Don't go chasing waterfalls

We had a G-R-E-A-T time in Salt Lake and I am so sad to be home. When I loaded my pictures when I got home, there were 307 of them! Yep, my memory card had only 3 pictures left. Crazy. Don't worry, I won't bore you with all 307 of them. But I will share about half of them because we did so much! This first post will be of Tanner's obsessions with all the waterfalls/ponds that were on Temple Square. I did not realize how many waterfalls/sprinklers there were until every corner we turned, Tanner yelled "LOOK MOM! A WATERFALL!" I thought there were way more pictures of him in front of waterfalls than there were but when I looked over them, there's only 10. So that's all you get today. 10 pictures of the Waterfalls/sprinklers.

There's A LOT more to come, so stay tuned in the next week.




This is the first fountain that Tanner spotted.





This one, I spotted and it's just outside of Temple Square on the way to the Beehive house.





This one was right outside the Church Office building. I have more pictures of the Office building tour that I'll post another day.




This one actually is up in Bountiful, by the Bountiful Temple. My Aunt Holly took us up there to get some family pictures, but, of course, Tanner was so happy to be there.






This one is of the reflection pool by the Salt Lake Temple. I took a picture of the reflection. I have lots of the Temple too, but those are coming in another post.




This is us in front of the waterfall in the front of the Conference Center.




This was a fountain that we had passed before but I told Tanner we'd take a picture later. This was a few days later. It's on the grounds of the Conference center.





This fountain is on top of the conference center, on the roof. It has streams that flow out of it. There are 7000 gallons of recycled water that runs through all the fountains of the conference center.




This is a stunning glass fountain found inside the Conference Center. It was so beautiful.




This one was on Temple Square.




Tanner found this one the day before while we were looking for the entrance to the Church Office building to find information on the tour there. We took this one the next day after Tanner spotted it.

Did you Know???

That we're going to Salt Lake in less than 48 hours! That's right my friends...Sun, great company, first family vacation, no boiled water, no work, stress free. Ahhhh...I'm am about as giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve! I can't wait. We have waited and planned for this trip for about 3 years now. Every time we plan on going, Matt is in a seasonal job, or we don't have money. But now, we can go.

I'm also really excited to see my sister and brother in law for dinner tomorrow night. Those crazy kids are doing the Swam the Dam triathlon and they've been training for months. Not like me who's been training for only a month for my swimming event. They are amazing! I love when my family comes and I especially enjoy when Megan comes because we're pretty close.

Tanner is doing a bit better. He's eaten a bit more today. I'm going to try some bananas to replenish his potassium loss from the runs he's had. Also Pedialite as well. He doesn't really enjoy that very much, but he might drink it thinking it's juice. Cross my fingers.

Also, in case some of you haven't heard, Matt got the job at the school permanently full time and is on contract! He had it temporarily until the end of summer but they just hired him permanently. So that's also really great news. We are so happy and excited to be able to realistically look forward to saving for a house in the near future. Although the place we rent is perfect for us right now, our goal has always been to work towards home ownership. So that's kind of exciting for us.

Things are good right now. I won't have access to Internet in Salt Lake so you'll all have to wait until the 26 at the earliest for pictures and details of our most amazing, FIRST family vacation. Since I'll be kind of busy with last minute packing and mowing and cleaning, I will do my 5 for Friday today.

5 Blogs I LOVE right now:

Busy Bee Lauren: I adore this blog and I am so lucky that Kristi introduced me to this blog. She is totally *awesomespice*

Nine Peas in a Pod: I love that she is so open and honest and she is so funny.

Kinsey Holt Photography: Her pictures are so cute and fun and I just think she's an amazing photographer.

Rebecca Cooper: What's not to love about this blog. This girl is phenomenal. She is truly an amazing person and I love to read her blog

Tiffany: She is super witty and just says it like it is. Love that!

and as a bouns

Jody: she is my new "blogger" friend and she has a really witty sense of humor as well and her JAW are the best!



Have a great day!

reccomendations

Tanner hasn't really eaten too much lately. He hadn't been feeling great on Sunday and Matt took him home. He hasn't eaten that much in the last few days. Toast and 10 spoonfuls of soup yesterday (lots of water) and today just some crackers and a few bites of a sandwich.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to eat a bit more...if you know Tanner, he's all skin and bones.

I know the most important thing is to keep him hydrated. He says his tummy feels a little yucky so I don't want to over do it, but I do want to make sure that he's not going to starve. He doesn't have a fever and he's not lethargic. His energy level is about 50-60% of where he's normally at. So I know he's feeling a bit under the weather, but he usually will still eat.

Thanks for the help.

Photo overload

5 colors I'm in love with right now

1. PINK. I am all over pink right now. I just bought a pink skirt at Value Village for $5.99 and I can't wait to wear it as often as I think I can get away with. I also have this pink top that I LOVE. Pink also looks good on pretty much every skin tone. And it really brings out your tan when you have one. Perfect!


2. AQUA. I don't know what it is about Aqua, but I love it. Maybe because it reminds me of water and the beautiful colored water in parts of the Kananaskis. So beautiful.



3. RED. Red is like the new neutral color for me. I think it should be worn with everything. I have a passion for red shoes. I have a few but I don't LOVE them. Partially because they give me blisters.


But don't you think these are cute?

















4. WHITE. White is so fresh and crisp for the summer and never under-estimate the power of wearing a plain white shirt with jeans. So cute! So fresh!

5. BROWN I'm not sure why I love brown so much right now, but I think it is a great color. Very neutral and looks good with anything.

My life in photographs:

Favorite piece of Jewellery: I have a few actually.




Obviously, my engagement and wedding bands are the most favorite and un-replaceable.




This is a favorite ring of mine because it belonged to my Mom's mom (my Nana). I remember her wearing it on occasion and it brings back lots of memories when I look at it.




I LOVE this necklace. Jamie gave it to me as a gift and it reminds me of her every time I wear it. It's just dainty enough that I can wear it casually or dress it up a bit.




I adore this necklace. My Mom gave it to me for my birthday this year and I wish I could wear it all the time but the clasp gives me a rash on the back of my neck. It is just such a beautiful necklace and I just love it.


Your Vehicle:



2003 Honda Civic. We love our little car. I know lots of people name their cars but we have never come up with a name for it. We actually bought a car from my cousin and we had to put a lot more money than it was worth into it. So we decided that we would bite the bullet and get a brand new car. We originally were going to look at some Hyundai's but we decided to look at Honda first. We loved what they had to offer and it was in our budget so we got the Honda.

My oldest pair of shoes:



I got these shoes even before I was married (so, more than 10 years). They were the first pair of shoes that I bought outside of Payless. They're ALDO sandals and I've never regretted buying them. I have had to glue the base down a few time but it usually last pretty long.


What do I own too much of:



C-L-O-T-H-E-S!!!! This is my closet. Matt's stuff is the stuff hanging on the left there in that little section. I also have my huge dresser and part of another closet with clothes. I am really super fortunate to get a lot of new clothes often because the lady my sister works for constantly goes through her stuff and gets rid of quite a bit. I would say I bought less than 25% of the stuff in my closet. It's a little much, but I like the variety.


What time do I get up:




I have to leave for work at 7:45 so I get up at 7. I try to get up at 7 every day to try and keep my body regulated. Saturday's is the one, sacred day that I sleep in. Matt is so good to me and lets me sleep in on Saturday's. He's the greatest!

A contest!

If you live in Raymond, you understand this favor. If not, please just go to the link and vote as a favor to me ; )

go to: www.smalltownheroes.ca

Click on "Nominees Gallery"

Under Nominees Search- Enter Town "Raymond"

Click on "search"-this will bring up Stuart's name

Click on "Vote"

You can vote every day until August 30th.

Let's make Stuart our Small Town Hero and bring Paul Brant to Town.
If he wins, you can all stay at my house!

My life in photographs...and one for Jody

So Jody asked me what a rag quilt is. This is one of the many that I have made:




It's a quilt with frayed edges. I think they're relatively easy to make.







Also, I must show you the AWESOME fort I built for Tanner while he was away in Calgary. I'm thinking I might become a professional fort builder:



With the "door" closed




With the "door" open





Inside.

Tanner of course LOVED it and said it was awesome.

Your Favorite Season:




Fall is one of my favorite seasons because I LOVE the colors and I love that school is starting and routines are changing and coming back into place. I love the smell of fall and the leaves falling.




Spring is also a favorite because it brings new life and the perfect weather.


Favorite vacation spot:

I haven't been too many places. New Mexico (little philimont for a fun scout camp) , Utah (lots of summer trips and 1 Christmas), Denver (funeral), Drumheller (where I was born and we went there LOTS as kids), San Diego (my very first on my own trip to see my cousin Mark), Ontario (to see my good friend Trish), Edmonton (every summer to visit Aunty Carolyn), and Alabama (our 1 year anniversary/honeymoon). I would have to say that Ontario was my VERY favorite and I would love to take Matt and Tanner there someday to see these:




MARINELAND




AFRICAN LION SAFARI




NIAGRA FALLS



How I exercise:

No surprise there. I run on the treadmill...or right now, outside



My running shoes







My pets:

Growing up we had a Budgie bird named Billy Boy. I can't remember the details of how or why we got him, but he was our familiy's first pet. I remember when he flew out of the cage the couple times he did, my sister would all hide in their rooms and I had to find Billy Boy and throw a towel over him and put him back in the cage. I was always afraid I'd squeeze him too hard under the towel but I always ended up being really super gentle. My older sister is terrified of birds. She calls them "devil birds". It took her a long time to even be okay with seeing birds in movies. She's progressing. I think she should watch the movie Hoot. I think it would be a great movie for her to watch ; )





Where do you relax?

I would have to honestly admit that I rarely am relaxed. I know...it's so bad for your body but with my "mind" problem of it never shutting up, I have a difficult time ever living in the present. It's a curse that I am daily working on to overcome and control. I always think ahead or think about random things. I am most relaxed when I am listening to music on my iPod or at work when I don't think about ANYTHING except work...and that isn't stressful.



So there you have it for this week: my life in photgraphs, plus a little bit more.

5 for Friday

I can't believe how fast this week has gone by. Canada Day was great!

Every year I kind of dread it because I wasn't raised here and it seems like everyone has their huge family reunions coinciding with Canada Day and I always wish that was us too. It makes me feel a bit like an outsider. This year especially so because my own family did not come down like they have in the past. We went to the parade and then we took Tanner up to Vulcan (to meet up with my Mom) for his 2nd week (4 days really) of adventures (in Calgary) with my Mom. So it didn't make it as lonely as I thought it might be.

On the way back home, Matt and I went to the movie "The Last Airbender". It was REALLY good.

This week has been a bit of a reflective week. I'm kind of exposing myself emotionally in this weeks 5.


5 things I have learned about myself this week:

1. I'm more of a people watcher/listener when I'm around new people, than a conversationalist. I like to observe more than be involved in talking.

I know my personality can come off as strong or obnoxious (as I'm sure many of my friends who knew me growing up can attest to), so I have to really feel people out and get a sense of what their personalities are before I feel "safe" or comfortable letting my true self come out. I've grown up being loud all my life and so sometimes that's hard for me to wrangle in and control. It can really turn people off and I realize that. I'm working on it. It's a life's work in progress.



2. I'm pretty immature. I've known that I'm a little immature at times but this week, I think I've acted totally immature. This is NO surprise to most of you, but I'm really seeing it in myself this week.



3. I'm not a good conversationalist. Again, this kind of goes back to #1 but I don't really know what to talk to people about.

In certain situations it's really hard because being an "outsider", people here know each other and talk about people they know and how do you get "in" on a conversation like that.

I guess any new potential relationship is like dating. You have to ask questions to get to know others.

Plus, I'm actually not very intellectual. I don't really pay attention to what's going on politically or financially so it can sometimes limit what I can converse about. To me, smart people can talk about EVERYTHING. Some days I feel like a character off of "Clueless", or that I'm just the "nice" girl who doesn't really know much. I don't think that I'm stupid or anything, I just wish I was smarter in a different way. Does that make any sense?



4. I'm going through a period of unsteadiness in my life. I go through these phases (as I imagine some people do) where I'm not sure of myself or who I am or what I want. I mean, deep down, my heart knows that I'm a daughter of God, but my head isn't telling me the same thing. I'm content. I'm not sad or angry or feeling negative, just feeling a change. I know change is good. Perhaps I'm being humbled by the Lord.



5. I'd like to trade my body in. It is NOT doing anything I want it to do this week.

I was tearing up while running on Tuesday because my shins hurt so bad they were burning. And on Sunday (yes, I know, I broke the Sabbath by running on Sunday) when I was running, my calf muscles tightened up so much that it hurt to run.

I hate having to keep asking my chiropractor to put on kinesiology tape or adjust me, but if I don't have the tape on, my legs konk out on me.

Plus, all month I haven't been able to sleep. My brain just does not ever shut up! I mean, why do I need to think about stuff for 24 hours a day? My brain seems to have a problem with continual running thoughts.

OH and here's something I learned...did you know that you have a nerve called the Ulnar nerve? I didn't until I was at the hospital because my whole left arm went numb and so I went to the hospital and they said it was my ulnar nerve, and a million things could have set it off to cause numbness. Weird!

I know this kind of sounds like I'm complaining, but really I'm not. I just want a good nights sleep, and my body to cooperate so I can run and function like a normal person. I really enjoyed running while I was on my treadmill, but my body hates me or something because it does NOT like me running outside.


So that is my week "exposed".

My life in Photographs

Sorry this is late. Life has been pretty crazy around here. Today was a great day. I am getting excited to run the 5k on Saturday. Also, the awesome Raymond parade! The office I work for is doing a float. I don't get to ride on it...too bad. I was looking forward to riding on my first ever float, but maybe next year...

Tanner had a couple of Dr's appointments on Monday. He is 41 and a half pounds! Some of you have children that are younger than that and weigh more, but Tanner is my little boy. He is a smart whipper snapper. He doesn't forget ANYTHING you say and he listens when you think he's not. He has another wiggly tooth, so that should be coming out soon. His tubes in his ears are completely blocked with wax, so it's VERY likely he'll have another tube surgery (it's literally a 5 minute surgery). Hopefully they can get it done before school starts.



My Creative projects:

Remember when I won this
(SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE MOUSE PICTURE AGAIN)


Well, this is what I made:



It's not on my bed properly. I just randomly took a picture.

Also the following 2 blankets:









You may have noticed that there are 2 different beds in the picture...yeah, he doesn't sleep in either one of those. He sleeps in a fort.







"Santa" also recently made the rag quilt for him for Christmas.

I also make cards, but that's coming in a different post.

5 for Friday

5...just a number

When I was 5 I would have been in pre-school and Kindergarten (my birthday is in April so I would have tuned 5 in April and finished being 5 in Kindergarten). pre-school and Kindergarten...I don't remember so much about pre-school but I remember this one time in Kindergarten. We did a Whinnie the Pooh play and I was a tree and I was so upset because I LOVED whinnie the Pooh and I thought I deserved to be him. But, I was not. Also, at the Christmas Concert, we did a song called Suzy Snowflake and I remember my Mom playing the piano for it and I thought I was the coolest kid around because MY mom got to play at MY concert. Clearly, I was not cool and am still not...lol

15! The good old teenage years. I had my first boyfriend (WHAT! A b/f @ 15! It is true...I was a rebel child). I had this huge crush on a boy named Clark but he was one of the popular kids and I was not so he didn't think anything other than I was a "loser". But then came Steve. Yes, we were in Drama class together and I don't really know why I was "in love" with him, but my heart twitterpated when I was around him. First loves....ahhhh....good times.

25. What was I doing at 25? I was preparing for Tanner's 3rd surgery. His Cleft Palate surgery. He also had another surgery that year, 6 months later. That was a very busy year for us but the end to his many surgeries was coming to a temporary end...for a season.

35. I'm not quite there yet, but I hope to have a house by then.

50! I am looking forward to 50. If we don't have any more kids (I want one more but it's up to the Lord), Tanner should be married by then and it will just be Matt and I. I am looking forward to traveling and going on a mission with Matt and just being the best I can be.

FYI

I know I haven't posted my 5 for Friday but I will tomorrow. I haven't forgotten, I just was very busy today. See 'ya tomorrow!