Happy Mum's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I found it only suiting to honor my amazing mom on such a fun holiday. My mom is one of the coolest people I know. I don't know of many mothers who are willing to drive their kids to California for a surfing competition and rock concert on the beach-Switchfoot Bro-Am-, drive her daughters to the Rock Springs Wyoming Fair to see the same band play, and ask for the lead singer to put some sunscreen on her nose (pictured above, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot), go with us to competitions in Alaska, Portland, Florida, sponser Tennessee, and help with the projects that got us there. Take us on such trips as Fish Lake every year, California, Oregon (multiple times), Florida, Lake Powell, Wyoming, and the spontaneous state trips. Let me paint my wall green despite her fear of color on walls. I have learned much from my mom: never be late, always be on time, always take a water bottle with you even if you don't need it, don't be afraid to go somewhere new or try something new, learning is fun and important, go to college, math is hard even for adults, check the weather at least 10 times to be fully prepared (I have dubbed her the "Weathermom"), finish the jobs you agree to do, how to appropriately and satisfactorily clean a bathroom including a scrubbed sink/tub, how to make peach jam, service is important, fulfilling callings at 110%, don't get sick (and if you are try to hide it or she is freaked out), you have to learn to cook even if you hate it, make lists, and this list could go on for awhile. I love my mom so much, she is awesome, and I am super blessed to have her in my life.

I love my sisters

So yesterday was the magical day where Emi, Chris, and I all had the afternoon off. We had many adventures including:

going to Cafe Rio and not killing Christie was a fantastic discovery.....shopping.....Dilly Dally's.....river parkway and throwing rocks.....buying a bike that does not fit in my car at Costco.....I love my sisters.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas was a lot of fun, some of the highlights included the temple, Hoover Dam, the Bellagio (didn't stay there but we did visit a few times to see the garden and water shows), warm weather, and sleeping in. It was fun walking out of church and having the temple right in front of you as well. :)

Graduation

Yay for a happy graduation day! While there is still a long road ahead of us, it was such a fun day to celebrate JD getting his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Chemistry. I know he won't like me saying so, but doesn't he look so cute in his gown with all the trimmings? It was super neat to be there for such a special occasion. It was a great day of pictures, Indian food, and driving 7 hours to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation. If only the celebrations and lack of school could last a little bit longer, sadly class starts up again this Monday. :/

Fun story, I went to the end of commencement where former Govenor Mike Leavitt was speaking, JD's college was right after commencement so as soon as it was over, I ran as quickly as I could through the crowd to stake front row seats for the 7 other family members coming to see JD walk. I had grabbed a spool of string before leaving thinking it may come in handy. As I got to the front row-center, I held the end of the string, counted seats, and threw the spool to the last seat that I needed to save. The bright orange string was a life saver, not more than 10 seconds after my string had been strung there were people trying to get my saved seats. The first spoke for the rest as they eyed the string with great distaste, "I take it the string means these seats are saved?" I replied yes and they hustled to the remaining sections with front rows. Yay for my spool of orange string!

Too Excited

Tomorrow is going to be SO so so exciting (and Friday)! JD will graduate with his degree in Psychology and Chemistry, and after graduation we leave for sunshine and warmth in Las Vegas. I have a list of all the free things avaiable to go to from lion and tiger compounds to aquariums and botanical gardens. We are going to the temple and Hoover Dam/Lake Mead as well. While it is a short trip since JD gets to jump right back into organic chemistry this summer, I AM SO excited to go and to see him graduate and to sing 'sweet' nothings about whatever is on bill boards, speed limits, weather, or ballads on my love for such items as Sour Patch Kids and Jolly Ranchers, on our ride down to sunshine (and I am not even kidding that is my way of passing the time on our road trips, I'm glad JD loves me A LOT). So while not going to Disneyland this time, I will be like the cute kid in the clip this evening as I charge cameras, empty SD cards and my Flip Vid and prepare for a few days of concentrated fun!

If Only......

If only something like this could have happened yesterday. JD and I had the joy of sitting for 9 hours to get all of our pharmacy live continuing education credits taken care of. We had the same speaker for two lectures=4 hours hours of nutty nutrition irrelevant to the topic of PMS and PCOS such as drinking mineral water, what kind of magnesium will assist with all of your ailments, or that 90% of Americans are allergic to gluten (wheat) and don't even know it. Did you also know that keeping a hard boiled egg in your lab coat to snack on is a fantastic idea, minus the yolk of course. Rancid almonds are better for you than any other form of almond, eating a tablespoon of cinnamon a day will assist with insulin maintenance, and so on.....My brain was melting with boredom and cynicism, as well as from the rather high temperature and stuffiness of a low lit room to accommodate the powerpoint presentations. A musical distraction would have made the experience all worth it.

Sparrows in the Dryer

I was on the way to my parent's house to meet up with my mom for lunch. On my way, I get a text from my mom that reads: Help! some critter is in the vent by my dryer! help its big!

I get to the house and my mom is armed with a butterfly net. I asked her what she thought she was going to do with a butterfly net.....apparently that is the best way to catch a bird. I opted for a pillow case. After Bandit escaped the dryer (so named since my mom initially thought there were some really noisy robbers in the house when she got home from her walk) I scooped her up in the pillow case. We took Bandit outside and let her out of the pillow case, she circled the field a few times before calming down. What a funny adventure!