You Can't Buy An Alcoholic Drink

I had to buy wine today for my fondue recipe. My first time ever buying an alcoholic drink. And I wasn't carded! 2 years ago, I was asked if I wanted a kids menu at Disneyland (12 years and under). Have I aged 9 years in that amount of time?! I was actually looking forward to having to show my I.D..

Now, I ask myself...do I e-mail Safeway and tell them that Maureen doesn't check I.D.'s when people buy alcohol? I'm tempted to...to see if they send me something.

The Time Has Come

For One And All...

To Play Ball!

Who can name that movie?!

This post isn't about a movie. But it is that time to get ready for...the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer!

I had a dream last night that I totally showed up late and rather than walk the walk, I had to run the walk. Not fun...I'm a walker, not a runner.

I'm including a link to my donation page. Please feel free to pass the link along to friends and family. The more people that know about this wonderful cause, the better!

Kimberly's Page

The end of 26 miles - Avon Breast Cancer Walk 2008

God Bless the Bay Area

I'm a wimp, pansy, baby, whatever you want to call me. But I'm not a snow nor a cold weather person.

On Christmas night, it got down to 15 degrees (according to the car) in Tahoe. We are now home and it's currently 47 degrees outside and that's about as cold as I prefer.

I will enjoy my frost dusted lawn tomorrow morning as I leave for work.

Christmas At The Cabin

Day 1 - Wednesday, December 24th

• Have breakfast with my parents, pack the car, drive up to Lake Tahoe
• Stop in El Dorado Hills to go to the bathroom @ Target and eat lunch @ Taco Bell
• Drive up Highway 50 and witness roughly 100 cars stopping their cars in the slow lane to put chains on
• Arrive at the cabin
• Get started on our puzzle
• Eat Mexican food for dinner
• Head over to the main cabin for the Nativity story
• Return to our cabin and go to bed

Day 2 - Thursday, December 25th

• Christmas!
• Talk to Brett on the phone
• Open presents
• Eat breakfast burrito with leftovers from the night before
• Power goes out
• Go over to the main cabin again to exchange gifts
• Head into town for Christmas Dinner since power was still out
• Watch "Bedtime Stories"
• Drive blindly (due to the frozen windshield) back to the cabin
• Electricity is back on
  
• Go to bed

Day 3 - Friday, December 26th

• Eat breakfast
• Go into town for after Christmas sales
• Eat lunch @ McDonalds - run into patients from the office I work for
• Browse shoes & clothes & shoes & clothes
• Head over to KMart
• Drive back to the cabin
• Eat what was supposed to be our Christmas dinner at main cabin
• Play white elephant game
• Head back to our cabin and play games
• Go to bed
  

Day 4 - Saturday, December 27th

• Eat breakfast
• Finish puzzle
• Go into town
• Browse more shoes & clothes
• Come back to cabin
• Take a nap
• Go to main cabin for dinner
• Head back to cabin
• Start packing
• Go to bed

Day 5 - Sunday, December 28th

• Eat breakfast
• Pack up room
• Clean cabin
• Go home
  

Happy Christmas To All

And to all a good-night!

Advent Week 4

The final week has come and gone. We all agreed that this is something we should have started years ago. It gave me something to look forward to every Monday morning.

We shared Christmas with my family last night, since we won't see them on Thursday. Amy gave the kids harmonicas before the festivities started. They "treated" us to music all night long.


Until next year, Advent.

Anyone wanna make it 17?

After counting last weekend, between LaVor and I, we know 16 people that are pregnant. We're related to a quarter of them.

Finish Him!

I'm not sure if it would be considered A.D.D. or what but I've never been a fan of movies. Sitting for long periods of time is hard for me. I can only think of what else I could be doing with that time.

Somehow, Karate Kid appeared on the t.v. today and that movie is an exception. My family was discussing the other night how when you're little, you seem to not catch everything. Like the fact that Johnny was rolling a joint in the bathroom stall when Daniel strategically placed the hose above him and turned the water on. But I love the movie now just as much as I did growing up!

For a while now, I've had "You're the Best" by Joe 'Bean' Eposito and "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama on our Ipod.

And somehow, no matter how many times I watch it, the ending can always make me cry.

Advent Week 3

HC and Keith hosted the party this week.

Keith shared his experience of being in Okinawa on Christmas, while serving in the Marines. Amy read a touching rendition of "Twas' the Night Before Christmas" but from a soldiers point of view.

We then had fun singing the Christmas Songs. A little too much fun during "Oh Come All Ye Faithful"! Claire joined us in singing "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night in German) and then graced us with a solo.

We finished the night off with baked apples and vanilla ice cream. Super yum! And very "wintry".

During "Jingle Bells"

Sie sind hier!

LaVor's brother and his family arrived last night from Switzerland. We were able to be at the airport when they flew in.

Jason surprised us with his cool mustache. The only thing I'm afraid of is that LaVor will think it's cool too.

We stopped by La Piñata on our way home since they haven't had Mexican food for over a year. As usual, it was deeeeeelicious!

What It's All About

Will and I have been watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" all day. When the above scene was over, Will said (in his sweet, little voice), "Amen". Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

Advent Week 2 & The Elves

This week, the crowd was a bit smaller (Keith had to work and Alex was home with Will...bowel problems) so the singing time was a little shorter than last week. When the singing was done, we enjoyed "Rick Steves - Christmas in Europe". It was fun to hear everyone say, "I've been there!". But it also made me thankful that we were there in August and not December.

For dessert, I made a rendition of the cake that's on the current cover of Sunset magazine. I like my cake plate more than I do the cake.

I put my shoe out on Saturday night (December 6th), ready for the Elves to pay a visit. And lo and behold...they came!Anyone who doesn't believe, speak to my 2nd grade friend Nathan Besse. And please don't pay attention to the size or cleanliness of my shoe. Thank you.

He's Silly

Last night was my work Christmas Party and once again, it was oodles of fun. Our Doctor's treat us so well and we're all truly blessed for being able to work for such a great office.

After dinner, the waiter went around asking if anyone wanted coffee. Being the non-coffee drinkers that we are, I asked for a hot chocolate. LaVor wanted to try a sip...

The foam on the nose was on purpose but it still makes me giggle.

Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? You have to wrap presents! It's too easy to peek when it's in a bag :oP

2. Real tree or Artificial? Fake...I'm allergic. Poor LaVor has to sacrifice for me and I appreciate it!

3. When do you put up the tree? This year is was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It would have been sooner if we were around Friday & Saturday.

4. When do you take the tree down? Mid January :o) I try to milk Christmas for as long as I can!

5. Do you like eggnog? I can't remember the last time I had any. I've acquired a taste to eggy things since I was in school so I suppose I may.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Indy doo! Our dog, Suzy, passed away when I was...9, 10? One of those. After she died, we had been begging our parents to get another dog. Welp, when I was 11, I opened a present and there was a stuff toy dog, a can of dog food and a letter from my mom saying we were getting a new dog. My brother and his friend brought it home from a shelter near my Omi's house. The darn dog is still alive and kicking today. Refer to a post about him back in July.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Pop.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Anyone else :o)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several. LaVor likes to get a new one each year but we're running out of room!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! Personal notes received in the mail are so much nicer.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? uh...worst...a bra. It was the Christmas during...7th grade, I believe. My mom had bought me these teeny tiny bras and I opened the package, peeked inside and slyly put it to the side of my other presents. We had a tradition of showing everyone what we got. I didn't show anyone that present.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's A Wonderful Life. I love Jimmy Stewart.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I'm aware of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? No special food items.

16. Lights on the tree? White!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night. I love the Sarah McLaughlin version.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We travel when it's LaVor's family's turn. Stay home when it's mine.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Rudolph, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. Is that it? I tried to remember without Googling anything

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Pajama's on Christmas Eve, everything else Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? 96.5 plays the same Christmas playlist every year. There are other Christmas songs out there!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? We just have random ones. No real theme.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham with funeral potatoes

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A police scanner!

26. Favorite Christmas Memory? Being home with all of my siblings for 2 weeks while we were off from school. I always hated going back.

Advent - Week 1

Last night was the first night of Advent. Each week will be at a new home with a different dessert...yum!

We all got to pick 1 Christmas song to sing. At the end, we sang "Silent Night" in German. We even got a little rowdy with "Deck the Halls". Kari exclaimed that it was payback towards her neighbors, who have been a little "non-neighborly" lately.

She was for real singing like that

A whirlwind...let me tell you!

Thursday - Thanksgiving
Friday - Shopping with the girls
Saturday - Going to Sacramento for Grandma's birthday and sitting in traffic for 3 hours on the way home, to the Temple lights

And I thought these 4 days were going to be a "vacation".

The Wise One

I got to spend the day with my sweetie pie niece. We saw "Madagascar 2" (it was okay) and then headed to the mall just for the heck of it.

We stopped at a shoe store (Claire's request...a girl after my own heart) to see what they had. She wanted to try on a pair of hi-top converse but didn't know that she had to lace the shoe all the way up, rather than half way. I knelt down to help her and her arm swung up and *gasp* messed up my bangs.

She's known for years that my bangs are off limits. Although it was a total accident, my instant reaction was to assess the situation and look in a mirror. Sure enough, they were out of place! Oh no! :o)

She looks at me and says, "Oh Popie, just be a woman!" Meaning...get over it? Not quite sure but it was dang funny.

We then stopped at a kiosk and played several rounds of Super Mario Brothers. I think I'm adding something to my Christmas list.

You're Being Rough

Obviously this isn't me but this is how I look when I sleep.

I also do other silly things in my sleep, like talk.

Growing up, my sister Amy and I shared a room. I would often be the first one to go to sleep and she took advantage of that. One night in particular, she asked me who won the Revolutionary War? My reply was, "Daniel Boone". Clearly not the correct answer but she still laughs about it today.

Another incident took place a few years later. I had fallen asleep on the couch in my parents family room. My brother, Kenny, was on the computer about 8 feet away from me. I was having a dream about Amy doing something and blaming it on me. I started to defend myself, trying to explain that it wasn't me who did it, Amy did. Although I was asleep, I could sense someone standing over me. It was Kenny. He looked at me and said, "What in the heck are you doing?!". Apparently I was defending myself...outloud.

The latest episode took place Friday night. I'm always a zombie on Friday nights so I went to bed before LaVor. When he came to bed, I began talking. I started out with, "You're being rough!" and he replied with, "Uh, what are you talking about?". I then said, "You're being rough with the kitchen table!" and again, he's confused by my reply. He then said, "I'm being rough with the kitchen table?" "Yes! In the morning, on my way to work!". I don't remember saying any of that...I only remember him laughing hysterically. Apparently it went on for several minutes. I do believe I was dreaming and he just happened to get involved.

I'm sorta anxious to see what I do next.

They gave us every day that we live in freedom.-President George W. Bush

I've decided to use each Veteran's Day to honor a Veteran in my life.

My Opa passed away when my oldest sister was a baby. I often wonder what he was like, what he sounded like, acted like, even smelled like.

I have this picture hanging on the wall in our living room and it's possibly one of my favorites. Not just because he's my Opa but because he looks darn good in that uniform! And seems to be proud to be serving his country.

How grateful I am for his sacrifice as well as the men and women who have served and who are currently serving. This land is a better place because of them.

To them I say "Thank you".

I Love To See The Temple

I remember when I was 12 and I had the opportunity to visit the Oakland Temple for the first time. I've since then, had the wonderful opportunity to be sealed to my sweet husband for all time and eternity in that special building. The peace that I feel inside those doors is remarkable. The reverence is sweet. The privilege to get away from "The World" for some time is a blessing.

I am truly saddened to see the grounds of the Temple become a place of hostility, violence and anger during these last few days.

I do not condone the violence that took place in LA. I think there are other ways to handle situations like this. I am all for freedom of speech but for an incident like this to take place at such a holy building, makes me sick. Vandalizing the Temple, posting hateful signs and screaming. All at the House of the Lord. Sad.

Let Us Give Thanks

While I was getting ready for church on Sunday, I couldn't help but think of things that I'm thankful for.

1. My family (including my husband)
2. Heavenly Father
3. Jesus Christ
4. Living in the Bay Area
5. Good health
6. Perfect bangs
7. Shoes
8. Nail polish
9. My job
10. Hairspray
11. Electricity
12. Freeways
13. Safeway gasoline
14. Fondant
15. Black and white film
16. Flowers
17. Straight teeth
18. the Atonement
19. Music
20. Scarves
21. A positive attitude
22. Smiling
23. Airplanes
24. Student loans
25. The sound of Will singing
26. The tickles from Claire
27. Photos
28. Hugs
29. Having dinner ready everyday when I come home
30. The YW in my ward
31. Playing the piano
32. Rain
33. My testimony
34. Retainers
35. My hairdresser
36. Toilets
37. Hot water
38. Vacuum
39. Health benefits
40. Potatoes
41. The Prophet
42. Hair clips
43. Tap water
44. Milk
45. Curling iron
46. Wienerschnitzel (not the fast food chain)
47. Hand written letters
48. America
49. My wedding ring
50. Christmas
51. The Temple
52. Toilet paper
53. Dogs
54. Mypublisher.com
55. Knowledge
56. Breast cancer walks
57. Laughter
58. Fires in a fireplace
59. S'mores with PB cups
60. A dishwasher
61. Concealer
62. Inhalers
63. Seat belts
64. Green hills
65. Disneyland
66. Our couch
67. Jeans
68. Stationary
69. The Scriptures
70. Dental floss
71. Clorox wipes
72. My dads mustang
73. Backrubs
74. Mexican train
75. White hot chocolate
76. Jokes
77. Patience
78. Baseball
79. Serrated knife
80. Fresh mozzarella
81. A clean house
82. Good quotes
83. Veterans
84. Ranch dressing
85. The sun
86. Love
87. Metlife's fax back option
88. Washing machine
89. Holding hands
90. The Gospel
91. Heaters in cars
92. Safety
93. Good listeners
94. History
95. Singing alone in my car
96. My pink ribbon pin
97. Memories
98. Sunsets
99. Chapstick
100. Lotion

And it's over...like that

How is it that it's already November? It's now time to take down all of my Halloween decorations. Boo hoo.

But we did have a fun time @ Amy & Keith's last night! We had a yummy baked potato bar and tons of candy to munch on.

When we were kids, my dad would always take a picture of us with our candy. One year, he had us through it in the air and snapped a picture as it fell. I attempted that shot with Claire...

We had a Queen Bee as a guest, a train conductor, a 50's girl, Kate from "Jon & Kate plus 8" and Rosie the Riveter.(And that's my man hand wrapped around Claire)

I feel empowered

*Please note, this is strictly Kimberly speaking and not the feelings of Kimberly and LaVor.

Since Alice @ 97.3 fired No Name and brought Vinny back, I've had to change my morning radio show. I always gave LaVor grief for listening to the losers on Live 105 and now I've joined the audience.

On my way to Kari's on Thursday, they read an e-mail from a listener that works at Genentech. Apparently every year for Halloween, people pair up and come up with a "theme" that they decorate their office with and dress up as. This particular listener and her partner decided to do the election. They decorated their office with the equal amount of McCain/Palin signs as Obama/Biden signs. One day, their boss strolled through and approached the desk of the listener, who just so happened to have the McCain signs up on her side, but not necesarily a supporter. The boss explained that she was offended by her decorations and demanded she take them down. The listener pointed out that 1) it was for Halloween 2) it was a joke 3) there were the exact amount of Obama signs on the other side of the office. The boss didn't care and later that day, the listener and her partner removed their decorations. The listener pointed out that several people have had personal Obama signs & stickers up in their cubicles for the entire election and have not had to remove them.

Towards the end of today, a co-worker shared with me what he was doing this weekend. Last weekend, he was visiting Newport Beach and came across a large group of people standing along PCH, holding "Yes on 8" signs. He was motivated by their enthusiasm and positive feedback that he is holding the same type of event tomorrow. I was excited to hear of someone who isn't afraid to stand up for what they believe in, isn't afraid to publically announce what he supports, can wear a shirt to Disneyland that says, "A marriage is between a man and a woman".

I've heard several people say that moving to another (remote) state sounds pretty good right now. But what is that telling the people that are against us? "You win! We won't stand our ground...you can have it".

I'm afraid that this election has become the "trendy" one. It's cool to vote this way and popular to vote for this. I'm glad to say I've never been one to follow the trends.

Just like the walls in Europe, I've been tagged

My sweet sister-in-law, Krista, tagged me! Yippee!

I had to go to my photo files, click on the 4th folder and pick the 4th picture. Since we just saved all of our "main" photos to cd's, I had to go to my personal folder. And this is what I found...

This was the cake that I made for Kari's work baby shower when she was pregnant with Will (obviously). Almost as cute as the kid himself.

I tag...Nicole, Katie, Michelle, Catherine & Kristi.

(Almost) Officially Ready for Halloween!

I still need to get my costume...then we'll be ready.

LaVor's parents came over last night and we carved pumpkins. All different but creative and cute!

The dirty work

Kathy's - LaVor's - Kimberly's

Bridge School Benefit Concert

Last night was the 22nd Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre.

This was the second year that we had the opportunity to attend. Unfortunately, our camera was considered "professional" so we had to rely on my cell phone. I apologize in advance.

My favorites were Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones & Jack Johnson. But the other Artists that performed were Band of Horses, Cat Powers, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie & Neil Young.

(Tilt your head to the right for these next two)





Things I enjoyed:
Music
Company
Weather
Snacks
Little girls in front of us dancing


Things I didn't enjoy:
Everyone talking about Obama...it felt like the Democratic Convention
Weed being blown in our direction
Security Guard accusing us of smoking weed
Blanket getting damp
Nasty feet of woman sitting behind us, resting on our blanket

1st Annual Passionately Pink for the Cure Walk

Last Saturday, the Jibbley girls held the 1st Annual P.P.F.T.C. walk @ Quarry Lakes. We had a great turn out and were so excited that other people were excited to join us in the fight against breast cancer! We raised over $200.00 to donate to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

The Jibbley Girls

The great group of walkers!

My mom, me, LaVor & LaVor's mom