND dollars!). So the question remains... is Google still worth it? My vote is yes, but again, no funds. Come back and read my blog in 20 years, and I can almost assure you I'll be writing yet another regretful post.

Oh well. It's only money, right?

Gone Fishing

Garrett has really gotten into fishing lately. He and 4 friends from his class go together frequently after tests and on the weekends. Unfortunately, he hasn't caught much this winter, but it's still nice for him to relax and spend some time with his friends. Hopefully he'll have better luck in the Spring, and I can post some pictures of his successes! Until then, I'll just post some pictures to document the fun they're having!

Garrett and his friend Justin

"Tree Riding"

Looking for fish

The swamp

Welcome, 2008!

I know this post is a little late, but we had a great New Years! We went to a party at a friend's house with a bunch of other couples in the ward, which was a lot of fun. We played games, set off fireworks, and watched some guy on TV break a world's record doing a big jump on his dirtbike (which was way over-hyped, to the point that it was very lame). Probably the 2 best parts were 1) when Bobby almost blew his hand off with a firecracker, and 2) when we were playing Cranium and Bobby had to draw a string bikini with his eyes closed. Way to go, Bobby!

Nice picture

Trying to draw

Trying to write my name with a sparkler, but I was too slow

Garrett and myself!

Garrett's good with the camera features

Legend

Tonight Garrett and I watched "I Am Legend". It was SO SCARY! Usually I like scary or intense movies, but for some reason tonight I could hardly watch this one! About halfway through I almost got up and left the room because I was so scared. But, I stuck it out and kept reminding myself that it was just a giant set, and there were probably 20 people hanging out on the other side of the camera. That seemed to help. It was just so creepy, though! I do NOT recommend this movie to anyone who doesn't like scary movies. Plus the ending was really abrupt, which made it pretty dumb.

Snow!

It snowed last night! It wasn't very much but we were very excited. Even Abby stood at the back doors to the porch and seemed pretty enchanted by it. It didn't last long, though. It turned to rain after an hour or so and pretty soon it was gone. One of the things I don't like about Georgia is the lack of snow. We really miss it!

Christmas in UT

Christmas was awesome! We had such a wonderful time with all the family. It's always great to spend time and hang out with everyone. We did almost everything that we had wanted to do! There was sledding, skiing, eating, watching movies, playing Wii, shopping, playing board games, seeing Christmas lights, puzzles, get-togethers, a baby blessing, and presents! It was a great first Christmas for Abby. She makes the holidays that much more exciting. Thanks especially to Emma and John for letting us stay in their house and for taking us to eat at all the places we were dying to eat at again! We had a blast! And we'll definitely have to make it up to you... we DO living in a pretty happenin' place! Anyway, I've posted some pictures below but these are just some of them... I'll add more soon! Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com