Short & Sweet

Every Wednesday at work, the radio station we listen to plays the same song around 10:15.



Each time I hear it, I think of Zac and am reminded of the call I got from my mom that Wednesday morning, 2 years ago.  I'm also reminded of the video his cousin made, that was shown at the luncheon after his service, which used a clip of this song.

I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that it's been 2 years since we said good-bye to our bud.

I was able to drop by his grave today and say, "Hi!"  It was a quick visit, since there was a girl visiting a grave across the way, smoking pot, and I don't enjoy that smell...at all.

I think of him all the time and cry often because of how much I miss him.  But I should be crying tears of joy because I know he's happy.  I can only imagine how sweet life is with our Heavenly Father.

Letting Go

For the most part, I feel like I'm a good person and that I do what I'm supposed to.  I go to church each Sunday, try my best at my calling, visit teach my sisters, read my scriptures, pray, pay my tithing.  Yet, after watching Conference, I always feel like, "Oh geez!  I should be doing 100x better!"

I made it to my parents' house, after dropping LaVor off at the airport, just in time for President Monson's talk on Sunday morning.

I'm not a note taker but something stood out to me that I didn't even need to write down.  It was permanently embedded in my mind.

"It is essential that we reject anything that does not conform to our standards, refusing in the process to surrender that which we desire most: eternal life in the kingdom of God."

You mean I shouldn't be watching The Real Housewives anymore?

Each time I watched the show, I knew it wasn't something I should be doing.  So...after many years of being extremely addicted to that "garbage" (as LaVor likes to put it), I've deleted all of my timers and am not catching up with any re-runs.

I'm letting go.

My two favorite casts;New York and Orange County.  Adios, ladies!

Whomp Whomp Whomp

We lost but it wasn't without a fight!

(I was able to see Julie B. Beck speak on Saturday and she mentioned how our world is all about being the winner (The best dancer, singer, chef, the person who loses the most weight).  If you're not the winner, then you must be a loser.  So I'm trying really hard not to feel like a loser right now.)

After voting all day Thursday and a majority of Friday-Sunday, we were able to bump The Lime up from 57th to 6th.  I'm holding onto the fact that although there are 52 weekly winners, a panel of judges will go through all the photos entered to pick the grand prize winner.  We'll see what happens.

For now, I'm grateful to have my life back to normal and not be glued to my iTouch.  My arm was beginning to feel like it was stuck in the same position.

Counting Blessings

My car has been making a strange noise for a couple months.  It usually only happened in the morning, when I'd start it for the first time.  But recently, it began to happen all the time. 

LaVor was out of town last week on a business trip.  I hate hate hate being home alone, especially at night.  So lots of prayers were given and answered, that The Lime and I would be safe and protected.

We definitely were blessed.

Thursday night, on the way home from my sister's house, there were some amazing clouds in the sky.  I grabbed a bite to eat at Popeye's (first time eating there and possibly the last) and The Lime and I drove up to Del Valle.

On the way up the hill, the car would do a slight jerk into 3rd gear, rather than ease into it. Since it didn't happen the rest of the night, I thought it was a fluke.

Friday after work, The Lime and I went to pick LaVor up at the airport.  Within a couple miles of our destination, the car started jerking again.  When he got into the car, he noticed it immediately and said it was the transmission (one of our ideas in regards to the noise mentioned earlier).  It got worse the longer we drove and being the crazy person I am, I began to freak out.  "What do we do?!  What if we don't make it home?!  How much will it cost to fix?!"

We made it home safely.

Then we woke up Saturday morning, got in the car and barely made it down the street before the car would no longer go into any gear.

Downside:
-It'll cost money that we don't have to fix it.

Upside:
-It happened when LaVor returned from his trip.
-He was driving when it happened.
-It didn't happen while I was on my way to work.
-He found a transmission for less than what we were expecting.
-He can fix it himself so we don't have to pay someone to do it.
-My sister is letting us borrow her car.


I'm pretty much convinced the Lord is watching over us. 

On A Roll

In the last month, I've won 2 contests; 1 for 4 free passes to the local Harvest Festival and 2 tickets to the Blink 182 concert.  I'm hoping I can add 1 more to the list.

People always tell us that we should enter pictures of The Lime into a photo contest.  While reading Parent Magazine at work the other day, I decided to do just that.  I got an e-mail yesterday letting me know our picture was in the running for the "Kid of the Week" contest.  Only problem is, the photo with the highest votes wins and The Lime is currently in 45th place.

That's where you come in.

Click on the photo and it will take you to the website.  Place your vote and feel free to pass the link on.  You can vote everyday this week, so don't forget!

Use It Or Lose It

I remember the Sunday afternoon when my parents got a call that my brother was in a motorcycle accident.  The unknown was the worst.  All we knew was that he was on his way to the hospital and was alive at that moment.

Thankfully, he made it out with (just) a broken arm and leg and tons of road burn.  A man took video from his bedroom window, and described how my brother flew in the air, several feet, and hit his head on the curb.

He took advantage of his wheelchair and went to the X-Games where he was asked for his autograph numerous times.  Those poor recipients totally got duped.

I was shocked when I went to Utah 10 years ago, and saw people speeding down the freeway on their bikes, with their hair blowing in the wind, not protected AT ALL.

California has a lot of laws and a lot of dumb laws.  But one law that I think is crucial, is that everyone riding a motorcycle must wear a helmet.  None of this "If you've over 18, you don't have to wear one" hoopla.  I haven't looked into statistics or anything (this topic really doesn't bother me that much) but I'm a firm believer in, "If you don't use it, you'll lose it."

Meaning your brain, in this case.

Red Door

There's a house down the street from us that has a red door and I get sad each time I drive/walk by it.

Our old house, meaning my family's, had a red door.

We never had our number address on our house, only on the sidewalk in front of our house, and there was generally a car parked so those numbers were blocked.  When giving someone directions, we'd say, "We're about the 11th or 12th house on your left...with the red door."

The night of my sister's first date, as a 16 year old, we also had the Missionaries over.  Elder Rothstein (right, folks?) took it upon himself to answer the red door when her date knocked.  "Is Kari home?" the boy asked.  "Nope!" and *SLAM* went the red door.  The Elder opened the door right up and said, "Just kidding!" but the boy was so embarrassed and his face resembled the shade of red on our door.

5th grade art class - Roller skating with the red door

Who knew a stinkin' door could create an entire blog post?  I miss the door and I miss the house.  Is it possible to not look forward to the Holidays because they just won't quite be the same?

I had a dream a few weeks ago that the new owners didn't change a thing about the place.  I know that's too good to be true but I'll honestly never know.  And so, I'd like to keep it the same...red door and all.