Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'

Halloween is one of those holidays that I don't always get into. While I was like "whatever" in terms of costumes. I felt compelled to come up with something spooky for dinner before the kids headed out to trick or treat. It probably helped that Halloween was on a saturday and I felt like I had a lot of time to pull things together. When my kids came down to dinner and saw what they would be eating, they were a little bit horrified. They wanted to know where I got these things that we were going to eat. I calmly told them that I had caught someone trying to sneak pieces of the Halloween candy when they weren't supposed to. The result was our dinner.

Hands! Yummy, especially with whipped bone puree and blood sauce. There were many requests for the middle fingers (giggle, giggle) and the dinner was enjoyed by all.

On another front, I was getting my hair cut and my hairdresser had an adorable paper shoe filled with candy on her shelf. I decided I had to make some 'cause it was so freaking cute. I googled "paper shoe with treats" and got the pattern I needed. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? I honestly don't know how I ever lived without it. Anyway,this is how it turned out-sorry for the blurry picture.

And, the song and artist for today are "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams Jr. Listen to it on my playlist. This is also my ringtone when Jason calls me.

Just call me Martha...

Martha Quinn that is. What? You don't know who Martha Quinn is? You obviously were not around in the 80's. She was a vjay for MTV and most recently is a djay on XM radio's 80's on 8. As I was dancing in my car the other day I was thinking that so many situations in my life can be described by song lyrics. I was thinking how cool it would be to speak only in song lyrics for an entire day. The people who knew the songs would be like "whoa, that totally fits" while the people who didn't know the songs would just think you were crazy. I'm ok with that. The problem is, I don't really have the mental time to devote to this project right now. Instead I decided that from now on, the title of all of my blog posts will be lyrics from a song. Anyone who reads my blog (my imaginary audience) can play "name that song" for their own amusement. I will put the answer at the end of the post. Doesn't this sound fun!!! Just so I can practice, I will write another blog post.

Cheesy Pizza Pasta

Come and see it at www.mycrazykitchen.blogspot.com

More new recipes

I have another new recipe to share. It is on my recipe blog at
www.mycrazykitchen.blogspot.com
This is where I post new recipes and old recipes that are "keepers". Enjoy your visit!

New Recipes!

My sister Mandy has been doing a fun thing on her blog. Every week she tries a new recipe and then writes about it. I am going to join her in the hopes that we can keep each other motivated! Here is her blog address http://blahblahblahblog.typepad.com/. I have actually tried many new recipes but I always forget to take pictures! Here are the last couple and the pictures that I managed to take. Enjoy!



Orange Marinated Pork Tenderloin (Allrecipes #58941)

1 c Orange Juice

1/3 c Soy sauce

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

3 tsp minced garlic

Pork tenderloin



Make the marinade by whisking together all of the ingrediants. Pour over tenderloin and marinate for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain pork, reserving marinade. Place on baking sheet and season with salt and peper. Roast for about 20 minutes until internal temp is 160 degrees.

Strain the reserved marinade and bring it to a boil in a small saucepan. Use as a sauce for the meat.



This recipe could not have been easier. I made the marinade on satuday night and then put it in a ziploc bag with the meat. (I had to cut the tenderloin in half so it would fit) It stayed in the fridge until sunday evening and then we cooked it on the grill. It was super tender and had a nice flavor. My kids all took leftovers to school the next day. Great option for a nice looking main dish with very little fuss.

Here we go again

It's that time of year again. Summer vacation is officially over; back to regular bedtimes, and a little bit of peace and quiet the day. While I'm as ready for this as the next mom, I'm not sure if I am ready for all of the other activities that inevitably come along with the school year. There's piano lessons for Baylie and Lexie, which continued through the summer but now move to the evenings, there's violin lessons, which will replace piano lessons for Kelsie, there's soccer for Hallie, which involves a practice night and a game night, there's Activity days for Lexie and Kelsie and then there's cross country, play practice, young womens, and a very part time job for Baylie. On top of all of this I need to fit in math and LA for everyone, reading time, practice time, dinner as a family and a reasonable bedtime. I limit my kids to 1 activity at a time but with 5 kids it is still crazy! I feel like we barely have time to get through homework and practices and then it's time for bed. I would love for Lexie and Kelsie to also have a physical activity and Hallie to have a music or dance activity but there is no way we could fit it in. I waver between feeling good that we sit down together almost every night for dinner and feeling guilty that I don't let my kids take advantage of all the activities that are available. I know that I would have a hard time being a good mom if I were constantly running around every night, I know that it is important to choose between good things, and I know it is important for my kids to spend time in our home and with each other. So why do I feel like a bad mom whenever I hear about so and so who is a classical pianist, accomplished dancer and straight A student? (this is merely an example and is not meant to implicate a real person) I know people who seem to pull these things off and it doesn't appear to exact a toll on their family, why can't I do it?

And there you have it, the ugly truth of the matter. Unfortunately, I guess it all boils down to the usual "what's the matter with me". Not that that is a usual refrain for me. I try really hard to accept myself and not compare myself to others. I guess I am just sensitive about having my parenting abilities judged based on the skills of my child. We all want what is best for our kids, I just wish it were more obvious what the best things for each child were. So, for now I guess I just need to trust that I am doing the best that I can and try not to second guess myself too much. In the meantime, if anyone see's any glaring insufficiencies in my children, break it to me gently.

My sanity spot

The other day I was able to finish cleaning up my storage room. Now, while I do this several times a year, apparently I forget how nice it is to have it clean and organized. It's way too easy to just drop off a case of this or a bag of that or pull a bucket out just to grab something. This is why I have to clean and organize several times a year. Ever since I finished the other day, I have found myself just going in to look at it at random times during the day. Every time I am in the laundry room, I can't resist a quick look at my storage room. Weird, huh? I was thinking about why it makes me so happy and I realized several things.

1. It is probably the only room in the house that nobody but me messes with. Occasionally I send the kids down to get something, but other than that they never bother with it. This means that for better or for worse, it always stays just how I leave it. That in itself is miraculous to me.

2. You can't hear the phone ring in the storage room. Need I say more?

3. I can use my label machine to my hearts content. Can you say neatly labeled buckets, shelves and cans. Aaah, contentment!

4. The kids frequently forget that we have a storage room, so it is a good hiding place when I need a time out. It also dampens the sound really well so that when they're yelling for me, I can honestly say "I did answer you, you just didn't hear me!"

5. I'm surrounded by food, duh!

Here are a few pictures of my haven. Baylie-when you read this, consider yourself initiated in some of the important details of motherhood. Hold them sacred and secret!

PS. I know there are empty shelves-Empty shelves in storage room=not good. I'm working on it! Baby steps people,baby steps

Grandma Davie

When I was a little girl, I grew up with my Grandpa Garrison and Grandma Mary (My Dad's stepmother) close by, and then Grandma Davie and George in Utah. Grandma Davie was my only "real" grandma. I can remember talking to her on the phone on occasion, getting Christmas presents from her and visiting her in Utah. I always thought it was so cool that she had a mountain in her backyard. When I was in first grade we went to Utah over Christmas and we went to her house. I have many memories of playing with my cousins there and taking pictures together. I remember sliding down the stairs in our socks with Jason and Tyler. Later, when I was 16, Holly and I came out to Utah to go to EFY and we were able to stay with Grandma again. She took us shopping and cooked for us and George showed off the rock in his basement. There were occasional visits when we were in college and later after I was married. Even though we did not live close by and were not able to see her often, to me, she was "grandma".

Sadly, on May 6,2009, Grandma Davie died. My parents were fortunate enough to be here and were able to see her right before she went. Extended family came together for her funeral and we all shared our memories of her. There were many things that I never knew about my Grandma, my Mom and my Grandpa. I was able to recognize some of the character traits that have come down through our family from my Grandma. Hard work and independence were two of the big ones. I also recognize acceptance. The ability to move on past negative events without letting them make you negative, and the ability to let people be who they are-for better or worse. Learning more about my Grandma's life and consequently, my Mom's life, has also made me appreciate many of the incredible things my Mom has done. She made the decision to have a strong marriage and family despite a less than ideal family life of her own. She chose to always share the positive aspects of her childhood with us and she chose to be married in the temple and raise us with the gospel.

Kelsie's Baptism

Kelsie turned 8 on April 6th. Even though she could have been baptized on April 11, we decided to wait until May, so that she and Brynna could be baptized on the same day. It also allowed us to go out of town over spring break.

Well, the big day was May 2. Grandma and Grandpa Garrison came out and Holly and Brent also came with their kids. The weather was a little bit chilly and rainy but it was still a wonderful day.
We spent the morning doing some last minute shopping at Deseret Book and then Holly, my Mom and I went to lunch. It was a nice break before the rest of the busy day.

Kelsie and Brynna were the only ones from our ward being baptized, but there were also about 6 kids from other wards. Our ward was first and things moved along very quickly. Everything was over within about 45 minutes. We were able to stay together with Brynna and her family for the baptism and the confirmation so that was nice too. After the baptism we went back to our house for dinner. There were lots of people there, 34 to be exact! I had made Blackbean chicken and Cilantro lime rice and then everyone else brought different side dishes. We had banana splits for dessert. It was little crazy , but it is so fun to be with family.

Race for the Cure

Today I spent my morning downtown participating in Race for the Cure. I signed up for the 5K to support Kristine and my friend Nicole came with me. Now, I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but I figured I would at least be able to walk it if nothing else. Since I haven't run since "fitness for death" at BYU, I did convince myself to do a few trial runs before the actual race. I ran a little over a mile, twice. I would have to say that I wasn't very commited to the idea. In fact, I kept hoping up until we got there, that I would break my leg, or something drastic so that I could just "sleep in for the cure" instead. I was regretting this lofty idea of suppporting my friend in this manner (sorry Kristine!).

Now the funny part of this, is that ever since college I have had this weird idea that I wanted to do a triathalon with no training. I wanted to see how far I could push my body and what I could accomplish "naturally". Very foolish idea. I apologize to all the serious athletes, who actually train and work hard, for thinking that I could just do it without any training and very little natural athleticism. Silly, silly me....

So today I started out running and then walked and then ran and just sort of did what I wanted to do. I even stopped to use the porta potty. My initial intent was to try to run at least half of it but apparently I lack the drive necessary to make myself do something that I really don't have to do. After all, it was for a cause, not for a competition. They weren't even really timing it for pete's sake! My lack of mental strength was bit shocking to me. Even though I felt pretty good the entire time I was out there, now that I have had a shower and stopped for a little while, I am totally feeling it! My legs, my back, my arms and pretty much everything hurts. I would love to just curl up in a ball and go back to sleep. Too bad I have things that need to be accomplished this afternoon.

I would have to say that the best part of the event was simply the feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself. There were 18,000 people participating, most of whom have been touched by breast cancer in some way. I ran behind a little boy whose sign said "in support of my mom, survivor of 5 years", he couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 years old (that will be your girls, Kristine). There were many others, running in memory of loved ones, and roughly 600 survivors who also ran. It was heartwarming to see so many people joined together for a good cause. I am saving the memory to remind me, that there IS hope for this world when I am depressed about the future from reading the news for too long. Probably the other most impactful thing was a keychain we received. It has 4 circles on it, the first about 1 mm diameter, about the size of a pea. This stands for the average size of a lump which is detected through a mammogram when they have previous films to look at. The second circle is about 1 1/2 mm. It represents the average size of a lump that is discovered with a first mammogram. The third circle is about 2 mm in diameter and represents the average lump that can be found doing regular self exams. The fourth circle is about 3 1/2 mm and represents the average size lump that is discovered by accident. I don't know about anyone else, but I would not want to find something the size of a half dollar by accident.

I am definitely glad that I was there today, and did not break my leg. However, I am also almost, definitely sure, that running is not my thing. I may live to eat my words, but for now I am going back to my dreams of becoming a pro golfer. Look for me on the golf channel in a few more years!

The handywoman

I like to think that I can do anything. Even things that are mechanically challenging and not very ladylike. My friend Sallie is my hero, because she fixes all kinds of things. Since I have been married, I have mostly relegated these sorts of things to Jason and have become less motivated to try to figure them out. When our disposal stopped working right before our trip to Zions, I just told Jason about it and waited for him to fix it. I did scoop out the goo that was in the bottom and determine that the soil that Hallie had dumped in the sink while trying to water her bean seed, had rocks in it, and probably was to blame for the problem.

Well, by the following tuesday when the disposal was still broken, I realized that with Jason being gone so much right now, I probably ought to try and figure things out on my own again. I googled my problem and found that it was an easy fix. I took everything out from under the sink, used the little allen wrench and successfully fixed the disposal. I felt so good! I even cleaned out and rearranged all the junk that ends up under the kitchen sink. I decided that if I could fix the disposal then maybe I should move on to larger projects like tiling the laundry room or building a shelving system-think of all the power tools I could use! I continued thinking up projects that I could awe and surprise Jason with right up until the time that I went to put my wash in the dryer and found an inch of water on the laundry room floor. Crap!
A couple of weeks ago my washer started sounding like a rocketship trying to blast off, whenever it went into the spin cycle. At one point I had the repairman over, fixing a problem with my dryer (never buy a Frigidaire dryer )and he informed me that it was probably the drum bearing, which was a $600 repair. I looked it up online and was totally excited about ordering the parts and fixing it myself until I looked at the current part prices and realized I was still looking at at least $500 just for the part. Since this was the 2nd time this had happened (never buy a Frigidaire front loader) and the washer was 8 years old, I decided I would just replace it. However, I only expected it to grind to a halt-not empty its contents onto the floor. Thank goodness for wet vacs and friends.

My new washer promises to make me love doing laundry. I really don't mind doing laundry to start with but it is always exciting to get something new. I just hope I'm not replacing it's drum bearing 5 years after I buy it, right after the extended warranty runs out! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Spring Break

We love to go to Zion's National Park for spring break. When we planned our vacations in January we decided to go back again this year. As the date approached, my sister in law Jana called to say they were going to go down also, as were my other sister's in law Sharleen and Michelle and their families. My inlaws were also going to be staying in St George. I was excited that we would get to share the fun with cousins. A couple of weeks before we were supposed to go, Jason realized that he probably would not be able to leave until saturday. The kids got out of school on wednesday and our original plan was to leave thursday and come back on monday. I still wanted to go down on thursday, so Jason arranged for my father in law to drive us down with our trailer and help us get set up. Jana and Michelle had sick kids, so they decided not to come down. We ended up with a spot right next to Sharleen and her family which was just perfect. Their oldest daughter is a few years younger than Baylie and then they have a daughter the same age as Lexie and one the same age as Kelsie.

I was a little nervous about taking 5 kids hiking by myself, but I decided it would be fine as long as we stuck to the shorter hikes. We decided to do Emerald pools on friday. I had planned on only doing the lower pools but we went the wrong way and ended up at the middle pools. it worked out ok, but there were a lot of high drop offs that made me nervous with Ashton. Basically, we all started out together but as Ashton noticed the rocks and the dirt and got progressively slower, the girls got farther ahead. They ended up getting there probably 15 minutes ahead of us. We had lunch at the pools and then headed back down to check out the horseback riding and get some ice cream at the lodge. The girls were disappointed that the minimum age for the horses was 7. I told them they either had to wait 4 more years for Ashton to be 7 or they had to wait until there was another parent available so that the younger kids would have someone to stay back with them. Kelsie offered to have the lady in charge of the horses watch Hallie and Ashton, but she politely declined. Baylie got a funny video of the girls imitating one of the horses.
Friday evening we hung out at the trailer, rode bikes and watched movies. We had a small campfire with Mike and Sharleen when they got back and then we all went to bed.
On saturday we went over to Bumbleberries for the annual easter egg hunt. It was freezing! The kids got way too much candy as usual, but they had a great time. We planned to do a short hike with Mike and Sharleen but when we got to the River Walk, it was pouring rain. We got off the bus and waited in the rain to see if it would stop and then decided we would just be miserable if we hiked in the rain. We headed back and stopped at the museum to watch a film about the park and hear a ranger talk. While we were waiting for the ranger talk we discovered that Lexie was running a fever. I ended up taking Lexie,Kelsie and Ashton back to the trailer and then Baylie and Hallie came back with Sharleen. Jason was flying in that afternoon, so we went to St George to pick him up. We stopped at In-N-Out for dinner and then came back to our trailer. We took the kids over to the Imax theater to see "Monsters vs Aliens" in 3D. It was a great movie and the 3D effects were really fun.

On sunday we went to church, took family pictures and then went to St George to have dinner with Jason's parents. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we enjoyed lounging in the sun. That night we had another campfire and roasted marshmallows and made banana boats.
We pulled out bright and early monday morning and headed home. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the little bit of sunshine that we had. It was a good vacation.

Sunday afternoons

What a moment of payback to see your kids all getting along and playing a game together. I didn't even ask them to! I love how Baylie was helping Hallie and letting Ashton sit on her lap and help her play. I remember many sunday afternoons where I played games with my sisters and parents. It seemed like on sundays we either all got along great or we all wanted to kill each other. I'm glad I was able to capture this moment.

It's my birthday! (Yesterday)

I have always loved my birthday. I feel like it's a day when I can unashamedly make everything about me. I have stopped reminding everyone about my big day as I have gotten older but I still look forward to it and let those close to me know that I have certain expectations. First of all, I do not cook on my birthday, I do not make lunches and I do not do laundry. I am willing to still drive kids to school and answer the phone and stuff as long as everyone recognizes that it is my birthday and I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart.

When my sister Holly and I were in college we would always have a birthday celebration day. Our birthdays are only 5 days apart, so we would celebrate together by going to all of the places that give you free stuff on your birthday and then going shopping. It was awesome. Since Holly and I don't live close to each other any more we haven't been able to do that for many years. Once our kids are a little bigger though, we will be resuming our tradition.

This year for my Birthday I signed myself up for all of the free birthday stuff I could find. (Google "free birthday stuff") I have free ice cream from Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone, a free dessert at Macaroni Grill, a free burger at Red Robin, a free dish at Noodles and Co and free food from Famous Daves. Now I just have to find time to cash in on all of these because I only have about a 1 week window for some of them.

Yesterday for my birthday, I slept in a little bit and then took the kids to school. I had told them they were in charge of their own lunches but some of them still didn't realize I was serious. When they asked me, as they were getting out of the car, if I would drop lunch off to them I didn't even feel guilty when I said "nope, it's my birthday". They're resourceful and they can always get hot lunch. After I dropped off kids, I really wanted a ham and cheese croissant from Hagermans and fresh orange juice from Einsteins but it was practically a blizzard so I decided to just stay in my car and go through the drive up at Einsteins. The orange juice was great, the eggsandwhich bagel thing was ok. I will make up for it by going to Hagermans today. I went home and vegged in front of my computer for too long and then got ready to go to lunch with my friends. We met at Olive Garden and thoroughly enjoyed the soup, salad and breadsticks and of course, dessert! Thanks Sallie, Melinda and Merrilee! My lovely sil Jen watched my kids for me. Thank you! I decided to stop at Kohls on the way home to try and find a new purse. I am on a quest but have not been able to find exactly what I want-erggh. After not finding a purse, chasing down Hallie and Ashton and discovering that the Playtex Just my size "almost A" bra fit me way too well, I decided it was time to go. I parked the kids in front of the computer and tv and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. I wasn't hungry for dinner so I ordered Chinese food for everyone else and continued to read until Jason got home. Jason and the kids sang me Happy Birthday and gave me some golf balls and a new glove. Despite my reassurances, Hallie was still very concerned that there was only one glove. I had book club at 7:30 so I spent the rest of the evening discussing books, food and life. We ate fresh strawberries and I blew out a floating candle. I love my book club! I ended my perfect day with my favorite person, Jason.

I have golf stuff, a candle, flowers and cards to remind my of my wonderful day yesterday but most importantly, I have more memories of feeling loved and celebrated on my favorite day of the year.

Round Two

So, I had my next appointment with the laser hair removal people. 100% improvement! This time she used a machine called the "Zimmer", it basically blew freezing cold air onto your skin. I barely felt anything. Hallelujah! Maybe I can finish this thing out.

It's time again!

Time for your monthly exam-do it for yourself and for your family.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_How_to_perform_a_breast_self_exam_5.asp

All I need to know about life, I learned from my box of chocolates.

I just finished eating my 2 lb box of chocolates that Jason gave me for Valentine's day. I miss them already. (sigh) No worries, I fully plan to replace them after Scrapaway. Anyway, as I enjoyed my chocolates I realized that not only was I being nourished physically and emotionally, I was gaining insight to some of life's great lessons. Allow me to share...

1. Color really doesn't matter. White, dark, milk-it's all still chocolate.

2. No matter how good the outside looks, it's what's on the inside that counts.

3. Nuts are good-but only in small quantities

4. Differences make the world go 'round-caramels, creams, toffee, nougats, ...

5. If you save the best for last, you always have something to look forward to.

Picture tag

This is for Cristine and Baylie-enjoy!

1. go to my documents/pictures.

2. go to my 6th file folder.

3. go to my 6th picture.

4. blog about it.

5. tag 6 people to do the same

Isn't Lexie cute? This was christmas 2003, Lexie was 5 years old.

Feel your boobies

In October, my awesome friend Kristine mentioned in an email that she had found a lump in her breast while doing a self exam. Fibrocystic Disease runs in her family so she wasn't terribly worried. Well, after tests and a biopsy, it came back that she has breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy performed last month and starts Chemo this month. She will follow up with radiation when the chemo is done. Kristine is a strong woman and I know she will come through this beautifully and will be an example to others. The thing about this that struck me, was that she didn't do exams regularly (like me) but just happened to do one at a critical time so that the cancer could be found. She is 38 years old! Wow. Anyway, she is a survivor and I know everything will turn out well. The thing I want to share is the importance of monthly self exams! I have started doing them regularly and am going to post a reminder on my blog every month. If you're worried that you're not doing them right, talk to your doctor or nurse. If you feel uncomfortable doing them-I'm pretty sure surgery, chemo and radiation are much worse. Here is a link to the American Cancer Society page with instructions. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_How_to_perform_a_breast_self_exam_5.asp
Time to feel your boobies!

Potty training a 2 year old

So Ashton has been working on the whole potty training thing. It has been successful-he wears underwear every day with only occasional issues. I had learn new vocabulary because apparently boys don't wear panties. Thay wear underwear. Who knew? Anyway, Jason decided to teach Ashton how to stand up to pee. The only problem we ran into was him forgetting to put up both seats. That is, until yesterday. All I'm going to say is that Jason obviously forgot to tell him that you cannot poop from a standing position. Yeeaah. Kind of an messy mistake.

Stalking myself

So because I got sucked into my computer today, I was randomly searching for things on the web. I decided to type my maiden name into google and see what I got. Well to my surprise, I found out that an experience I had submitted to the BYU Alumni magazine like 4 years ago had been put in their online section. Cool huh! I also found out that it would be pretty easy to find me if anyone was looking. I'm not sure if that's good or bad...
Anyway here is the story from the magazine:

California Dreaming
Nikkie Garrison Benson, ’93, Sandy, Utah
I will always remember a road trip I took over Presidents’ Day weekend in 1993. Seven of us took two cars and started early in the morning on our way to Los Angeles. We lost track of each other part way through the trip and, because these were pre–cell phone days, we had no way of communicating. Our solution was to pull over and stand on the side of the freeway until the other car came into sight. We did line dances, waved at cars, and got truckers to blow their horns as we waited. We have hilarious pictures to remind us of our craziness.
We made it to Los Angeles and stayed at the home of a friend, toured the “new” San Diego California Temple, and ate at a fancy restaurant. That night we drove to Mexico to stay at a friend’s beach house. We went dancing and drank virgin pina coladas and had fun flirting with the locals. As we drove out through Tijuana the next day, we had fun trying out our Spanish while we bought blankets and souvenirs.
The most memorable part of the trip, however, was the conversation. We talked about everything. In particular, I had a boy I was dating that I wasn’t very interested in; as we started talking about relationships, I realized that this boy had some really good qualities that maybe I should think twice about. I decided that when we got back I would give him a real chance instead of just thinking about how to get rid of him. We wound up getting engaged just one month later and have now been married for 11 years. That road trip gave me some awesome memories, international experience (I had never left the United States before this), and the opportunity to “meet” the man I would eventually marry.

Bon Jovi, as sung by Kelsie

"Shot through the heart and you're too laaame, you give love a band aid; you give lo-ove a band aid".
Jason downloaded some of my music onto a MP3 player that Kelsie got for christmas, it's very educational to hear your 7 year old's version of some of the lyrics. For anyone who doesn't know the real lyrics-"shot through the heart, and you're to blame, you give love a bad name". I bet Jon would laugh too if he heard her sing it.

A new year, a new blog

I decided that I wanted to try a new blogging platform this year. I liked typepad, but the photo upload was soo slow and some parts of it just weren't very user friendly. Since my renewal is coming up, I decided to try blogspot and see if it works out better for me. I know that you usually get what you pay for (which is why I started with typepad) but I am hoping that the milllions of people who use blogspot are an indication that it works just as well if not better. And really-free is always good!

January is off to a great start! We spent New Year's day with the family and got in a lot of "together" time before the kids went back to school. The first week back was a little rough-we were all way too used to staying up late and sleeping in. This week we have been able to get back into a normal schedule at last.

For Christmas Jason gave me a laser hair removal package. I had my first appointment last week. I had decided to do my bikini area, 'cause truthfully, that is the biggest pain in the summer. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of pain, but the people had assured me that if I could handle waxing than this was a piece of cake. When I went to my appointment the first thing the lady said to me was "did they tell you this was going to hurt?" I was kind taken back and she continued "this really hurts a lot". I was thinking great, what have I gotten myself into? Well, she was right. It hurt A LOT! Think about a razor sharp, red hot, staple gun methodically stapling you over and over. Sound nice? Yeah, I didn't like it either. The lady who was doing it was a little surprised at my pain levels and told me that people usually tolerated even higher levels with no problem. I guess I'm a wimp. Although I did find out in parting that apparently your pain threshold in that area can be much lower when it is close to that time of the month. I made sure to schedule my next appointment so that hopefully my pain tolerance would be much better. Before you reconsider ever having this done, the pain was only present when she was doing the treatment. As soon as she stopped I was fine and there was very little redness or tenderness in the areas that were treated. I will make sure and let you know how the next appointment goes-'cause darn it, I am going to do this!!!

I am currently sick with strep throat but don't feel very bad physically. I am taking advantage of my "sick" day to get all this blogging done and organize our pictures. I bet I can even get Jason to fix dinner-or at least order out. Maybe I could spend the night watching tv without feeling guilty for my messy house. Hmmm, sometimes I love to be sick!!