Because I Love Chocolate Chips...

A.K.A. I'm not weird. Daniel is. According to your comments and emails, he's the weird one. But I think he's kinda cute. So I'll keep him around.

So there are some cookie winners. And like I said, I Love Chocolate Chips. So they are chock full of 'em! You can't go wrong with lots of chocolate chips. Here are the winners to the all consuming question of "who said it?" They are...
Holly
Melanie
Sean
Laurie
Crissy
Jen...
who gets cookies becuase I understand her answer of..."it may have something to do with a certain annoying cartoon character."

Here's what's coming to you today!!

Isn't it pretty?!

And the answer is.....Drumroll please.......

Mr. Krabs said it on SpongeBob when the Anchovies were coming to the KrustyKrab.

And I do believe I feel a twinge of sorrow that so many people know that!

Congratulations to those of you who have had to sit through SpongeBob to know the answer to that. You deserve a dozen homemade cookies today! (Or yesterday, if you're related to me.)

I will be around later today with your prizes.

First I need to go pick up my very own copy of Season 4 of The Office!! YAY!

Do you smell that? That smelly smell. That smelly smell that smells....smelly.

And if you can name the show that quote is from, and/or what it's referring to, I'll give you a big hug and kiss. Never mind...Daniel, you can't play. (I'll still give you a big hug and kiss, but it's not contingent on answering that!) If you can name it and you don't live in my house, I will give you a dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies. Promise!

So last night Daniel and I were talking. Ok. I was talking. He was trying to watch M*A*S*H. And for some weird reason I started talking about how smell takes me places. You know. They link me to a place, a time, a person. Here are a few examples...

1. Homemade bread...being inside a nice warm house when it's raining outside on a school day.
2. Moth balls...My mother in law.
3. Skunk...My bedroom in my parents basement at 4:30 am after Willie the dog came in from outside and ran around my room...couch, chair, bed, carpet...and got skunk smell all over. It was a really bad day. It was also my first "let's use the internet"day to find a cure for skunk smell.
4. Vanilla candles...Being pregnant and sick with Isaac.
5. Gasoline and rain...Being in the back of the Toyota station wagon with my sisters. Asleep. Going to the gas station to fill up, listening to rain drops hit the top of the car, then continue the trip.
6. Lysol...My mission...they always cleaned with Lysol. I don't clean with Lysol!
7. Mexican food...The real stuff...my mission and eating with the people.
8. Febreeze...Back to the skunk. I sprayed it on everything! I can only think skunk when I smell Febreeze.
9. Realm cologne...Daniel when we were dating and engaged. Sometimes I smell it on my brother. That's just weird!
10. Freesia body spray...The little shower in the little bathroom on the Carribean cruise I went on.

There are so many more, too. If I smell any of those things or a myriad of other things, I am sent back to the time and place and people and the most vivid memory associated with the smell. It gets really scary sometimes. Like when I would wait outside on the driveway for Isaac's bus to come and a neighbor boy would be walking home from school. He would stop to chat with me and when the breeze was just right, I could smell School. I would seriously want to puke. Like run in the house clutching my innards close to my spine as all the memories of school and teachers and desks and and and...I can't handle it. I'm glad my boys don't smell so strongly of that with a relatively new school.

That was painful to think about!

So I tell Daniel (back to last night) that I smell him and know his smell and it's a good and comforting smell. "So, hun, what do I smell like?" "Nothing" "Nothing?" "I don't associate smell with memories or feelings or anything." "How can that be? That's all smell is to me" "I'm weird." "Well that goes without saying." And we went on like that for a while.

It was when we were in bed and I had this epitome that I crossed the line. I say, "So that's why you don't have a problem cleaning up the throw up!!" He laughed briefly then said "I can still smell, Jennie. I just don't associate it with anything. Throw up smells gross and I don't like the smell of it. It just doesn't evoke a memory." Oh. Ok. He can still smell. I knew that. Puke doesn't evoke any memories for me either.

Does anyone else out there associate smell with memories or people or anything? does anyone just smell and not associate it to anything? Is there anyone who just can't smell? Let me know. Because I want to know if I'm weird or if Daniel is weird. Well. I know he's weird. But, you know, weird in the sense that he doesn't think anything special when he smells the lotion I wear on someone else. Maybe I'm weird.

And I'm serious about the smelly smell quote. Anyone know it? Tell me. Tell me...
And because I make more than 1 dozen cookies when I make cookies...email me, call me or stop me at the school to tell me, don't put the answer in the comments! I'll give cookies to one and all.

Once Upon A TIme... Part 12

The next morning, my mom asked how the date went. Wonderful. Incredible. I love him. Ok. I just said the first one. I asked my dad what he thought. This brought out the thoughtful side in him. He went back about 2 months. Yep. This all happened within a 2 month period. He said Ken was odd. There was something really wrong with him. Uhuh! Got it! Jim was too smooth. Too oily. Uhuh! Got it. Dan, well now Dan was different. My dad liked Dan. Said Dan was nice. Thought he looked like Jim Carrey. I could definitely go out with him again. Thanks. Don't mind if I do.

This was my official last week at Discover Card. I had given my two weeks the week before. My team leader wondered if it had something to do with Jim. Wellll... No. I just need to move on with my life. This was a huge step in that direction. I spent the week saying good bye to people I had worked with for so long. I fear change and was nervous about what was a big step in my life.
At the same time, I was so excited about this new guy. I didn't have any weirdness when I thought of him. Maybe he was my T.O. But if he wasn't, it was ok. I would be ok.

Thursday came and he called. Oh. To hear his voice. I got all giddy again. We talked for about an hour. He said he would come get me at 6 on Saturday. A second date. This time it would be just the two of us. I liked that idea.

Friday night. I had a date with a guy named Craig. I had gone out with him a couple of times. I don't remember why I thought going out with him would be ok, considering my plan. Maybe it was because my Bishop had told me during the Ken stuff that Craig had told him that, "if I had to get married, I would marry Jennie". Serious? Then why didn't he ask me out more? Why didn't he get serious with me? What was he thinking telling the Bishop that when he knew darn well the Bishop would tell me? Weird! (See, I attract weird ones!) Anyway, because I was going out for a third time with him, my mom said that angels must be singing in heaven because I had told her I wouldn't ever go out with him again because the Bishop said he never dated a girl more than 2 times. (Run on, sorry!) I must have been special! Oh, wait. He would marry me if he "Had To". Whatever. I felt like I was cheating on someone! Oh, yeah. I had met this brown eyed angel...

6:00 Saturday, January 9, 1999. Our second date. Oh, so exciting. He said he had heard of a Mexican restaurant in neighboring Draper, called Guadalahonky's. I'll eat anywhere you want to eat, handsome. Good thing I like Mexican. We sat, we ate, we talked. A lot. He was the easiest to talk to of anyone I knew. I really like talking to him. He filled me in on more of his life. I filled him in on mine. I told him I am a Diabetic and take insulin. It's a second date tell all for me. That's when I figure I'll weed out any wimps. He asked a lot of questions, but didn't seem deterred. I told him I was starting a new job down in Provo on Monday. I was nervous. He talked me through my nerves and got me excited about it.

We then drove around the Murray area looking for something. A bowling alley. On a Saturday night. We couldn't find one with open lanes. So we went to a theater near my house and saw The Prince of Egypt. You know, the Disney version of something. (This is a date we went on often while engaged (Yes! We got engaged!!) and while married until a little person joined our duo, making us a threesome that no longer went to the theater.) He brought me home...

I asked him if he wanted to come in. He smiled that smile and said yes. My parents were in bed and my brothers must have been, too. The house was dark and no one was up. We went to the family room and sat and talked. For hours. Since he lived in Kaysville and we were in Sandy, he finally decided to head home. Darn. He gave me a hug and said he would call the next day. He did.

On Sunday night he called and soothed my nerves again. He told me to take some Ibuprofen when I went to bed so I could relax. He was excited for my new job and was super supportive. When we finally said good night, he said he would call me again on Thursday to see how it was going and he asked if we could go out again on Saturday. He was methodical if nothing else. Oh, yeah! And handsome. And nice. And great. And Wonderful...

Monday started with a new job in Provo. I was excited. I went in and did a great job. I impressed. I told my new boss again that I would be there for the long haul. No sense telling him I met this gorgeous guy and hoped to marry him some day. The day went well. I had a whole new language to learn...insurance in Spanish. I could talk the gospel, but this was all new to me. During the week, I had a co-worker teach me how to talk Spanish insurance and started to get it down.

All week I worked, learned and dreamed. There was a distraction in my thoughts. It took over me. I couldn't wait till Thursday so I could talk to Dan and go through my first week at work with him. When Thursday finally came, I rushed home through 6:00 rush hour to get that phone call. When he called I told him all about my week. He was impressed with my ability to speak Spanish and to use it in my work.

We made plans for Saturday night and it was all I could do get through Friday and Saturday. Finally 6:00 came and I was ready for action!

The Heavens Opened...

And Angels sang. The children are back in school. All hail the people who invented school!

I love them. They are my heros.

Is that a bit much?? I love my kiddos. But there comes a time in every mommy's life when it becomes necessary to separate herself from her offspring for a mere 7 hours a day.

Today was that day!

Let me back up just a bit...

Last night Daniel gave each of the kids a Father's Blessing. It's a tradition we love. Then I gave each of the kids a treat with a message...

Thanks to my sister Laurie for that idea! Thanks, Laurie!

Then we woke up this morning...extremely early, I might add!...to get ready for...

drumroll please...

FIRST GRADE FOR SAM!

Yahoo! Hurray! Yipee! He's in first grade and LOVED it!

Now here is a sad tale...

Isaac, my first born, the first fruits of my loins, or whatever, just walked away when we got there. He wouldn't even turn around for a picture.

Now I feel I must add a disclaimer to this unfortunate occurance...Ready?

I have never taken first day of school pictures before. Uhuh. You read right. It's this darn blog that has me whipping out my camera at every instance. I think Isaac is tired of it. Or not used to it. Or something.

So this is the shot I got of my eldest child starting THIRD GRADE! That's him in the blue backpack.

And here's his door where I would have gotten a picture of him in front of his THIRD GRADE classroom. But the bell rang before I got there and he was inside. Darn. And the door was locked. Otherwise I would have gone right in and taken a picture of him at his THIRD GRADE desk. He probably told them to make sure it was locked. Stinker!
And here's the little one, my baby girl, the wee child. The one who will start preschool next week. Sniff. Sniff. She's growing up. But not fast enough sometimes. Think of all I could do if they were ALL in school for 7 hours a day....Whew! Blows my mind.
Oh yeah! Last Saturday we had the annual "Poppy's Hike". My dad, aka Poppy, takes all the grandsons and sons and sons in law, etc, etc, on a hike in a nearby mountain. This year was Bell Canyon. That's Poppy with Isaac and other cousins and Sam nearby. The "ingniter" behind Poppy is Daniel. The love of my life, my reason for breathing, the smoldering fire in my heart. Or something like that. I do like him! Can you tell?
Here's the whole group. I'd name them all for you, but I'm afraid I'd have some name mixups. They all look alike to me.
I hope your day was a great one. If your kiddos are back in school, I hope you enjoy the quietude. If they aren't, I know how you feel. But don't worry, their time will come. You may even cry. But I wouldn't count on it!

Once Upon A Time... Part 11

The doorbell rang. Willie, the dog, went wild with barking. I answered the door. He came in. Oh my! He looked so good. He smelled so good. My dad shook his hand and I introduced them. "Dad, Dan. Dan, my dad." My dad mentioned his height and asked if he played basketball. (It's one of the prerequisites.) Dan said he did play. Goodnight, dad. He didn't keep me there. I could feel this was going to be different from any of the myriad of other dates I had had since my teenage years. And certainly far better than the last 2 guys. He opened the car door for me. Larena was in the backseat. We said hi, etc. We then went to pick up her date, another guy from our ward.

We planned to go to Olive Garden for dinner. We got there and the wait was about an hour. Bummer. We walked over to the mall by the restaurant to waste time. Larena and her date walked into stores and laughed and goofed off. They were having a great time. Dan and I sat on a bench and talked. He said he didn't like shopping. He really didn't like malls. I agreed. Wow. Our first official topic alone and we are in complete agreement. We watched Larena and her date and kept talking about this and that. It was finally getting close to time to get back to the restaurant.

We were seated and ordered. We all just talked and laughed and had a good time. When we were done, we decided to go to Larena's house to watch a video. We planted ourselves on the couch and watched Zorro. Dan and I just sat and watched. Every once in a while we said something to each other. I was just enjoying being next to him. I think he would happily say he felt the same way. I was so cute, after all!!

When the movie was over, Dan and I left. Larena said she would take her date home. It was nice to be alone again. We got to my house and he got out to walk me to the door. He just smiled. Oh, kill me now! I love that smile. And those eyes! I wanted to ask him to come in, but it was after midnight and I didn't know if it was appropriate to ask him in. He said he'd call me next week. We said goodnight.

Next time, I would invite him in. No matter how late it was!

SPORTS???

So I've been sitting here watching women's diving on those games. You know the ones. The games where atheletes from around the world come together to compete. Uhuh! The Olympics. As I've watched the games I've pondered on my Olymicness. Oh. Right. I don't really look like an Olympian. Ok. Maybe a Sumo or something. Not really. But I know I don't look like the divers.

Here's the thing. I want to be in Beijing. You know how I am. I just want to go to China for my own selfish reasons. I should have been training the last 2 years instead of just waiting for my daughter. So here are my choices of what I could compete in. Ready?

Basketball.....I'm 5'2". Pulease!
Badminton...Is that still a sport?
Diving....See, there's this water thing...ok, fear...that I have....
Swimming....Seriously...Aquaphobic!
Shooting...Hmmm...maybe...
Rowing...I have no upper body strength! Really!
Track and field...I'm knock kneed. It's no fun having your knees smack together on purpose!
Weightlifting....Again, no upper body strength. And I really don't like the way their necks bulge.
Softball...I don't like wearing gloves.
Water Polo...Again, the water thing comes into play.
Fencing...Hmmm...Possibilities. Would I bleed if the sword thing stabbed me?
Synchronized Swimming...Seriously people, jello in my hair?? And the thingy they wear on their noses just makes them look dumb.
Equestrian...My hiney hurts just thinking about it.
Cycling...Again,the hiney hurting thing.
Beach Volleyball...I don't like the feel of sand in my hiney.
Gymnastics...Hmmm...I'm short. I just don't think I'm that coordinated. And I can't smile for long periods of time. It hurts my cheeks.
Volleyball....Now volleyball I could do. It's the only game in P.E. that I actually enjoyed. Well, not really enjoyed! Tolerated is more like it. I can smack a ball around and possibly get it over the net. I know all the terms...bump, set, match, kill, spike. I could do those things. The gals that play are all different. They are tall, short, skinny. One's just a tad thick. Yeah. I think I'll play volleyball. I'll start my training soon. I promise. Really. I have 4 years to get it right. I can do it. Alright. Forget it. I'll just make some popcorn and keep watching it on my couch.

I ACTUALLY HAD FUN!

Congratulations, Universe. You Win!

I can hardly believe it myself. I really had a ton of fun in Flaming Gorge!

Here's a smile to prove it...

Isn't it gorgeous?! The gorge was amazingly beautiful!
See that red rock..
It was raining when we left, but when the sun shines on these mountains, it looks like they are on fire...thus the name...Flaming Gorge.
Here we go...Who could those cute people be out on that floaty thing? Bouncing around and getting wet and laughing hysterically...
You can't tell? Even from rollercoaster arms up in the air?
Oh yes! It's ME and Daniel and Sam and Ruthie!! So fun.
The rest of the time I stayed in the boat and had fun watching while rest of the family had fun in the water!

Here's Isaac at the cliffs where many of the teens and some adults did some cliff diving. Isaac jumped off of little mini cliffs.
Here we have some Daniel action. He water skiied, skiid, skied, ski-ed, you get my drift, for a little while. Then he realized how long it's been since he's done it and I think he still hurts!
Isaac had fun swimming from the boat to a rock ledge where we stopped for lunch.
See how graceful he is! He gets that from his mother.
Brrrr. The water was cold!
Teeth chattering cold!
This was an impressive cliff jump by Daniel. My camera didn't take the picture until he was in the water. Isn't it an impressive bubbling of water?? My man did that! I'm so proud.
The kids found this little nook in the rocks. Daniel's sister has pictures of all her kids when they were younger in this little nook. My kids and cousins Benjamin and Caleb got in this pciture.
2 of my kiddos on the rocks where the teens did some rope swinging into the water. The littler kids climbed quite impressively high!
The kids were promised fishing by Uncle Mark. Only one cousin caught a fish. It was getting late and the water was getting choppy. No other bites!
They loved sitting on the front of the boat and looking out over the water when we went fast! So exhilerating!
Isaac got to help Uncle Mark drive the boat!
Do you think he was happy about it?
On Friday we went to the dam for a tour. You got it, we went on a dam tour. We had a great dam tour guide too. He liked our group because we talked and asked questions and laughed and stuff. He said, "thanks for being jovial" as we left. I forgot my dam camera...no pics. Then we went to Vernal to go to the Dinosaur monument. It was closed. So we went to the little visitors center.

We took a little hike around the visitors center to the living quarters for the workers.
No one would look at me for a picture!

Sam finally shook his hiney for me!

Obviously we didn't go far....
And that is officially where the camera batteries went dead!
So we couldn't get any pics of the rest of our hike, the dinosaurs all through the neighboring towns or gathering with cousins, etc.
We left Saturday earlier than planned because it was rainy and cold! Brrrr....


On the drive home, we were all a bit tired of each other and at one point we realized everyone was kinda quiet. We looked back and this is what occupied Sam....
He held the bottle of syrup and his dinosaur and didn't bug a soul!

All in all, it was a fabulous trip! We had so much fun with family and getting on the boats and out in the water. We had fun visiting, watching movies, seeing sights, playing games and catching up! Next time we have an opportunity to go to Flaming Gorge (or other water involving boats, for that matter) you can count me in!

So you see, sometimes the Universe does win.