10 Weird Things

I have seen posts such as this on the internet, and decided that it would be a fun thing to include for all of you.

1. I can’t live without my to-do list. This may not seem very weird, but the weird part is that if I accomplish something that is NOT on my list, I have to add it to the bottom, just so I can cross it out.

2. I did not know what the little white lights were on cars until I was 20. That’s right; I had no idea that car manufacturers were kind enough to let you know when someone is going in reverse. (I would like to note that I did pass the driving test at 16, I had just been driving regularly for 4 years without this knowledge.)

3. I would love to live in a musical. Seriously. I think it would be amazing to be talking to someone and then break out into song. What would be even cooler is to have synchronized dancing scenes with strangers on the street. Think about it—you know you want to live in one too.

4. I enjoy cleaning bathrooms. I should probably clarify that I mean bathrooms in my own house, not public bathrooms. I enjoy scrubbing hard to make something sparkle and love standing in a perfectly clean room. Bathrooms are small enough that you can clean the whole thing and it really is clean, clean, clean.

5. Whenever I peel potatoes for a delicious meal, I always peel one extra one, so I can eat it raw as I work. I LOVE raw potatoes. Enough said.

6. I have always had a hard time putting down a good book. This was evident even as a child, when I would get tucked into bed and then lay in the dark for what seemed like forever (most likely 5 minutes) and then grab my book and a flashlight and read underneath the covers where I was sure my parents could not see what I was doing. (How did they ever know?) Once I discovered that they could see the light under the bedding, I moved to reading inside the closet. Finally, my parents learned to take my book and flashlight out of the room when they kissed me goodnight.

7. I am truly afraid of the dark. Ronnie enjoys a good laugh if he can ever turn off the lights in our house when I can’t get to a light switch within 15 seconds. I begin to plead with him to turn the light on…I just realized how pathetic that sounds as I typed it, but it is true. (I have a very vivid imagination-okay? I’ve read a lot of books!)

8. I have a semi-photographic memory. It wasn’t until college that I realized I studied differently than most people. Once I made a study guide for a test, I would read both sides 5 or 6 times and then go in to take the test. As a question was asked, I would look at the study sheet in my mind and answer accordingly. While this may seem pretty neat, I also have memorized things that don’t matter at all…such as where every holiday decoration is placed in my parents home.

9. I can completely block sounds out. This is done most often while watching television and is increasingly frustrating for Ronnie. He will try to tell me something or ask a simple question such as “Do you want something to drink?” and get nada. Most times he has to say my name three times before I realize I missed something.

10. I have to be in a precise position in order to fall asleep at night, down to the placement of my hands, legs and the blanket.

Dress Standards

For those of you who are not familiar with my father, he is a bit of a character. This is fairly evident regardless of the situation in which you may meet him. His stories are wildly amusing, and it is due to his example, that I do not consider a story successful unless everyone lets out a whole-hearted laugh. He serves in the Church as a member of the Stake Presidency and as such, has to give a talk at every Stake Conference. Regardless of the topic, he usually has a memorable personal story to emphasize his message. These range from pulling cactus out of his bum, to falling into a septic tank, to shooting arrows straight into the air while lying on his back—to see how close to his body they would hit.


Sunday night he was asked to give a fireside to the Beehives and Deacons on dress standards. Since most of us were either Beehives or Deacons at one time, I’m sure that you can remember how you dreaded firesides on dress standards. My dad is aware of this attitude and tried to ‘jazz it up” a little. As a disclaimer: this fireside was not held in the chapel.

The entire oufit: Camo pants, ugly Hawaiian shirt, socks with sandals, a clip-on pirate earring, and the Mohawk (Courtesy of the whole fam)

I'm told that it took some work to get his silver locks to look this wicked-sweet. Again, notice the pirate earring. Arrrrrgh!

I guess it was a hit! He has been asked by several of the YM and YW leaders if he will do it again for the other age groups. So, if my family is lucky, they may get to see dear-old-dad looking like this at least one more time.

Dancing with Bowie

My good friend Bethany forwarded the video below to me and I enjoyed 2 minutes and 52 seconds of pure joy. I thought I would share that with you. I have also added Bethany's website to the side bar, so be sure and check that out.

Our United States Travels

Ronnie and I decided to make a map of everywhere we have been together. As you can see, it is pretty pitiful. Ronnie has now decided that he is motivated to go on a few road trips to expand our experiences. (I guess I will have to be the one to remind him of how irritated we both get when in the car for long periods of time.)

I'll try to update this as we continue our quest for United States Domination!


create your own personalized map of the USA

Guitars and a Haircut

My brother Adam is a freshman at college and is a hoot to be around. He has been growing out his hair since high school graduation (much to the disdain of my mother). After a few months of nagging (I bet she would prefer I use the phrase “gentle reminding”), Adam finally agreed to cut his hair once he got an elk. I don’t think my mother has ever hoped for an animal to die quite that badly, but lucky for her and not so lucky for the elk, Adam bagged one last week. This came not a moment too soon, since she had planned family pictures this weekend while we were all there, and I’m sure that she preferred a clean cut boy. Below you will see before and after pictures of the event.































When Adam arrived for his hair cut (courtesy of Ronnie), he brought with him the video game Guitar Hero. For those of you not familiar, it is similar to Dance Dance Revolution only you are strumming a plastic guitar instead of stepping on a pad. Adam has spent significant time perfecting his plastic guitar-playing abilities since he moved out of the house (I guess that’s what happens when you have no job and no girl) and is actually quite amazing—in fact if it was a real guitar instead of a plastic one, I would have to say that he ROCKS! I wonder what kind of actual skills he might have if he had put that much time into real guitar lessons. Hmmmm…thoughts to ponder.

Anyway, we all experienced the magic that is Guitar Hero and it was quite entertaining, in fact, I would have to admit that it has made me think about purchasing a game system. I don’t think I’m ready for that leap, but I have thought about it. The best part about this particular game is that everyone, from 8 years to….well….my mom played and enjoyed it. Feel free to watch the entertaining video of my mother rockin’ out! I love you mom!!!

Happy Birthday Sarah and Brooke!

My lovely little sister Sarah turns 14 today! Yea for Church dances! She is the sweetest girl who is constantly giggling. Every time we are with her, Ronnie tries to see what he can do to get her started on a giggle run. She is the most organized 14 year old I have ever met and has long dark hair that most girls would kill for. She is always willing to help and keeps everyone at home in line. We love you Sarah!

Our cute little niece Brooke also celebrates her birthday today! She is 4 and is starting to sound like a grown up! I can’t believe it. They are going to Disneyland to celebrate, every little kid’s dream! I was feeling pretty good about myself when we called her and she would talk to me, but not Ronnie—take that! We love you Brooke!

Triumphant at Last

After two weekends of hunting, Ronnie has returned triumphant! We traveled up to Laramie for the opening of Deer season. Early, EARLY, Monday morning we drove up to the camp and started hiking up to the fence. I consider myself to be semi-in-shape. When I say that I mean that I could run for help, but I would prefer to walk, and didn’t think that hiking up a little hill would be a problem. Boy, was I wrong! This was not just some little hill, in fact, since I forgot to take a picture; you will find a diagram below. I’m pretty sure it was at least a 30% grade.

After I had finally managed to make it up the hill, (with my 8-year-old cousin beating me), we rested for a few minutes and then split up to begin the hunt. Ronnie, Dan and I took the upper side and my Dad and Uncle Gordon took the lower part. We hiked for about 15 minutes and saw four bucks about 60 yards away. By the time Ronnie and I finished arguing about who should shoot, they were around 200 yards away. We both shot.

Ronnie split his deer wide open.

I missed.

We tracked Ronnie’s deer for about 30 more minutes and then he was able to finish him off. At first, I think Ronnie was a little sad that the deer was not bigger, but as the day wore on and no one got anything else, he was feeling better and better about himself. Dan told him that at least he has no where but up to go from here.

Ronnie with Bambi

Me with the little deer. (I think Ronnie cut my hat out of the picture on purpose because it was a University of Wyoming hat.)

Welcome Little Madison!

Our good friends Clay and Jess had their little girl on Sunday. I had the pleasure of meeting her yesterday evening and she is just the cutest thing! She has cubby cheeks! We just wanted to congratulate the Shorters! You can view the cute little one on their blog.

We Were the Champions!

During the summer, Ronnie was on a BYU Intramural softball team that came back from the loser’s bracket and won the tournament! This was an exciting night—for the boys, because they got a coveted t-shirt, and for the wives, because no one had to deal with cranky-pants husbands. I thought that I would share that experience with all of you. (These shots are courtesy of Jessica—she is a great little photographer).

Ronnie concentrating as he pitches. I'm pretty sure this one was a strike.

The wives; Me, Gnickie, Laura and Kim.

Ronnie and Clay between games. They had just gotten done discussing if they needed to make any adjustments so they could beat the other team for the second time.
The San Fransisco 49ers. (Yes, that really was the team name, courtesy of Clay). Mark, Jared, another boy, Dave, Ronnie, Jason, Clay, Ryan and Matt.

The Great White Hunter (a phrase I stole from Karen...and apparently a movie?)

Ronnie returned from the elk hunt on Monday. They scouted all day Friday and went out Saturday morning to make the kill. Ronnie spotted a 3 x 4 along with two spikes, and though the trees were extremely thick, was able to get a shot off.

He missed.

None of the animals moved an inch. As Ronnie was hurriedly getting another shot ready, Grandad shot.

He missed as well.

For the rest of Saturday and all day Monday, they did not see another bull elk. Ronnie is really hoping to redeem himself this weekend in Laramie on the deer hunt. I, on the other hand, am just trying to live up to the name One-shot KaLee. (if you are lucky, I may share that story in a post soon)

This is a picture of what the extremely thick trees look like. I did not ask Ronnie if this is actually what he was shooting through or if he took a picture of the thickest part of the forest to make us all believe him. I guess you will have to ask him that yourself.

Grade School Ronnie

I thought you all would enjoy this picture from Ronnie's past.

Just kidding! My Dad likes to send us anything that teases BYU and got this through an email. He put that it was my classroom, but last time I checked, I don't have and have never had short-boy hair, but I will admit to owning high-tops.

Props to my peeps (that's right, I think I'm cool)

Since being introduced to this world of blogging, I have spent some time looking at the links on some of my friend’s blogs. I have found two blogs from which I derive a great amount of joy reading. They are the kind of blogs that I strive to have: witty, random and informative. The first is written by a girl named Claire, who is a friend of a friend of a friend. The other is a girl who goes by the name Smash and I really don’t know how she is related to anyone I even know. I am planning on putting their links on my sidebar, but for now, just wanted to give some props.

Who Needs a Plan?

Towards the end of the summer Ronnie and I were looking for some excitement. We had been to visit both of our families and wanted to go on a trip. Given our limited monetary and time resources we decided upon a trip to Yellowstone National Park. When going on a trip, you usually need to have at least an idea of what you may be doing...for those of you that know ME, you may know that I am a bit of a planner.

Okay, okay…I am a freak about planning.

I began what I consider to be a necessary part of any trip—internet research. Ideally, I like to have our lodging planned and paid for as well as a general itinerary of events throughout the day. I don’t need minute-by-minute plans but a solid itinerary in my mind would look something like this:

Breakfast

Morning: visit Old Faithful, Look at deer, elk, moose, raccoons and other animals. Visit Artist’s paint pots.

Lunch

Afternoon: visit other various geysers, hike to the lower and upper falls.

Dinner

Evening: More animal gazing.

Fireside fun

Bedtime

In my opinion, you cant go on a trip with anything less than that, and you really need to know the mileage and time estimates for each activity so that any surprises aren’t too extreme.

So back to Yellowstone. We were hoping to go with friends, and invited our friends Josh (with the incredibly strong neck) and Gnickie. They were happy to go but wanted to leave that day.

Yep, you read that right.

Ronnie and I had toyed with the idea for a few hours the night before and they were wanting to leave the VERY next afternoon. Ronnie called me with this information at 11am and told me to be ready to go right after work. WHAT!?!?

Did we have a place to stay? NO!

Did we know who was driving? NO!

Had we decided on food? NOPE!

I went into psycho-planning mode and began more intensive internet research, compiling lists and calling Ronnie every 15 minutes or so. By the time 5pm rolled around, I had secured a place to stay and had the best itinerary that I could have possibly done in a mere 6 hours. I continued to stress until we were on the road…but in the end we had an excellent trip and actually got much more done and seen than I could have planned in even more time. Below are a few pics of our adventures.

Ronnie and I at an overlook at the Artist's Paint Pots.

Ronnie, Me, Gnickie and Josh proving that we really were at Yellowstone.

The Grizzly bear that was 40 yards from where we decided to eat lunch. We ate standing up constantly ready to run for our lives. It also made sleeping in Grizzly country that night more of a "real" experience.

Manly-Man Hunters

I grew up in a family of hunters.

A family of hunters in Wyoming.

That being said, I don’t want you to think that we only wear flannel shirts and eat raccoons and other rodents for dinner, but a normal Sunday dinner at my house does consist of elk roast or steaks. In fact, I did not know that this was semi-abnormal until I came to college and my roommates were somewhat disgusted with the idea of eating wild meat. Every fall, the men in my family constantly have a boyish grin on their faces, and have even been known to kick their spouses during the night while dreaming of getting that trophy animal.

On Monday, my Dad’s dream came true. He got a 6 point elk. Not only that, but he killed it on his own land. I think that is the epitome of all manly-man hunting dreams. In true hunter fashion—he loaded the whole thing in the back of the 1946 Willy’s Jeep that he is in the process of restoring, and drove all the way through town. He even had the pleasure of offending some lady to the extent that she sped up to give him the bird.

My Dad with the prized elk shortly after the kill.

A shot of how the elk was triumphantly escorted across town. I can see why this may have warranted the bird. :)

My brother, cute little Jord-man and the animal. We train 'em young--notice the camouflage hat!

Since joining the family Ronnie has become interested in such activities. Growing up in California did not lead to many hunting experiences, although he is an avid fisherman. After a new gun, scope, camo, sleeping bag, shells and other various items, he was finally ready to go. Today he is off with Grandad to try his hand at elk hunting. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Flag Football and Ambulances

The ironic thing about everything that has happened is that just yesterday afternoon, I was thinking about how nothing really exciting happens to us and I didn’t know if I would continue to be able to write about anything that anyone would want to read. (not that any of you are sitting at the computer in anticipation of my next post.) I sincerely hope that what happened last night is not a direct result of my pondering. If it is, I guess my thoughts have much more power than I give them credit for.

Last night Ronnie had a BYU Intramural flag football game. I was not able to attend due to my last sewing class, but as I was driving there (late) I called to see if it would be worth the trip. I was quickly informed that someone on our team had broken their neck. Naturally, I began to freak out and ask a million questions: Who was it? (our friend Josh) Was he moving? (not much) Was it Ronnie? (no, KaLee, I just said it was Josh) Were they going to the hospital? (the ambulance and fire truck were already there). Now just a quick background—Josh is from Alabama, and we just love him and his wife Gnickie. He broke his neck in high school in two places and was paralyzed for about six months but then regained the use of his legs. (if any of this is wrong, I will correct it later)

As you can imagine, it was a bit of a tiring night. Ronnie arrived home, and I made sure to give him a big hug, then he got ready to go to the hospital to give Josh a blessing. We picked up our good friends Clay and Jess and headed over. When we got to the hospital we were happy to see Josh sitting up, without a neck brace. Soon afterward, the doctor came in and gave him a clear bill of health—he even offered to sign a paper saying that Josh was normal so he could prove it to Gnickie. :)

What we have learned: Flag football is not necessarily a non-contact sport. Josh’s neck is stronger than we realized. Heavenly Father is watching over us all. Good friends are priceless. Even doctors that graduated from the U of U work in Utah County.

P.S. For those of you who may be wondering (Adam) they called the game at 0-0 as a tie.

Leaving Comments

I thought I would put a short tutorial on leaving comments, in case any of you feel the urge to do so. At the bottom of each entry there is a little comments counter (it should read 0 comments). If you click there, you will be taken to a page that will ask you to sign in. There are two options. If you have a Gmail or Google account you can click on that link and use your username and password to sign in. If you do not have Gmail or Google, then click on the “sign up here” link to set up a Blogger account. After signing up you will then be able to sign in and leave comments as you wish. Email me if you have any other questions.

Softball Skills...

I thought I would give a quick update on our lives at the moment. I work all day and then come home and try to stay busy with one of my many projects. I am also taking a sewing class once a week that was included with my sewing machine purchase (Thanks Mom and Dad!). Ronnie also keeps very busy at work and is on two softball teams. One is a men's league in Orem and then a co-ed league in PG. You may wonder why I am not playing on the co-ed team...and the answer would be because I have no softball skills. I have knunchuk(sp?) skills and computer-hacking skills, but no softball skills. It also does not help my self-esteem that every other girl on the team played high school ball, and my experience consists of a team when I was 10 and then the occasional, poorly organized, Church softball tournament. Aside from his extracurricular activities, Ronnie is also studying to take the LSAT in December and begins his class this Wednesday. I'll try to keep up this blog a little better, so you can all enjoy our wild, crazy adventures.

Hello All!

Well, we are pretty new to this blog thing--so you will have to be patient as we learn all the ins and outs. Just wanted to say a quick hi!