number 4

I thought it was time we blogged about number 4 in our family, Sophie (named by me after the girl in Mamma Mia, much to Dave's shame - he hated that movie). Dave was really wanting a dog last summer even though we had BOTH decided that it was probably not the thing to do at the moment. He went to check out a beagle that we saw on KSL and I distinctly recall telling him not to do anything rash and we'll talk about it when he gets back. Lo and behold I come out of a play I was performing in and he's there to pick me up, with a dog, sleeping in my seat, cute as a button. Dave adores her and she's learning to obey the alpha male, she doesn't pay much attention to the beta female though....

yea! i am crafty after all!

For those girls in my ward you know when we made these magnets... it could have been a year ago... maybe two? Anyways, I couldn't go the night we did it and so Sunday I finally did it on my own. (I did have to buy a hot glue gun which took me a while to remember to get so give me some slack). I think I might make some more fall lookin ones. Anyone up for it? I do have a hot glue gun now so we're set :)

bees suck

For lunch I usually go to my favorite spot, Sugarhouse Park, in my favorite area under my favorite set of trees. I picked the tree above on Friday because it was blooming and it's little flowers were showering the ground. I usually take a blanket, take off my shoes, finish my lunch and read for an hour. It's one of my absolute favorite things to do. So imagine my dismay when this relaxing reading session turned into a not so happy affair. The funny thing is I actually was taking pictures at the park that day and so had the episode documented on camera.

See? Here's me with my shoes off enjoying the shade of my beautiful flowering tree (or so I thought).

Here are the flowers scattered all over the ground. So... I did notice that there were a few bees roaming around but I kind of thought if you left them alone they left you alone... I still think that's true for the most part. However I inadvertently crossed that boundary when I tried to move deeper into the shade. As soon as I stepped off of the blanket my foot started to feel like it was on fire. I grabbed my foot and looked at the bottom only to see a little black stinger stuck in my foot. I've never been stung by a bee before (once with a wasp when I was like 9 and I don't really remember it) but it sucks! I don't want to sound like a wimp (and don't judge me if it's been awhile since you got stung) but it hurt like a mother. I was on the ground holding my foot and rocking back and forth... yup, like a little kid. After about a minute it stopped hurting so much and I limped back to my car with my tail between my legs.

P.S. My foot has recovered, and I believe the bee died, so I'm happy. Ironically enough I had watched The Secret Life of Bees the night before (which I didn't love fyi), who'd of thought I would get stung by a bee on the bottom of my foot! Once again, bees suck :(

little lucy mae - part 2

I promised pictures would be coming - sorry it took so long! This is when she was three days old, she's so much bigger now. She's my second niece on my side of the family out of ten kids so we're so glad another girl came along. Congrats again Em.

the cat vs. me

We all know cats are such snobs and totally manipulate humans just to get food and whatever else they could possibly want but I have to admit I am such a sucker for my Lola, a.k.a. Kitty. I got so fed up with her only coming to me when she wanted something that I thought I would execute a little test. I wanted to see how long it would take before the cat actually came over to me - out of love - so I boycotted petting her... and waited.

After FIVE days it finally happened! I won! I won! I won! After working out I was stretching on the floor and Kitty somehow lifted her 16 lbs body off of the couch (she's ginormous BTW, even after months of dieting - probably because she steals the dog's food) and meandered over to me. She slowly walked back and forth infront of me purring constantly and finally rubbed up against my hand, requesting, nay demanding, she be petted. I can count on my hand the number of times she's done this. So I finally felt love from my cat, miracles do happen! Have hope. (She might have been wanting food but I'm gonna look on the bright side here for the sake of my deflated ego).

still livin in the past

I can't get over my Italy trip and just how wonderful it all was. Thought I would periodically put a few of my favorite pics on my blog. A short history lesson on this one:

Located on a plateau overlooking Sicily's southern coast in Agrigento on the isle of Sicily, sits the temples of the ancient Greeks, this one is the Temple of Hera (Juno) built around 450 b.c.

I told you it was short. Thanks for reading.

opening up, maybe more than you want

I don't really like to do confessions on my blog (and never have attempted it before because then everyone knows my embarrassing failings!) however; I think there can be strength in numbers so I'm hoping I'm not alone. Whew. So hear goes, my first confession:

1 - I am a serial gatherer of recipes. Yup. Meaning that I habitually print or ask for copies of recipes that look good, most tending to be desserts because of my ever-present sweet tooth, and then I rarely make the aforementioned recipe. Exhibit A - printed this off today, how could I resist that deliciousness? When, and more importantly if, I decide to make them it will be minus the chocolate liqueur (don't fret Mormon friends!) My poor husband seldom gets to taste the fruits of my labor, sigh. Poor. Hungry. Husband. The sad thing is I actually do love to cook but it just doesn't seem to happen very often...

P.S. Please don't stop giving me recipes when I ask for them thinking 'what's the use?' I do file them away and I have high hopes that they'll be put to good use in the future, even if my spouse has thoughts to the contrary.

things i'm excited for this week:

1 - Shark week on the Discovery Channel (I'm TERRIFIED of sharks but totally fascinated with them at the same time, call me crazy)
2 - let's go Outback tonight - it's a new month, time to eat out
3 - buy 1 get 1 free Jamba! (Chunky Strawberry is my favorite, email me if you want the coupon)
4 - the So You Think You Can Dance finale! I'm a total addict - Brandon should win, not sayin he's my favorite but he really is the best
5 - the temple on Saturday, bring on the blessings please
6 - BBQ with my wonderful friends from my Europe study abroad (our first BBQ of the summer - sad, I know)