Christmas Recital

Carlie's Christmas dance recital was so stinkin cute! She's turning into quite the little hip hopper! I'm so proud of her!! Their dance received the loudest applause!

O Christmas Tree

Here is our cute little tree! Typically I get a big giant huge one but my practical side kicked in and I decided it was just silly to pay $100 for a giant fire hazard!

LG Team Meeting - San Diego

Thanksgiving

This year we had dinner at my brother Dale's house. I'm so proud of him! He cooked almost the entire meal by himself!

Twilight!

You all know Ashley & I had to go see the Twilight premier! There we were with all the other hundreds of sappy lovesick women at midnight anxiously anticipating the first breathtaking view of Edward in the flesh (so to speak).

He wasn't exactly how I had pictured in my mind - not that he was ugly mind you but the Edward I pictured was SMOKIN! I have to admit there were a couple of scenes when I was a little weak in the knees and my little heart went pitter pat but all in all the Edward I know and love is not as dramatic and much smoother.

I loved almost all the characters and thought they did a great job casting. Jasper was magnificent, Emmett was exactly how I imagined, Alice was perfect in every way, Rosalie...well, let's just say I imagined someone more like Portia Del Rossi and Jacob needs a haircut.

I can't wait for the next one!

Giraffe-like?

One of my dear friends Paul says I'm like a giraffe. Should I be offended? Am I giraffe-like? He quickly tried to save face by saying, "Giraffes are tall, slim and graceful and love their babies." I guess I'll let him slide on that one...

Chicago!

I've turned into quite the globetrotter. No not, really. But I have gotten to travel some for work. I got to go to Chicago for a training. I haven't ever been to Chicago before so I was excited. However, I got strep throat and spent a good portion of the trip in my hotel room. I did get to ride in a limosine for the very first time though! And I discovered that you can use your coffee pot in your hotel room to heat up soup! Woo hoo!

Christian Siriano!

I got to visit San Diego for my quarterly review with LG. As sort of a gift I got to stay a couple extra days and I got to meet famous fashion designer Christian Siriano. He hosts the reality show Project Runway. He was so darling! And I do mean DARLING - if you get my drift.

Carlos Boooozer!!

Ashley texted me and said, "Your boyfriend is gonna be at Walmart." I grabbed Carlie and off we went. Sure enough, there he was in all his beautiful glory. The heaven's parted and the angels sang! Carlos Boozer...*sigh*

My Bro is Engaged!

My step-brother Dale is engaged!! WOW!! His fiance's name is Nicole and she is super sweet! I'm so happy for them! The wedding date is Sept/Oct of next year. Congratulations!

Have Ya Ever Seen One of These Before?

I went to Snow Basin on Sunday to go for a walk. I went inside Earl's Lodge I think it is and walked around for a bit. In one of the sitting areas there was this incredibly huge RED chandelier. All glass...It was a bit macabre but very cool.

EWW!

I have never seen a snail here. Never! This one was blazin a trail down my sidwalk. EWW!

Peach Days

My little Carlie was in the Jr. Peach Days parade on Sept. 5 (basically a giant cluster of kids riding their bikes or scooters down the main drag in Brigham City) but she sure got a kick out of it and she was sure cute with her little helmet. I just want to squeeze her!!

Ride Baby Ride!

Carlie just came to me and said, "Momma, let's take the training wheels off my bike." So I took them off and off she went!! No help, no falling, no nothing!!

Fair Time!!

I LOVE the fair!!! Not the Utah fair. My "hometown fair". The Southeastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. It's so nostalgic for me. The smells, the dirt, the animals, the same guy selling no stick cookware and who can forget the carnies (though we skipped that).

This cow was freakin' HUGE! This pic doesn't do it justice but it's head was gigantic. Plus it was kind of a sweet pic don't you think?

Awww....cuddlin' bovine

OMG!!! Baby goats! I just want to sqeeze 'em!!

What fair isn't complete with a little face paint?

Carlie's Back to School Lagoon Trip

Every year right before school starts I take Carlie to Lagoon. Kind of a last hurrah for the summer. She's getting so big! She can go on the "big kid" rides now but she always loves the carousel.

Sun Dogs

On Aug 16 I went to the Ogden Ampitheater and watched a really cool band. The Sun Dogs. It was great just lying on the grass, relaxing, and listening to some great music!

I'm It!

Stinkin Lindsey!!

I've been tagged. So here's the deal: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

JOYS
1. My daughter
2. Mexican food
3. Chocolate

FEARS
1. Something bad happening to Carlie or my Dad
2. Maggots, mealworms
3. Dying in a car accident

GOALS
1. Be totally self secure
2. Keep growing as an individual to be better
3. Exercise at least three times a week or more!

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS
1. Blogging
2. Reading
3. Cross stitching

FACTS
1. Carlie is the cutest!
2. Ashley & Mica are my best girlfriends
3. I am from Idaho

And I tag: Melissa, Lacey, Kelli, Janey and Rocky

Rockband Fool

Ok....I cannot believe I'm putting this on the internet!

Random!!

So the most random thing happened (some of you will label it as divine intervention). I have been wanting/needing a bike and voila! a bike appeared in front of my house!! Yes, it's probably stolen (this IS Ogden after all) but it's been sitting in front of my house for 2 days now and my motto is "finders keepers" - especially if it saves me $400! RANDOM!

My cousin Lisa sent me this picture of her newborn baby. Her name is Neiley Faye Mangum and she was born on 7/25/08. She's so cute!! She has my eyes! LOL

Memories

Lindsey Lou Hoo talked me into this tag and I actually think it's kind of neat ~ just don't let HER know that!~
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Good or bad even (but let's try and stick with good, shall we?)
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog or if you don't have a blog I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

All the Pretty Flowers

I finally got around to planting some flowers. The Spring kind of escaped me. We went from snowballs to heat wave in a span of about a week so I never had the opportunity to plant my beautiful flowers like I normally do. I finally got some spare time and here is the end result.

Pioneer Day Rodeo

YEEHAW!

Battle of the Rockbands

Fresh back from my trip to Alabama I was feeling a little sassy - no not really. MarketStar had a Battle of the Rockbands competition in which employees put bands together and played the video game Rockband. We staged it just like a real rock concert complete with t-shirts, tour dates, tattoos, bandanas and body guards.

Let me set the scene....it was oh...about 100 degrees and I thought it was super smart to dress up in a patent leather body suit and belt out Interstate Love Song by the Stone Temple Pilots (who else? DUH!) Lucky me! I was caught on film by the Standard Examiner and put on the internet. I wonder when THOSE pics will come back to haunt me? Our band name was The Asterisks and consisted of, Rachael Hooper-Lark, Chris Durtschi, Brant Ames (who bailed!!) replaced by Trevor Hirst, and myself.

Here's R-Squared all decked out and READY TO ROCK!!

Um.....yeah, that's her real hair!

Sweet Home Alabama!

I was sent to Huntsville, AL for LG. I'd never been there before so I was excited....kind of. There's such a - stigma - that comes with the South. Plus with my recent encounter with the the hillbilly clan I was a little nervous. But you know...I had a great time! It was beautiful!! The climate was almost exactly like Utah (which I'm told is rare). I gained a lot of valuable information and felt like it was a very productive business trip. We went out to dinner twice. The first night we went to a very fancy schmancy restaurant - Dolce. The second night we went to Grille 29. Steak and seafood galore! (there goes the diet!) There was a beautiful fountain outside Grille 29 and I couldn't resist a snapshot.

My Birthday!

I went to Mackay, ID (aka middle of nowhere) to my parent's cabin. I so love it there!! It's so quiet and peaceful and of course beautiful! There is no cell phone reception up there and I love it!!

My dad really likes to watch all the birds there. He has feeders and houses all over the place. This is a Tree Swallow I believe. He likes them because they eat mostly mosquitoes. There is a big pine tree on the side of the cabin that houses an owl of some kind. You can tell because there are little weird bone/fur balls at the bottom of the tree that the owl spits out. How gross!

No....I did not fish.
I went to Sun Valley. I decided to brave the Trail Creek pass. It's been known for chewing through tires. The rocks along the pass are really sharp shale. This pic was taken at the peak. Breathtaking!

While we were in Sun Valley we went to this little local bar, Lefty's. They have absolutely THE BEST fries ever! And those of you that know me know that I HATE fries.

Camping at Blacksmith Fork Canyon

We took the girls to Blacksmith Fork Canyon for a little camping trip. True camping...smores, campfires, bad hair, no showers; the works. We had a really great spot with a creek that ran by it and plenty of shade.

We went four wheelin'. We thought we'd take the girls for a "short jaunt" that turned into a 5 hour pretty hard ride.

Check out this part of the trail we went up! Let me paint the picture - We come up on this portion of the trail that looks like boulders just fell and blocked it. At the top of the trail there's a pack of hillbillies egging us on to tackle the climb. I made it about a fourth of the way and got stuck. This giant hillbilly (perhaps the pack leader) rushed down the trail and said, "Stay put! We're gonna get you up this trail!" (of course this was in a THICK Southern accent) Then he coached me along and physically picked up the back of my bike and helped me up the trail. Oh gees! Anyway, we made it up the trail and so did this 2007 Rubicon!

The creek

This beautiful field of flowers just cropped up in the middle of the rocks!

Lagoon Day!

Friday was Lagoon Day for MarketStar. I took my friend Ashley. We had the time of our lives! First off we hit the Cliffhanger and got SOAKED!! (These pics are actually from our SECOND time on the ride) We met up with my other good friend Lindsey and her little sister Emileigh. They went on it with Ashley and I. Good times!

Here's another pic.

Here's cute little Lindsey & her sis!

STP!!

On June 11 I went to see the Stone Temple Pilots. One of my favorite bands!! Dude!!! They rocked!! I knew every song they played. Ashley and I danced and sang the night away!!