I'd give my right hand for some Kleenex with lotion

I apologize for my absence lately, but the winter bug of 2007 has gotten its dirty little paws on me. I have not had the flu but instead an aching body, sinus headache, lung-shattering hacking, and running faucet (that is my nose). Things seem to be looking up, so I hope that I can at least loose my man-like voice before this weekend.

Why the deadline?

Cuz we are going to Sacramento! A last-minute trip out to University of the Pacific for an orientation, etc and the best part is they are paying for Ronnie—I’m just tagging along to visit my ultra-cool California aunts! When we booked the trip, we were hoping that it would up our chances for scholarships if we flew out and met them in person. That very same evening we received a letter in the mail letting us know we would get $10,000 a year (with some stipulations). Now, we are hoping that after meeting us they will realize that their school can’t function without the likes of our little family and give us everything we could ever hope for (read: a full-ride scholarship).

In other good news we learned that we were accepted to the University of Wyoming in my hometown of Laramie. We are excited! The only snag is that they want us to decide by March 16th. A mere two weeks from now. I know the person who would be the most excited about this news is my 10-year-old brother, Jord-man (who has literally been praying nightly for us to come to school in Laramie), but after consulting with my mom, we have decided not to tell him until we make a final decision of where we are going. We just can’t bear to break the little kid’s heart!

Randomness

Just wanted to let everyone know that we heard from University of the Pacific. We are in! It is a private school in Sacramento that is prrrrrrrricey, so I don’t know if we will end up there. Hopefully this is a sign that we will start hearing from lots more schools soon. (otherwise I may not be able to take it).

This picture is one of us taken while we were snowmobiling at the ranch.

And here is a little something that was kind of entertaining:
YOUR REAL NAME:
KaLee

YOUR GANGSTA NAME (1st 4 letters plus izzle):
KaLizzle (the e didn’t make any sense)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fave color + fave animal):
Green Giraffe

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name + childhood street):
L. Thomes

YOUR STAR WARS NAME (last 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of your first name + first 3 letters of Mom's maiden name):
Lopkanic

YOUR SUPER HERO NAME (2nd fave color + fave drink):
Pink Lemonade

YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name + 3rd letter of your last name + any letter of your middle name + 2nd letter of your Mom's maiden name + 3rd letter of your Dad's middle name + 1st letter of a sibling's first name + last letter of your Mom's middle name):
Aplieal

YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM NAME (Grandma/Grandpa's first name + Jones):
Darylene Jones

YOUR GOTH NAME (Black + name of one of your pets):
Black Little One

If you've seen one rock...

We had a great time in the Moab area this last weekend. We traveled down on Saturday and drove straight into Arches National Park. It was late afternoon, so we only spent about two hours, but were able to see the Visitor’s Center, and Balanced Rock.

Ronnie at Balanced RockOur Remodeled Motel Room!

We then drove into Moab and checked into the Best Western. Lucky us! The rooms had just been remodeled and for once I felt like I could walk with no socks or shoes on. Unfortunately, even the remodel was not enough to convince Ronnie to sit on a Motel bedspread, but I’m hoping to trick him into it one day. The flat panel TV seemed to keep him pretty happy though.

Ronnie with the TV

The next day we got to the park around 10 a.m. and went straight to the Delicate Arch to do the big hike. I’m just glad we weren’t there in the dead of summer—cuz it was PLENTY hot for me. The greatest part of the hike is that the whole time you can’t see the arch, you feel as if you are hiking aimlessly and then you turn one corner and… BAM!!! There she is.

The Beautiful Arch

Great big arch---little-bitty KaLee!

Ronnie was able to test his brand new (to us) camera and took many beautiful pictures. If any of you are interested, I could put together a 20 minute slideshow.

No takers?

Okay then.

We hiked to lots of other stuff, like Sand Dune Arch, and the North and South Windows and then decided to venture on over to Dead Horse State Park—a place as fun as it’s name suggests. No actually, the views were spectacular, and history of the park is cool.

Ronnie and Sand Dune Arch

The view of the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point

Ronnie at Dead Horse Point

Stupid Roads

So, we were supposed to go to Laramie for the long weekend, but the heavens are working against us (literally). There are insane gusts of wind across Wyoming —capable of blowing over cars, and so the roads are closed. We are now going to fulfill our long weekend desires by trapsing down to Moab and Arches. (I guess after living in Utah for almost six years it’s about time we check them out).

I’ve been meaning to get this picture up forever!

Back row: Matt, Laura, Ronnie, KaLee, Gnickie, and Josh

Front row: Clay, Jessica and Madison

In Memory of Deseret Towers

I just received the following email:

As a service of the BYU Alumni Association, we are offering a piece of your BYU history. Our records indicate you are a former resident of Deseret Towers. As you may know, several of the towers have been torn down, and we have salvaged a limited number of the buildings' bricks.

If you are interested in obtaining one of them-at no charge-you may get one by coming to the reception desk at the Knight Mangum Building, the temporary home of the Alumni Association.

Regardless of whether you come by for a brick, we hope you have fond memories of your stay at Deseret Towers.

While I met three of my very best friends during my stay at Deseret Towers, the absolute LAST thing I desire is one of the bricks laying around my house. What would you use one for? A doorstop? A paperweight? A grinding stone for your wheat? A decorative piece on your mantel?

Wait.

I just figured out the only logical use for these bricks of remembrance.

I would go pick one up if I could throw it through the window of my previous room in T tower. (In hopes that it will convince the administration to hurry up already and tear down the rest of the buildings).

Happy Valentine's Day!

No, this isn't our child...but can you think of a better way to say Happy Valentine's Day?!?

P.S. This is the adorable Madison Shorter.

Happy Birthday Alisa!

Today we celebrate the day that Alisa entered the world! I’m sure Ronnie loved her to death as a baby, even if he did beat her up as they aged. Alisa is very considerate and is studying to be an expert librarian. She graduates this year! Yea for being done with school! In thinking about my dream jobs as a child, librarian was always at the TOP of the list. You get to stamp cards, and scan barcodes and read ALL. DAY. LONG. I’m sure that my dreams are not very realistic, but that is what I imagine.

Alisa is engaged and getting married in July and will be a beautiful bride. She is so great with kids and always has a book to read to them. She even lets me run all her errands with her! Hope you have a great day! Love you!

Snowmobile--no more

As the oldest child, I naturally compare my childhood to that of my younger brothers and sisters. As expected, they have and have done things that we would have not been able to do when I was that age.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy my childhood—I loved it! My greatest treats were Barnum Animal Crackers for being good in the store or Handi-Snacks as the ultimate reward. I loved dressing up, and would play house, school, library or ballerina all day long. We watched old Disney movies like The Gnome-mobile and Family Band, and sang along to the bands my parents listened to (Kenny Rogers, Chicago, Carpenters and America).

As time passed, my family’s situation changed. We were not rich by any means, but had some money for the “extras” in life. This meant that I could have Lunchables for my lunch occasionally. Such was the situation when I left for college. I’m not trying to get pity. In fact; my mom is quite honestly the captain of the fair police and is constantly trying to make everyone feel “equal.”
After I left the house, (at least it seemed that way) my family began getting things I would have loved to have: snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, flying turtles, a ranch, etc. I have had to appease myself by using these toys when I am home for brief amounts of time. Surprisingly, I have learned that I am deathly afraid of snowmobiles. Every time I ride one, I feel completely out of control—as if I will die at any moment. For example: at Christmas time the family went riding and I screamed like a little girl for the entirety of my 20-minute ride. Conversely, my ten year old brother was dragged by a rope behind the snowmobile for a considerable while and had a grand-old-time.

I recently found out that I have no need to fear the snowmobile anymore. My brother, Adam, and his friend (let’s call him JJ) were enjoying an afternoon ride when JJ unfortunately met with a tree.

JJ survived.

The snowmobile didn’t.

Since it’s not too safe to snowmobile with just one machine, our family snowmobiling trips are at a minimum until we can get a replacement. Naturally most of the family mourns—I am just a little relieved. Now I can spend more time 4-wheeling, flying on the flying turtle and shooting guns on the ranch—activities I absolutely love!

Solemn Oaths

Overheard: I made a solemn oath to myself today—that I would not buy ANYTHING out of the vending machine.
Co-worker: I made a solemn oath to myself today—that I would not eat all of the Crazy Bread I bought for lunch…I failed.
KaLee: I made a solemn oath to myself last night—that I would get up right when the alarm went off this morning…I also failed.

The casual comment of a student at my work caused me to ponder solemn oaths. I make anywhere from 5-10 of these daily. Strong statements in my head that are never said out loud. Little goals to get me through the next day.
I will do all of the dishes when I get home from work.
I will unpack my jewelry so I can accessorize again.
I will go to bed earlier.
I will finish the book I am reading.
I will get my valentines made.
I will plan next week’s menu.

Does anyone else find themselves doing this? Am I alone, or part of the norm?

Superbowl Party

We were able to gather with many of our close friends for the Superbowl yesterday. Go Colts! It was fun to have everyone come—we really need to get together again soon. Now that we have the space (Thanks Grandma & Grandad) we can host anytime.

Stephanie, Chip, Gnickie, Josh, Scott, Emily and Cheryl.

Clay and Madison, Ronnie, Matt, Laura and Barbara.

As you can see-it was a time for extreme relaxation!

Ronnie and I with the always adorable Maddie! We love this little one!

Happy Birthday Alex!

I am a day late on this post, but we are living a little more frugally and don't have the internet at home anymore so when I forgot to post at work, today was the best I could do.

Alex is my soon-to-be brother-in-law (man, that was a lot of hyphens). I consider him the genius of the family. He is getting his degree from Caltech and although he has told me what he is studying, it has escaped me at the moment. I do know that he wants to save the world--one step at a time and work to improve the environment somehow.

We are excited to welcome him into the Cali clan and as a fellow "outsider" I know how welcome he will be. Have a great day Alex (yesterday)!

Roommates and Sugar

I come from a long line of dessert lovers. Lovers of chocolate, sugar, coconut, pecans, and sprinkles. When my mother or grandmother is invited to a party, they are always asked to bring one of their delicious dessert recipes. When I was growing up, we had a dessert after dinner five or six times a week, and it was the motivation of the sweets that enticed me to eat some of my most detested meals.

At college, my habits did not change. In the dorms, my cravings were easily satisfied by the cafeteria, and in apartments I would bake cookies or cakes for all to have. I even have two roommates that blame me solely for their need for dessert now. In the words of Cher, “You have ruined me! A meal isn’t complete without dessert!” My old roommates and I got together last night for dinner at Bajios and I’m proud to announce that we all resisted the urge for dessert! We had an awesome time and I'm so glad that we have remained close friends through the years (with or without treats).