the girl in green.

Van has these hand-me-down green shoes.  I will be honest, I am not a huge fan.  I think the reason why Van loves them so much is because they have a little bit of a high heel. 

Whenever she is getting ready to leave she BEGS me to put them on.  Sometimes I say yes, but mostly it is a no.  On Saturday she got herself ready, and came downstairs in an ALL green outfit.  I didn't clue in right away that the reason why she was dressed this way is because she was going to use the line "the green shoes match my outfit...so I am wearing them!"

Man, I love this kid.  Doesn't she look like she is ready for St. Patty's Day!?

Ride UTA

I remember when Paul and I were poor newlyweds, and we were always looking for free stuff to do on the weekends.  We definitely were a lot more creative back then, and easily amused.

One time UTA had some sort of promotion going on that you could get 8 free bus passes to use...maybe you had to do a survey or something.  I can't remember specifics {give me a break it was like 12 years ago!}.  We got those 8 free passes, and my Dad even did it for us...so we ended up with 16 passes to use!

Paul and I would map out how we would get from point A to B and back again...and we even made sure we got free lunch at the furniture store on our route!  Aaaah, those were the days.  It made for some fun memories.

When UTA asked me to come ride the new Mid-Jordan TRAX line I couldn't resist saying yes. 

Van has been talking about riding the bus ever since her school field trip in May, and I can't remember the last time I took her on TRAX.  She thinks it is awesome that on the bus and train she doesn't have to wear a seat belt! 

It was fun making memories with my kids, and it helped that the train stopped at one our favorite hot spots where we had lunch!  I am definitely a fan of public transportation, and since they are making TRAX in my neck of the woods now...there will be a lot more train trips!

Wanna make some fun memories of your own?  I will give one lucky reader a pass that will allow you and 3 others to ride the bus, TRAX, or FrontRunner for FREE...just comment.  Children 6 and under ride free. Yeeehaw!

Thank you Emily  and Vanessa for being my personal photographers...since I decided to be slightly scatter brained that morning! :)

the next chuck.

If you read Dooce , you already know how she does the Daily Chuck.  If you don't read her...well then, Chuck is her dog, and she makes Chuck balance objects on his head while she takes pictures!

Van and I sometimes make Vin do silly things.  So, of course we made Vin pretend to be Chuck, and made him balance toys on his head!

I think he might just be the next Chuck, Dooce...what do you say?

a beach party.

Who knew that there were so many fun and free things to do right in our back yard!  We recently discovered "the beach" (Oquirrh Lake) in Daybreak...which is right around the corner from our house.  The sand there is lovely, and makes great sand castles.  I thought it was near perfection until someone clued me in Herriman has a "beach" (Black Ridge Reservoir) too...and so we ventured there last week.

The sand isn't nearly as amazing, but you can swim in the water...and Daybreak you can not!  Oh, and the view of the mountains is fab-u-lous! 

We spent two hours playing, picnic-ing, and swimming...and I don't think any of the kids were ready to go!  We had some awesome company come along with us, and it was the icing on the cake!

We are itchin' to go back again really soon...if you are headed there we would love to meet you! :)

UPS Freight is a joke.

It is true that we know our UPS man by his first name.  He is lovely to deal with, and takes time out of his busy day to make Van feel special.

It is true that we adore the UPS Store, and it is hands down better than the post office in our area.

It is true that UPS Freight should learn something from our UPS man, and the UPS store.

We have a lot of stuff shipped to our house.  We have used UPS Freight A.LOT, and it hasn't ended well any of those times.  I guess when you get a good deal on the shipping price, you don't need to have customer service.

UPS Freight hasn't come on time once, and sometimes they don't even come on the day they tell us they will.  UPS Freight will charge extra for a lift gate on the truck, and then conveniently load our pallet on a truck that doesn't have one.  UPS Freight never calls, we are always trying to figure out what is going on.  UPS Freight doesn't apologize for anything, and makes the customer feel like it is "our problem".

As Paul told me about his experience with UPS Freight yesterday, I thought he was joking.

First of all they were only an hour and half late {this is actually pretty good for them}.  The truck driver made no apology for being late, no apology for having no lift gate, no apology for not calling, etc.  None of which was shocking, but very normal.  What was shocking is this...

He asked Paul if he lived in his parents basement...whaaaa?
He asked Paul how much our house was worth...whaaaa?
He asked Paul how much he makes....whaaaa?

You can't make this stuff up.  If I thought they had bad customer service before, they went out and one-upped themselves!

when it rains it pours.

Van had been begging me to do something all afternoon.  One of our goals this summer was that we were going to do a nature walk.  I decided it was a perfect day to venture, because it wasn't unbearably hot.

What I should have noticed is the BIG black cloud headed directly to our trail.

We walked and walked...we felt a few rain drops here and there.  It felt good.  I decided that I was definitely going to drag some props up this mountain next time so that I could take some really cool photos of my kids...save Paul some money and use my nice camera for good.

All of the sudden those sprinkles of rain turned to a DOWN POUR! We were a mile away from home, and not prepared.  So we did what most would do...

RUN like a couple of girls screaming for help!

Paul tried calling me, but I didn't hear my phone ring...because we were screaming. :)  He thought that we had gotten lucky enough to take cover at a neighbors house, or something.

I couldn't help but laugh.  Of course this would happen, because I didn't even want to leave the house.

{scary picture of me, but this was right when we walked in the door...Paul had towels in hand waiting for us}

We honestly looked like we had taken showers by the time we got back home.  Poor baby Vin was bawling, because he was not only soaked, but he was sooo cold. One of my lovely neighbors did stop and ask if we needed an umbrella...but we were like 5 houses away at that point.

Not our most successful adventure, but definitely had the memorable factor.

iiiiii'mmmmm baaaaack!

{July 11th, 2011...365 photo challenge}

Is anyone still there?

Are you listening?

Okay good...because I am only gonna say this once, and then I am movin' on!

Right after Vin was born I got this crazy idea I wanted to try an IUD.  Don't know what an IUD is, click the link!

Looking back on the past year, all the pieces come together...if only I had listened to what my body was telling me sooner.  The IUD was doing crazy things to my hormones.  I didn't ask enough questions when I did go to the Doctor to "fix" me...and that made for a very long year of me being not-so-pleasant to be around!

Even when I was sitting in the office talking to the Doctor this past week, she was making me think that my suspicion was wrong.  I was worried I would get this darn thing removed and still be a mess!  Well, I am here to tell you...I WAS RIGHT!  Over a week has gone by, and I feel amazing!

I smile, I giggle, I haven't cried...and my patience is mostly back!

I am ready to party, play, and show you the REAL me!

Holla.

post edit: In all my excitement to publish this post, I forgot the most shocking thing about the IUD.  In the year I have had it in...I officially have gained 18+ pounds.  Talk about depressing.  That is the #1 side effect. :(

not myself.

If you live with me, work with me, talk to me on the phone...you already know I am not feeling right.

A couple of days ago I decided that I hated my blog, and that I just needed to walk away from it forever.  Today when I woke up, I don't feel as strongly about it...but rather I need to just take a blog break. I decided to wipe my cute background clean, and start over.  Wiping away what once was, and starting a new me...simple and plain.

I am feeling the need to sensor my words and thoughts online.  It feels weird, because I usually don't have a filter.  I am hoping after next week, I will start feeling better {I have a big appointment}.  Maybe I will be able to explain where my head has been.

Thank you to those people that have stuck around to comment, call me when they are thinking of me, plan playdates, and send me those sweet random emails. Life savers, truly.

Above all I need to thank Paul and Savannah {and Devin too}...who have cleaned the house, pulled weeds, planned movie dates, called to say I love you, showed up to eat lunch at my work, smiled when I couldn't, and loved me even though I know I have not been nice.  You are what matters in my life, and I love that you are mine.

It might take a weekend, it might take a month...but I am signing off. 

Whenever I decide to return, I hope I will have lots of good to tell you.

post edit: if we are not facebook friends, will you please look me up.  I wanna stay connected.

pardon the mess.

I figured since everyone is out watching fireworks, at some town parade, or eating themselves silly...I should work on my blog design.  It kinda didn't turn out like I had planned.  It looks a little funky, and definitely needs TLC. 

Be patient while I try to work out the bugs.

Happy 4th!