Presents

Christ. Family. Love. Others.

I wanted you to know that I do know the true meaning of Christmas before I began this post. As I sit here typing, there are four presents sitting in my living room. I love presents. Truly. Not your average love, but passionate-can’t sleep at night-giggling love. It is when the child inside of me comes out.

Since my birthday is in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, ever since I moved out of the house my mother would leave my birthday presents with me (to save on shipping) and expect that I would open them on the 16th.

This has only happened two of the six years I have been away. (Sorry Mom!)

After stuffing myself with turkey, I would say goodbye to the fam and proceed back to my apartment, presents in hand. I always have every intention of waiting until the morning of my birthday to dive in, but little by little those wrapped boxes wear down my resolve.

One year it was the Sunday before and I just opened one. The next was a week before and I opened all but two. The following year I held out until the day before, but just couldn’t seem to make it. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t USE any of the presents until my birthday, but I just wanted them open!

Dating and then marrying Ronnie has had a positive effect on this illness. (I actually think that I have improved because I have someone who cares whether I wait or not.) I have found the cure to be his knowledge of the gift. If he sees my mom or anyone else hand me the package, then it is safe from early raiding. If not…it’s all up to me.

Unfortunately, he knows about the four presents here, but what he may have forgotten is that one had the instruction to open on Dec. 1st.

Hopefully that will satisfy my inner child for 15 more days.

Happy Belated Birthday Karen!

Since we were at the cabin for the actual day, I didn’t get to post my birthday post until now. (I’m really sorry for the scare of no communication Karen!) I love my mother-in-law for many, many reasons. She mothered Ronnie, and goodness knows that would have been tough! :) She is one of the kindest, most considerate people I have ever known-I am constantly getting little surprises in the mail that she knows I just HAVE to have (who doesn't love those?) She is selfless and constantly looking for ways to help others. I have always felt at home in her home and love spending time with her and the family. Even though the first few times I met her I was using her house as a place to crash with girlfriends (back when Ronnie and I were just friends and not dating), she still liked me enough to let me into the family. I love you and hope you had a terrific day!

Thanksgiving Fun

Ronnie and I were able to spend Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s cabin, that’s right 29 of us bunked in the cabin. I should probably start by saying that if you are picturing a two-room log structure; you need to get that image right out of your head. This cabin is really more like a mountain home. While the outside structure IS made out of logs, it is three stories, has four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and can accommodate quite a few. 29 may have been pushing it, but we managed wonderfully. We ate the big meal at 1pm and were all so stuffed that when my Grandma started getting out food for dinner later that night, we all looked at her in disbelief for a moment, groaned…and then proceeded to fill our plates for the 3rd or 4th time that day (despite our straining waistbands).

Night-time was filled with screaming cousins, movie-watching and some kitchen crafts by the girls. Grandma taught us how to make beautiful caramel apples—seriously beautiful, like the ones that you buy in the mall. We also learned how to make chocolate covered popcorn (yes, it is as delicious as it sounds.)

All in all, we had a great holiday and hope you did too!

Guitar Hero Revisited

I have received complaints that the video of my mom playing guitar hero cannot be viewed. I have put the link below. Let me know if it still doesn't work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOgfR4PIkZc

The Softer the Better

Apartment life has its ups and downs that’s for sure. I love that it is affordable, basically commitment-free and that none of the problems are mine! If the ceiling caves in, microwave stops working, or fridge goes caput, I just sit back and wait for repairs to be done with minimal inconvenience on my part. I’m not quite as enamored by difficult parking, midnight vacuum sessions by the upstairs neighbors, and dumping my hard-earned money down the drain.

But most of all, I despise the lack of soft water.

My skin and hair know the difference and choose to share their dislike through itching, flaking and dryness (just dryness from the hair, not the other stuff). Because my love of soft water is a little on the freaky side, I have talked about it with several people and would like to let all of you (all 5 of you) know a little more.

Some people don’t like the slightly “slimy” feeling that is on your skin when you use soft water. You may feel that soap is still on your body. In response to this, I would like to propose that you wash your hands with soap under hard water until you feel you have gotten them clean-now lick your palm.

It tastes like Dawn or whatever soap you used.

Now, wash your hands with soap under soft water until you feel that you have gotten them clean-lick your palm.

It will taste like….the palm of your hand.

Contrary to your belief, soft water has removed all of the soap from your hand, while hard water has left a soap residue on your skin.

I encourage all of you to run, not walk to the nearest location with soft water, take a long shower and rejoice when you are not forced to put on lotion afterward!

Our Heritage

I was introduced to an entertaining site lately. In addition to helping you with genealogy, www.MyHeritage.com offers a celebrity match program. I am pleased to announce that I am a 83% match with Jessica Simpson. She is the celebrity that I my face structure most resembles. If you are as shocked as I am, don’t worry. I uploaded an additional picture to see what the difference would be and I’m pretty sure that it depends on what position your face is in. You know that you are curious as to who you look like, so go try it out!


I know you are all dying to know about Ronnie as well. Apparently his Mormon-ness came out in the picture I submitted because his highest match was none other than the great Donny Osmond.

Mmmmmm.....

On Saturday, Ronnie and I were craving a little BBQ and decided to use a buy one get one free at Lon’s Cookin’ Shack near our home. I am in LOVE with their rotisserie chicken! We ordered to go and once we received our food, we got in the car to drive the two blocks back to our apartment (I know we should have walked, but what can I say? We’re lazy….and it was raining.) We pulled out of the parking lot and down the street. As we were waiting to cross University Avenue I was startled by a knock at the passenger window. It was a Lon’s worker who asked if we were the order for Ronnie and handed me the spinach salad they forgot to put in the bag. What customer service! He had run out in the rain and knocked on our car window on the off chance that we were the people he was searching for. If only every store I frequented would have this kind of service.

A weapon?

The other night Ronnie and I were watching TV and I was laying my head on his shoulder. I had been in this position for a few minutes when he wriggled away suddenly and said, “Your chin is sharp and VERY dangerous!”

So if you are looking for something to chop vegetables, whittle, or wreak havoc in general, my chin may be available.

M&Ms

It was the year 1999; I was a sophomore in high school and pretty much the coolest girl ever. But this post is not about me….it is dedicated to my younger sister, Erica. She is just two years younger than me, and is fortunate enough to look nearly exactly like me. (just kidding, Erc!) Erica was in 8th grade and also a very cool girl. She was sitting in her drafting class talking to the boy next to her (BNTH), when the subject turned to music. The conversation went something like this:

BNTH: “So have you heard about Eminem, the new white rapper?”

Erc: “Uh….no, M&Ms have a brown wrapper.”

BNTH: “No, I mean Eminem, the new white rapper.” (I’m sure this was accompanied with some “ghetto” like hand motion)

Erc: “I just bought some at the store, and they had a brown wrapper!”

A few sentences later, Erica finally figured out that Eminem was indeed a new white rapper, but ever since that time, I can’t buy any form of M&Ms (brown, yellow, blue, or cream) without chuckling to myself in the candy aisle.

That sewing machine IS getting some use!

Cheryl asked me to create a cheap and cute pumpkin outfit for Halloween. After perusing the internet for some general ideas, we ventured off to Joann’s Fabrics to see what inspiration would hit us there. Luckily, I was able to come up with a suitable idea for a mere seven dollars. Then it was off to my house to sew the bad-boy together. Below you will see the finished product. The hat was the best part.

Cheryl was a pumpkin and Scott was the mathematical symbol pi. Get it? To clarify: They are holding their nephew, they do not have a baby.

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.