A Year to remember

Before I get around to writing (and thinking about) any new years resolutions... I thought I'd highlight the last year... quite a bit has happened.

This time last year I was planning a wedding. Ugh. I will never do that again, ever. I liked picking out my dress... and that's about it. Everything else I found stressful. Oh, except picking out my photographer, that was a no brainer. Terra Cooper of Magnifique Photography is AWESOME, I highly recommend her. (Check her out here and here)

In January my cousin had a baby boy. First great-grandchild. Wait to go Elliot!

I was married in February and had my first trip to Europe. Justin and I went to Paris, France and London, England for our honeymoon. Loved it! My favorite parts were the Eiffel Tower at night and driving to see the American Cemetery. And, spending time with my grandparents at the London Temple, seeing Les Miserables on the front row, and the town of Salisbury.

My cousin got married a week after we got home from the honeymoon, in March.

And, I turned 27.

My little (big) brother got married in May.

I became an aunt in June! Thanks Laila.

I once again had 20/20 vision without the aide of glasses or contacts in August. All it took was a small loan and a big laser!

My beloved Red Sox won the 2007 World Series in October YEAH!
(let's not talk about what this guy did to the world series ball)

Justin and his dad and uncles bought Henstrom Generator in November

And then this happened in December.

What a year! Overall, I've enjoyed 2007, and I'm looking forward to a great 2008. (I usually try NOT to rhyme... but I couldn't help it.

Happy Boxing Day

You know... if we were in New Zealand (or any other country under the British Commonwealth, and maybe a few others) this would be a legal holiday. And... I wouldn't be writing this from work. We'd all be off work and shopping. Or... boxing things up, or something. I always forget what Boxing Day actually is.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We were able to see almost everyone (we did have to miss a few family gatherings for the sake of our sanity and driving miles) and had a really nice time everywhere we went. Here's a few pics from our family to yours. (Doesn't that sound like a hallmark card or something??)

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Get your own

By the way... thank you for everyone who commented, called and made a point to express their concern over my last post. I'm feeling much better, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

The end to a very long week

How can you miss something that you never really had?
Today I found out. You can miss that thing very, very much.

I got the results of a test this morning that I had been waiting for since Wednesday. The waiting was killing me, but I found myself not wanting to hear the results, because I was pretty sure I already knew them.

I found out on Tuesday that Justin and I were expecting a baby. I was over-joyed and surprised that it had happened so quickly. I expected this week to be very long and slow-moving because I wanted to surprise him on Christmas morning with a baby nightie and to tell him were going to be parents next year.

Instead, he came home from work on Wednesday to a very distraught wife who told him, 'Honey, we're pregnant. And, I might be having a miscarriage.' It didn't go the way I had planned, to say the least.

So, after 22 hours of bliss, I've had to wait these last 4 days not knowing whether or not my body wanted to keep this pregnancy. At least I had those 22 hours... Justin wasn't even that lucky this time around.

Yes, I know there are good things that have come out of this. At least we know I can get pregnant, (and rather quickly, I might add) and this is a very common thing to happen to women. I know I'll be okay. I know that we'll try again. And I know this is a natural process the body sometimes needs to go through when things aren't going well at the beginning.

None of that matters very much right now though.

I still miss that baby that I never really had, very, very much.

It's Complicated...

I'm experiencing another one of those emotional and nostalgic moments where I think I have something to blog about, but it turns out to be much more complicated to put into words than it is in feeling... This week has been an extremely exauhsting, yet productive one. While businesses are all going positively, it seems that personal life manages to make up for the instability that must be present at all times - I assume for our growth and development.

My mind was left to wonder about times past and the associations that I have made in recent years. Why do the majority of friendships last such little time? You'd think that if we are only on earth for a moment, it would be much more beneficial and helpful for us if we kept every friend that we used our energy and time to gain.

The truth is I suppose that priorities change and it becomes more difficult to focus on the "neccessities of life" and simulatneously spread ones attention indefinately to all directions. The best people are those who can make everyone feel as though they are worth something special.

What's worse than packing?

I figured out what's worse than packing before your move. Getting to the new place, and it's not ready for you.
They were still painting and finishing the wiring when the movers got there yesterday. I ended up not even going in yesterday, and when I got there today it wasn't much better. My poor supervisor leaned up against a wall that the painters had just touched up (and didn't leave any sign of warning) and got paint all over her pants and jacket.
It reminded me (although not nearly as bad) when my family remodeled our kitchen and had to live in a partially working house for a couple of weeks. We don't have to do dishes in the bathtub or use a flashlight to go to the bathroom, but it's still terribly inconvenient and difficult to get any real work done.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have a phone in my office.

Christmas Questions Everyone Must Blog About

Because Kathy said so...

Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I do gift bags for every other gift giving times -if I can help it, but for Christmas, you've got to wrap it.

Real tree or artificial? Okay, I'm a hypocrite on this one. I've always had real tree's, and always said I would have really tree's... and this year I caved and used a fake one my old roommate gave me last year.

When do you put up the tree? Anytime after Thanksgiving. This year, it happened to be when we got home from eating (our third) thanksgiving dinner. Hey... it was still after.

When do you take the tree down? Uh... it's usually down by the first of the year.

Do you like eggnog? Yeah, not large quantities, and I usually try to add either milk, or sprite.

Favorite gift received as a child? Hmmm... I'm not sure. I remember getting a little keyboard and anatomically correct dolls one year, and me and my sister were REALLY excited to get those dolls. I also remember as a kid how excited we were when Santa brought us a VCR.

Do you have a nativity scene? Yes... a few.

Hardest person to buy for? The last couple of years it's been Justin's family. And believe me... he's not much help.

Easiest person to buy for? little kids.

Worst Christmas gift ever received? This wasn't the worst present, but, it was a little surprising. I have one sister and 2 cousins (here and here) and we're all about the same age, give or take a couple of years. The tradition at the Petersens was to always have the 4 girls sit on grandma's couch and we would open up the same present from the same person at the same time. Because normally, it was the same gift just a different color or size.

One year we were opening up grandma's present and Annie, Haley and Jodi all got watches, and I opened up Caress body wash. I tried to look excited... but it didn't work, everyone just started laughing at my reaction. Grandma had given us 2 gifts that year, a watch and girly smelly body wash. So... I opened up my watch and was glad that my grandma wasn't trying to imply that I was the 'smelly' grandchild.

Favorite Christmas Movie? I'm supposed to say It's a Wonderful Life, I know. But it's not, it's Love Actually. If it didn't have the porn stand-ins, I think it would be more widely accepted as the best Christmas movie ever.

When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually start thinking about what I can get people mid November, but this year, I had already started shopping by then, and can I tell you this has been the BEST December every? I'm going to get all of my Christmas done by December 1st more often. Plus... I've done almost all of my shopping online, so it pays to order early.

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? scones and honey butter. I also really like my mom's toffee.

Clear lights or colored on the tree? I use colored because my tree is kind of a hodge-podge of ornaments, but I actually like white lights.

Favorite Christmas song? Hmmm... I'm not sure. I really like 'Baby it's Cold Outside", is that a Christmas song? I'm also liking "The Magic of Christmas" by Celine Dion. Oh... and I LOVE the Silent Night that Garth Brooks did.

Travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends on what you mean by travel. All of Justin and my family live on the Wasatch Front, from Herriman to West Weber (about 70miles difference). Last year we went to 7 different homes on Christmas Eve and Christmas. We're hoping that we don't travel that much this year.

Moving Day

Well... I guess it's 'packing' day. Moving Day is on Tuesday. But... we have to have EVERYTHING boxed up Monday evening for the movers to start at 9am on Tuesday. And... with my job, you have to take every spare minute (or hour) that you can. Who knows what will happen over the weekend! (Which is why I'm not sure why I decided to sit down and blog).

Our team is moving to a new office building with 5 other teams, and, we're not very excited. Not very excited to move, (or pack). Almost all of us live closer to our office now, and I'm going to actually have to get on the freeway to get to work, which I hate. It's not a horribly bad time of the morning to go downtown, but I just hate using the freeways when there's an accident. Oh well, there's not much we can to about it.

I hate moving. Since my adult life (college) I've moved 10 times (it's 15 or 16 if you count my mission). I like going through things and trying to simplify (aka throw stuff away -hint, hint, Justin), but I HATE packing and moving. Not to mention, this is usually a pretty stressful time of year at work. We have kids that 'freak-out' during the holidays, many go into shelter for various reasons, we have fewer days to do the same amount of work, and getting anywhere (for visits and appointments) takes twice as long because of all you last minute shoppers!

Happy Holidays!

More pictures

I feel like all I've been posting lately is a slideshow and call it good. Either too much or not enough is going on, and... I think I'm suffering from november's blog-fest.

So... instead of a slideshow, here's a collage from Picasa. I'm pretty confident that Justin's dad and step mom don't read the blog, so I'll post them here. We had pictures taken of myself, Justin, and his brother and sister, Bryan and April, for Christmas. Bryan will be leaving the next few months (to an undisclosed location) to serve an LDS mission, so we thought it would be nice to get some photo's taken.
We had my cousin Annie take the photos, and she did a great job! (The collage cuts the pictures kind of funny, I promise we have our heads in all of the actual photo's)

Kris and Marime

Kris and Marime had their wedding ceremony (they were married quickly earlier this year). It was at Red Butte Gardens and very beautiful.

Morphing

Guess what I've been doing all night? This thing is pretty cool, especially if you have kids. Check it out (thanks to flip flop mama for the link)

How quickly time passes

Tonight, Melanie and I ran some errands which included picking out a Christmas ornament for the year (last years is a disney one from our first christmas in love), and then to scan some pictures for a project I'm working on for my grandfather. It's so funny to see these people when they were young like I am, and how similar we must be...young, carefree, thinking about the possibilities...










Then life comes at you fast and you get married and have a family...



Before you know it, the family you have is growing, growing, gone...


And you just have time to enjoy yourself and see what you've created in the meantime...

I love these two. How quickly the past year has gone!

21 days

13 hours and
13 minutes

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about Christmas this year. Bryon posted a question on his webpage asking, "Do you spend more time thinking about gifts for other people or for yourself" previously. (When I went to his homepage for the link, I've just noticed he posted a new question, so you'll just have to take my word).

I spend more time thinking about gifts for other people, hands down, then for myself. I'm guessing that's true for (just about) any adult. I remember spending a lot of time thinking about my Christmas list as a kid, but I don't think I've spent more than 3 minutes thinking about what I would like for Christmas. (Although, as you've noticed I spend a fair amount of time on the internet during the whole year, and have managed to fill a rather random wishlist on froogle).

So... you get red and green colors on the blog. I really wanted to find a christmas template online, but then I'd have to go back to editing in html... and I just can't do that, so I got a little creative. Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!

Son can you play me a memory?

The Billy Joel concert was AWESOME! Though the "Energy Solutions" Center is not so good on sound, the crowd was very in to the music and we even sang a line or two of Piano Man with the Piano Man himself.

We closed the month of November at the shop and it was very successful. I think we're off to a great start.

Today is the last day of the month which means every day turns in to whenever we feel like it, and that my friends is how good posts are made...

The piano man

Justin and I are going to a concert tonight. He's REALLY excited. I'm expecting it to be a good show. Do you know why I'm expecting it? Because of the price of the tickets. Expensive things are supposed to be good, right? I'll let you know.

I finally caught up...

It's my birthday which made me think about how interesting birthdays are. They only happen once a year, and even though sometimes it seems as though we dread them because it means we are aging, we still like our special day. After all, it is our day. Even more interesting is how we feel such camaraderie with those who share it with us.

It's my brother Dustin's birthday today. He is a year older than me which means he is turning 28 on the 28th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUSTIN!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Justin. I love you!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I don't believe you should decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. No tree, lights, stockings, OR Christmas music.

But... the evening after Thanksgiving dinner is fair game.

I have a small apartment, so it didn't take me long (but it DID take me a couple of days because I was too impatient to wait until I had a couple of straight hours to do it)

Real Age

I'm a sucker for surveys. My cousin posted this the other day and I finally finished it. (It's kind of long).

I am 27.7 years old and my 'real age' is 22.7. So, 5 years difference. Not bad. The weird thing was my exercise routine actually adds to my age (it said I go to much). Apparently I need to floss more, quit driving too fast while on a cell phone, and lose weight. (Uh... then why should I not go to the gym everyday???) Take the survey to see how old you REALLY are.

Last post about a cake

Well... cake #4. And, I'd have to say, my best one so far. (I'm going to give it a rest for a while) I made 2 cake mixes, so I think it was as big as it's going to get (I had enough batter left over for a dozen cupcakes too).
We celebrated Justin's birthday with my family tonight (which was the original purpose for buying the pan - I just got a lot of practice in before hand).

Justin and I were still dating last year on his birthday, and I wanted to surprise him. I bought symphony tickets for the weekend before (he was out of town on his actual birthday) and had planned to go to Mikado for dinner. (Mmmm... sushi)

About a week before the night, Justin and I were with my mom at the Boy Scouts Auction and she said something about the upcoming symphony... in front of Justin. I remember hearing it come out of her mouth in slow motion, and realized my secret was out. Oh well... we had a nice time anyways, even if it wasn't a surprise.

It's official

Okay... it's official. I'm a good luck charm.

I have been to TWO (2) major league sporting events, and the home team has won both times. Yep. I'm 2 for 2, 100%. I should be paid to attend games (are you listening, Boston?)

I attended my first Red Sox game in 2005 (June 9th, against Texas) and they won 4-3. And, last night I went to my first Jazz game last night with Justin, and they beat the Hornets.

I'm a failure... but here are some pictures

I woke up this morning and realized I didn't post yesterday. I guess technically because I missed November 1st, it wasn't going to be a perfect month, but I was still mad that I forgot to post.
I'll go backwards... We had Thanksgiving dinner (#3 if you're keeping track) at my dad's brother and sister-in-law's house. Here's some pics:

View Album

Get your own

Second... here's pictures of the Giant Cupcake. I know that things never (for me, anyways) turn out how you expect, or what it looks like in the picture... but these are pretty bad.

Here's cake #1

Let me explain. I tried to make a buttercream frosting, which didn't work out, so I used just a regular frosting recipe. And, I thought, maybe if I make it a little thinner, it will go into the cracks and rivets better (since the cake was much smaller than it looked online). Uh... as you can see, that was a bad assumption, because the frosting pretty much just drooped off the cake.

Cake #2... was the next day.

The frosting was better... but I think it looks like a smurf house.
So... with cake #3 I tried the 'less is more' strategy. I think I went a little too 'less'... but it was my best topper, by far. I think on Sunday (cake #4 for Justin's birthday, I might just frost the top. There was a picture of a cake with just the top frosted on the pan packaging, and I really liked it.

Disclaimer

I warned my mom when I talked to her about the wish list on my profile... but given the comments and the phone calls, I thought I'd make a post to say...
NOTHING.
Sorry for the misleading gifts (baby stuff) -I'm not pregnant. I read all of those blogs to your left and 80% of them are mom's... and they talk about baby stuff, and I look, and I saved some of them.
So... once again, NOT PREGNANT. But thanks for asking.

PS... I'm pretty sure this is not my only post of the day. I made the cupcake... and I need ALOT more practice with the icing, so stay tuned.

Black Friday

I think we may be confusing some people with Justin's 'Happy Wednesday' post and now black Friday -no, you haven't slept in 4 days (Andrea) it's Tuesday... but I just learned what Black Friday is... and I'm going to gloat.

I heard them talking about it on the radio and it was mentioned that it was the day that most retailers are in the 'black', so they start making money for the year. I didn't want to lead any of my readers astray, so I double checked their answer from Wikipedia:

"Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Black Friday was originally so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit)."

Look, you learned something today.

Now for the gloating... guess who is half-way through her Christmas shopping? Me! Don't send any hate mail please. I have 28 (plus 15 coworker/neighbor gifts AND 3 birthday gifts) so... technically I have 46 gifts to get and I have... 29 done. Yeah! My goal is by the end of the month to have everyone crossed off my list.

Here's a tip for all of you bloggers and those that would like to buy you gifts... WISH LIST! There's an awesome tool that google has and you can stick it on your profile. Click on your (or mine, if you're shopping for me) profile and add a wish list. It'll make everyone else's Christmas shopping a little easier.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Yes, that's right, it is Wednesday for all you working folk! Which means we are on the downhill already.

Exactly 144 years ago a speech was given to explain a bitter struggle that occurred in our country. Given by a man who I believe had a humility for leadership, or at least a keen understanding of how to govern in moderation. This man was Abraham Lincoln. Despite what some historians say about his personal life (which could be true or mere speculation). It is apparent to me that we often judge leaders on things we ought not, and allow them to pass on some characteristics that we often recognize - only retrospectively - as being destructive.

The speech:
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth," Abraham Lincoln 1863.

Thanksgiving number two

Well... two down and one to go (plus one day of left-overs). Tonight's dinner was with Justin's mom and Dave. Good food and good company. I took my camera with every intention of taking pictures (I even took it out of the car, unlike yesterday). But... I didn't. Sorry. Shondel did... so click on over to her blog and maybe you'll catch a few.

Here's another quick story. I went to church early today to practice with a group of women who were singing. One of them asked me if I got the message last night. No... no I didn't, what message was that? Oh, one of the ladies was sick and now I'm singing. Just for any of you who don't know me (at all), but I don't sing. I play the piano. I've been in many choirs over the years, and 99% of the time, I'm playing the piano. There's a reason for that. Although I can read notes and often hit the right ones at the right time, I don't really like singing and don't have a very strong voice. I tried to explain this to the sisters... but it didn't work. I had to sing. Luckily, another lady (who sings very well, and pretty loud) was singing my part as well... so I just sang very quietly.

Thanksgiving Number One

Anyone up for some turkey??

Justin and I went to our first of three (plus one day of left-over's, if I'm lucky) Thanksgivings this year. Today was with Justin's dad and Denise at their house. Mmm Mmm.... We're stuffed.

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving #2 (can anyone guess what my title for tomorrow's post will be???) This one is at Justin's mom's house.

And Thanksgiving #3 will be at my aunt Sally's house (my dad's side of the family). This one will actually be held on Thursday, if you can believe it.

And... fingers crossed, I'll find my way over to my friend Kathy's house to find myself some delicious cajun deep-fried turkey. I don't mind going there a day late, it actually get's hotter a couple of days after it's cooked. Mmm Mmm Good!

I stayed at the gym for 30 minutes longer than usual this morning... but I better bump that up a notch. I'm thinking I need to get there twice a day unless I plan on buying new pants to wear to Christmas.

What do you DO?

Someone asked me this yesterday and it got me thinking about it. One of my coworkers will sometimes say that she's a 'butcher' at parties. Seriously, she says, "I'm a butcher." It pretty much ends right there. Otherwise... you wouldn't BELIEVE some of the conversations that follow after you tell someone what we really do.

Depending on the situation, I try to skirt around the issue and say that 'I work for the State.' When that's enough, "I work with kids with special needs". Both statements are true, and people usually say nice things and that's the end of it.

What do I really do? Well, I'm a caseworker for the State (of Utah) for the Division of Child and Family Services. I work with kids in foster care. (those are special needs, right?) Actually, I'm on a specialty team that has kids with developmental delays, mental or medical issues, or are just plain tough (think kids that have been in and out of a few 'failed' adoptive homes, or learned very early on to steal, lie, and run away).

That's when the stories start. They usually start with "My sisters, neighbors nephew has a kid..." Or, "My mom's friend's daughter...", or my personal favorite, "Can you do something about..." Aside from all of that... what do I actually DO?

Well, I have 16 kids on my caseload. All 16 have to be visited in the home at least once a month. I attend most school meetings, (and for my kids, most doctor appointments), and court hearings. Every case is in front of a judge as little as twice a year or as often as once a week (yeah for juvenile delinquents), most of them go once every 3 months. I complete quarterly court reports, twice yearly service plans, Child and Family Assessments, updated every three months, and I have to log EVERYTHING! Emails, phone calls, incident reports, medical paperwork. "If you didn't log it, it didn't happen" That's the stuff that I can plan for. The rest of my hours and days are full of things that I didn't plan for. -Like when kids don't have a placement, they run and I have to do a pick-up order (yes, that's a warrant for arrest), or search through binder after binder of their case file looking for a medical report from 6 years ago.

Every once in a while, when I don't owe anyone a phone call, all of my kids have a home at night, and I'm not overdue on 5 or more service plans... I think that I'm a pretty good caseworker. It wasn't anything that I dreamed about as a kid (I want to grow up and be the legal guardian for a dozen or more kids who don't have a family to live with) but there are some perks. I work on an AWESOME team! We don't get a lot of support from anyone else in the division, department, or state offices on up, but we have a GREAT supportive supervisor and team members. I know its the ONLY reason that I'm still here.
And also, every once in a while, you get to hear some much appreciated praise from foster parents, attorneys, teachers and medical professionals. Not TOO much, we shouldn't think we deserve a raise or anything, but yesterday was a good day, so I think I'll come back into work on Monday.

An update

So... I thought today's post could be an update to yesterdays... with extra bits! (I do love extra bits -especially on DVD's)

I've had more than a few of you guys ask about my cool pan (which is still in Iowa at the moment, but I'm tracking it daily) and where I bought it. It's at this website.

And while I'm at it... check this out. I was trying to explain the pan to my mom, and I don't think I got my point across. Also... they're coming out with a lasagna pan too. I'm not exactly sure why you couldn't use the 'brownie pan' to make lasagna... between you and me I use my brownie pan to make lasagna (it's called a 9x13 casserole dish). Come on people, I have a small kitchen, I need multi-purpose dishes.

How cool is this?

Guess what I ordered yesterday? This...
"What is it", you ask? It's the coolest pan I've ever seen. And with a little bit of luck and practice, I'm hoping it looks similar to this

or this...

Justin's birthday is later this month, and we're having a dinner at my parents for him on the 25th... so I'm going to give it a try. Wish me luck. I think I'll be practicing as soon as I get the pan, so if you're a great cake decorator, feel free to give me some tips. I'll take pics of the final product.

13 down... 17 to go

Once I put my mind to something, I don't often quit. There are exceptions (working at Target last year, reading all of Stephen King's books -"Misery" was TOO much for me), but I really try to keep my commitments.
This blogging EVERYDAY is tough... and I even make Justin blog every couple of days, so technically I'M not posting every day (but pretty close).

I did a Google search for 'ideas for blogging'... and I found an interesting link entitled, "Reasons to Blog" I wonder if I even have a reason to blog...

1. You have something to say.
Hmmm... I think most days I have something to say. Whether or not other people find it interesting is another thing

2. You're an expert in something. Are you a champion water-skier? Can you wield a crochet needle like nobody's business? Do you know everything there is to know about Andean wild flowers?
No, no, and no. I attempted water-skiing once, I have crocheted the edges of a couple of baby blankets, and know NOTHING about wild flowers. I can't really think of anything I'm an expert in. I like trying new recipes, playing the piano, and watching movies, that's about it.

3. You have a business to promote.
Well... I do Mary Kay, and there is a link on the sidebar, but I think I've mentioned it twice in the last two and a half months. Justin has Business Elements and now Henstrom, but I don't think I'd like use our blog to promote any of them.

4. It's easy. There's never been a better time to blog than now! Most blog templates are user friendly and available at no cost to you.
I agree with that. We tried the html code template for a while... but I think Justin got tired of having to help me do things (and fixing the things I did without him)

5. You can earn money through your blog. Hmmm... I'll have to look into that.

6. Stay in touch. I'm pretty sure this is why we started the blog, and I KNOW that's why my mom started, just in case any of her children (and more importantly, future grandchildren) moved away.

7. You can make a difference.
I'm not so sure about this one. I am surprised when I get comments from people that I don't know personally, but I don't think this is a very high-traffic blog (and that's okay!)



8. Boost your website's page ranking.
Wikipedia's definition is here
Huh? See #7

9. It's a wonderful way to express your creativity.I've never considered myself creative. I have momentary bursts of creativity, but they're really not that impressive or noteworthy. I do have to say a few of my posts, like this one, and this one here, and maybe this one, I still find mildly amusing.

Looks like I don't have too many reasons to be blogging. No wonder I'm having such a hard time being so creative, sharing my knowledge, earning money, and increasing my websites page ranking and making a difference in all of your lives!

Yeah for Veterens Day!

Not only am I grateful for all of the men and women who have given their lives, as well as moments in their lives, for our country (politics aside) but I had a great, relaxing day!
I slept in (til 7:30), spent longer than usual at the gym, and cleaned my apartment. I even cleaned the stuff that I usually DON'T clean, when I clean-up (I swept and mopped all of the floors AND vacuumed). Justin had a busy day (as usual) at Oracle and then at the shop, but hopefully he'll be home soon.

Hmmm... I think I need a kid. It's GOT to be easier to blog if I can post pictures of a baby.

It's all about CASHFLOW

I've been asked to blog today - however, some of the requirements are that I mention that I am not quitting my job, and I am not having any type of life crisis.

Melanie cut my hair last night. Second time on her own. It looks good, but there was a moment that she ran over a mole with the peanut razor making my neck bleed profusely. She cut it and ran out of the room saying OH HONEY I'M SORRY I WASN'T WATCHING. The wound was quickly cleaned and dressed, and my hair looks good as Supercuts.

Tonight we played our fourth installment of Cashflow, the board game by that Rich Dad Poor Dad guy. My kind of game. Who would have thought Matt would be the richest of the the bunch, but sadly he still is without wife and kids (in the game and in reality). Which afterall is what it is all about for me...in other words my wife is my life, and what a great one I have.

A FULL plate...

This week has been an interesting ride.

Great things have been happening at work. I've been successful for the most part on all of my goals, and even some of the stretch goals I set for myself at the beginning of the quarter (Sept 1). I can honestly say that I enjoy it and I try to be a positive influence on those around me and work as a valuable team member to motivate and push forward. Sadly, for some it seems negativity is their lot in life and what a downer another human being can be on another. I choose the high road, be happy!

Wednesday brought a board meeting for the Draper Historic Theatre. Unfortunately our Chairperson resigned for personal reasons. It was sad to see her go so abruptly. She has done a great deal for the theatre. We held an election and I was voted in as Interim Chairman for the next four months. There is a lot of work to do, and a little money to find...

Thursday marked the first day of a new venture...

Henstrom Enterprises, Inc.
327 East 3300 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84115

November 5, 2007

To All Our Valued Customers,

Opportunity knocks the saying goes and it knocked on our door this past year. First for Robbie. He has always had quality and performance in mind fo the charging systems on automobiles as well as industrial equipment. So many times an inadequate alternator for what the vehicle needs, high output concerns and importantly the "fitting" thing. A questions was posed to him and an idea was born. He has developed and had manufactured new frames for alternators for both Ford and GM products, with a newly developed regulator. What a ride. The research and development has been extensive and time consuming. Many times calls have come for him and as the saying goes, "He is in California," was the reply. So many people have helped with these new products...

...Robbie's new business needed either duel Robbie's or Robbie had to relocate. Robbie is relocating to California after the middle of November. We have been a family business located in South Salt Lake for 38 years. The decision was made to find new business and property owners to continue with the tradition of quality service that we have ben known for and strived for these many years.

Henstrom Generator has found new owners to continue. Phil, Jeff, Scott, and Justin Lafeen, also in pursuit of owning their own business after years of working in automotive businesses and rebuilding, heard of our decision to sell the business and the property. An offer was made and then accepted. The cahnge over for the business and property is set for November...

...We thank each and every one of you for your support and friendship."

And so it is, Lafeen Group LLC is now the owner of Henstrom Generator. Our website is www.henstrom.com and currently under construction, but any of you are welcome to come to our place of business at 327 East 3300 South (North side of the street).

Hopefully my wife comes by soon and finds me here, I sure love her. :)

Has anyone seen my husband??

He's been missing lately. He comes home late with dirty clothes and the smell of motor oil and grease. It's a mystery. I may have figured out where he's been...

ARRRGGGG!!!!!!!!

I was sitting here, feeling very uninspired to write about anything. And then it happened. My cell phone rang. This is not unusual, or normally a cause for me to get upset. But... for the last 3 days, it's been ringing off the hook with telemarketers! I guess all of those forwards you've been sending me about releasing mobile numbers to the highest bidder are true. (Speaking of... if any of you still HAVE those forwards, please send it to me again, I'm sure I've deleted it)

No offense to the person on the other end of the line, I was a telemarketer for various in-bound and out-bound call centers during high school and college, but on cell phones? I'm PAYING for your call, and I want it to stop!

I'm going through my 'missed calls' on my phone, and (I'm NOT exaggerating) I've had 7 calls from one number, and 3 from another number since Tuesday evening. The one that I've had call my phone 7 times I just picked up and said "Hello. Please put me on your Do Not Call List", waited for a response and hung up.

How much are YOU worth?

It seems that a few of my conversations in the last couple of days have had something in common... What our jobs and time are worth.

I was driving with a friend to our Mary Kay unit meeting last night and we were discussing our jobs (we work together at the state as well as doing Mary Kay) and the recent school voucher issue. One of the insightful and truthful ads on the radio for vouchers made the comment that 'with more money per student in the public school system, the districts could use the extra money to give teachers a raise'. They COULD, not would, or will, or even should, but could. Hmmm... I believe there are many things that large corporations (which is exactly what a school district is) COULD do with their money... and it usually does not include giving their hard-working, front-end staff a raise. That's saved for the people with reserved parking places.

Now... I could jump on my own soap-box and include lowly paid and little respected caseworkers who did NOT get a raise from the last legistative session, but I won't. But, I wonder what I feel like my time is worth on a daily basis.

I'll tell you what it's NOT worth... $7.50 an hour working from 7pm until 1 or 2am a couple of nights a week. Today with some clients we were talking about second jobs, especially during the holidays. One woman had worked at a certain superstore 2 years ago to earn money for her kids Christmas. )I won't mention the name, but maybe you'll catch on.) I tried working there before I got married, to try and help more with the expenses. Justin and I refer to that time as 'the target experience'. I don't think I'll ever do that again. Maybe it was trying to work a full-time job, plan a wedding, spend time with Justin and attend family holiday parties, working on my feet until 1 or 2 in the morning and still getting up at 6 to go to the gym every morning that did me in. But I was a wreck, and too close for comfort to a nervous breakdown. And, all for $7.50 an hour. NOT WORTH MY TIME!

I Voted!

And you can too!

If you can't find your polling place (like me) check out this link (for those of you in Utah) and look up your polling place! Happy Voting.

Five hundred forty-sven

That's the amount of miles I drove today. From Salt Lake (at 6am) to St. George and back (6pm). I have a kid on my caseload in a program in St George, along with a coworker of mine, so we make the trip every 3rd month. That makes a LONG day. So, this is all I'm posting.

Spring Ahead! Fall BACK!

I've been given the solemn duty to blog today by my sweet wife Melanie who gave me some strange explanation of why we have to blog every day. Last week was seemingly slow on individual days, but collectively it passed by in a jiffy (whatever a jiffy is). Many things are afoot, and I am happy to report on one of them.

My dad and his brothers and I are all going to be business partners. While the products and services do not lie in my expertise, the overall business training I have had will give me the upper hand in experience. The company (which will remain nameless until deals are closed and ownership is legal) has a great location in Salt Lake and has established a good name in its industry. Hopefully we can be successful and do everything it takes to continue and improve this organization. Details to follow (hopefully this week).

Yesterday we went to Peyton's birthday party and Dan and Laura's new pad. I liked the place. Peyton just happens to be the most polite birthday boy I've ever seen (even attempting to throw a present in the garbage on command of his father). Each time he opened a present he was instructed to thank the giver, he quickly turned to them and said "Thank you _____" the blank was either the person's name (if it was short enough to remember) or a garbled attempt at multiple names (example, Justin and Melanie turned in to "Melanie and...jusss ". Very cute!

Finally, today was the time change. While normally I think I would feel the impact and be a little more fulfilled in an extra hour of sleep, the last couple days have been so busy that it was a much needed extra hour...in fact an hour right now sounds delightful...

Pink Panther Ball

For those of you in Salt Lake, did any of you notice the pink lights coming from the Rice Eccles Stadium last night? We did... because Justin and I actually set those pink lights up last night.

The Young Single Adults in the Holladay Region (it's a church thing) put on an AWESOME party last night. I believe you would call last nights party 'a success'. For most of the evening there was a line of people waiting to get in, and the 2 rooms we had in the Tower were PACKED!

We showed up around 5:30 (some of us have to work, you know) dressed up as waiters and with a large sheet cake of brownies. All of the advisors (the married 'adults' of the crowd) were there as support staff. I spend part of my time walking around with a tray of brownies, and Justin drove the limo in the parking lot for the 1st half of the night. Because we're the 'old married adults' I opted to sit down at the front doors for a while to take money to avoid the loud music and overall chaos of the 4th and 5th floors. I think most everyone had a lot of fun, and they had a TON of things to do while you were there. Live band, magician show, balloon animals, refreshments, 2 big TV projections with Snowboard movies and sports highlights. NOT TO MENTION the van-limo which leaked gasoline fumes into the driver, that went around the parking lot to pick you up and drop you off for the pink carpet leading up to the doors.

All in all, it was pretty fun, and we're EXHAUSTED this morning.

Nobody's perfect.

I usually read blogs in the morning... so I didn't see everyone's post about the NaBloPoMo until today. A day late. I'll give it a try. Justin may need to pitch in a little more than usual, unless you want all Red Sox Posts (get it... pitch in... hahaha).

Here's a quote of the day heard at a boring training I attended this morning.
"Screw you and the horse you rode in on!" It was an interesting training.

It's a surprise

Click HERE if you like The Departed, or music from The Departed, The Red Sox, Parades, Men in kilts, or guys making fools of themselves.

Change the World

I'm involved in several ventures currently and my goal as always is to change the world - well, to change my world and that of my family anyway. I was thinking about this commercial the other day that I may have already told you about, but it comes into my mind every so often and I wish our world was always as extraordinary as we envision it could be.

After all, if we are thinking of what could be, isn't that the first step to make it a reality? Change someone's life today, and it doesn't just have to be giving them candy treats.

After the big game

I hope you're all proud of me. I'm wearing purple and white today. The fact that I'm not wearing anything Red, Blue, or Green is a major accomplishment. And a sign that baseball season is over for the year. I WILL be wearing ALL of my favorite gear tomorrow, however, because every year for the past few years I dress up as a "Red Sox Fan" for Halloween. Not very original, but it's easy and an excuse to show my loving affection for the Boston Red Sox.

On to other fascinating area's of my life... which there isn't much to say. The other day I decided that we needed pictures of our first apartment together. And... since Justin cleaned the whole house last week, I took out my camera and grabbed a few shots. Please do not use these photo's to 'case the joint' and steal all of our valuables!

This is our living room (the door is to the right). I have no idea what Justin was watching on TV.

I really need to hang something over the piano, but what I really
want is too much money right now, so I'll wait.

And the kitchen. That's all of it too. There's a fridge to the left of the photo, but it's tight quarters in there.

My 'cute' bathroom (the one where everything matches) and the laundry room, down the hall.

Here's our bedroom and the bathroom where things don't match. Well... I guess the rugs match each other, but that's about it.

Oh... just for the record, if you notice the wedding pictures (of me) on the wall -that's Justin's side and he put them up there!

And finally...

the office/spare room. I'm not going to be embarrassed about the lack of organization. The only people that go in there are Justin and I (and poor Erin, Justin's business partner, when they meet to go over financial stuff for Business Elements -sorry Erin).

That's all... thanks for going on the tour. Now our first apartment is saved for posterity's sake!