One Stop Shop

As my family was leaving the new Brick Oven in Layton yesterday, my brother pointed out the irony of this building. One half of the store is a Missionary Mall. The other side is Ari Diamonds. I suppose the idea is that you pick up your shoes and ties from the missionary mall, put in your two years, and then come back to the same store for your engagement ring. It's quick, it's convenient, it's one stop shopping at it's finest.

Only in Utah.

Drivers Like Me - an Update

Hello friends. You may remember that earlier this year, a not-so-friendly police officer scolded me for a slightly illegal left turn and suggested that "Drivers like me cause thousands of accidents every year." These words turned out to be prophetic.

Last Thursday, as I was driving home from work, I ended up taking a little detour to get out of the way of some emergency vehicles. While turning right at an unfamiliar intersection to get back to my freeway entrance, the sun was in my eyes and I managed to smack right into a cement barricade that separates the on-ramp from a side street. I hit the lower edge of the abutment, then my car slid up the ramp until it completely high-centered and all four of my tires were in the air. It's the kind of thing you would laugh at if you were driving by during rush hour (as many people were) and wonder "How in the world did that happen?" It's also the kind of thing that is not so funny when it happens to you!

The next few (seconds, minutes, hours - I really couldn't say) are kind of a blur. I know my cheek was bleeding and I had a killer headache and it was freezing cold until some friendly firefighters stopped to divert traffic and helped me into their nice, warm truck. I remember they talked about football and Space Burgers in Pocatello and one of the firemen made everything better by reminding me that "Stuff happens. Today it happened to you."

I also know my Dad and sister AND the tow truck got there before the police did. Which turned out great, because the fire fighters said that since there hadn't been any damage to city property... and since my car had been towed... and since they were going to take off... I could go too. (Translation: No Ticket!) So that was really nice.

I went to visit my poor car the next day at the shop. I felt really guilty. My Civic has always been so good to me - and what did I do? I drove it into a cement wall. Really, I felt horrible. I was pretty sure I had done so much damage that they were going to have to total my car. But the mechanic said the radiator was going to have to be replaced for sure (I guess it's not good when there's a huge hole even the untrained eye can see) and obviously some work to the underside of my car. But the shop has worked their magic and apparently I can pick up my car this very afternoon.

So that's the story. You heard it here first. As I told my co-workers when I made it into work Friday afternoon - we're not really laughing at this yet. The ONLY acceptable response at this point is, "We're glad you're all right."

And I am glad - and slightly amazed - that things turned out as well as they did.

Some People

There are some people who should NEVER be allowed to sit by each other in sacrament meeting. See picture below if you have any questions about who I might be referring to!

2010-12-08

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Soul Friends

Last night I went to dinner with a group of single girls. Of course, the conversation soon turned to boys and relationships we are in, want to be in, or need to get out of.

One of the girls made this comment about an ex-boyfriend. "I felt like we were soul friends, just not soul mates." The other girls nodded like she had just said something very profound. Not me. I'm still puzzled. Soul friends. What? What does that even mean? I googled soul friends and found this creepy picture. It kind of sums up the way I feel about that expression.

In other news, when I returned to work on Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend, I was a little concerned about how I might be treated. Boise State had lost to Nevada... BYU lost to the U. It was NOT a good sports weekend for me. But my friend at work (who I have given a fair share of grief for being a Utah fan) put things in perspective for me. He said, "I can't even talk trash to you because the Utes played so badly." We then went on to celebrate that the Jazz beat the Lakers and we could both be happy about that. Agreed. We may not be "soul friends" but it makes me happy to have friends who get it!

Perfectly Content

So I have a bag of Raspberry Milano cookies on my desk this morning. (Thanks Tricia! What a great way to start the morning.) The writing on the bag is encouraging me to "indulge in a little raspberry romance." And you know what? I think I will!

Contentment. It's a funny thing. Last night all my big important plans got cancelled due to "The Blizzard" that people in Salt Lake have been talking about for days. They closed my office down early so everyone could get home before the storm hit. After a brief stop at Little Caesars Pizza, I went home and climbed into my warmest pajama pants and a sweatshirt. Pulled my hair into a ponytail and put my glasses on. Then I proceeded to eat my $5 pizza, read People magazine, watch TV and pack for Thanksgiving Weekend. Didn't see anyone, talk to anyone, go anywhere or do anything. And I couldn't have been happier. That's contentment.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Playing Catch Up

Here are a few highlights from the last month or so. Enjoy!
Tyler celebrated his 4th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. We had pizza and breadsticks, rode the rides, shot baskets, and played with water guns. Oh, and Aunt Traci played a few rounds of skee ball and TOTALLY took the 6-year old next to her to school.

Tyler got a new bike for his birthday. You should see the kid ride. No training wheels. And he's four years old. It's amazing.

Bryce got a new bike. It took him about 30 seconds to learn how to ride it. For the rest of the weekend, every conversation included the words, "My new bike." He kept telling me I couldn't ride it. But when I asked him if Baby Lauren could ride it, he said yes. What's up with that?

Lauren and I spent some quality time together. Here I am telling her she can ALWAYS have another cookie. And that if she ever feels like she doesn't have enough shoes, all she has to do is ask.

Lauren was an owl for Halloween. Heather made this costume (that's right, Heather is SuperMom) from Taylor's old corduroy pants. Could Lauren be any cuter? No. I think Tay and Heather chose an owl costume because Lauren likes to sleep during the day and is wide awake at night. Here she is flapping her wings.

Trunk-or-treating with the world's cutest soccer balls. A parking lot full of ward members passing out candy is pretty much Tyler and Bryce's dream come true.

Tyler and Bryce were introduced to Rice Krispy Treat Pumpkins. Anyone familiar with this Thomas Family Treat is probably wondering, "Where are the candy corn for the eyes and nose?" Well, I'll tell you. After a "quick trip" to Twin Falls turned into an all day event at Costco getting new tires on Ty and Jess's minivan - it seemed like the chocolate chips we already had were a way better idea than making one more stop for candy corn. I don't think the boys minded though. Tyler was pretty good at helping me decorate. Bryce was mostly interested in eating as many chocolate chips as he could before the bag disappeared.

My cousin Nathan got married to Erin in Minnesota. This picture is from the wedding breakfast.

Doing the Happy Dance

I passed! As many of you know, I have been frantically studying for my insurance license exam. Today was the big day - and I passed the test. Yeah hurray!!! Maybe I will now be able to find the mental energy to become a regular blogger again. We'll see...

Also, if anyone is curious, newborn pigs up to the age of 30 days are NOT covered for accidental drowning by a Farm policy. After 30 days, there will be coverage. I'm sure this will be the last day that I will be able to recall such fascinating and relevant information. So let's get that down in writing now.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

So I've been a bit lazy in the blogging department lately. My bad. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post these pictures of Tyler and Bryce. We are celebrating Tyler's 4th birthday today. Lunch at Chuck E. Cheese followed by a stop at the "doughnut factory" otherwise known at Krispy Kreme.

Fall In Minnesota

Greetings from St. Paul! My Dad and I are in the Twin Cities for my cousin Nathan's wedding. The wedding was last night at Lake Como. The ceremony was beautiful. And so was the setting! Before the wedding, my Dad and I walked around the lake, which was probably about a mile. Perfect for a barefoot stroll in the grass. (Barefoot because the heels I was wearing for the wedding were not walking shoes. But the path along the lake was so pretty, I couldn't resist!) I fell in love with all the old houses along the lake.

Wedding breakfast this morning, then it's off to the Mall of America for some serious shopping. Don't worry - I brought good shoes for that. Happy weekend!

Thoughts on Online Dating

Confession. A couple of months ago, I signed up with LDS Singles.com, a dating website geared towards members of the LDS Church. I’ve always been opposed to dating websites on principle, but I was bored. And I know there are people out there who have had positive experiences with online dating. I figured that as long as I kept my expectations low (which they were) and my head on straight (which I always do) it couldn’t hurt. And maybe I would meet a fun boy or two to have dinner with. That was the idea.

So I wrote up a profile, posted some pictures and paid my money. It took me a couple of tries, but after a week or so I felt like I had a pretty accurate, if somewhat vague, snapshot of who I am and what I stand for.

Unfortunately, writing my profile and picking out pictures was the fun part. The “flirts” I sent out were never responded to. And the “flirts” I received primarily came from 50 year olds on the other side of the world who didn’t speak a lot of English.

Not that there haven’t been some entertaining moments. There have. Here are a few highlights of the e-mails I have received in the past couple of months.

• I practice a unique and special blend of martial arts and the priesthood.
• Are you looking for a hand to hold?
• do you know of anyone that knows how to replace a window regulator for a Honda Accord by chance? ive bought the part online and by Saturday or Monday could have someone install it for me. Let me know if you do,id greatly appreciate it

Turns out, online dating is pretty much the same as my real life experiences. The boys I think look interesting couldn’t be less interested in me. And the boys who may be interested in me are, in a word, weird.

So what have I learned in the past couple of months? I like me. I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with me and if I was just cuter, skinnier, funnier, smarter or more righteous… I could find a man. I think it’s just not my time. And I’m ok with that. So if anyone is looking for me, you will probably find me dancing like an idiot at a country concert, out to dinner with friends, chasing my nephews around the park, doing my visiting teaching, or studying for my insurance license. I’m not at home crying into my pillow. And I’m also not on LDS Singles.com. Been there, done that, so not interested.

Cuter By The Minute

A Semi-Angry, Mostly-Amused Rant

Occasionally people have said that I must make up some of the funny experiences that I claim happen to me on a day-to-day basis. If you are one of those people, you should probably stop reading this entry now. You are not going to believe this one.

But last night I was at the mall when I was accosted by someone selling skin care products. He asked me what I was using for acne, pointed to my chin and said (and this is a direct quote) "because it isn't working."

If that's his sales pitch, it's the worst line I've ever heard. I am freaking 31 years old and apparently my skin is bad enough that some teenager working at a mall kiosk is giving my grief about it? I don't think so. He will never work in this city again. Not if I have anything to say about it.

Discussion Question

Congrats to Ty & Jess. They are expecting a BOY on my birthday, February 14th. I hope my new nephew and I will get to be birthday buddies!

Which brings me to an important question. Why are babies so easy to love while grown up people are so easy to, well, not love?

All My Favorites

I got to spend time with some of my very favorite people this weekend: Ty & Jess, Tay & Heather, Biz, Dad, Kelli Carlson, Tyler, Bryce, Lauren. And Brad Paisley. Yeah hurray! Overall, not a bad weekend. However.... I feel like I must add...

Personal Note to Darius Rucker:
We know you’re not Hootie and the Blowfish anymore. And we want to respect you as a country artist. We do. But we need you to help us out a little. Please DO NOT add a fiddle to slower versions of old Hootie songs and pretend like it’s country music. Please DO NOT wear a tee shirt with someone else wearing a cowboy hat if you’re going to wear a ball cap. And under no circumstances are you allowed to remake Prince’s “Purple Rain.” No one should really do this. But Hootie and the Blowfish singing a countrified version of “Purple Rain” was really more than any self-respecting fan of A) country music, B) Hootie and the Blowfish, or C) The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As Prince could really tolerate. I was insulted on a lot of levels. (A and B, but not C. To be specific.)

A Finished Project

I am excited about this cross stitch project I finished today. I got a little obsessed with it last weekend and spent most of Saturday curled up on my couch, stitching away and watching Pride and Prejudice. The long one! It was a great day.

Of course the picture does not do justice to how cute this turned out! But you get the idea.

Lauren Is Still Cute

Baby's First... Box of Krispy Kremes? Of course! This is a memorable moment. Tay was glad to see Lauren got her first box of donuts within her first dozen days. Donuts courtesy of Grandpa. On a related note: If anyone wants to go and visit Baby Lauren, you probably shouldn't take my Dad along. He's kind of a baby hog. I'm sorry to say it, but there it is.

Lauren Elise Thomas

I'm a favorite aunt again! Lauren Elise Thomas was born September 2nd at 10:36 a.m. She is 6 lbs 1 oz of absolute perfection. She has strawberry blonde hair. And the cutest little feet I've ever seen. Welcome Lauren! We're so excited to have you here so you can start wearing the cute clothes in your closet.

Congratulations Tay & Heather. You've done some good work!!!

My Sunday

On Sunday I went to a ward council meeting before church. Then I conducted in Relief Society. Played the organ in Sacrament Meeting. And said the opening prayer. The member of the bishopric who was conducting wanted to thank me for all my efforts that day. He made a little joke over the pulpit about how some people can just do it all.

Which would have been more meaningful if he hadn't kept calling me Stacy.

Time to Celebrate!!!

Yeah for Boise State and their victory over Virginia Tech last night!!! I would have been really sad if I hadn't been able to bring these cookies to work this morning and gloat.

I'm glad that Utah beat Pitt. And I'm glad that BYU beat Washington. But I will remind you that BSU is the team who may make it to the BCS title game this season.

There are days I really love being a BSU alum. And today is one of those days.

W is for Walmart

I bought a plunger last night. At Walmart. It seems like if you're going to buy something you don't want to buy, you should do it at a store you don't like. Does that make any sense at all? No. But still I found myself making a special trip to Walmart last night for just that one item.

A Little Scattered

So I'm a little scattered today. It's been CrAzY at work and I need a nap in the worst way. Thank goodness I have a blog where I can dump some random thoughts every once in awhile.

I bought a new black and white plaid coat last night. (It was a reward for not stabbing any of my co-workers. Go me!) The second the temperature drops below 65 degrees, I'm totally wearing it. Why is it that I love to buy coats so much? I really don't know. But this new one is a fantastic addition to my collection.
And I'm worth it.

In other news, I read "The Mockingjay," which is the third book in the "Hunger Games" series. No spoilers here, but if you haven't read "Hunger Games," you probably should. It's well-written, thought-provoking Young Adult literature at it's finest. (Translation: No Vampires!) I actually had to slow myself down to a chapter or two at a time because I knew once I was finished, the series was over. That's the sign of a really good book.

I think that's all for now.

Sin City

I love summer! The past few weeks have been particularly fun, bouncing around from one weekend to the next. This weekend, my sister and I went to Las Vegas. We met up with my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Hal at the New York New York. (They claim they were in town for a conference Patsy was attending for work. Sounds suspicious to me.) We also were able to spend Sunday with Aunt Laree, who lives in Henderson. It was awesome.

In the picture above, it appears that I am working my magic powers and forcing the water to twirl around at my command. You should know that I couldn't ever get the dang thing to work. Tricia did - and I jumped in for the picture. That's just the way I roll.

M&M World. Some people go to Vegas to gamble or get really drunk and do stupid things. Not me. I go for the same reason I go just about anywhere: The Chocolate.

The roller coaster at New York New York. Tricia and I rode this Saturday night about midnight. It was really fun. I will say, however, that I am not as young as I used to be. It will be a sad day for me when I want to skip the roller coaster for the sake of my neck and shoulders. Luckily we haven't reached that day quite yet. But we're getting closer!

So Vegas in August is hot. Unbelievably, uncomfortably, way-too-freaking hot. Patsy, Biz and I discovered this the hard way by taking a mid-day stroll down the Strip. We ended up collapsing in a high-end mall with stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Luckily I was able to afford smoothies so we didn't die from heat exhaustion. Also luckily, we were able to get same-day tickets to see The Lion King at Mandalay Bay rather than go to the street show we had been planning to see before the heat got the better of us. The Lion King was amazing and I was so excited to be there with Patsy and Biz.

Sunday we spent visiting with Aunt Laree at The M Casino. I may or may not have won $16.31 playing the penny slots. Another great weekend adventure!!!

Whirlwind Weekend

Ashlee and Justin brought the Reed Family Circus to town this weekend. We had so much fun!!! Friday we went to the Gateway Children's Museum and Temple Square. We also had a pizza picnic at Bountiful Park. Then "the girls" got to spend the night at Aunt Traci's.

We had our traditional scone breakfast at Dad's house on Saturday morning. Ty and Jess were in town for Heather's baby shower that afternoon, so we had a full house. We took all the kids to feed the ducks at Farmington Pond and then played for awhile at Farmington Park.

Saturday night, we had dinner at El Matador with my family and the Reeds. I'm sure the restaurant was excited to see us - 6 kids 6 and under and 8 adults on a Saturday night. But the kids were great and our waitress was a good sport!

So fun to see everyone! Come again. Soon. Life doesn't get any better than this.

Drivers Like Me

I would like you all to know that I got pulled over for the first time last night. (Well, the second time if you count the wave runner incident at Bear Lake where they thought I was an underage operator.) Illegal left turn into the right lane while I was turning onto 5th South from Main Street in Bountiful. No ticket, just a warning. I thought it was a really lame reason to get pulled over. But apparently, "drivers like me" cause thousands of accidents every year. Yep, I bet that's true.

Be safe out there.

When You Hear Tim McGraw

My friend Kelli and I went to see Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum in concert on Friday night. I don't know if you can tell by the giant smiles on our faces, but we were VERY excited to be there. Great music and a great night!

My favorite songs in the Lady A set were probably "Love Don't Live Here," "Slow Down Sister," and (of course) "Need You Now." And I really needed the shoes Hillary Scott was wearing. I just think she is super cute.

It would be hard to pick a favorite Tim McGraw song. Everything he does (from "Real Good Man" to "Live Like You Were Dying") is just classic Tim. But he's a fantastic performer and he sounded awesome live. I didn't want the night to end.

More Pics

In an effort to minimize the number of photos of me in shorts available on the Internet (a service I offer to you, The Reader) I may have been stingy in the photos I posted of our parasailing adventure. Here are two more.

I believe the image Dad captured here was the EXACT moment during the instruction session where I started to think, "What have I done here? How do I get out of it?"

And this is the moment where I realized I was having a blast. Ready for lift-off. Up, up and away.

San Diego

Last week, Tricia and my Dad and I spent a few days in San Diego. It was such a great trip. We went to the ocean. We ate fresh fish. In fact, I'm trying to remember now why I decided to come back home. That may have been a mistake.
My first visit to the San Diego Zoo. It's huge! I loved it! The pandas were my very favorite. I also was really impressed with all the habitat areas and the flowers and plants.

Two of the polar bears started a wrestling match while we were watching them. I was fascinated - and really glad for the glass partition!

Outside the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in Old Town San Diego. We also saw San Diego's first synagogue, first school, first courthouse, and what I believe may have been San Diego's first saloon.

Everyone who has seen this picture asks the same question: How much did Biz and I have to pay Dad to pose for this shot? Answer: Nothing. He hopped on that wagon of his own free will. In fact, I remember turning around and there he was, practically begging to have his picture taken. True story.

The carousel at Seaport Village. This was right after the fudge I had for breakfast that morning! I was on vacation. Why wouldn't I eat a quarter-pound of chocolate first thing and then go for a ride on a merry-go-round?

Parasailing!!! We were on our way to the hotel to change into swim stuff, when Tricia mentioned that she wanted to come back to San Diego sometime and fulfill her life-long dream of parasailing. To which I replied, "Sunshine, we're here NOW. Why don't we go parasailing this afternoon?" Literally an hour later, we had typed "parasailing San Diego" into google, located a near-by harbor and found ourselves being strapped into harnesses by our new best friend, Mike. As a sidenote, Mike happened to be extremely good looking and knew all the words to Weezer's "The Sweater Song." Pretty sure he would have wanted to date me if, you know, I was going to be in town for awhile and was looking for a serious relationship.

Yep, that's us! During our ride, we were eye-level with a passing helicopter at one point. It was absolutely amazing. I loved being on the boat, loved being in the air, and loved the dolphins we saw on our way back to shore. What an afternoon! Great idea, Biz.

Saturday morning I got up early and did a session at the San Diego Temple. The temple in San Diego is known as "the castle temple." You round the corner on the freeway and there is a beautiful and strikingly white masterpiece of a building. So you can imagine my surprise when THIS is what greeted us at the temple grounds. Guess they're doing some construction. Talk about scaffolding.

The only tiny hitch in the trip was that our one-hour layover in Vegas turned into a three-hour layover in Vegas. Luckily I bought a milkshake and a John Grisham novel at the airport and survived the horrible ordeal. Thanks Dad and Biz for an AMAZING trip!!!