Happy Birthday Nona!

I don't know how old she is today, but a Happy Happy Birthday to my step-mother-in-law Kayleen English! This is the only picture I have of her ( I am at work and have limited access to photos) and I stole it off Dad English's blog. I hope that Charlie is giving you everything you want today Nona! Happy Birthday!

And it is

It's 11:01 pm and we are with out water.  Hope thats better in the morning.

Happy Birthday to Me!

First let me say, I felt so loved yesterday! I got numerous texts and phone calls and emails and Facebook messages, I didn't know so many people cared it was my birthday! Thanks everyone!


The day started with a call and a song from Kayleen (step-MIL) then Nik made me my favorite, french toast for breakfast. It was delicious! I could only eat 2 pieces, but I may make him make it for me more often, I think he does it better than I do!


Then we went to Costco and Nik picked out some beautiful multi-colored roses for me. They look awesome on our little table. I love them!


Later that afternoon we met my parents and younger brother at the zoo! I love the zoo! Are you ever too old for the zoo? I hope not. I took a bunch of pictures, and mom and dad took even more. I want mom to blog some of the ones she took of us, I took more of the animals....Here are my favorite of the pictures.

That night we went to dinner at Lone Star in Sugar House, then Nik let me look around in Down East. Found some skirts that I will have to splurge and get soon....

Happy Birthday me! Thanks again to everyone who expressed their love for how amazing I am!

It's the Pancake Breakfast, we do it every month.

I know I am late, but here is a picture of my cool friends and I at the first ward function since Talina and David moved in. Vivian posted about this way closer to the actual date, but I am a little slower than Viv sometimes.





And here is Nik and his new toy. He has been wanting a Nerf gun for as long as I can remember. So we finally broke down and bought him one. He keeps the house safe from the Ninjas. Love you Nik!

Birthday Party #2

Last night we had a combined birthday party/dinner for the September birthdays on Nik's side. Yesterday was the real birthday of Amy and the early birthday for me and Audrey. My mother in law made delicious lasagna for everyone else and Al (stepfather-in-law) made me some great chicken Alfredo. I was amazed cause usually I am not a big fan of the Alfredo sauce, but this was really good! I ate a whole plate! There was also broccoli, home made bread, salad and three kinds of home made jams. My favorite was the crab apple. Go figure.

After dinner we had cake and ice cream (provided by Amy) and exchanged gifts. We got Amy some (in my opinion) sweet awesome hair accessories and Audrey wall and car chargers for her iPod (which, unfortunately did not make it in time to give them to her last night, but they should be in this week, so no worries. Here is what I got:

Above is from Jeanne, a great olive green purse and matching scarf headband. I love them both!

This game is from Audrey and Danny, I already made Nik promise to play with me. I love Warner Brothers!

This is a combined gift from Emilee and Amy. The picture is from Em's recent wedding and we both look GORGEOUS! The books are some that the library Em works at was going to get rid of and she snatched them for me. Fraggles are my favorite. And season 6 of Gilmore Girls. I am only one season away from the complete series....

Below are some of my favorite pictures from the evening. Check out my web gallery for the rest.


(this picture is great cause just moments later Christopher puts a handfull of grass on Sofia's head. And she just looks at him like "why would you do that?")

PS: I don't think I have one photo of the cousins where everyone is looking at the camera. I hope Jeanne has some....

Birthday Party #1

Last night my wonderful friends Jess, Spencer and Lisa threw me a birthday party! We met at Jess's and Lisa brought pizza (even the sauce less kind for me) and Jess make a delicious apple crisp instead of cake. Which is great cause I am sure there will plenty of cake in upcoming days. There happened to be a street fair of sorts across the street from Spencer and Jess's house, so we took a walk and looked in all the antique stores and at all the cool hand-made craft stuff. Such cool bags and head bands, I could have spent a thousand dollars easily. The men were awesome and walked through all of it with us and never complained once. After dessert we just sat and talked for a while. I really get to missing those guys, and it was good to catch up again. Hope we didn't keep you up too late Jess! Here is a picture of the super cool birthday present Lisa and Jess gave me:

Pretty awesome huh! I am so excited to start decorating for Halloween! My birthday marks the "its ok to decorate now" phase, so we are so close!

Thanks guys, it was a great party, and you are so sweet to do it!

Mommy Palin

I found this link on the blog of a friend of a friend and I couldn't resist taking part.




What would your name be if Sarah Palin had been your mom?




Mine would be Stag Tonnage Palin. And Nik would be Bomb Locamotive.






Although, I don't think any self-respecting American would really name her son Bomb.



Check it out! Oh, and PLEASE post your name!

Why I Love State Farm

Recently we added renters insurance to our policy with State Farm.  It was $10.41 per month.  They also said that it would give us a small discount because we have a few policies with them.  Well, we get the bill this month, and it is $14 less than last month.  What?  How does that math work out?  We add ten bucks and they take away fourteen?  All right.  I'm not complaining.  Maybe I need a few more policies.....

Triumph!

With our last rent check I sent a typed up note about our leaky bath tub faucet (that they supposedly fixed some weeks ago) saying that it was not yet fixed and that a considerable amount of water leaked from both the faucet and from behind the hot water handle. I said I would love to have that fixed soon as it was wasting a lot of water. I also put in a little bit about liking the new security cameras they put in and what-not.

Several days later I come home to see dirty foot prints in my bath tub and no leaky faucet. Yay!

Several more days later we all had notices posted on our doors that said essentially, "Our water bill has doubled. Please let us know if you have any leaky faucets. Also, we have a new policy that any repair requests must be written down so we know we have permission to enter the home."

Ha!!! I win! I was the first! And come to think of it, the only time anything has really gotten done is when I have written them a note about it.

I consider my self a trend setter.

Good Bye Shish

Last night we lost our dear Shish.  He had been struggling for quite a while now and I knew he wouldn't be with us much longer.  

We got Shish as a wedding party gift from Vivian and Jake's wedding more than 4 years ago.  He out lived two other Beta fish, one bowl change and two moves.  Shish got his name from our nephew Noah.  When he was very little and the family would come to visit us, the fish was the first place Noah would go.  And he would exclaim "Shish shish!"  And the rest was history.  He had a place of honor on our "little table" with the flowers and candles and the picture of Antonio Banderas.  The table looks very empty now.

A small, private funeral was held in the English bathroom last night while Amazing Grace was was played on the bagpipes in the back ground.

We will miss you Shish!

Rant About Work #2

I have been at my current job for long enough now that I have most of it down. My responsibilities are not large in number, but they important. So I know what is a big deal and what isn't, but here are some of the things that bug me either way. Some of you may recognize a few from the first post. That just means that they still bug me. And yes, Dave, all tellers have PMS. Lets just get that out of the way now.

1. Do not fold your checks. I was taught very early on by my father that checks were very important and that if you did not take care of them you could risk losing the money. Not like I can refuse to take a check that has been in you wallet for weeks, through the wash a couple times, or that is sticky. But I wish I could. Besides, it makes it very difficult to endorse and scan a check that is ripped or folded excessively. I know, sometimes you put them in your wallet or purse and forget about them. And one fold down the middle is fine. Do not fold the check three or four times and then let it take up shop in your pocket for a week before you cash it. If you are not going to the bank today, leave the check home.

2. I cannot read your mind. This applies to handing me a wad of cash or a stack of checks (that are not signed) and saying, "Put these in my checking." And then just staring at me. If you do that I will put it in MY checking, cause I know that number. The same thing applies to giving me a laundry list of things to do with the money you have not given me before you give me your account number. I can't do anything for you without that number and my memory is not that good. That is what the nice deposit slips are for. Now, I know, some banks do not use deposit slips, so disregard that.

3. Do NOT just walk up to my window. I am not ready for you until I call you. Besides being annoying, and rude, it could be a violation of private records. If I still have another members account information on my computer screen when you come to my window it could be compromised and I could get in big trouble. And if I am counting the money in my drawer, or putting away money from a previous transaction, I am not just killing time or brushing up on my math, I REALLY need to get that done and I cannot help you till I AM done, so please wait in line till I call you.

4. Control your kids. If you cannot, this is not the time for you to be getting a loan. I understand that schedules are tight and this might be the "only time" you have to come in. Under those circumstances, plan for the sometimes hour or more-long process and bring something for your kids to do. I am not a babysitter, and I am not nice. I will tell you kids to be quite and stop running across the chairs and playing in the blinds. I expect you, the parent, to know what your kids are doing and to help them act appropriately in a place of business.

5. Please do not talk on your cell phone when you come to my line. I do not care about whatever you are talking too-loudly about. And don't give me a dirty look when I "interrupt" your conversation to ask you such trivial questions as your account number or to sign for the $1000 in cash you got back. I promise that a normal trip to the bank will not take more than 10 minutes. You can call them back. They will understand. And if they don't, they probably talk on their cell phones at the bank too, and this will be a learning experience for them. HANG UP!!!

Ok, that's not a long list this time, but they are serious offenses. I sincerely hope that none of you are guilty of any of these and that you can use this list to make future trips to the bank more enjoyable for everyone.

The Mystery of the Missing Cards

We all have them. Whether we like it or not. Those little "savings" cards that all the grocery stores and book stores, and gas stations make you get to get the 'real' price on their products. Its a bummer, but if you want the cold cereal for 4 for $10 and not $3.75 each, its a necessary evil.

Well, a couple days ago I went to Smith's to get some milk and some lunch and decided to do the self check out (cause I always like to check myself out...) and the nice lady in the machine asks me to scan my Fresh Values Card and I pull pull out my keys, ready to do just that, when I notice that I don't have my Fresh Values Card. I don't have any of my cards...

I cancel my order, move to another lane and search my purse. Nothing. Five little key chain cards, and none of them are still there. I give the cashier my phone number instead, and guess what? My card was not under my phone number. So I gave him Niks. Oh well.

Now, I realize that this is really not a big deal. All I have to do is ask for a replacement card and they will give me one. And any "points" or whatever that accumulated on my number can be accessed by my phone number, but that was really frustrating. And I cannot find them anywhere! Not in the house, not in the car, not in my purse. Some how 5 cards have disappeared off my key chain. Not one at a time, all at once.



Plus side? My key chain is lighter.

Kara's Birthday and TNDGTDAAC #2

It has taken me a little while to get to this, but I am excited to post it. Oh, and thanks to all the feedback. I guess I will continue to post my pictures here, and not bother with a second blog.

Ok, so here is the funny part. After Kara's birthday party we stopped at Liberty Park. This is installation #2 of Things Nik Didn't Get To Do As A Child: Go to Liberty Park. We decided on a whim that we would stop and walk around. We walked around the dirty pond/lake/cesspool and carefully avoided the goose poop. And that was no small feet. We walked around the cool green-house with the beautiful landscaping and flowers, and through the cement and water recreation of the valley and canyons. On our way back around the "lake" we decided to stop at a bench and watch the sunset and the geese for a minute.

We had not been there 5 minutes when another couple walks up to the lake with a remote control boat. They proceed to drive it around, occasionally bringing it back in to clean off the propeller. It is really fun to watch them play and Nik tells me he wants one of his own. There was much discussion about where we would drive it, and if we would come all the way out here just to play with the boat, when it stopped right in the center of the lake. We watched the couple converse for a moment, and then watched as the guy (Jared) proceeded to strip (not the good kind, but he did take his shirt off, and I was not complaining) and walk out in to the gross, gross lake. We had no idea how deep it was, so we were on the edge of our seats as he slowly made his way out to the boat. By the time he reached it the water was to his waist. Both Jared and the boat made it safely back to shore, but as Nik said, "I wouldn't use those shoes again."

Of course I had my camera and could not resist snapping a couple pictures. Because of how dark it was, and how far away we were, they did not come out very good, but here they are.

We talked to them after he got back to shore and told them where to find these pictures, but it has been a couple days, so I hope they are still looking. If, by chance Jared and female companion happen to find this, please leave a comment to that effect. I would love to know that you got the pictures. They are not much, but hilarious to look back on!